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Back The Year the Maps Changed Save as PDF
Chapters (75)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. Map
  6. Prologue
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. 39
  46. 40
  47. 41
  48. 42
  49. 43
  50. 44
  51. 45
  52. 46
  53. 47
  54. 48
  55. 49
  56. 50
  57. 51
  58. 52
  59. 53
  60. 54
  61. 55
  62. 56
  63. 57
  64. 58
  65. 59
  66. 60
  67. 61
  68. 62
  69. 63
  70. 64
  71. 65
  72. 66
  73. Acknowledgments
  74. About the Author
  75. About the Publisher

“You could thank her yourself. I think she’d like to talk to you. Does she even know you can speak English?”

Nora raised a hand. “No, I do not want to talk.”

A silence stretched between us and I shrugged again. “I better go say hi to Anika,” I said.

Nora nodded once, and I turned to leave. I’d only gone a few steps away when she called out, “Is good.”

I turned back to see Nora had pulled her jacket open a little and was rubbing her bump with one hand. “The baby is good—but . . .” She waved her other hand, while she searched for a word. “Impatient.”

“Oh yeah, so was Drumlin.”

“Drumlin?”

I started walking backward. “Sam’s brother,” I said. “Anika’s baby.”

Nora frowned, and then she called out to me one last time, “Si te quajnë? What is your name?”

I stopped at the door. “Winnie,” I said over my shoulder, and then I smiled to myself. “My name is Winnie.”

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33

The Millennium Bug

Khoa Trần—Jed and Lily’s dad—finally came home from Sydney in the middle of July.

He’d been away for months, working for a big company that was worried about Y2K, or the “Millennium Bug.” People on the news said that all the computers in the world had problems reading four-digit years that didn’t start with a one and would fail when the year switched from 1999 to 2000. They were predicting dramatic stuff like planes falling out of the sky on New Year’s Day.

This company in Sydney was worried that they’d lose all their money, so they’d hired Jed’s dad’s computer business to come in and Y2K-proof their operating systems—which had taken months.

“Well, for one thing, it means I’ve got some computers to offload now,” Khoa said to Luca one night over dinner. Vi had taken pity again and invited us over.

“Oh yeah?” Pop swallowed the delicious pork Vi had prepared. “How many are we talking?”

Khoa leaned back in his chair and smiled so big his cheeks went round. “Ten of them. This firm wanted all new everything, so they threw out perfectly good tech for fear it had been corrupted by the bug.”

Khoa rolled his eyes like he couldn’t believe it.

“So I said if they really didn’t want them, I’d be happy to take them and cover shipping costs to bring them down here—they arrive this week.”

Vi dished out more pork on everyone’s plates, then waved her fork in Khoa’s direction. “Ơi, just tell him already!”

Khoa finally spread his hands wide and said, “I thought the haven could take them, yeah? I can come by and set them up so those people can get online. . . .”