Remember Me by Christopher Pike Page A

Daniel said.

    Jo asked. Beth's right leg didn't budge.

    Jo laughed. "You're going to be a poor can of Spam, Dan."

    Daniel frowned. "Ask if I'm going to live to an old age."

    "Yes," Jo said a moment later.

    Daniel perked up. "Am I going to be happy?"

    "No," Jo said. Beth's heels had not moved. Daniel sat back, discouraged.

    "I don't know how a magnet can know my future," he said.

    "It's not the magnet," Jo said. "It's only the trigger. It's Beth's body that's answering our questions."

    "Her body might have some effect on your future," I muttered.

    That time my comment did not go unnoticed. The room became filled with tension. Yet no one said anything. What was there to say when we had God to talk to? Jo wasn't going to let my bad mood spoil the festivities. She nodded to Amanda.

    "Anything you want to know, Bliss?" she asked.

    Amanda got up slowly and crawled over beside Jo. "Can I do it myself?" she asked.

    Jo smiled. "It takes a little practice. Why don't you just let me ask for you?"

    Amanda gestured to Beth's feet. "But you just ask the questions and lift her heels up. I can do that."

    "But why not let me ask?" Jo asked.

    "She wants to ask something private," Jeff said.

    Amanda nodded. "Please?"

    "All right," Jo said reluctantly, moving away. "But be sure to have your question clearly in mind, or it won't work."

    The magnet did work for Amanda. Sometimes Beth's right leg would get longer when Amanda thought her question and raised Beth's feet, and sometimes Beth's legs would stay the same. It was eerie watching Amanda go through the routine silently. Amanda asked many questions.

    Or else she asked one question a number of times. I didn't know why I got that impression—that she was hung up on one point. When she was done, she stared off into empty space for a few seconds.

    "Are you satisfied?" Jo asked.

    "One question," Amanda said. "Is this thing always right?"

    "I've found it to be," Jo said carefully.

    Amanda looked at her. "But I just asked it if it was always right, and do you know what it said?"

    "What?" Jo asked.

    "Maybe," Amanda said.

    Jo motioned for Amanda to scoot aside and took hold of Beth's feet. "Does the leg-length reflex in Beth's body always respond correctly to our questions?" Jo asked.

    Beth's right leg got more than an inch longer.

    "Yes," Jo said.

    "That's not the answer I got," Amanda said. Because she was so often solemn, it was difficult to tell if the magnet had upset her. But she certainly didn't appear to be bursting with joy.

    "You must have done it wrong," Jo said.

    Amanda thought a moment. "Maybe."

    Jo let Jeff ask his questions next. He questioned her out loud, not worried about what we thought. He let Jo handle Beth's feet.

    "Is everything in our lives predestined?" he asked.

    Jo frowned down at Beth's shoes. "Her heel budged slightly."

    "Is there a yes-or-no answer to my previous question?" Jeff asked.

    "No," Jo said.

    Jeff was getting awfully heavy awfully fast. "But are certain things in our lives destined?"
    he asked.

    "Yes," Jo said. "It's very clear this time."

    "Is the force that we understand as God directly answering these questions?"

    Jeff asked.

    "No," Jo said, and she seemed disappointed.

    "Is there a God?" Jeff asked.

    "Yes," Jo said.

    "Is he as we imagine him?" Jeff asked.

    "No," Jo said.

    "Is there life after death?" Jeff asked.

    Jo paused. "Of course there must be life after death if there's a God, Jeff."

    "Ask," he insisted.

    Jo asked. "Yes," she said. "I told you."

    Then he asked the question that on the surface started me on my long fall to my death. He definitely must have had Peter on his mind. "Is someone who was once alive but is now dead using this leg reflex to try to communicate with us?"

    he asked.

    "Yes," Jo said.

    "Did we know this person when he was alive?" Jeff asked, sitting forward.

    "Yes," Jo said.

    "Is this person anxious to talk to us?" Jeff asked.

    "Yes," Jo said, letting go of Beth's feet and