“Enough time to what?”
“To drop by the Uglyville art school. They have bungeejackets in the basement. A whole rack of spares.”
David took a deep breath. “Okay.”
“You’re not scared, are you?”
“I’m not . . .” He grimaced1. “It’s just that I’ve never seenthis many people before.”
“People? We haven’t seen anyone.”
“Yeah, but all those houses on the way here. I keepthinking of people living in every single one, all crowdedtogether like that.”
Tally2 laughed. “You think the burbs are crowded? Waituntil we get to Uglyville.”
They headed back, taking the rooftops at top speed. Thesky was pitch-black, but by now Tally could read the starswell enough to know that the first notes of dawn were onlya couple of hours away.
Reaching the greenbelt, they turned back the way they’dcome, neither of them speaking, concentrating instead onnavigating through the trees. This arc of the belt broughtthem through Cleopatra Park, where Tally threaded theslalom poles for old times’ sake. Her instincts twitched3 asthey passed the path down to her old dorm. For a split second,it felt as if she could make the turnoff, climb in throughher window, and go to bed.
Soon, the jumbled4 spires5 of the Uglyville art school roseup, and Tally brought the two of them to a halt.
This part was easy. It seemed like a million years agothat Tally and Shay had borrowed one of the school’sbungee jackets for their final trick, Shay’s leap onto the newuglies in the dorm library. Tally retraced7 her steps to theexact window they’d jimmied, a dirty, forgotten pane8 ofglass concealed9 behind decorative10 bushes, and found that itwas still unlocked.
Tally shook her head. This sort of burglary had seemedso daring two months before. Back then, the library stuntwas the wildest prank11 she and Shay could dream up. Nowshe saw tricks for what they were: a way for uglies to blowoff steam until they reached sixteen, nothing but a meaninglessdistraction until their mutinous12 natures were erasedby adulthood13, and the operation.
“Give me the flashlight. And wait here.”
She slipped in, found the rack of spares, grabbed twobungee jackets, and was out in less than a minute. When360 Scott Westerfeldshe pulled herself out of the window, she found David staringat her with wide eyes. “What?” she asked.
“You’re just so . . . good at all this. So confident. Itmakes me nervous just being inside city limits.”
She grinned. “This is no big deal. Everyone does it.”
Still, Tally was happy to impress David with her burglaryskills. In the last few weeks he’d taught her how tobuild a fire, scale a fish, pitch a tent, and read a contourmap. It was nice to be the competent one for a change.
They crept back to the greenbelt and reached the riverbefore the sky had even shown a sliver14 of pink. Zoomingpast the white water and onto the vein15 of ore, they sightedthe ruins just as the sky was beginning to change.
On the hike down, Tally asked, “Tomorrow night, then?”
“No point in waiting.”
“No.” And there was every reason to attempt the rescuesoon. It had been more than two weeks since the invasionof the Smoke.
David cleared his throat. “So, how many Specials doyou think will be in there?”
“When I was there, a lot. But that was during the day. Iassume they have to sleep sometime.”
“So it’ll be empty at night.”
“I doubt that. But maybe just a few guards.” She didn’tsay more. Even one Special would be more than a matchfor a pair of uglies. No amount of surprise would makeup16 for the cruel pretties’ superior strength and reflexes.
UGLIES 361“We’ll just have to make sure they don’t see us.”
“Sure. Or hope they’ve got something else to do thatnight.”
Tally trudged17 ahead, exhaustion18 taking over now thatthey were safely out of the city, her confidence ebbing19 withevery step. They’d traveled all this way without thinkingvery hard about the task ahead of them. Rescuing peoplefrom Special Circumstances wasn’t just another ugly-trick,like stealing a bungee jacket or sneaking20 up the river. It wasserious business.
And although Croy, Shay, Maddy, and Az were probablyall prisoners in those horrible underground buildings, therewas always the possibility that the Smokies had been takensomewhere else. And even if they hadn’t, Tally had no ideaexactly where they’d be inside the warren of puke-brownhallways.
“I just wish we had some help,” she said softly.
David’s hand settled on her shoulder, bringing her to ahalt. “Maybe we do.”
She looked at him questioningly, then followed his gazedown toward the ruins. At the top of the highest spire6, thelast few flickers21 of a safety sparkler were sputtering22 out.
There were uglies down there.
“They’re looking for me,” he said.
“So what do we do?”
“Is there any other way back to the city?” David asked.
“No. They’ll come hiking right up this path.”
362 Scott Westerfeld“Then we wait.”
Tally squinted23, peering at the ruins. The sparkler hadfaded, and nothing was visible in the dawn light just startingto spill across the sky. Whoever was down there hadwaited until the last possible minute to head for home.
Of course, if they were looking for David, these uglieswere potential runaways24. Rebellious25 seniors, not that worriedabout missing breakfast.
She turned to David. “So, I guess uglies are still lookingfor you. And not just here.”
