Wuwuyu

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The Switch Sisters: Chapter 20 -- The Silver Key

作者：Wuwuyu 於 2012-11-25 23:31 發表於最熱鬧的華人社交網路--貝殼村

作者分類:英文原創|通用分類:英文分享

關鍵詞：童話小說, 學英語, 中國女孩, 移民生活, 哈利波特

Chapter 20 – The Silver Key

Mara grabbed the skirt of her dress and jumped up. Moving quickly to the bars of the cell, she didn』t look like the same woman who had been crumpled on the ground, barely able to lift her head.

「Mina!」 She whispered into the dark. The three older sisters froze, afraid to make any noise that would obscure a quiet response. The darkness was silent.

Behind her, Marie started to breathe heavily and quickly, for the first time in her life unable to control her panic. 「Mina…」 Marie muttered, her mind wandering to the worst imaginable possibilities. 「Oh God, what did I do…」

「No,」 Mara said. 「This is my fault. If only I hadn』t been so stubborn last time you came…I thought I was doing the right thing…」 She broke down in fresh tears, tears she thought she had exhausted for Graham. 「I didn』t know that you were in danger! If I』d known that Graham』s father…if I』d known I would have left with you when you came to get me…and we could have all been far far away from this mess by now, and Mina…」

「All right,」 Morgan said, her voice shaking yet determined. 「Now』s not the time to think about who did what wrong. We don』t even know what happened to Mina. For all we know, she』s perfectly fine. When was the last time any of us saw her?」

Mara sniffed. Marie took a deep breath and sat down. 「You』re right,」 she said, collecting herself. 「She was definitely holding my hand when we came up the stairs into this holding house. So she』s here, somewhere. Or, she was taken by the mayor and we didn』t notice…but how?」

The sisters were silent as they thought.

Finally, Mara spoke. 「It doesn』t matter where Mina is. What we know is that she isn』t here in this cell with us. So the first thing we have to do is get out.」

Morgan nodded.

Mara turned to the twins. 「What were you going to do last time to get me out? Morgan, weren』t you going to melt the lock on the door? Can you do that now?」

Marie and Morgan shook their heads, holding up their arms so that the jade bracelets were clearly visible. Mara』s face, lit up for a moment, fell the instant she saw them.

「Ma put these on us for the memorial service,」 Morgan said.

「Punishment for sneaking out to get you that night,」 Marie added.

Mara walked forward and examined the bracelets. She had only worn hers once as well, and did not have a better idea than the twins how they worked.

「Ouch! That hurts!」 Morgan cursed as Mara tried to pull her bracelet off. They would not slip past either twin』s wrist.

「I just don』t believe that there』s no way to take these off!」 Mara said. 「I know Ma can…well she never said that they weren』t breakable! I know they』re valuable, but this is an emergency, isn』t it? If any time would call for it…」

「You』re right, we should try to break them,」 Marie said. 「Whatever power or secret weapon that mayor has, he can』t fight against all three of us at once.」 She and Morgan lifted their arms into the air, ready to strike the bracelets against the stone wall. They pounded on the wall with their bracelets as hard as they could, not caring about the din they were creating, for whatever attention they got would be counteracted by the return of their powers.

However, no broken jade shards fell to the floor. The bracelets wouldn』t break. Instead, the dark cell filled with metallic bangs that echoed and grew.

「Okay, so that didn』t work,」 Marie said, bouncing back quickly. 「It』s not ideal, but Mara, do you think you can make a small earthquake to dislodge these bars?」 Just like Morgan and Marie had power over fire and water, Mara had power over the earth. She had an amazing sense of direction, and could walk over the ground without leaving footprints. However, her most powerful asset without a doubt was her ability to move the ground she stood on. In fact, in the days after Graham』s death, her grief leaving her uncontrolled, the ground had trembled ever so slightly whenever she had felt particularly despondent.

Morgan and Marie looked at their older sister expectantly, remembering the first time they had looked up to her for a piece of magic—when they were still too young to have any powers, and had begged Mara to show them a little something. She was reluctant—she always had been, wishing very much to act like she was normal—but she gave in, building a house of cards and shaking the ground ever so slightly so that the cards fell into a heap on the tabletop. The twins had clapped their hands in glee and spent all of that night awake, daydreaming to each other about the day their own powers would start to show.

Mara shook her head slowly, tears forming again at the corner of her eyes. 「I don』t think I can do it,」 she said. 「I』m so…out of practice from all those years of denying who I was. Now, the earth shakes when I don』t want it to, and hardly moves when I want it move. It』s not just Graham』s life or my life or yours or Mina』s. I feel like I』ve lost control of everything.」

「Just try,」 Marie said.

「Yeah,」 said Morgan. 「We believe in you.」

Just then, the door leading into the front room opened a sliver, letting in a rectangle light but nothing else, and then closed quietly.

Morgan and Marie grabbed onto either side of Mara. 「Who』s there?」 Marie demanded.

「Show yourself!」 Morgan said, louder than she meant to.

「Ssh!」 A soft voice spoke in front of them, though they could not see where it was coming from. 「You guys are so noisy!」

Then, in the dark, the dim outline of a small girl appeared on the other side of the bars.

「What the—」

「Mina!」

The three older sisters ran towards Mina, dropping to their knees to hug their little sister through the bars, so relieved and purely happy to see her that they forgot for a moment where they were.

「You scared us to death!」 Mara said.

「Yeah, how in the world—what—where…」 Marie trailed off, running her hand through Mina』s hair, as if unable to believe she was actually there.

「Sorry!」 Mina said, looking anxiously from one sister to the next. 「I didn』t mean to make you guys worry!」 She dug in her pockets for a moment, and then pulled something out.

「But I got this—look!」

A glittering silver key dangled from her fingertips, lighting up an apologetic yet undeniably wide smile on Mina』s face.