Now You See Me-Gifted 5 Page 12

  The others were still at the dining-room table. ‘You’re slipping, Serena,’ Clare announced as she pushed Tracey towards the table. ‘She’s already awake.’

  Serena frowned. ‘It’s not easy with these kids. They’re not normal, their brains don’t work like other people’s. I’m going to have to develop some sort of special individualized hypnotic programme for each of them.’

  Stuart indicated Carter. ‘You didn’t have any problem with him.’

  Serena gave him a withering look. ‘Of course not. He isn’t gifted.’

  Now, that was interesting, Tracey thought. She’d always wondered about that. So he hadn’t been put in their class because he was like the rest of them. He’d been placed there simply because he was strange, weird, not normal. Which, when she thought about it, was like the rest of them . . .

  Stuart was looking at her nervously. ‘Is she trying to disappear?’

  ‘She shouldn’t be able to,’ Serena said. ‘I gave her a post-hypnotic suggestion.’

  Clare grimaced. ‘What makes you think that’s going to work any more efficiently than your hypnosis?’

  ‘I’d like to see you do a better job,’ Serena retorted.

  Mr Jackson spoke up. ‘Don’t bicker. We need to concentrate on how we can make this work for us.’

  ‘What’s the problem?’ Stuart asked. ‘We were going to take them all eventually anyway.’

  ‘But not yet,’ Clare snapped. ‘Nothing’s in place. We’re not ready for her.’

  They were talking about her like she wasn’t there. In a way, this could be good for her, though. If she could feel like she wasn’t there, maybe in another moment or two she wouldn’t be there.

  But instead of feeling depressed, she felt annoyed with them. Did they think she was stupid? ‘Are you talking about the project?’ she blurted out.

  That got their attention. ‘What do you know about the project?’ Clare asked sharply.

  Uh-oh! Tracey offered a weak smile, and hoped it looked mysterious.

  ‘I don’t like this,’ Stuart declared. ‘She knows too much.’

  ‘And she could disappear any minute,’ Clare added.

  Serena agreed. ‘So what are we going to do with her?’

  Only Mr Jackson seemed calm. ‘She’s not going to disappear.’

  ‘How can we stop her?’ Stuart wanted to know.

  Mr Jackson’s smile was extremely unpleasant. ‘I’m going to tell her exactly what will happen if she does.’ He addressed Tracey directly.

  ‘Do you love your little sisters, Tracey?’

  Tracey stared at him blankly.

  ‘And what about your parents, Tracey? Do you love them?’

  Mutely, she nodded.

  ‘And you wouldn’t want anything terrible to happen to them, would you?’

  Tracey found her voice, but it was trembling. ‘You’re a very bad person.’

  Mr Jackson shrugged. ‘Good, bad – it’s all relative.’

  ‘Besides,’ Tracey continued, trying very hard to steady her voice, ‘I can’t always control my gift. Do you think I wanted to appear in front of you today?’

  ‘But you’re getting better and better,’ Mr Jackson said. ‘That’s what your special class is all about, isn’t it?’ He nodded towards Carter. ‘That’s what he’s told us. You practise, you work at gaining control. Madame’s doing a good job with you, isn’t she?’

  Tracey could feel her own breathing become harder, faster. Was it possible that Madame was involved in the conspiracy? The one person they all completely trusted, the one who knew them better than their own families – was she part of this? Her heart was thumping and she couldn’t catch her breath.

  ‘She’s hyperventilating,’ Clare declared in disgust.

  ‘It’s a panic attack,’ Serena said. ‘Get a paper bag.’

  The next thing Tracey knew, her mouth was covered with a bag and someone was yelling, ‘Deep breaths! Deep breaths!’ Her heart pounded harder, louder, she could hear the banging . . .

  But the banging wasn’t coming from her chest. Someone was rapping on the door.

  ‘Quiet!’ Mr Jackson ordered them. In a softer voice, he asked, ‘Is the door locked?’

  ‘Of course,’ Clare whispered back.

  But the door opened anyway. Mr Jackson raced towards it and collided with a speeding wheelchair.

  It got him right in the stomach. ‘Ow!’ he screamed.

  But none of his comrades raced to his aid. They were all frozen as they watched the rest of the rescue team march in and close the door behind them.

