1269_UgliesFreeBook

210 Scott Westerfeld
Shay twisted the handle again, and the ribs retracted.
Then she thrust one end of the jack under a cross-tie.
With another twist of her wrist, the pole began to shudder,
and a groaning sound came from the wood. Shay’s
feet slipped backward, but she leaned her weight into the
pole, keeping it wedged under the cross-tie. Slowly, the
ancient wood began to rise, tearing free from plants and
earth, bending the rail that lay across it. Tally saw the
struts of the powerjack unfolding underneath the tie,
gradually forcing it up, the rail above beginning to pull
free of its moorings.
Shay grinned up at her. “I told you.”
“Let me try,” Tally said, holding out her hand, eyes
wide.
Shay laughed and pulled another powerjack from her
backpack. “Take that tie there, while I keep this one up.”
The powerjack was heavier than it looked, but its controls
were simple. Tally pulled it open and jammed it under
the tie that Shay had indicated. She turned the handle
slowly, until the jack started to shudder in her hands.
The wood began to shift, the stresses of metal and
earth twisting in her hands. Vines tore from the ground,
and Tally could feel their complaints through the soles of
her shoes, like a distant earthquake rumbling. A metal
shriek filled the air as the rail began to bend, pulling free
of vegetation and the rusty spikes that had held it down for
centuries. Finally, the jack had opened to its full extent, the