司氏姐妹 第18章：入侵者

此時，法媽正以最快的速度跑向塔瑪尼弄的自家房子。在花園裡還有三三兩兩的人群，法媽把擋在她路上的人一一推開，她跑得如此之快，幾乎不能看到她的雙腳觸地。黃昏變成了黑夜，路燈亮了起來，好奇的鄉親們從自家窗戶看到一個黑色的模糊影子飛行在街道上。冷風吹來，他們關上百葉窗，點亮蠟燭，端著熱湯，一家人暖洋洋地圍坐在廚房的餐桌邊。

「瑪麗！」法媽喊道，猛地沖過前門。整所房子又黑又靜。 「摩根！米娜！快回答我！「

她飛跑上了樓梯，快速穿過每個房間，房間里的燈也隨著亮了起來。她銳利的黑眼睛掃遍了房間的各個角落旮旯。她檢查每間卧室，廚房，客廳，閣樓，地下室。她用盡她肺里全部的空氣叫喊著她的女兒。她內心自責著，因為她失去了女兒們的蹤影，因為自己陷入了記憶的沉思，因為自己是一個糟糕的母親，她的眼睛閃耀著黑色的光澤。她努力平息自己不斷增加的恐慌，她知道自己具有法術能找到她的女兒們，而只有自己心情平靜時， 法術才會更有效。她深吸了一口氣，走到一樓，苦烈的寒風從象張開大嘴的門口吹來——她一定是在匆忙中忘了將門關閉。

她關上門，給自己倒了一杯水。她在心中清晰而有條不紊地一一盤算著她可以使用的法術。她的這種專心致志和刻苦耐心的特點在瑪麗那兒得到了繼承——這種工作美德在一個中國童話故事中得到了最好的體現——它賦予一個老太太把鐵棒磨成繡花針的能力。瑪麗正是因為利用了這個遺傳特徵讓她能遠遠的超過她的姐妹們完美地運用她的法術，雖然她的法術不一定是最強大的。想到她的其他女兒們會與瑪麗在一起，法媽內心變得平靜，因為瑪麗也是在所有女兒中在壓力下能表現最好的，她也掌握了法媽的佛教脫離術。當然其他姐妹有自己各自不同的長處。想到她們，她的心臟再一次因悲傷和擔憂而一陣收縮。不要擔憂！她對自己說。不管怎樣，她很好地培養了她們。他們能夠照顧自己，直到她趕到她們那裡。她很肯定。

是的，她不斷地安撫自己，一一數落著每個女兒的長處。瑪拉繼承了榮譽感，一種與生俱來的忠誠於家族，光宗耀祖的榮譽感。就是這同樣的榮譽感，讓法媽在第一時間逃離中國，因為她意識到她已經無可彌補地沾污了自己家族的榮譽，唯一的方法是在一篇新的土地上重新為自己建立起名譽。雖然對於瑪拉來說，她的孝心和忠誠讓她放棄中國文化去融合於主流文化——嫁給一個傳統的美國家庭，法媽還是從心底里了解和理解，這一切的根源是因為瑪拉對整個家族的深深的愛。

然後是摩根，她有一個燃燒的靈魂和戰斗的意志，與一個真正的女鬥士相匹配。就是這種燃燒的求生火焰讓法媽在來到新大陸的途中克服千辛萬苦——那茫茫一片龐大而憤怒的海洋，潮汐和狂風，似乎都聯合起來與她作對。在她到達目的地后，也幫助她生存和適應這陌生而奇詭的新環境。摩根這種爆烈和燃燒的脾氣也讓她想起自己的母親，她被叫做鐵蘭——鋼鐵的蘭花，由傳說中的女戰將花木蘭而得名。

最後，還有米娜。小米娜，她甚至不會傷害一隻腳下的螞蟻。米娜的個性是最安靜的，但也是最有價值的：她善良，大度，謙虛。有一個古老的中國寓言，講得是一個有12名男孩的家庭，有一天他們的父親帶回家一袋共12個梨子。最小的兒子，是一個叫李的小不點，因為他的兄弟們寵愛他，就讓他先挑一個梨子。然而，李沒有撿那最大的，最有水分的，或最新鮮有光澤的梨，而是立即撿了一個最小最丑的梨子。當他的兄弟們抗議時，他列著大嘴微笑著說，「這個大小對我正好合適。」對，法媽想，米娜就象這個小弟弟。在一個具有強烈個性的家庭，有時發生衝突是難免的，米娜總是那一位沉默的調解員，對每個人都大度而無私。

想到甜美，乖巧，無辜的米娜（她的法力甚至還沒有形成），法媽的決心更加堅定。她一一思量了可能幫她找到女兒們的不同的法術。最簡單的一個方法需要她尋找的人身上的一樣東西：一根頭髮，一片指甲，或更怪異的，一塊肉。這個法術讓她心靈的眼睛象一片雲一樣飛在小鎮上空，然後用穿透性的望遠視力和磁場來尋找失蹤的人。她想她需要花太長時間在女兒們的房間里找到頭髮。但是，她知道，這個法術還有一個變種。作為母親，法媽可以用自己的一湯匙血液，這些血液也流動在女兒們的血管里。

她咕嚕一下喝完杯中剩餘的水，從廚房抓起一把鋒利的刀，向樓上的閣樓走去，那裡的密室里藏著她的魔法經書和能找人的魔碗。她打開閣樓密室咯吱作響的門，踢開象雲一樣布滿地板的灰塵，伸開一隻手臂去點燃放在一個桌子中央的蠟燭。只有在她走進密室，關上身後的小門后，她才意識到並不是只有她一個人在這兒。

在桌子旁的竹椅上，坐著一個頭戴連衣帽的身影，彎著身子在及其認真地鑽研法媽魔法經書里的外國字元。

Chapter 18: The intruder

Meanwhile, Fa Switch had raced back to her house on Tamany Lane at top speed, pushing stragglers in the garden aside and running so fast that her feet almost looked as if they were not touching the ground. Evening pushed into night, streetlamps clicked on, and curious townsfolk looking out their windows saw a black blur flying through the streets. A cold wind blew and they drew their shutters closed, lighting fires and candles and huddling around their kitchen tables with warm bowls of soup.

