6. Climbing
"I bet you can't climb first to the very top of the tallest dome," said Alandi.
"How much?" I asked her.
"My best shiny hairpin against those new boots of yours."
Alandi's aunt had given her that hairpin, and she had gotten it in turn from a passing alien in need of a ride. "This is one of a kind," she had told her baby niece. And now it is one of my best friend's greatest treasures.
I didn't want to take it from her. But that wouldn't be half as bad as backing out of a dare. I nodded. "All right."
It is a steep climb, but not too difficult for those who know how. The best view of our town comes from a hole in the dome, where jagged bits of cloth and rubble have tumbled down into the space below. I stood in this exact spot, and watched the buildings and hills and people, and I waited for my friend to arrive beside me.
She was a little out of breath, but did not take long to catch up with me. "You won," she said, sounding disappointed.
I looked back at her face. "Yeah. I guess so."
"All right then." Without another word, Alandi reached back and unhinged my prize from her hair.
It was two days later, when Maia had sent us to fetch some fresh river water, when I insisted that I had a present for Alandi.
"I won this in a bet," I said. "So that means it's mine to give to whoever I want."
Frowning, she opened her hand. Resting in her palm like an egg in its nest was that same shiny metal pin.