“Of course,” he said. “The rumors27 will go on for generations,in cities all over, whether I’m around or not. Lightinga sparkler doesn’t usually get an answer, so it’ll be a longtime before even the uglies I’ve met figure out I’m notshowing up. And most of them already don’t even think theSmoke—”
His voice caught, and Tally took his hand. For amoment he’d forgotten that the Smoke didn’t, in fact, existanymore.
They waited in silence, until the sound of scramblingfeet came across the rocks. It sounded like three or souglies, talking in low tones as if still wary28 of the ghosts ofthe Rusty29 ruins.
“Watch this,” David whispered, pulling a flashlightfrom his pocket. He stood and pointed30 the light up at hisown face, switching it on.
“Looking for me?” he said in a loud, commanding voice.
UGLIES 363The three uglies froze, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
Then the boy dropped his board, and it crashed onto thestones beside him, breaking their paralysis31.
“Who are you?” one of the girls managed.
“I’m David.”
“Oh. You mean you’re . . .”
“Real?” He switched off the light and grinned. “Yeah, Iget that question a lot.”
Their names were Sussy, An, and Dex, and they had beencoming to the ruins for a month now. They’d heard rumorsabout the Smoke for years, since an ugly in their dorm hadrun away.
“I’d just moved to Uglyville,” Sussy said, “and Ho was asenior. When he disappeared, everyone had these crazytheories about where he’d gone.”
“Ho?” David nodded. “I remember him. He stayed for afew months, then changed his mind and came back. Bynow, he’s a pretty.”
“But he really made it? To the Smoke?” An asked.
“Yeah. I took him there.”
“Wow. So it’s real.” An shared an excited look with hertwo friends. “We want to see it too.”
David opened his mouth, then closed it. His eyes driftedaway to one side.
“You can’t,” Tally spoke32 up. “Not right now.”
“Why not?” Dex asked.
364 Scott WesterfeldTally paused. The truth, that the Smoke had beendestroyed by an armed invasion, seemed too far-fetched. Afew months ago, she wouldn’t have believed what her owncity was capable of. And if she admitted that the Smoke wasgone, the rumor26 would make its way down through generationsof uglies. Dr. Cable’s work would be complete, even ifa few rescued Smokies somehow managed to create anothercommunity in the wild. “Well,” she started, “every so oftenthe Smoke has to move, to stay secret. Right now, it doesn’treally exist. Everyone’s scattered33, so we’re not recruiting.”
“The whole place moves?” Dex said. “Whoa.”
An frowned. “Hang on. If you’re not recruiting, thenwhy are you here?”
“To do a trick,” Tally said. “A really big one. Maybe youcould help us. And then when the Smoke is back on its feet,you’ll be the first to know.”
“You want us to help? Like an initiation34?” Dex asked.
“No,” David said firmly. “We don’t make anyone doanything to get into the Smoke. But if you do want to help,Tally and I would appreciate it.”
“We just need a diversion,” Tally said.
“Sounds like fun,” An said. She looked at the others,and they waggled their heads.
Up for anything, Tally thought, just like she used to beherself. They were definitely seniors, less than a year behindher, but she was amazed at how young they seemed.
David stared at Tally along with the others, waiting forUGLIES 365the rest of her idea. She had to come up with a diversionright away. A good one. Something that would intrigue35 theSpecials enough to investigate.
Something that would make Dr. Cable herself takenotice.
“Well, you’ll need a lot of sparklers.”
“No problem.”
“And you know how to get into New Pretty Town,right?”
“New Pretty Town?” An looked at her friends. “But don’tthe bridges report everyone who crosses the river?”
Tally smiled, always happy to teach someone a newtrick.
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收听单词发音
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1
grimaced
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| v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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tally
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| n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致 | |
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twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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jumbled
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| adj.混乱的；杂乱的 | |
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spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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spire
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| n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点 | |
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retraced
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| v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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decorative
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| adj.装饰的，可作装饰的 | |
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prank
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| n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己 | |
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mutinous
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| adj.叛变的，反抗的；adv.反抗地，叛变地；n.反抗，叛变 | |
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adulthood
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| n.成年，成人期 | |
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sliver
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| n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开 | |
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vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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makeup
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| n.组织；性格；化装品 | |
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trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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ebbing
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| （指潮水）退( ebb的现在分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落 | |
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sneaking
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| a.秘密的，不公开的 | |
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flickers
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| 电影制片业； （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的名词复数 ) | |
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22
sputtering
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| n.反应溅射法；飞溅；阴极真空喷镀；喷射v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的现在分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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squinted
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| 斜视( squint的过去式和过去分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
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runaways
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| （轻而易举的）胜利( runaway的名词复数 ) | |
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rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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rumor
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| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
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rumors
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| n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷 | |
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wary
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| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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paralysis
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| n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症) | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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initiation
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| n.开始 | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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