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司氏姐妹第五章：魔蹤潛影

作者：Wuwuyu 於 2012-7-15 18:04 發表於最熱鬧的華人社交網路--貝殼村

作者分類:翻譯小說|通用分類:原創文學

關鍵詞：童話小說, 移民生活, 中國女孩, 哈利波特, 學英語

http://theswitchsisters.wordpress.com/

第5章：魔蹤潛影

「瑪拉！」

瑪麗第一個看到她。在靠近玫瑰花圃的石井邊，堆著一攤看似白色床單的東西。那就是瑪拉，她的頭朝下，她的手抓著一件黑色外套。在她的腳周圍，是一灘在月光下透出暗紅色光芒的液體。

亨特太太跑過整個花園。她轉過身來，面對客人，又踉蹌倒退幾步。她指著在她身後的瑪拉。

「兇手！」她又說了一遍，這一次不是尖叫，而是低聲抽泣，她用指頭戳著空氣，對著身體癱倒在地上的瑪拉。

瑪麗拖著米娜的手越過水井，不讓亨特太太可以夠著她。法媽和摩根也很快趕到。他們幫助瑪拉站起來。她仍然抓著外套，當她的白色禮服隨著她站起身而展開，可以看到鮮紅的血液從外套滲透到瑪拉身上。上午時燦爛的笑容從她的臉上消失了，她抽泣著，她的身體在不可控制的抽搐著。

「怎麼回事？」法媽問道。她用雙臂支撐著瑪拉，雖然她的聲音充滿著關心，但依然冷峻和嚴肅。「瑪拉，」她說。「請馬上告訴我們。」客人們已慢慢移近，有一部分人由於好奇心而冒然向前，另一些人因恐懼而徘徊猶豫。

「格雷厄姆，」瑪拉說。她的聲音又軟又輕，帶著抽泣。「我找不到他。我一直在尋找他，然後，我看見他和另外一個影子一起站在井邊。我能夠感到有什麼東西不對。燈突然滅了，當我趕到這裡，我只發現這樣東西」。她舉起外套。很明顯，它是格雷厄姆曾一直穿著燕尾服外套。

法媽說：「你有沒有看到對方是誰？」。

「沒有，」馬拉說著，再次哭泣起來。她翻身撲到母親懷裡，而法媽扶起她的背，臉色一絲不動，「我看到的是一個影子，」瑪拉說。「甚至看上去不像人。」

這時，亨特夫人和其他人也靠近了井邊。他們站在10尺開外，彷彿不敢走近。閃閃發光的淚滴流在亨特夫人漲紅的臉上。「我的兒子！」她說。「你殺了他。」

人群在叫囂。在恐怖的外表下是扭曲了的興奮的笑容。安玫瑰鎮的人們還從未目睹過一場公眾場合的謀殺。

米娜向前跑去。「不是她！」她衝口而出。「她只是找到了這件外套。她看到是別人乾的！「

彷彿像一個氣泡無聲的破滅。亨特夫人把米娜和其他姐妹推開——她們在她們的姐姐前排成一列以免她受到眾人的誣衊－－一把抓住瑪拉的肩膀。

「騙子！」她說。她搖晃了瑪拉一會兒，然後法媽用手臂把她向後推開。亨特夫人尖叫道。「騙子！殺人犯！我應該知道，不應該讓我的兒子與你們這一類人混在一起！我應該知道。格雷厄姆......「她把她的臉埋在手中，倒向一群聚集在她身後的婦女中。她向上看了看，用雙手撐在她們的肩膀上。

「騙子！」她又說了一遍，養精蓄銳后的她再次爆發出新的能量，她用手指向法媽和司家姐妹。「殺人犯！騙子！巫婆！」

喧鬧聲混亂一片，叫喊聲在空中爆炸。整個婚宴的客人已聚集在亨特夫人背後，矮小的人踮起腳尖想一睹現場。人們的面孔從好奇轉向害怕再變成憤怒，很快就不只是亨特夫人一個人在喊。「殺人犯，騙子，巫婆，」人們也向她們吐唾沫。瑪拉又癱倒在地上。米娜坐到她旁邊，握著她的手。摩根和瑪麗站在前面，俯視著人群，摩根的臉上燃燒著抗爭，而瑪麗的臉上卻散發出冷靜的自信。

