司氏姐妹 第11章：第二天早晨

第11章  第二天早晨

當米娜，摩根和瑪麗躡手躡腳地下來吃早餐時， 今天的晨報已放在廚房的飯桌上。昨天晚上她們幾乎徹夜未眠，即使在跟著法媽回家，靜靜地爬上床上后，她們仍沒合眼。外面的天空已經開始煥發出粉紅色。姐妹們沒有互相交談，但他們仍然躺在床上，無法入睡。

現在是夏天。通常在這樣一個正常的夏日，她們會吃完早餐，跑到外面與朋友見面一起玩耍，但姐妹們知道，昨天晚上的事情會讓她們永遠被禁閉在家。當她們下樓時，廚房裡空空的，迎接她們的是那份報紙。

婚禮變成謀殺！全鎮震驚！頭版頭條的標題呼之欲出。新娘為主要嫌犯！是下一個標題。整個頭版充塞了有關昨天事件的文章。前面中心的圖片是瑪拉在花園裡的照片， 她穿著那滴著紅色血滴的白色婚紗，露出小鹿般膽怯的眼神。除了瑪拉的照片外，還有亨特家裡人的照片。格雷厄姆的帥氣肖像出現在題為格雷厄姆－亨特，24，不幸慘死的文章前。底部是亨特市長胳膊環繞著他哭泣的妻子的照片，旁邊的標題是：悲傷的市長請求司法公正。

摩根厭惡地推開報紙，讓它翻了個身，使天氣預報出現在表面，瑪麗卻一把在桌上搶到了報紙。

「給我。」她的眼睛迅速掃描著頁面。 「他的屍體仍然沒有被發現，」她說。她把報紙折成一半大小，集中閱讀在底部的那篇有關格雷厄姆父母的文章。

「聽著，」她說。 「儘管亨特女士初步肯定兇手是死者的新婚新娘，市長敦促鄉親們不要妄下結論。 「我們要有一個公正的調查和審判， 這是非常重要的，在這之前請不要指指點點，」他說。 「我們每個人都會不穩定的動搖，包括我的妻子和我，但我們必須讓司法發揮其當然的作用。」

「胡說，」摩根說。 「難道不是他的妻子在指指點點嗎？」

瑪麗提了提她的眉毛。 「誰知道。也許他比他的惡婆妻子更講點道理吧。嘿，在目前情況下，我們不應該去疏遠那些甚至稍微站在我們立場上的人。「她把報紙拿回到她的面前。米娜走過來，踮著腳尖， 透過她的肩膀一起讀著報紙。

「看看這個！」米娜指著頁面中心，埋在長長的頭條新聞中的一個段落。她開始慢慢地一字一句地讀出聲來。 「雖然沒有對此事的絕對證據，安玫瑰的許多居民都在長期懷疑司氏家庭有超自然的能力和活動。居民們擔心，由於神秘的犯罪嫌疑人和她的家人的魔力，一個正常的調查和審判是很難富有成效的。十多年的司家鄰居喬漢麻解釋說：「她們一直非常隱秘。如果事實證明了她們是巫婆，我們怎么證明她們有罪？她們可能會以一種秘密神奇的方式毀滅證據的。」在安玫瑰高中的幾何老師莎拉湯訥也同意。 「沒有人能找到屍體這個事實就說明了她們可能具有某種奇怪的魔力。」

摩根一拳頭砸在桌子上，從瑪麗手上搶過報紙。 「真是見鬼了！這就是所謂的公正報導嗎？「

瑪麗越雙臂交叉。 「真是令人厭惡。有人來采訪過我們嗎？「

「反正媽媽也可能不會讓他們來，」摩根說。

「你說得對。」在她們身後的一個聲音說。這是法媽，悄悄地走進了廚房。即使她穿著她的家常便服－－圍著白色短圍裙, 比摩根和瑪麗都矮－－她的存在馬上讓女孩們沉默無語。她是一個很小的人，但她能產生強大的威力。

「你們一定讀了報紙了，」法媽說。她開始拿出炒鍋和雞蛋做早餐。她的女兒們並沒有被這個看似平常的早晨慣例所誤導。她們的母親，作為一個餐館老闆和中國母親，永遠不會讓任何事情耽誤了每個人吃一頓像樣的飯。她們的處罰不是挨餓，而是更可怕的東西。

「所以，你們必須明白為什么發生在昨晚的事是絕對不能接受的。不僅是不能接受的。是危險的！愚蠢的！災難性的！「

女孩們靜靜地圍坐圍在廚房的桌子邊上，她們的母親一邊煎雞蛋，一邊繼續著她的寒冷，面無表情的聲音。

「這個鎮已經與我們作對。與瑪拉作對。他們已經決定，她是兇手。聰明的孩子， 她留下來了，儘管你們的白痴行為， 她還是留下來了 。想想如果昨晚她逃脫了，事情會變得怎樣！想想如果你們這幫傻瓜成功完成任務，今天的頭版頭條會是什麼！每一點質疑瑪拉為兇手的疑問將付諸東流。只有有罪的人才會有逃跑的理由。而且，你們毛頭小丫可能自認為聰明，但你們能敵得過格雷厄姆真正的兇手嗎。「

煎雞蛋和烤麵包是女孩們的早餐。她們默默地看著飯碟，沒有食慾。法媽眯起眼睛看著她們。如果有什么事情都能比直接違抗母親的旨意更厲害的話，那就是不吃放在面前的食物。瑪麗無奈地看著她的盤子，拿起叉子。其他人紛紛效仿，靜靜地咀嚼著盤裡的雞蛋。

「當然，」法媽繼續說，「你們會有一段時間不準離開房子。會有更重要的事情佔據你們的頭腦，使你們沒有時間去思考其他任何愚蠢的想法。但現在，馬上吃好飯，穿好衣服。我們家來了一個訪客。「

摩根張開嘴巴，露出她舌頭上還沒下咽的食物。

「注意禮儀」法媽說。

「但我以為」

「是誰呢？」瑪麗說。

法媽疊起她的胳膊，看著她的女兒們。 「市長來了。」她走向樓梯，大概要換下她的家常便衣。在離開前，她轉過身來說。 「我們必須表現出我們最好的行為。」

Chapter 11 – The Morning After

The morning』s paper was already on the kitchen table when Mina, Morgan, and Marie tiptoed down to breakfast. They had barely slept that night, even after coming home with Fa and crawling into their beds silently. The sky outside had already started to glow pink. The sisters didn』t talk to each other, but they lay still in their beds, unable to fall asleep.

