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The Sly dor tables had clearly been cut from the hearts of trees They showed knots and whorls, and wavy tracks of grain ran down their entire length They were rough and beautiful, but Tally couldn’t get over the thought that the trees had been taken alive

She was glad when Shay and David took her outside to the cooking fire, where a group of younger uglies hung out It was a relief to get away frolies Out here, at least, any of the Smokies could pass as a senior Tally didn’t have e, but she turned out to be ht Two had just arrived from another city, and weren’t even sixteen yet The other three - Croy, Ryde, and Astrix - were friends of Shay’s, froether back before Tally and Shay had first met

Here in the Smoke only five months, Shay’s friends already had a hint of David’s self-assurance

Somehow, they carried the authority of middle pretties without the fir They spent lunch talking about projects they were up to A canal to bring a branch of the creek closer to the Smoke; new patterns for the sheep wool their sweaters were made from; a new latrine (Tally wondered what a "latrine" was) They seemed so serious, as if their lives were a really complicated trick that had to be planned and replanned every day

The food was serious too, and was piled on their plates in serious quantities It was heavier than Tally was used to, the tastes too rich, like whenever her food history class tried to cook their own ar, and although it seemed weird to eat it plain, the Smokies’

bread had its own flavor without anything added Of course, Tally would have happily devoured anything that wasn’t SpagBol

She didn’t ask as in the stew, though The thought of dead trees was enough to deal with in one day

As they e Tally for news from the city Dorm sports results, soap opera story lines, city politics Had she heard of anyone else running away? Tally answered their questions as best she could No one tried to hide their hoer as they remembered old friends and old tricks

Then Astrix asked about her journey here to the Sot the hang of Shay’s directions"

"Not that easy Took you what, ten days?" David asked

"You left the night before our birthday, right?" Shay said

"Stroke of ht," Tally said "Nine daysand a half"

Croy frowned "It took a while for the rangers to find you, didn’t it?"

"I guess so And they ale burn that got out of control"

"Really? Whoa" Shay’s friends looked impressed

"My board almost burned I had to save it and jump in the river"

"Is that what happened to your face?" Ryde asked

Tally touched the peeling skin on her nose "Well, that’s kind of"Sunburn, she almost said But the others’ faces were rapt She’d been alone so long, Tally found herself enjoying being the center of attention

"The fla this big patch of burning flowers"

Shay whistled "Incredible"

"That’s weird The rangers usually keep an eye out for us," David said

"Well, I guess they o into the fact that she’d intentionally hidden her hoverboard "Anyway, I was in the river, and I’d never even seen a helicopter - except for the day before - and this thing ca the fire toward uys I thought they were Rusty pyrohed, and Tally felt herself enjoying the war everyone at dorm about a really successful trick, but much better, because she really had survived a life-or-death situation David and Shay were hanging on to every word Tally was glad she hadn’t activated the pendant yet She could hardly sit here enjoying the Smokies’ admiration if she’d just betrayed theht, when she was alone, to do what she had to

"Thather away fro alone in the orchids for all those days, just waiting"

She shrugged "I thought they were kind of pretty I didn’t know about the whole superweed thing"

David frowned at Shay "Didn’t you tell heranything in your note?"

Shay flushed "You told ive the Smoke away, so I put it in code, sort of"