Speak No Evil

CHAPTER TWENTY

‘HE SAID IT WOULDN’T hurt, right?’ Amanda asked Ken as they approached Harmony House. ‘Do you believe him? I remember when I was a little kid, that’s what doctors always said before they gave you an injection. And it hurt.’

Ken nodded. ‘I know. But my mother had laser surgery on her eyes to improve her vision. She said she couldn’t feel a thing.’

‘OK.’ She felt Ken take her hand, and a tingle went up her arm.

‘It’s going to be fine,’ he said. ‘We’re doing the right thing. I think.’

‘Absolutely,’ Amanda affirmed. ‘This is what we want. To be normal.’

‘I mean, it’s not like I’ll be looking for hidden bombs set by dead people again,’ Ken went on. ‘And you’re not going to run into hitchhikers every day.’

‘Of course not,’ Amanda assured him. ‘And remember that boy who was looking for the lottery ticket his father had put away before he died? I’ll bet he would have found it eventually, even without your help.’

‘Maybe,’ Ken said. ‘Probably.’ After a moment, he added, ‘No, you’re absolutely, positively right. He would have found it.’

They entered the building and went up to the receptionist. ‘We have an appointment with Doctor Paley,’ Amanda said, and gave her their names.

The woman checked her computer screen. ‘Yes, you can proceed to his office.’

Her actions and response put Amanda at ease. This was just like going to the dentist, she thought. Easier, in fact. No injections, no drilling. This was more like going to the hair salon. It was no big deal.

And the secretary in the doctor’s outer office was equally reassuring.

‘Doctor Paley is expecting you,’ she said with a nod. ‘Go right in.’

The doctor greeted them with a warm and welcoming smile. ‘Hello, Ken, Amanda. How are you feeling?’

‘A little nervous,’ Ken admitted.

‘But we haven’t changed our minds,’ Amanda added quickly.

‘Good,’ Dr Paley said. ‘As I told you before, it’s experimental surgery, but tests have indicated no side effects or problems associated with the procedure. You won’t feel a thing. And since there’s no an anaesthetic, you won’t need any recovery time.’

‘When my mother had laser surgery on her eyes, she did it during her lunch break and went right back to work afterwards,’ Ken said.

Dr Paley nodded. ‘And you’ll be able to go right back to school.’ Then he grinned. ‘Unless you want an excuse to cut classes. I’ll even write you a note. There’s always a very slight possibility you’ll experience a mild headache later today, but nothing that can’t be cured with an aspirin.’

Amanda turned to Ken. ‘We could buy some sandwiches and have a picnic lunch in the park.’

‘OK,’ Ken said. Amanda thought he looked a little pale. He was still holding her hand, and she gave it a squeeze.

Dr Paley moved a machine towards them. ‘First I need to take scans of your heads. You’ve both had scans before, haven’t you? You know it’s nothing to be afraid of.’

That procedure took all of two minutes. Afterwards, Dr Paley studied the images of their heads on a lighted screen.

‘Yes,’ he murmured, more to himself than to them. ‘This won’t be difficult at all.’ He addressed them. ‘I’d like to run a little test first, just to make sure I’ve pinpointed the area accurately.’ He studied them both for a moment. ‘Amanda. . you have more control over your gift than Ken does, don’t you?’

Amanda hesitated. She didn’t want to hurt Ken’s feelings. She knew that some boys could get totally unnerved if they learned a girl could do something better than they could. Fortunately, Ken wasn’t that kind of boy.

‘Totally,’ Ken said. ‘It’s hard to call a dead person. I usually have to wait for someone to contact me first. Amanda can pretty much snap her fingers and become another person.’

Amanda lowered her eyes modestly. ‘Oh, it’s not that easy, Ken. I mean, I have to concentrate. And I need to find something depressing about the person.’

Ken grinned. ‘That wasn’t too hard with Nina, was it? It must be pretty easy to feel sorry for someone that boring.’

Amanda giggled.

Dr Paley looked like he was getting impatient. ‘All right, then let’s get on with the little test. Amanda, you need to feel pity for your subject. Did you notice my secretary, Ms Callow?’

Amanda hadn’t really paid any attention to the woman in the outer office. ‘What about her?’

‘Ms Callow has a sad life,’ the doctor told her. ‘She was very much in love with a man, and they were about to get married when he was killed in an accident. In fact, this happened on the way to the wedding ceremony.’

‘How awful!’ Amanda exclaimed.

‘Now she lives in a tiny apartment with her elderly mother, who’s always nagging her.’

‘Why doesn’t she just move out?’ Amanda wanted to know.

‘Her mother is not well and requires a great deal of care.’

‘Can’t she hire someone to do it?’

Dr Paley shook his head. ‘Ms Callow cannot afford a nurse so she has to do everything herself. She takes care of her mother in the morning, works here all day, then goes home to take care of her mother. She has no social life at all. She’s never even had a holiday, since her mother can’t travel and Ms Callow can’t leave her alone.’

Amanda frowned. She thought doctors were rich. ‘Couldn’t you give her some money so she could hire someone to stay with her mother?’