  Tracey felt her breathing ease as she took in the new arrivals. Ken, Jenna and Amanda followed Charles. Emily, Martin and Sarah came in next. Madame brought up the rear.

  Serena began chanting at Carter, and the boy’s eyes were becoming even more glazed than they were normally. Tracey suddenly realized that she might be trying to hypnotize him permanently, so that he couldn’t ever testify against them.

  ‘Charles!’ Tracey yelled, and pointed towards the hypnotist. But Charles only glanced at Serena. He focused on the paper bag that had been used on Tracey, and sent it flying across the room. It fell over Serena’s head and covered her face. But Serena continued to chant.

  ‘I’m going to have to knock her out,’ Charles declared.

  Tracey looked around the room. She didn’t see anything particularly heavy. ‘With what?’

  Charles grinned. Suddenly, a big frying pan sailed into the room. It flew through space towards Serena. Since she couldn’t see it coming, she couldn’t duck – and it hit her in the head. That stopped her chanting.

  Martin gasped. ‘Where did that pan come from?’

  ‘From the kitchen,’ Charles said with a smug expression. ‘I don’t have to see things to move them any more.’

  Madame was clearly impressed. ‘Charles, you’re improving!’ But her attention was diverted when Stuart Kelley began moving towards the door. She turned to Sarah.

  ‘Make him stop!’

  But Sarah looked absolutely terrified, and didn’t move.

  ‘Martin, stop him!’ Jenna yelled.

  Martin cringed. Jenna groaned, and spoke rapidly. ‘Oh, that’s right, I forgot – you’re a weakling, you’re hopeless, you can’t do anything, you puny feeble little nobody.’

  Martin went into action. Seconds later, Stuart Kelley was on the ground, knocked unconscious. Jenna looked down at his prone body.

  ‘Hi, Daddy,’ she said sarcastically. ‘What’s new?’

  Clare stood very still, taking in the scene. Then she started towards the kitchen. Jenna watched her.

  ‘Don’t even think about it,’ she said. ‘Charles can get a weapon out of your hand before you can get a firm grip on it. He could even turn it around and use it on you.’

  Charles’s eyes widened. ‘Gee, you’re right! I never thought of that.’

  Mr Jackson had recovered from his encounter with the wheelchair. He stood there stiffly, and spoke to Madame.

  ‘What do you think you’re going to do now?’

  ‘I’ve called the police,’ she replied. ‘And when they arrive, I’ll accuse you of kidnapping Tracey.’

  ‘We didn’t kidnap Tracey,’ Clare objected. ‘She came here of her own free will.’

  ‘Then I’ll accuse you of kidnapping Carter,’ the teacher said.

  Mr Jackson didn’t blink. ‘Call his foster parents. He has their permission to be with me. You have no proof of anything illegal going on here, Madame. And I sincerely doubt that you really called the police.’ He actually smiled.

  Jenna whispered in Tracey’s ear. ‘She didn’t. She’s just trying to scare him.’

  The principal continued. ‘It seems to me, Madame, that you have more to fear from the police than we do.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ she asked.

  ‘I’m the principal of Meadowbrook Middle School. I’m a respected member of this community. If you have me arrested, there will be publicity. And I’ll have a pla
tform to tell the world all about your Gifted class.’

  Tracey looked at Madame. Was that fear in her eyes? If so, it vanished quickly.

  ‘And I’ll have no option but to instruct my students to use their gifts against you. You know what they can do.’ As if to make her point even clearer, she put a hand on Sarah’s shoulder. Sarah flinched, but she didn’t contradict Madame.

  Mr Jackson fell silent for a moment. ‘Then it looks like perhaps we should make a deal,’ he said finally.

  ‘Go on,’ Madame said.

  ‘You say nothing to anyone about this. And I won’t expose your students.’

  Ken spoke. ‘That’s not much of a deal. He wouldn’t tell people about us, Madame. It’s like you always say – nobody believes we have gifts.’

  ‘And why would the police believe you?’ Clare countered. ‘You have no evidence against us.’

  ‘But there is evidence,’ Tracey cried out. ‘You can tell the police about the project. You can show them the plans.’

  ‘What project?’ Madame asked.

