1269_UgliesFreeBook

400 Scott Westerfeld
David for longer than that hour in the storm, and now she
wouldn’t see him for a whole day.
“Maybe I should go to the ruins. I could hike out there
tonight.”
“Don’t be crazy,” Croy said. “The Specials are still out
looking.”
“But just in case they need anything . . .”
“Maddy said to tell you no.”
Astrix and Ryde showed up a half hour later, coming into
the cave more gracefully than Croy, but with their own stories
of running from hovercars. The pursuit had been confused,
the Specials overwhelmed by everything that had
happened that night.
“They never even got close,” Astrix said.
Ryde shook his head. “They were all over the place.”
“It’s like we won a battle, you know?” Croy said. “We
beat them in their own city. Made them look like fools.”
“Maybe we don’t have to hide in the wild anymore,”
Ryde said. “It could be like when we were uglies, playing
tricks. But telling the whole city the truth.”
“And if we get caught, Tally can come and rescue us!”
Croy shouted.
Tally tried to smile at their cheers, but knew she
wouldn’t feel good about anything until she saw David
again. Not until tomorrow night. She felt exiled, shut out
from the one thing that really mattered.