Other girls in the class began to titter—their faces were all 
turned back toward Nell, and she could see their exultation, and somehow Miss 
Stricken and the ruler became irrelevant compared to the other girls. Nell 
raised her hand a whole inch, saw the windup out of the corner of her eye, 
heard the whir. At the last moment, on an impulse, she flipped her hand over, 
caught the ruler on her palm, grabbed it, and twisted in a way that Dojo had 
taught her, bending it against the grain of Miss Stricken's fingers so that she 
was forced to let go. Now Nell had the ruler, and Miss Stricken was 
disarmed.