Free Speak No Evil-Gifted 6 by Marilyn Kaye Page B

at the desk and shrugged. ‘Sure.’ The heavy wooden desk rose slightly and moved to the left.
    ‘Does anyone have a ruler or measuring tape?’ Amanda-Madame asked.
    ‘I think there’s a tape in your top drawer,’ Emily said.
    For a second, Amanda-Madame was confused and looked at the desk in which the robot was sitting. She recovered quickly. ‘Yes, of course, that’s right.’ She went into the drawer of the teacher’s desk and took out a measuring tape.
    ‘Hmm . . . You seem to have only moved the desk ten centimetres, Charles. You must improve.’
    ‘Five centimetres, big deal,’ Charles protested.
    ‘Charles! We aim for perfection here!’
    Charles shrank back in his wheelchair. ‘Yes, Madame,’ he murmured.
    It was getting very hard for Amanda not to burst out laughing. This was fun!
    ‘Now we’ll test Jenna. Class, do not block her. Jenna, what is Ken thinking about right now?’
    ‘Wait a minute,’ Ken said quickly, but Jenna was too fast for him. She grinned.
    ‘He’s thinking about Amanda.’
    Amanda could only hope her face didn’t reveal the pleasure she felt. Fortunately, Tracey chose that moment to reappear and distracted the class’s attention.
    ‘I’m back,’ she announced unnecessarily.
    Amanda-Madame frowned. ‘It took too long. You need to work on that.’
    ‘My prediction was correct,’ Emily pointed out.
    ‘Yes, yes, very good.’ She moved on. ‘Martin, let’s test your strength.’ She looked around the room. The heaviest thing was the desk, but they’d already used that. She needed something more original.
    Inspiration didn’t fail her. ‘Martin, pick up Sarah and hold her over your head.’
    Martin was startled. ‘Really?’
    ‘Yes,’ Amanda-Madame stated.
    ‘That’s not much of a test,’ Jenna protested. ‘Sarah’s not very heavy.’
    Amanda-Madame looked at her sternly. ‘He can’t just lift her, he has to hold her over his head. That would be impossible for a normal person his size.’
    Martin got up and went to the back of the room. Sarah watched him apprehensively as he approached her.
    ‘Madame, is this really necessary?’ she asked.
    ‘Don’t worry, Martin won’t drop you,’ Amanda-Madame assured her.
    Martin didn’t look all that confident. He stood very still for a moment, as if he was summoning his gift. Then he lifted Sarah out of her chair. The whole class watched as he raised her higher and higher, until his arms were stretched out straight and she was way over his head.
    Sarah had gone as stiff as a board and she did not look happy. ‘OK, he’s done it,’ she said. ‘Put me down now, Martin.’
    Amanda-Madame shook her head. ‘Martin, don’t put her down. Sarah, you have to make Martin put you down. Use your gift.’
    ‘No!’ Sarah cried out.
    Amanda-Madame pretended to be shocked. ‘Sarah, are you disobeying your teacher? Make Martin put you down, now!’
    ‘No, no, I don’t want to do that!’
    ‘Wait a minute!’ Jenna suddenly shouted. ‘I can read your mind! You’re not Madame, you’re Amanda!’
    Amanda wanted to kick herself. She’d let her guard down. ‘I am not,’ she said, but the denial sounded feeble, even to her ears.
    Martin placed Sarah back in her chair. ‘Sorry about that,’ he mumbled. But he looked at Amanda-Madame with admiration in his eyes. ‘That was pretty cool,’ he said.
    Ken was grinning too. Clearly, he wasn’t too displeased with having had his thoughts revealed. And Charles was laughing.
    ‘Hey, before you let Madame come back, can you dismiss us early?’
    ‘And don’t give us any homework,’ Martin added.
    ‘Amanda, you get out of Madame right now!’ Jenna yelled.
    ‘I’ll leave her when I’m ready,’ Amanda retorted.
    The voice from the back of the room was tremulous. ‘No, you’ll leave her now,’ Sarah said.
    Amanda felt something she’d never felt before. It was like her mind, her consciousness, her spirit was forcibly pulled out of the body she’d taken over. And