Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

At least, she thought it was Clare. This time, the woman had her hair in a short black bob, and she was wearing a sharp business suit. Only the pale blue eyes and the hard voice assured her that this was really the same woman. It was impossible to guess what she really looked like, Emily realized.

'Very good, Tracey,' Clare said. 'I'm pleased to see how well your gift works. I'd like to see demonstrations from all of you.'

As soon as she left the room, Amanda-Sarah hurried over to Tracey and Jenna. 'What am I going to do?' she asked in a panic.

A germ of a notion popped into Emily's head. 'I've got an idea.' She glanced at Martin to make sure he was still absorbed in his game. From the way he'd been talking earlier, she wasn't sure he should be included in any plans to foil the kidnappers.

They were called in for an afternoon snack a few minutes later and presented with a make-your-own- sandwich buffet.

'Wow, this is great,' Martin enthused as he spread huge gobs of peanut butter on a slice of bread. 'My mother never gives me peanut butter.'

Emily wasn't very hungry, but she forced herself to eat. She knew she had to keep up her energy levels.

Clare and the two men ate with them, so the girls were on edge. Fortunately, the adults seemed most interested in talking with Martin, and Martin was happy to answer their questions.

'Does your gift cause you problems at school, Martin?' Clare asked.

'Oh sure,' Martin said. 'People don't believe how strong I am. But if they mess with me, they're in for a big surprise. Once the captain of the wrestling team picked on me. He ended up out cold.'

Emily remembered that. An ambulance had to be called, and the big guy was carried out of school on a stretcher.

'You must have gotten into some serious trouble,' Howard commented.

Martin grinned and shook his head. 'Nope. When the guy accused me of attacking him, nobody believed him!'

'So people don't know about your gift?' George asked.

'Some people know about it because they've seen me in action,' Martin said. 'But then later, they look at me and they think, No way he did so much damage. Once I hit someone so hard, he went out a window on the second floor. Luckily for him, he landed in a bush, or he could have had serious injuries. A couple other kids were witnesses. But when the teacher asked them about it, they said the boy fell.'

'Because they were afraid of you?' Clare wanted to know.

'Probably,' Martin said proudly.

Emily doubted that. It was more likely that the kids didn't believe their own eyes. Who would believe someone as babyish and whiny as Martin could have that kind of power?

'I'll bet bigger guys are always challenging you,' Howard commented.

'Oh sure, all the time,' Martin said. 'Everyone wants to fight the champ, right?'

Amanda-Sarah started coughing loudly, and Tracey looked down at her plate. Emily was positive they were trying very hard to keep from laughing out loud, just like her.

She had to wonder why Martin wasn't more nervous about having to demonstrate his gift to Clare and the men. Had he managed to convince himself that he was in control of his strength? That he could turn it on and off at will? In her opinion, he was going to have more problems than the fake Sarah. He didn't even have Emily and Tracey helping him out.

Control. . Did these kidnappers have any idea how hard it was for the so-called gifted class to use their gifts effectively? Tracey was making progress, but she still had to use her memory, and sometimes her mood just wouldn't let her disappear. Jenna could be blocked by strong people who knew about her gift and had worked up enough power to protect their thoughts. Amanda had to feel pity before she could take over someone's body.

Emily wasn't sure if Ken could call on a dead person or if he had to wait until someone contacted him. Martin had to be bullied and teased before his strength emerged. And Sarah refused to use her gift at all.

As far as she could tell, Charles was the only one in the class who had complete control of his gift- which made her wonder why he hadn't been brought here. It seemed to her that he had the best gift for robbing banks-he could probably make all the money fly out of the bank and into the criminals' hands. And he'd be just as willing to get involved as Martin was-neither of them had any sense of loyalty.

She was pondering this question when Clare spoke to her. 'Emily? Are you having a vision?'

'No,' Emily replied. 'I was just. . you know, thinking.'

George looked interested. 'But isn't that how you see the future? By just thinking about it?'

Emily squirmed uncomfortably. 'Sort of, I guess. But not really.'

'Then how does it happen?' Clare demanded.

'I--I don't know.'

'Personally,' Howard said, 'I don't care how she does it, I just want to see her do it.'

'Yes,' Clare said. 'I told you all we wanted to see demonstrations of your gifts. Let's start now.' The frosty eyes were on Emily. 'With you.'

Emily swallowed what felt like a peach stone in her throat. 'Now? Here?'

'Yes. I want you to tell us the future of our project.'

Emily took a deep breath. She looked at Tracey, and then at Amanda-Sarah, and hoped they'd remember what they hadn't had time to practice. It was mainly up to her, though, and for Amanda's sake, she had to pull it off. 'No.'

Clare frowned. 'What?'

'No, I won't do it. I won't try to see the future, and you can't make me.'

Martin stared at her as if she were nuts. 'Of course they can! They're in charge, dummy. Haven't you ever heard of torture?'

For a moment, Emily thought the snack she'd just eaten was going to come right back up. Her eyes darted between pretty, glamorous Clare; Howard who looked like a teddy bear; and serious, bespectacled George, who reminded her of a math teacher. Looks could be very deceiving.

Tracey piped up. 'They don't have to torture Emily to get information, Martin. They can use Sarah to get it out of her.'

Clare's eyebrows shot up. 'Is this true, Sarah? I know that you're capable of making people move. Can you make them think and speak, too?'

For a moment, Sarah's face was blank, like she was totally bewildered by the conversation. Emily and Tracey both looked at her, and her expression cleared.

'Yeah, sure. I can make Emily do anything. You want to see her act like a duck?'

'No, that won't be necessary. Just make her see the future of our project and tell us about it.'

'Okay,' Amanda-Sarah said. Looking at Emily and speaking in a very low voice, she growled, 'Listen very carefully. You will do as I say.'

If she hadn't been playing a role herself, Emily would have burst out laughing. Amanda sounded like an amateur magician in a school talent show. Somehow Emily managed to keep a straight face and stare right back at her.

'We want to know what's going to happen when we rob the bank.'

Martin broke in. 'That's banks, plural. Right? We're going to rob a lot of banks.'

'That's right, Martin,' Clare said, and Emily could almost detect a hint of approval in those steely eyes. 'But we'll be satisfied if we can just learn what's going to happen on the first mission.'

Emily acted the way she would if she was truly trying to have a vision. She let her eyelids drop lightly to make her surroundings go hazy, and she tuned out all sounds.

A few seconds later, she began to speak. 'I see a big room. It's-it's a bank. The Northwest National Savings and Loan Association. There's a long counter, and a few people are standing in line waiting to see the people who work there. Behind the counter, there's a locked door that leads down a corridor and into a vault. Tracey. . Tracey's invisible. She follows a banker through the door to the vault when he unlocks it.'

Clare spoke. 'Tell us what Sarah is doing, Emily.'

'She's. . she's doing something so people can't move. I think. It's hard to see her. She's blurry.'