1269_UgliesFreeBook

UGLIES 309
The Special swung himself onto the roof with an ease
that made Tally shiver. How was she going to overcome this
cruel pretty? Even if her hands weren’t tied, he was bigger,
stronger, faster.
A moment later, his head stuck out over the edge.
“Where is it?”
“Under the rapchuck.”
“The what?”
“The rapchuck. You know, the old-fashioned thingie
where the roofline connects with the abbersnatch.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“It’s Smokey slang, I guess. Let me show you.”
A fleeting expression crossed the Special’s impassive
face—annoyance mixed with suspicion. But he leaped
down again and stacked a couple of crates. He jumped onto
them and pulled Tally up, sitting her on the edge of the roof
as if she weighed nothing. “You touch one of those hoverboards,
I’ll put you on your face,” he threatened casually.
“There’re hoverboards up here?”
He leaped past her and hauled her onto the roof.
“Find it.”
“No problem.” She walked gingerly up the slanted roof,
exaggerating the difficulty of balancing without her hands.
The solar cells of the recharging hoverboards were blindingly
bright in the sun. Tally’s board lay too far away, on the
other side of the roof, and it was unfolded into eight sections.
Folding it back up would take a solid minute. But