Marilyn Kaye - Speak No Evil

‘What are you talking about?’ Dr Paley sputtered. ‘I am a certified medical doctor. I don’t have to ask permission to perform a simple procedure that doesn’t require an anaesthetic.’

‘You do when it’s an experimental operation,’ the policeman declared.

‘And what makes you think I’m doing an experimental operation?’ the doctor demanded to know.

‘This young lady told me.’

Dr Paley stared at Jenna. Jenna stared right back at him.

‘You weren’t very careful, Doctor Paley,’ she said. ‘You know about my gift, you know what I’m able to do. But you didn’t block me when you came into class yesterday. I read your mind.’

Dr Paley turned to the police officer. ‘And you believe this nonsense? Do you honestly think this girl can read minds?’

‘Yes,’ Jack Fisher said simply. ‘Just as I believe that boy on the table can communicate with the dead.’

And then another person came into the room. ‘Doctor Paley, please don’t bother my students,’ Madame said quietly.

The doctor dropped all pretence. ‘Madame, I have no choice. This is absolutely necessary.’

‘Why?’ she demanded to know.

‘Because your students are dangerous.’

Madame corrected him. ‘My students have the potential to be dangerous, just as all people have. But my students also have the potential to do great and wondrous things. I will not allow you to take that potential away from them.’

Amanda finally got a chance to get a word in. ‘But Madame,’ she wailed, ‘I don’t want to do great and wondrous things. I want to be normal! And so does Ken!’

‘Do you, Ken?’ Jack asked. ‘Yesterday you saved lives. Maybe hundreds of them. Could a normal person do that?’

Amanda looked at Ken. He seemed torn. He clenched his fists, his eyebrows went up, and he mumbled, ‘Not now, Jack.’

‘Excuse me?’ the police officer said.

‘Not you, sir. I’m talking to my friend Jack. I’ll get back to you later, buddy.’ Then he hopped off the table.

‘Amanda, maybe they’re right. Maybe we shouldn’t give this up. Think about the hitchhiker you saved.’

‘But think about me!’ Amanda protested. ‘I don’t want to spend my life hopping in and out of other people!’

‘Oh, come on, Amanda,’ Ken said. ‘You’ve got more control over your gift than half the people in our class. You can choose when to use it.’

Amanda had to admit he had a point.

‘And what’s so great about being normal, anyway?’ Ken continued. ‘Think of your friend Nina. You want to be like her?’

Another good point. And what he said cheered her. Clearly, he wasn’t impressed with her frenemy.

‘I wish I could arrest you,’ Jack said to the doctor. ‘I wish I could take you into custody right now. Unfortunately, I can’t prove that you’re doing anything illegal. But I’ll be keeping my eyes on you from now on, Doctor.’

‘I’m taking my students back to school now,’ Madame told Dr Paley. ‘Including Paul.’

‘He hasn’t been released from Harmony House,’ Dr Paley argued.

‘That can be arranged,’ Jack Fisher said. ‘I do have some influence here, you know. And I’m going to get a court order to keep you away from the gifted students.’

The doctor turned to Madame. ‘You’re going to regret this. When these young people get a little older, when they begin making their own calculated decisions how and when and why to use these gifts, you’ll find that you’ve enabled and released unimaginable horror.’

Amanda expected Madame to defend them. But instead, the teacher sighed. ‘Perhaps. I don’t blame you for being frightened. I’ve got students who are afraid of their own gifts.’

‘As well they should be,’ Dr Paley declared.

Madame nodded. ‘I can only hope to influence them, to help them use their gifts wisely and well. Some of them may reject this, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take.’

Amanda’s eyes went from Ken to Jenna to Paul and she shivered. Who knew what any of them could turn out to be? Good, bad — there was no way of knowing. But there was one thing she knew for sure: their lives wouldn’t be boring.

‘Come along, class,’ Madame said. And Dr Paley stepped aside to allow the gifted students to leave.

ON MONDAY MORNING, PAUL Carter took his place in the gifted class, just behind Martin.

Martin turned round. ‘What did it feel like, being a cockroach?’

Paul tried to answer. ‘Like. . a cockroach.’ The last word came out sounding more like ‘rush’, but Martin got the idea.

‘Gross,’ he said.

Paul nodded. He thought about Martin’s gift, and wondered if he’d ever be able to use his strength whenever he wanted to. What would he use it to do?

He looked around the room at his other classmates. Charles. . Someday he wouldn’t be satisfied with using his gift just to make his life easier. Maybe he would stop a bullet from reaching its target and save a life. Or maybe he’d send two cars crashing into each other, just to amuse himself.

Emily. . Could she rescue an entire city by warning the inhabitants of an impending earthquake? Or would she refuse to focus her gift, and just allow fragments of visions to pass through her head?

Jenna could know good intentions and evil intentions, and she could take action. Or refuse to get involved. Tracey could be a spy, but for what purposes? Ken could channel the dead, and learn from them to help the living. . or maybe he’d just watch soap operas. Amanda could make someone’s life better. She could also make it worse.

His eyes rested on Sarah. He felt like he understood her now, and why she was so afraid. In a way, she was like Dr Paley. She recognized the terrible possibilities of her gift. She didn’t trust herself to be able to use it well. The temptations might be too great.

Paul could relate to that. So far, it had come easy for him. His gift had been used to hide and to escape. It grew out of fear. He’d learned over the past few days that it could be used to inspire fear. Not just Amanda’s fear of cockroaches and mice — Much greater fears than that.

So perhaps Dr Paley was right to want them ungifted, or even eliminated. Or maybe Madame was right in believing they could benefit mankind.

He hoped Madame would talk about this today. About all the dangers they faced — from people like Serena, Mr Jackson, Clare, the people who wanted to use their gifts for some terrible purpose. People like Dr Paley, who wanted to take their gifts away. And people like themselves.

He had a lot to learn — about himself, about his classmates, about what they could do, individually and together. And as Madame entered the room and called the class to order, he sat back and began to listen.