He landed on his bottom with his legs poking up...
He landed on his bottom
with his legs poking up in the airShe
shouldn't have; he might have been hurtBut he
looked so funny that she couldn't help itHe could have jumped up,
grinned, and walked awayBut Doon didn't take things
lightlyWhen he heard Lina and the others laughing,
his face darkenedHis temper rose in him like hot
water"Don't you dare laugh at me," he said to Lina"I
did better than you did! That was a stupid idea anyway,
a stupid, stupid idea to climb that pole And as he
was shouting, red in the face, their teacher, Mrs
Polster, came out onto the steps and saw himShe took
him by the shirt collar to the school director's office,
where he got a scolding he didn't think he deserved
After that day, Lina and Doon barely looked at
each other when they gucci watches for women passed in the hallwayAt first it
was because they were fuming about what had hap-

20


penedDoon didn't like being laughed at; Lina didn't
like being shouted atAfter a while the memory of the
light-pole incident faded, but by then they had got out
of the habit of friendshipBy the time they were
twelve, they knew each other only as classmatesLina
was friends with Vindie Chance, Orly Gordon, and
most of all, red-haired Lizzie Bisco, who could run
almost as fast as Lina and could talk three times faster


Now, as Lina sped toward home, she felt immensely
grateful to Doon and hoped he'd come to no harm in
the PipeworksMaybe they'd be friends againShe'd
like to ask him about the PipeworksShe was curious
about it

When she got to Greystone Street, she cartier santos 100 passed
Clary Laine, who was probably on her way to the
greenhousesClary waved to her and called out, "What
job?" and Lina called back, "Messenger!" and ran on

Lina lived in Quillium Square, over the yarn
shop run by her grandmotherWhen she got to the
shop, she burst in the door and cried, "Granny! I'm a
messenger!"

Granny's shop had once been a tidy place, where
each ball of yarn and spool of thread had its spot in the
cubbyholes that lined the wallsAll the yarn and thread
came from old clothes that had gotten too shabby to be
wornGranny unraveled sweaters and picked apart


21


dresses and jackets and pants; she wound the yarn into
balls and the thread onto spools, and people bought
them to use in making new clothes

These days, the shop was a black chanel quilted messLong loops and
strands of yarn dangled out of the cubbyholes, and the
browns and grays and purples were mixed in with the
ochres and olive greens and dark bluesGranny's customers
often had to spend half an hour unsnarling the
rust-red yarn from the mud-brown, or trying to fish
out the end of a thread from a tangled wadGranny
wasn't much helpMost days she just dozed behind the
counter in her rocking chair

That's where she was when Lina burst in with her
newsLina saw that Granny had forgotten to knot up
her hair that morning--it was standing out from her
head in a wild white frizz

Granny stood up, looking puzzled"You aren't a
messenger, dear, you're a schoolgirl," she said

"But Granny, today was Assignment DayAnd I'm a messenger!"

Granny's eyes prada logos lit up, and she slapped her hand
down on the counter"I remember!" she cried"Messenger,
that's a grand job! You'll be good at it

Lina's little sister toddled out from behind the
counter on unsteady legsShe had a round face and
round brown eyesAt the top of her head was a sprig
of brown hair tied up with a scrap of red yarnShe
grabbed on to Lina's knees"Wy-na, Wy-na!" she said


22


Lina bent over and took the child's hands"Poppy!
Your big sister got a good job! Are you happy, Poppy?
Are you proud of me?"
Poppy said something that sounded like, "Hoppyhoppyhoppy!"
Lina laughed, hoisted her up, and
danced with her around the shop
Lina loved her little sister so much that it was like
an ache under her ribsThe baby and Granny were all
the family she had black fendi spy bag n