警長擠到了人群的前面。法媽也向前邁了一步，她的雙眼充滿著寒意，讓最強壯的人的脊椎都感到涼颼颼的。它們像在說：「誰敢動我的女兒，看我會做什麼。」但瑪拉站起來慢慢地向前走去，帶著幾乎聽不見的聲音說，「帶我走。」她的姐妹們把她拉回來。她卻撥開她們。她的臉耷拉著，她投降了。

儘管亨特夫人的反對，警長還是組織了一個搜索隊去尋找格雷厄姆，或他的屍體。「你們永遠也找不到他，」亨特夫人尖叫著，揮舞著她的手臂，扯撕著她的頭髮。「這女巫可能早已讓他的身體消失了。她毀了他，她吃了他的靈魂！我可憐的孩子......」為以防萬一，由十人組成的搜索隊還是出發了，儘管整個花園被清查了一邊，除了他的血跡斑斑的外套，沒有找到格雷厄姆的任何痕迹。瑪拉被戴上手銬帶走。當她背著她的手，與警長一起走向警車時，人群變得沉默，他們悄悄地讓開一條路，讓他們通過。她踏進車，勉強地望了她的母親和姐妹一眼，被帶到了當地的拘留所。

在大家各自走回家時，滿街都是大聲的交頭接耳的聲音。各家各戶都燈火通明，徹夜難眠，直到深夜，大家都在討論和爭執著整個事件的來龍去脈。這個婚禮帶來比期望太多的東西。人們講述著新娘在上午看到時是多麼的美妙絕倫，而在晚上，她是如何變得蒼老，臉上充滿了卑賤的皺紋。他們在談論她的白色的婚紗，血跡斑斑，看起來就像是她被殺害。孩子們被早早安置在床上，卻異常清醒，低聲彼此交談著荒誕的故事，說誰見到她是如何從嘴裡吐出一把刀，刺到市長兒子的胸部，誰見到她是如何吸吮格雷厄姆－亨特脖子上的血的。到了深夜，安玫瑰鎮仍然是清醒，警覺，驚恐和激動的。似乎全鎮唯一沉默的房子是在塔瑪尼巷中那棟搖搖晃晃的司家老房子。

