They descended the ridge on the far side, down a steep,narrow path. David led her quickly in the darkness, findingfooting on the almost invisible trail without hesitation. Itwas all Tally could do to keep up.
The whole day had been one shock after another, andnow to top it all off she was going to meet David’s parents.
That was the last thing she’d expected after showing himher pendant and telling him she hadn’t kept the Smoke asecret. His reactions were different from those of anyoneshe’d ever met before. Maybe it was because he’d grown upout here, away from the customs of the city. Or maybe hewas just . . . different.
They left the familiar ridge line far behind, and themountain rose steeply to one side.
“Your parents don’t live in the Smoke?”
“No. It’s too dangerous.”
“Dangerous how?”
“It’s part of what I was telling you your first day here, inthe railroad cave.”
“About your secret? How you were raised in the wild?”
David stopped for a moment, turning back to face herin the darkness. “There’s more to it than that.”
“What?”
“I’ll let them tell you. Come on.”
A few minutes later, a small square filled with faint lightappeared, hovering in the darkness of the mountainside.
Tally saw that it was a window, a light inside glowing deepred through a closed curtain. The house seemed halfburied, as if it had been wedged into the mountain.
When they were still a stone’s throw away, Davidstopped. “Don’t want to surprise them. They can be jumpy,”
he said, then shouted, “Hello!”
A moment later a doorway opened, letting out a shaftof light.
“David?” a woman’s voice called. The door openedwider until the light spilled across them. “Az, it’s David.”
As they drew closer, Tally saw that she was an old ugly.
Tally couldn’t tell if she was younger or older than theBoss, but she certainly wasn’t as terrifying to look at. Hereyes flashed liked a pretty’s, and the lines of her face disappearedinto a welcoming smile as she gathered her soninto a hug.
“Hi, Mom.”
“And you must be Tally.”
“Nice to meet you.” She wondered if she should shakehands or something. In the city, you never spent much time254 Scott Westerfeldwith other uglies’ parents, except when you hung out atfriends’ houses during school breaks.
The house was much warmer than the bunkhouse, andthe timber floors weren’t nearly as rough, as if David’s parentshad lived there so long, their feet had worn themsmooth. The house somehow felt more solid than anybuilding in the Smoke. It was really cut into the mountain,she saw now. One of the walls was exposed stone, glisteningwith some kind of transparent sealant.
“Nice to meet you, too, Tally,” David’s mother said. Tallywondered what her name was. David always referred tothem as “Mom” and “Dad,” words Tally hadn’t used for Soland Ellie since she was a littlie.
A man appeared, shaking David’s hand before turningto her. “Good to meet you, Tally.”
She blinked, her breath catching, for a moment unableto speak. David and his father somehow looked . . .
alike.
It didn’t make any sense. There had to be more thanthirty years between them, if his father really had been adoctor when David was born. But their jaws, foreheads,even their slightly lopsided smiles were all so similar.
“Tally?” David said.
“Sorry. You just . . . you look the same!”
David’s parents burst into laughter, and Tally felt herface turning red.
“We get that a lot,” his father said. “You city kids alwaysUGLIES 255find it a shock. But you know about genetics, don’t you?”
“Sure. I know all about genes. I knew two sisters,uglies, who looked almost the same. But parents and children?
That’s just weird.”
David’s mother forced a serious expression onto herface, but the smile stayed in her eyes. “The features that wetake from our parents are the things that make us different.
A big nose, thin lips, high forehead—all the things that theoperation takes away.”
“The preference toward the mean,” his dad said.
Tally nodded, remembering school lessons. The overallaverage of human facial characteristics was the primarytemplate for the operation. “Sure. Average-looking featuresare one of the things people look for in a face.”
“But families pass on nonaverage looks. Like our bignoses.” The man tweaked his son’s nose, and David rolledhis eyes. Tally realized that David’s nose was much biggerthan any pretty’s. Why hadn’t she noticed that beforenow?
“That’s one of the things you give up, when you becomepretty. The family nose,” his mother said. “Az? Why don’tyou turn up the heat.”
Tally realized that she was still shivering, but not fromthe cold outside. This was all so weird. She couldn’t getover the similarity between David and his father. “That’sokay. It’s lovely in here, uh . . .”
“Maddy,” the woman said. “Shall we all sit down?”
256 Scott WesterfeldF F FAz and Maddy apparently had been expecting them. In thefront room of the house, four antique cups were set out onlittle saucers. Soon a kettle began to whistle softly on anelectric heater, and Az poured the boiling water into anantique pot, releasing a floral scent into the room.
Tally looked around her. The house was unlike anyother in the Smoke. It was like a standard crumbly home,filled with impractical objects. A marble statuette stood inone corner, and rich rugs had been hung on the walls, lendingtheir colors to the light in the room, softening the edgesof everything. Maddy and Az must have brought............