Dr Paley seemed momentarily annoyed by the question, but he recovered quickly. ‘I’ve offered, of course. But she’s very proud, she won’t accept charity. So she suffers.’

It all sounded pretty grim to Amanda. That poor woman — what a depressing life she led.

Dr Paley watched her expression closely. Then he went to the door and opened it. ‘Ms Callow, could you come in here for a minute?’

For the first time, Amanda gave the secretary a long, hard look. She was attractive and her clothes were decent. Cute, even. The woman didn’t seem all that miserable. But appearances were deceptive, she knew that. Ms Callow probably put up a good front for her job. Maybe she wore that same suit every day. This image made Amanda feel even more sympathy for her.

Dr Paley spoke quietly to the secretary. ‘Please remain very still and don’t say anything. I’m running a test.’ He went to his table of instruments and picked up a thick tube with a rubbery tip. Amanda flinched as he approached her with it.

‘This won’t hurt,’ he assured her. ‘I’m only going to touch your scalp with it.’

He was telling the truth. It didn’t hurt at all — there was just a little pressure.

‘Now, Amanda, take over Ms Callow.’

‘What?’ the secretary cried out in alarm.

‘Be quiet,’ the doctor ordered. ‘Go ahead, Amanda.’

Amanda looked at the secretary and tried to imagine her daily life. All alone, except for her old mother, who probably wasn’t very good company if she was ill all the time. She pictured a dark, ugly apartment and empty wardrobes. Pity overwhelmed her.

Amanda?’

Amanda looked at the doctor in wonderment. ‘I’m still me!’

Dr Paley removed the instrument. ‘Excellent. You may leave, Ms Callow.’

The confused-looking secretary retreated and closed the door behind her.

‘I have accurately pinpointed the area we need to treat,’ the doctor said. ‘Ken, I wish I could test you, but. . Ken? Are you listening to me?’

Amanda looked at Ken. She recognized the glazed expression on her classmate’s face.

‘He’s hearing someone! Ken, is it the soap opera lady?’

Dr Paley didn’t wait for Ken’s response. He hurried over to him and pressed the rubber thing against his skull.

Ken frowned. ‘Jack. .?’ He blinked.

‘That’s his friend — the one who died after the collision,’ Amanda told Dr Paley.

‘Jack?’ Ken murmured again.

Dr Paley smiled in satisfaction and lifted the instrument. ‘I cut the connection, Ken. This is going to work very well, I have no doubts.’ He nodded towards the examining table. ‘Who wants to go first?’

Ken and Amanda looked at each other. ‘Ladies first?’ Ken suggested.

‘Oh, that’s so old-fashioned,’ Amanda said quickly.

Dr Paley smiled. ‘OK, I’ll decide. Come on, Ken, let’s show the young lady there’s nothing to be afraid of.’

Ken climbed up on to the table and lay down.

‘I’ll use the scan to pinpoint the exact spot where I’ll direct the laser beam,’ the doctor said. He wheeled the machine to the side of the table.

Amanda watched nervously, but a movement on the floor distracted her. ‘There’s a mouse!’ she cried out.

Ken sat up. ‘Where?’

Amanda couldn’t answer him. She couldn’t even speak. Before her eyes, the mouse began to expand, and its body changed form. Then it wasn’t a mouse at all.

‘Carter!’ she exclaimed.

‘His name’s Paul,’ Ken reminded her.

‘Whatever,’ Amanda replied. ‘What are you doing here?’

Dr Paley was frowning. ‘Paul, you shouldn’t be in here. Go to your room immediately.’

The boy’s mouth moved, as if he was trying to reply. The only word that came out was ‘no’.

Amanda glared at the boy. ‘I can’t believe you nibbled at my granola bar. That was so disgusting.’

Dr Paley went to the door and opened it. ‘Ms Callow, would you please call a resident assistant to escort Paul Carter back to his room?

The secretary came to the door and stared at Paul in astonishment. ‘I didn’t even see him come in!’

‘Um, he was hiding in the cupboard,’ Dr Paley told her. ‘It’s not important. Just call for a resident assistant, please.’ Ms Callow hurriedly went back out to her desk.

Paul looked at Ken. Amanda remembered how expressionless the boy usually looked. Now there was no mistaking the urgency on his face.

‘Stop,’ Paul said.

‘Stop what?’ Ken asked.

He mumbled something that sounded like ‘dun loose ya giff’.

‘We can’t understand a word you’re saying,’ Amanda snapped impatiently.

A familiar voice came from outside the door. ‘He’s saying, don’t lose your gift.’

‘You can’t go in there!’ Ms Callow yelled.

But as usual, Jenna didn’t respond well to authority figures. She stomped right into Dr Paley’s office.

‘What are you doing here?’ Ken asked.

‘If you want the procedure, you’re going to have to wait your turn,’ Amanda snapped.

Jenna wasn’t alone. The police officer, Jack Fisher, followed her into Dr Paley’s office.

The doctor was not pleased. ‘Excuse me, but we’re in the process of a medical procedure here!’

‘No one’s performing any procedures in here today,’ Officer Fisher declared. ‘This surgery has not been authorized by Harmony House officials.’

‘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.