  ‘It’s what they want to use us for. It’s in a folder, in that desk.’

  ‘I’ll get it,’ Charles said quickly. He looked at the desk, and all the drawers opened. And all the papers came flying out. Telephone bills, bank statements – hundreds of documents floated through the air.

  ‘Oops!’ Charles murmured. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘The police are here!’ Emily announced.

  ‘Madame, they’ll see Serena,’ Ken pointed out.

  ‘Sarah, move Serena,’ Madame ordered.

  There was a knock on the door. ‘Police! Open up!’

  Mr Jackson turned to Clare.

  ‘Open the door.’

  ‘Sarah!’ Madame exclaimed. ‘Do it!’

  But Serena remained where she was, with the paper bag on her head and unconscious. And Clare was already beginning to open the door.

  ‘Sarah, quick!’ Madame hissed.

  ‘Oh, Madame,’ the girl whispered in an agonized voice. But she looked at Serena. And as if by her own free will, the woman got up and walked out of the room into the kitchen.

  Two police officers stood in the doorway. ‘Excuse me, ma’am,’ one of them said to Clare. ‘But we’ve had a complaint of some kind of disruption going on here.’

  The other officer looked at the papers lying all over the floor. ‘What’s going on here?’

  Mr Jackson strode forward. ‘Good afternoon, officers.’ He introduced himself and shook their hands. One of the officers looked at him with interest.

  ‘We’ve met before. You’re my kid’s school principal.’

  ‘That’s right,’ Mr Jackson said, beaming. ‘We’re working on a school project here.’ He looked at the papers and smiled ruefully. ‘I’m afraid we had a little accident and made a mess. But I don’t quite think it’s in the category of anything criminal!’ He laughed at his own little quip.

  The police officers didn’t laugh, but they didn’t seem concerned either. ‘I guess you made some noise and a neighbour complained,’ one said. ‘Just keep it down, OK?’

  ‘Of course, officers,’ Mr Jackson said smoothly.

  Madame spoke up. ‘Actually, the meeting has ended and we were about to leave. Come along, everyone.’

  Eight of the nine gifted students gathered around her.

  ‘Come along, Carter,’ Madame called.

  ‘No, Madame,’ Jenna whispered frantically in her ear. ‘He’s the spy!’

  But the teacher ignored her. ‘Carter?’ she called again.

  In zombie mode, the boy rose from his seat at the dining table and joined them. Madame ushered them all past the policemen and out of the door. She turned back to the people still in the house and spoke.

  ‘This was an interesting meeting. Highly enlightening.’ She paused, and then added, ‘I’ll get back to you, Mr Jackson, and we can continue negotiations.’

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  AS THE LAST CLASS period began on Monday afternoon, Room 209 was unusually quiet. Everyone seemed to be lost in their own thoughts as they waited for Madame to arrive.

  There had been rumours and phone calls the day before and whispered conversations in the hallways of Meadowbrook today. But no one knew what was really going on.

  Ken spoke quietly to Tracey. ‘So you didn’t find out what this project is all about.’

  Tracey shook her head. ‘I didn’t get that far.’

  Amanda had overheard them. Her comment was directed to Emily. ‘Why can’t you just look into the future and tell us?’

  ‘I don’t even know what to look for,’ Emily told her. ‘I have to know what the project is before I can see if it’s going to happen.’

  ‘Well, I’ll never be able to read it in their minds,’ Jenna grumbled. ‘Not if they know I’m around.’ She turned to Tracey. ‘Too bad we can’t combine our gifts.’

  ‘Maybe we can figure out a way,’ Tracey said. ‘Do you guys realize, this was the first time we’ve all pooled our gifts? Everyone did something.’ She ticked them off on her fingers. ‘I got into the house, Charles made the locked door open. Martin stopped Stuart from escaping, Jenna read Clare’s mind, Emily told us the police had arrived, and, and, oh yeah, Sarah moved Serena out of the dining room before the police could see her.’

  ‘Yeah, right,’ Jenna muttered. ‘After Madame asked her three times.’

  ‘But she did it,’ Tracey said stoutly, and she smiled at Sarah. ‘Thanks, Sarah.’

  ‘You’re welcome,’ Sarah whispered, but she didn’t seem proud of it and she looked away.

