Chapter 1: No Funny Business
Fa Switch gathered
her daughters in her bedroom the night before the wedding.
「No funny business,」
she said.
She made each of them
look her in the eye and cross their hearts. Her daughters knew this was
serious: the consequence for breaking a promise crossed over the heart was
severe, and Fa Switch could be trusted to show no mercy.
Mina, the littlest
one, pouted.
「Where』s Mara?」 she
said. 「Why doesn』t Mara have to cross her heart?」
Morgan rolled her
eyes. 「Because she』s the one getting married, dufus.」 A candle was flickering by
Mina』s seat, and the flame seemed to jump playfully onto Mina』s arm, dancing
across her sleeve and then going out in a puff of smoke in midair.
「Hey!」 Mina jumped up
and batted her arms, turned around in circles to make sure that the back of her
shirt was okay. 「Marie, help me!」 she said, 「Put it out!」
Marie rolled her
eyes. She had been reading a book that she』d snuck into the room. Her mother
frequently assembled the sisters to give long, stern lectures about secrecy and
discretion that were mostly directed at Morgan. After all, Mina had shown
little power besides once tipping over a glass of milk without seeming to touch
it (everyone agreed afterwards that she had most likely just swiped it with her
elbow when no one was looking), and everyone knew Marie would never be the
cause of any flashy business. Marie flipped a page in her book, and the water
sitting in a cup by their mother』s bed arched in the air, splattering on
Morgan』s head. 「Come on,」 Marie said without looking up. 「Leave her alone.」
Ms. Switch stood up,
her long black jacket rustling, and clapped her hands once. 「No funny business,」 she
said. Her voice seeped into the corners of the room like a hiss until it was
silent and still. Her daughters lowered their heads and nodded.
Tomorrow was a big
day, for Mara, the oldest, was marrying a man. Graham Hunter was his name, and
for all anyone could guess he was a mortal who knew nothing about the Switches
and the ways in which they were special.
For the Switches were
special indeed. A family of four sisters, they had black hair that fell
straight as a pin and soft pale skin punctuated by catlike eyes. But besides
their unusual looks, there was something about the Switch family that unsettled
the people of Ambrose. Ever since Fa Switch came striding down Tamany Lane with
a girl in one hand, twins strapped on her back, and her pregnant belly bulging
through her long black coat, there had been whispers. She opened up Fa』s Food
on Main Street–the first and only Chinese restaurant in town–had her baby and
settled quietly into a house. As her daughters grew older and her business
became more successful, she remained as young as she』d looked on the first day,
and never once spoke to the townsfolk more than was necessary. Cold and silent,
she kept her daughters close and guarded. Besides dining in her restaurant, the
villagers kept their children away from Fa Switch. Behind closed doors,
whispers were exchanged that the youthful Chinese face was a mask for an old
woman with a hooked nose and sunken, bulging eyes. Stories were told by
flashlight about her transforming, in the blink of an eye or a turn of the
head.
The Switches lived in
an old house at the end of Tamany Lane. It was a narrow two-story building,
with black paint chipping and shingles hanging off the edges of the roof.
Whenever visitors to the town passed by the house, they marveled to discover
that it was not abandoned, and that five people lived happily inside, because
it looked all together too old and small to be fit for living.
But appearances were
deceiving. The lucky ones who did have a chance to enter the house will tell
you that the inside was gleaming and new, with polished mahogany floors and a
bright chandelier dangling in the foyer. A spiral staircase made of glass snaked
through the stories, and the house certainly revealed itself to be much more
spacious on the inside than one would have guessed from its outwardly
appearance. They would even say that there was something off about it, a kind
of beauty that was not quite natural. The others would nod, because there was
something about the entire family that fit that description.
Fa sent her three
younger daughters to bed, tucking in each one with a warning. Any funny
business on their sister』s big day, and they would feel the fullness of her
wrath. Finally, she reached Mina, who was too young to do those things that
made the Switches special. She was sniffling, tossing and turning in her
sheets. And so, instead of the warning, Fa bent down to kiss her youngest
daughter on the forehead.
「What』s going to
happen to us?」 Mina said, 「Is Mara leaving forever?」
Fa Switch wiped her
hand over Mina』s eyes to close them. 「Ssh,」 she said. 「Go to bed.」 She sat on
the edge of Mina』s bed and stroked her black hair. 「Sleep well, and everything
will be clear in the morning.」