Chapter 5 – Shadows Lurking

「Mara!」
Marie saw her first. There was a stone well next to the rose patch, and what looked like a pile of white linens was crumpled at its base. It was Mara, her head down and her arms clutching a black jacket. Around her feet, pools of dark liquid gleamed red in the moonlight.
Mrs. Hunter ran across the garden. She turned around to face the guests, stumbling backwards. She pointed behind her at Mara.
「Murderer!」 she said again, this time not in a scream but a sobbing whisper, her pointer finger stabbing the air towards Mara』s body collapsed on the ground.
Marie took Mina』s hand and dragged her over to the well before Mrs. Hunter could reach her. Fa and Morgan arrived soon after. They helped Mara to her feet. She was still clutching the jacket, and, with her white dress unfurled, it was clear that bright red blood was seeping from the jacket onto Mara. The morning』s radiant smile had fallen off her face; she was sobbing, her body convulsing uncontrolably.
「What happened?」 Fa Switch said. She supported Mara with both arms, and though her voice carried a touch of concern it was still stern and disciplinarian. 「Mara,」 she said. 「Tell us now.」 The guests had been inching closer, some driven impetuously forward by curiosity, others lingering hesitantly for fear.
「Graham,」 Mara said. Her voice was soft and shallow, and she gasped for air. 「I couldn』t find him. I was looking for him, and then, I saw him standing next to the well with another figure. I could feel something wasn』t right. Then the lights went out, and when I got here, this was all I found.」 She held up the jacket. It was clear now that it was the tuxedo jacket Graham had been wearing.
「Did you see who the other person was?」 Fa said.
「No,」 Mara said, breaking into a fresh sob. She doubled over onto her mother』s arms, and Fa, with a face unmoved, propped her back up. 「All I saw was a shadow,」 Mara said. 「It didn』t even look human.」
Mrs. Hunter and the rest of the party reached the well. They stood ten feet back, as if afraid to come closer. Big gleaming droplets were running down Mrs. Hunter』s red face. 「My son!」 she said. 「You killed him.」
The crowd clamored. Behind their expressions of horror were twisted grins of excitement. The town of Ambrose had never witnessed a public murder.
Mina ran forward. 「It wasn』t her!」 she blurted out. 「She just found the jacket. She saw someone else do it!」
It was as if a bubble had popped. Ms. Hunter pushed Mina and the other sisters away—they had lined up in front of their sister to shield her from the jeers of the crowd—and grabbed Mara by the shoulders.
「Liar!」 she said. She shook Mara for a moment and then Fa swept her backwards with a push of the arm. Mrs. Hunter shrieked. 「Liars! Murderers! I should have known not to let my son associate with the likes of you! I should have known better. Graham…」 She put her face in her hands and fell into a group of townswomen who had gathered behind her. She looked up, holding onto their shoulders for support.
「Liars!」 she said again, a fresh burst of energy throwing her arm out again accusingly toward Fa and the Switch sisters. 「Murderers! Tricksters! Witches!」
The clamor broke loose and shouts exploded in the air. The entire wedding party had gathered behind Mrs. Hunter by now, the shorter people standing on their tiptoes to glimpse the scene. Faces turned from curiosity to fear to anger, and soon it was not just Mrs. Hunter shouting the words. 「Murderers, liars, witches,」 the townspeople spat at the family. Mara sunk back into a heap on the ground. Mina sat down next to her and held her hand. Morgan and Marie stood in front, Morgan』s face blazing with defiance and Marie』s exuding cool confidence, staring down the crowd.
The sheriff pushed his way to the front of the crowd. At first Fa Switch stepped up, her eyes filled with a cold determination that would sent chills down the strongest man』s spine. They said: dare to touch my daughter and see what I will do to you. But Mara stood up slowly and walked forward, saying almost inaudibly, 「Take me away.」 Her sisters pulled her back. She brushed their efforts away. Her face was fallen and resigned.
A search party was organized to look for Graham, or his body, despite Mrs. Hunter』s objections. 「You』ll never find him,」 she screamed, her arms flailing and tearing into her hair. 「The witch would have made his body disappear. She destroyed him, she ate his soul! My poor boy…」 But the team of ten men were sent out just in case, even after the garden was scoured and no trace of Graham other than the bloody jacket could be found. Mara was hand-cuffed and taken away. As she walked towards the sheriff』s car with her hands behind her back and the sheriff at her shoulder, the crowd became silent and parted to let them through. She stepped into the car, with barely a glance at her mothers and sisters, and was taken away to the local holding house.
The streets were loud with gossip as the townsfolk headed back to their houses. Lights burned in windows until late in the night as families stayed awake to contemplate and discuss the turn of events. The wedding had brought all it promised and more. People recounted how beautiful the bride had looked in the morning, and how in the evening she had seemed to age, with mean wrinkles coming out of her face. They spoke of her white dress, spotted with blood so it almost looked like she was the one who had been killed. Children, tucked into bed but wide awake, whispered tall tales to each other about who had seen her pull out a knife from her mouth and plunge it into the mayor』s son』s chest, about how they had seen her sucking the blood from Graham Hunter』s neck. Deep into the night, the town of Ambrose lay awake, alert, terrified and exhilirated. The only house that seemed to be completely silent was the house on Tamany Lane, the rickety old house of the Switches.