1269_UgliesFreeBook

148 Scott Westerfeld
As the sky began to grow light, Tally heard the sound
of the sea in the distance, a faint roar coming from across
the horizon. She could smell salt in the air, which brought
back memories of going to the ocean with Ellie and Sol as
a littlie.
“Cold is the sea and watch for breaks,” Shay’s note read.
Soon, Tally would be able to see the waves breaking on the
shore. Maybe she was close to the next clue.
Tally wondered how much time she’d made up with
her new hoverboard. She increased its speed, wrapping her
dorm jacket around herself in the predawn chill. The track
was slowly climbing now, cutting through formations of
chalky rock. She remembered white cliffs towering over the
ocean, swarming with seabirds nesting in high caves.
Those camping trips with Sol and Ellie felt as if they’d
happened a hundred years ago. She wondered if there was
some operation that could make her back into a littlie
again, forever.
Suddenly, a gap opened up in front of Tally, spanned by
a crumbling bridge. An instant later she saw that the bridge
didn’t make it all the way across, and there was no river full
of metal deposits beneath it to catch her. Just a precipitous
drop to the sea.
Tally spun her board sideways into a skid. Her knees
bent under the force of braking, her grippy shoes squealing
as they slipped across the riding surface, her body turning
almost parallel to the ground.