「Marie!」 Fa shouted, bursting through the front doors. The house was dark and still. 「Morgan! Mina! Answer me now!」

She flew up the flights of stairs. Rooms lit up as she passed them, scouring their corners and crooks with her sharp black eyes. She checked every bedroom, the kitchen, the living room, the attic, and the basement, shouting for her daughters with all the air in her lungs. Her eyes glowed darkly as she cursed herself inside for losing track of her girls, for being a terrible mother, for falling into the trap of memory. She tried to quell the growing panic, knowing that she had the powers to find her girls, and that the spell would work better if she were calm. She took a deep breath and walked to the first floor, where a bitter cold wind blew through the mouth of the open door. She must have forgotten to close it in her haste.

She shut the door then poured herself a glass of water, going over the spells she could use, clearly and methodically, in her mind. This was the focus and assiduousness that Marie had inherited—the steady work ethic that in one Chinese tale had given an old woman the power to sand an iron rod into a needle. And it was because Marie utilized this inheritance that she was able to perfect her powers far beyond any of her sisters—though she was not necessarily the most powerful. It calmed Fa to know that her other daughters were most likely with Marie, because Marie was also the daughter who performed best under pressure, having mastered like Fa the art of Buddhist detachment. The other sisters had their strengths too, of course, and as Fa thought of them her heart shrank in sorrow and worry again. No, she told herself. After everything, she had raised them well. They would be able to take care of themselves until she got there, she was sure.

Yes, she continued to assuage herself, going over each daughter』s strengths. Mara had inherited that sense of honor, an innate loyalty to bring brilliant light to the family name. It was that same sense of honor that led Fa to flee China in the first place, when she realized she had tainted her own family』s reputation beyond repair, that the only way to restore it would be to make a name for herself in a new land. Although in Mara, the filial loyalty had led her to forsake her Chinese culture in order to blend in—to try to marry into a traditional American family—Fa still understood in her heart that the root of everything was Mara』s deep love for her family.

Then there was Morgan, with a fiery soul and fighting spirit to match a true woman warrior. This hot flame of survival was what had allowed Fa to survive the hardships of coming to a new land—a vast and angry ocean, tides and winds that seemed to all be united against her. When she finally arrived, it had helped her survive and adapt to the strange new circumstances. This burning temper in Morgan reminded Fa so much of her own mother, who had been named Tielan—steel orchid—after the legendary woman warrior Mulan.  

And finally, there was Mina. Little Mina, who wouldn』t hurt even an ant in her path. Mina personality was the quietest but yet the most valuable: she was kind, generous, and humble. There is an old Chinese fable about a family of twelve boys whose father comes home one day with a bag of twelve pears. The youngest son, a tiny child named Li, is allowed to pick first because all his brothers love him and wish to spoil him. Instead of picking the biggest, juiciest, or brightest pear, however, Li immediately picks out the smallest, ugliest pear. When his brothers contest, he smiles wide and says, 「This is just the right size for me.」 Well, Fa thought, Mina was like this brother. In a family of strong personalities that sometimes clashed, Mina was always the silent mediator, generous to everyone and never asserting selfishness.

A firm resolve hardened inside of Fa as she thought about her sweet, innocent Mina, who hadn』t even yet developed her powers. She thought through the different spells that would help her locate them. The simplest one required a part of the person that you were trying to locate: a hair, a fingernail, or more grotesquely, a piece of their flesh. This spell would allow her mind』s eye to fly above the town as if on a cloud, and then use a piercing telescopic and magnetic vision to find the missing person. It would take too long to find a hair in each girl』s room, Fa decided. She knew, however, that there was a variation of the spell. As their mother, Fa could use a spoonful of her own blood, which also ran in her daughter』s veins.

She gulped down the rest of her water, and grabbing a sharp knife from the kitchen, walked upstairs to the attic, where her scroll of spells and looking bowl were kept. She opened the creaky door of the attic, kicking up clouds of dust, and waved an arm to light the candle at the center of the table. It was only after she stepped inside and closed the door behind her that she realized she was not alone.

In the bamboo chair beside the table, a hooded figure bent over Fa』s scroll of spells, examining the foreign characters with utmost care. 

• [09/29]The Switch Sisters: Chapter 15, Like Mother, Like Daughter
• [10/06]司氏姐妹：第16章 - 關閉的門
• [10/06]The Switch Sisters, Chapter 16 – The Door that Closed
• [10/15]司氏姐妹 第17章 – 走進黑暗
• [10/15]The Switch Sisters: Chapter 17-- Into The Dark
• [11/04] 司氏姐妹 第18章：入侵者
• [11/04]The Switch Sisters: Chapter 18 - The intruder
• [11/11]司氏姐妹 第19章：姐妹們
• [11/11]The Switch Sisters: Chapter 19 - Sisters
• [11/25]司氏姐妹 第20章：銀色鑰匙
• [11/25]The Switch Sisters: Chapter 20 -- The Silver Key
• [12/03]司氏姐妹 第21章：巫婆
• [12/03]The Switch Sisters: Chapter 21 - Witches

• 查看：[Wuwuyu的.最新博文]
• 查看：[大家的.最新博文]
• 查看：[大家的.原創文學]