Page 9 (2/2)
He muttered, "Of course, that wouldn’t be very bubbly, would it?"
"It wouldn’t And anything that flies has a overnor?"
"Used to, but I can’t remember"
"Me either Okay, then We climb"
"Okay," he said "But first" He reached for Tally’s hand, drew her to hirin spreading on her face "Just to keep us bubbly"
The first half was easy
Tally and Zane stayed together, cli ready handholds in the weave of struts and cables The wind kicked up now and then, playfully tugging at Tally in a way that was nervous-lance doard to focus her mind
Halfway up, she could already see the whole of Valentino Mansion, the pleasure gardens spread out in every direction, even the hovercar pads atop the central hospital where they did the operation The river glittered as the sun clilyville, Tally saw her old dorlies atching the the tower
Tally wondered how long it would be before soed the wardens
With her newBut as the two of therew narrower, the handholds less sure The poly was slick, still wet in a few corners where thesun hadn’t yet dried the dew Microwave dishes and thick skeins of braided cables crowded the struts, and doubts began to creep through Tally’s mind Was the key really up here?
Why would the New Smokies rew trickier and the drophow she’d wound up here on this tall and windy spike
The night before, her only goal had been to become a Crim, pretty and popular, surrounded by a clique of new friends And she’dshe’d wanted - on top of which, Zane had kissed her, a bubbly develop
Of course, getting what you wanted never turned out the way you’d thought it would Being a Cri out with Zane apparently involved risking your life and not eating breakfast Tally had only been voted in last night, and here she was having to prove herself again
And for what? Did she really want to unlock the rusty shack below? Whatever was in there could only , and was certain to re she’d left behind It felt as if every ti sucked her back toward ugly days
With her
The sole of one shoe slipped fro legs away frorip on a strut that was still ith dew Tally tuh her body, familiar from all the times she had wiped out on a hoverboard or thrown herself fro
Her instincts told her to relax, until she realized the big difference between this fall and all those others: Tally wasn’t wearing crash bracelets or a bungee jacket This ti to catch her
Her brand-new pretty reflexes kicked into gear, and her hands flew out to grab a passing braid of cable Tally’s pal her skin as if the cable had burst into fla in toward the tower - knees bent, body turning - and Tally absorbed the iainst the metal with her hip, a blow that shook her whole fraers
Tally’s feet scrabbled to gain purchase, their soles finding a wide strut and ht from her hands She wrapped her ar Zane’s shouts above her, and gazed out over the river, a shone, as if dialyville Herrain, and Tally understood at last why she had climbed up here Not to impress Zane or the Smokies, or to pass any test, but because some part of her had wanted this moment, this clarity she hadn’t felt since the operation This ay beyond bubbly
"Are you okay?" ca how far she’d fallen, Tally sed, but still ed a smile "I’ her bruised hip Her scorched palms complained every time they closed around a handhold, but within a olden eyes ider than ever, as if her fall had scared hi that it probably had "Co herself up the last few net stuck to the botto to it She carefully pulled the key off and slipped it into her pocket while the Valentino flag snapped overhead, the sound as crisp as clothes fresh out of the wall
"Got it," she yelled, and started down, passing Zane before he’d even moved, the shocked expression still frozen on his face
It wasn’t until she stood on the roof again that Tally realized how sore her , and the world remained crystalline She pulled the key froertip, her senses registering every detail of the e
"Hurry up!" she cried to Zane, as still only halfway down He started to cli toward the shack
The padlock popped open when she turned the key, the rusty door groaning with age as its bottoe skidded across the stone Tally stepped inside, blind for ared traces that pulsed with her heartbeat, full of exciteed all this to otten what they wanted
The little room smelled very old, the air inside warm and still As Tally’s eyes adjusted, she could see the flaking graffiti that filled every centis, and the na their love Some of the dates included years that made no sense, until Tally realized that they ritten in Rusty style, counting all the old centuries before the collapse The cruraffiti, and the floor littered with ancient contraband: old cans of spray-paint, crushed and elue, burned-out fireworks sle of paper, squashed and blackened at one end, like a picture of a cigarette fro it when her stoarette? This place was older than lifters, she reminded herself, otten piece of history She wondered how lies and tricky new pretties like the Crims had made it theirs
The pouch Croy had shown her rested on one of the old rusted gears of the elevator