The Ends of the Earth (44 page)

Others had taken their chance and died in the course of Max’s pursuit of the truth. He thought of Kuroda and le Singe in particular and wondered if their lives were worth what he had achieved. It was too late for such wondering, of course. He had striven to finish what his father had started and they had suffered for it. Nor were they the only ones. His path to this moment was drenched in the blood of the deserving and the undeserving alike.

What the future held he could not guess. He did not feel able to look beyond the flight to Weihaiwei. The journey would be difficult, especially when it came to refuelling. There would be all manner of hazards. There always were. The weather was set fair, but it was a long way, he was unfamiliar with the plane and much of the navigation would have to be done by eye. Sam’s presence was a welcome reassurance. On the spur of the moment, he decided to say so.

‘I’m glad you’re here, Sam,’ he shouted over his shoulder.

‘Me too, sir,’ Sam shouted back.

‘Shall we get this bird in the air, then?’

To that Sam replied with a double thumbs-up.

Max turned back to the controls and tightened the chin-strap on his flying helmet. He thought of his father then and the flight together they had never taken. He would surely be proud of what Max had accomplished on his behalf.

It was not over. It would never be over while Tomura and Lemmer and Matilda lived. Tomura would seek to avenge his son’s death at Max’s hands. One day Lemmer would call upon him to fulfil the promise he had reluctantly given. Matilda, the woman who had given birth to him, would have a place to find for herself in a world she hardly knew. And she too would have Tomura to fear. The things Max had done would never be far from him. The past lay ahead as well as behind.

But in the present,
this
present, he could savour the satisfaction of beating the odds. ‘I did it, Pa,’ he murmured. ‘Not bad, hey? Not bad at all.’

He started taxi-ing, accustoming himself to the feel of a plane on water. Everything seemed to be working – throttle, rudder, elevator, ailerons. Sam had done his work well. The machine was as ready as Max – primed, set, eager. And the lake was clear and still. He opened the throttle.

Speed and noise stirred his memory. This was how it had always been. There was nothing like it. This was his element.

The plane accelerated across the lake, a flotilla of ducks scattering from its path, the waves it was making thumping against the fuselage. There was a boat in the distance, but Max reckoned they would clear it with ease. He glanced at the tachometer. The revs were right. Everything was right. His touch on the stick was gentle. The nose came up. They were off.

And climbing. Into the wide blue sky.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

In
The Ends of the Earth
, as in the first two volumes of this trilogy,
The Ways of the World
and
The Corners of the Globe
, I have made no alterations to recorded history. Real people, places and events have been depicted as accurately as possible. Tokyo, where much of the action of
The Ends of the Earth
is set, has changed utterly – arguably, several times – since 1919. Anyone seeking to picture the city as it was before the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 is indebted, as I am, to Edward Seidensticker, author of
Low City, High City
and
Tokyo Rising
. I am also very grateful to Masahiro Wakabayashi of the Kyoto Prefectural Library & Archive for supplying invaluable information about Japan’s former capital, a city that has changed much less than Tokyo, and to my good friend Toru Sasaki for helping me in innumerable ways during research for this book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert Goddard
was born in Hampshire and read History at Cambridge. His first novel,
Past Caring
, was an instant bestseller. Since then his books have captivated readers worldwide with their edge-of-the-seat pace and their labyrinthine plotting. The first Harry Barnett novel,
Into the Blue
, was winner of the first WHSmith Thumping Good Read Award and was dramatized for TV, starring John Thaw. His thriller,
Long Time Coming
, won an Edgar in the Mystery Writers of America awards.
The Ends of the Earth
is the final part in Robert Goddard’s extraordinary
The Wide World
trilogy set in the years after the First World War and featuring James ‘Max’ Maxted.

Also by Robert Goddard

Past Caring

In Pale Battalions

Painting the Darkness

Into the Blue

Take No Farewell

Hand in Glove

Closed Circle

Borrowed Time

Out of the Sun

Beyond Recall

Caught in the Light

Set in Stone

Sea Change

Dying to Tell

Days without Number

Play to the End

Sight Unseen

Never Go Back

Name to a Face

Found Wanting

Long Time Coming

Blood Count

Fault Line

The Wide World trilogy

The Ways of the World

The Corners of the Globe

For more information on Robert Goddard and his books, see his website at
www.robertgoddardbooks.co.uk

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Transworld is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at
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First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Bantam Press
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Copyright © Robert and Vaunda Goddard 2015

Robert Goddard has asserted his right under the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Every effort has been made to obtain the necessary permissions with reference to copyright material, both illustrative and quoted. We apologize for any omissions in this respect and will be pleased to make the appropriate acknowledgements in any future edition.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781448111114
ISBNs 9780593069790 (cased)
9780593069806 (tpb)

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