  Amanda was offended. ‘You left me out. I provided the information about Mr Jackson.’

  Which Tracey could have provided, but she let Amanda take the credit. ‘That’s right.’

  ‘And you left out Ken,’ Amanda added. She smiled warmly at the boy.

  Tracey grinned. So that ‘sort-of ’ relationship was on again. ‘Ken did a lot.’

  ‘Not with my gift,’ Ken said. He turned slightly, and eyed the small boy at the back. ‘What about him?’

  Silence fell over the room again as they all turned to look at Carter.

  ‘It wasn’t his fault,’ Tracey declared. ‘He was hypnotized.’ But the looks that Carter was receiving from his classmates were less than friendly. The boy, as always – almost always – seemed oblivious. But now they all knew he took in everything they said, everything that happened in the class. They could never trust him.

  Madame walked in. She wasn’t alone.

  ‘Good afternoon, class. I’d like to introduce Doctor Paley. He’d like to say a few words to you.’

  The plump, balding man faced them. ‘Hello. I met one of your classmates recently. She told me about her gift.’

  A gasp went up from practically every student.

  Jenna groaned. ‘Knock it off, guys. It was me, OK? I had to tell him or I’d have got tossed into a mental institution. But I didn’t tell him about anyone else.’

  ‘That’s right,’ the man said. ‘Logic tells me that you all must be special in some way, but I have no idea what your gifts are, and I’m not going to ask you about them. Maybe, someday, you’ll trust me and you’ll want to tell me. But I won’t be pressing you for information.’

  Charles looked suspicious. ‘Why are you here if you’re not trying to find out stuff about us?’

  ‘I’m here because you have a classmate in need,’ he said simply.

  ‘Carter,’ Madame called softly. ‘Could you come up here, please?’

  Obediently, the boy rose and came to the front of the room. He stood silently by her desk.

  ‘I have permission to take Carter back to Harmony House,’ Dr Paley said. ‘I’m going to try to help him there.’

  ‘Just keep him away from the rest of us,’ Charles said bitterly. ‘He’s a traitor.’

  ‘Don’t jump to conclusions,’ Madame said. ‘It may turn out that Carter can help us.’

  ‘He doesn’t have a gift,’ Tracey told her.
<
br />   Madame smiled. ‘There are gifts, and there are gifts. There’s a lot we don’t know about Carter. Thank you, Doctor Paley.’

  The doctor left with Carter. As soon as the door closed behind them, people had questions.

  ‘Can we trust that Paley guy?’ Charles wanted to know.

  ‘He got me out of Harmony House,’ Jenna replied. ‘He’s OK – I read his mind.’

  ‘But what if Carter tells him everything about us?’ Emily asked anxiously.

  The conversation was stopped by a shrill buzz from the intercom on the wall behind Madame’s desk. Then they heard the voice of Ms Simmons, the office secretary.

  ‘May I have your attention? I have an important announcement to make. The Board of Education regrets to inform you that your principal, Mr Jackson, will be leaving his position due to personal reasons. Mr Jones from the History Department will be acting principal until the position is filled. I am sure you all join me in bidding Mr Jackson a fond farewell, and offering him our best wishes for future success.’

  The intercom went silent, and silence remained in the classroom. But only for a few seconds. Then a couple of people let out a cheer, and everyone was talking at once.

  ‘Was that part of the deal, Madame?’

  ‘Is he leaving town?’

  ‘Where’s he going?’

  ‘Does this mean we’re safe?’

  Madame rapped on her desk, and the voices died down.

  ‘This isn’t the end,’ she said. Her voice was calm, but serious. ‘And there’s no reason to cheer. Mr Jackson is only one piece of what I think may be a very big puzzle. Even if he’s out of the picture, you are not safe. There will be more challenges, bigger challenges, and we have to get ready to face them.’

  ‘What kind of challenges?’ Jenna asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Madame replied simply.

  ‘Then how can we get ready if we don’t know what we’re going to face?’ Ken wanted to know.

  ‘We’re going to work on the gifts,’ Madame said. ‘Harder and faster than we’ve ever worked before. It’s not simply a question of control any more, of fitting in, of being comfortable. You’re never going to be like other people, and there’s no point in trying. It’s a question of getting better at being yourself.’