1269_UgliesFreeBook

UGLIES 221
ground and up into the blades. It was totally shredded.”
She was pleased by the amazement on the faces of her
audience.
“So where’d you sleep?” Croy asked.
“It wasn’t that bad. It was only for—” Tally stopped herself
just in time. She’d spent one night without the sleeping
bag, but in her cover story she’d spent four days in the
orchids. “It was warm enough.”
“You’d better get a new one before bedtime,” David
said. “It’s a lot colder up here than down in the weeds.”
“I’ll take her over to the trading post,” Shay said. “It’s like
a requisition center, Tally. Only when you get something,
you have to leave something else behind as payment.”
Tally shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She still hadn’t
gotten used to the idea that you had to pay for things here.
“All I’ve got is SpagBol.”
Shay smiled. “That’s perfect to trade with. We can’t
make dehydrated food here, except fruit, and traveling with
regular food is a total pain. SpagBol’s good as gold.”
After dinner, Shay took her to a large hut near the center of
town. The shelves were full of things made in the Smoke,
along with a few objects that had come from the cities. The
city-made stuff was mostly shabby and worn, repaired
again and again, but the handmade things fascinated Tally.
She ran her still-raw fingers across the clay pots and
wooden tools, amazed at how each had its own texture and