It was summer, and on a normal day like this they would have breakfast and run out to meet with friends or play outside, but the sisters knew that after the events of the previous night they were likely to be grounded forever. The kitchen was empty when they arrived, the only thinig to greet them was the paper.

TOWN SHOCKED AS WEDDING TURNS TO MURDER, the top headline shrieked. BRIDE IS PRIMARY SUSPECT, read another. The entire front page was dominated by articles about the previous night. Front and center was a picture of Mara, doe-eyed in the garden, her dress dripping with red. Besides the photo of Mara, the other photos were of the Hunter family. A beaming portrait of Graham started off a column titled GRAHAM HUNTER, 24, MEETS TRAGIC DEATH. At the bottom of the page was a photo of The mayor with his arm around his sobbing wife next to the heading, GRIEVING MAYOR PLEADS FOR JUSTICE.

Morgan pushed the newspaper away in disgust, turning it over so that the weather forecast was on top, when Marie snatched it from the table.

「Give me that.」 Her eyes rapidly scanned the page. 「His body still hasn』t been found,」 she said. She folded the paper over to concentrate on the bottom article about Graham』s parents.

「Listen to this,」 she said. 「Despite Ms. Hunter』s initial certainty that the murderer was the deceased』s newlywed bride, the mayor urges the townsfolk not to jump to conclusions. 『It is of utmost importance that we have a fair investigation and trial before pointing fingers,』 he says. 『Everybody is understably shaken–my wife and I included–but we must let justice play its course.』」

「Bullshit,」 Morgan said. 「Does it say there that his wife was the one pointing the fingers?」

Marie raised her eyebrows. 「Who knows. Maybe he』s more reasonable than his harpy of a wife. Hell, at this point we shouldn』t be alienating anyone who』s even slightly on our side.」 She brought the newspaper back to her face. Mina walked around to read over her shoulder, standing on her tiptoes to reach.

「Look at this!」 Mina pointed to the center of the page, a paragraph buried in the long headliner. She started to read the words out slowly, sounding out each one. 「Though there is no hard proof on the matter, many residents of Ambrose have reported longstanding suspicions of supernatural activity in the Switch family. Residents fear that a normal investigation and trial will not be fruitful against the mysterious powers of the suspect and her family. Joe Hammer, a neighbor of ten years of the Switch family, explains: 『They have always been very secretive. If it turns out they are witches, how are we supposed to prove that they are guilty? They will probably have secret magical ways of destroying evidence.』 Sarah Towne, a geometry teacher at Ambrose High, agrees. 『The fact that no one can find a body is the first sign that something weird is going on.』」

Morgan slammed her fists on the table and grabbed the paper from Marie』s hands. 「What the hell! This is supposed to be unbiased reporting?」

Marie crossed her arms. 「It』s disgusting. Did anyone even think to interview us?」

「Mom probably wouldn』t let them anyways,」 Morgan said.

「You』re right,」 a voice behind them said. It was Fa, stepping quietly into the kitchen. Even though she was wearing her house clothes–a short white apron over her dress–and was shorter than both Morgan and Marie, her presence silenced the girls immediately. She was a small person, but she emanated an intense power.

「You must have seen the paper,」 Fa said. She started to pull out pans and eggs for breakfast. Her daughters were not misled by this seemingly normal morning routine. Their mother, as a restaurant owner and Chinese mother, never let anything get in the way of everyone eating a decent meal. Their punishment would not be starvation, but rather something much much worse.

「So you must understand why what happened last night is so absolutely unacceptable. Not only unacceptable. Dangerous. Stupid. Possibly disastrous.」

The girls sat quietly at the kitchen table as their mother cracked eggs onto the frying pan and continued in her chilling, deadpan voice.

「The town is already against us. Against Mara. They have already decided she is the murderer. Smart girl, she stayed despite your idiocy. Think about what it would have looked like if she had escaped last night. Think about what the headline would say today if you fools had succeeded in your mission. Every grain of doubt about Mara being the murderer would be thrown down the drain. Only the guilty would have a reason to escape. And besides, you girls may be clever, but you are no match for Graham』s real murderer.」

Plates of fried eggs and toast were served to the girls. They looked at the plates silently, not having an appetite. Fa looked at them with squinted eyes. If anything could be worse than directly defying orders, it was not eating food that was set out in front of them. Marie looked reluctantly at her plate and picked up her fork. The others followed suit, chewing their eggs quietly.

「Of course,」 Fa continued, 「There will be no more leaving the house for a while. And there will be much to occupy your minds so that you』re not thinking any more stupid thoughts. But for now, eat and get dressed. We』re having a visitor.」

Morgan』s mouth dropped open, revealing the unchewed food on her tongue.

「Manners,」 Fa said.

「But I thought–」

「Who is it?」 Marie said.

Fa folded her arms and looked at her daughters. 「The mayor is coming.」 She walked towards the stairs, presumably to change herself out of her house clothes. She turned around before going up. 「We must be on our best behavior.」