1269_UgliesFreeBook

130 Scott Westerfeld
“Great. Thanks. Look, just ask your questions.”
“Certainly. First of all, what on earth happened to your
face?”
Tally sighed, one hand touching the scratches. “Trees.”
“Trees?” Dr. Cable raised an eyebrow. “Very well. On a
more important subject, what did you and Shay talk about
the last time you saw her?”
Tally closed her eyes. This was it, the moment when
she would break her vow to Shay. But a small voice in her
exhausted brain reminded her that she was also keeping a
promise. Now she could finally join Peris.
“She talked about going away. Running away with
someone called David.”
“Ah, yes, the mysterious David.” Dr. Cable leaned
back. “And did she say where she and David were
going?”
“A place called the Smoke. Like a city, only smaller.
And no one was in charge there, and no one was pretty.”
“And did she say where it was?”
“No, she didn’t, not really.” Tally sighed and pulled
Shay’s crumpled note from her pocket. “But she left me
these directions.”
Dr. Cable didn’t even look at the note. Instead, she
pushed a piece of paper from her side of the desk over to
Tally’s. Through bleary eyes, Tally saw that it was a 3-D
copy of the note, perfect down to the slight incisions of
Shay’s labored penmanship on the paper.