司氏姐妹：第16章 - 關閉的門

在格雷厄姆的悼念招待會上，法媽躲在花園一角陷入了回憶的白日夢裡。多少年來，她第一次讓她深埋在心底的記憶冒出表面。她消失在背景里，沒有注意到在她眼前發生的事件。

這時侯，摩根，瑪麗，和米娜也躲在花園的另一邊角落裡。她們正在悄悄地討論亨特夫人最近態度的轉變。起初，摩根和瑪麗彼此通過她們的感應在交換想法，但米娜從她們長時間的沉默中感覺到她們必然在討論什麼東西，就拽著她們的袖子，央求她們與她分享。

「真古怪，」摩根說。「難道她沒有自己的立場和想法？」

「好了，她是處在極端的狀況下，」瑪麗說，「想想她的兒子剛剛去世。這會讓一個人的頭腦失去理智的。」

「也許亨特先生最終說服了她，我們沒有那么壞，」米娜建議道。她撅著嘴，擦了一下眼角的眼淚。「我很為她難過。」

姑娘們看了看四周，將目光投向仍在花園裡磨磨蹭蹭的一個個家庭，而他們也帶著一種猶豫不決的眼神偷偷地看回來。安玫瑰是這樣小的一個小鎮，她們在這兒長大，看到的是那些相同的面孔，只是隨著時間的推移，他們的面容有一些慢慢的改變（儘管與她們的母親相比，其變老的速度似乎要快得多）。她們感到好奇怪，雖然她們還是孩子，但看到那些成群的大人的眼睛，在看她們時仍帶著恐懼的色彩。這是一種既振奮又侮辱的感覺。每當摩根看到這種恐懼的眼神，她胸中的怒火就會燃燒起來，就會有一種衝動去干點什麼。對於瑪麗，她的經驗是冷靜和計算。她會冷靜地計算這種恐懼帶來的優點和缺點——權威和孤立，象往常一樣，她很清楚自己所處的位置。而米娜，雖然她的小小年紀還不到去思考這種事情的時候，她發現她會不自不覺地把自己想象成其他人，想象著他們的感受。每當米娜這樣做時，她發現自己會產生一種對那些人的軟軟的同情心，因為他們不懂得她的家人。

這個花園其實在市長官邸的後院。這是一個白色2層建築，木製結構，美麗而歷史悠久，綠色的常春藤爬在牆上，高大的古樹遮住了透向窗戶的陽光。大部分窗戶的窗簾都關閉著。在姑娘們來到安玫瑰后，她們還從來沒有聽說過除亨特家人外，其他任何人進入過裡面。在瑪拉和格雷厄姆訂婚時，她們是去了一次，但她們只到了一個房間，而且很快被送出來。雖然這個房子顯得潔白，嶄新，晶瑩透明，閃閃發亮，但它似乎與塔瑪尼弄那座搖搖晃晃的司家房子一樣充滿了神密。

米娜注意到亨特太太和她的丈夫離開人群，沿著通往官邸的小徑，靜靜而快速地移動著。他們低著頭，弓著手，似乎在掩面而泣。

「你們看！」她說，「他們現在要離開了，我不知道出什么事了。」

姐妹們看著這對夫婦消失在房子的另一側。摩根不耐煩地摔了下頭，然後跳起來。「來吧，」她說，「讓我們去冒點險。」

「絕對不可！」瑪麗在摩根開走以前抓住了她的手臂。「你瘋了嗎？」

「我很無聊。難道你不希望看看那房子裡面的東西是什么樣的？他們在那裡做什么？如果有人看到我們，我們可以說，我們看到亨特太太顯得很傷心，想當面慰問她。」

米娜的眼睛也亮了，她掰開瑪麗抓著摩根手臂的手指。「是啊，讓我們去吧，瑪麗，我想我們有一個不錯的借口。如果我們悄悄溜走， 沒有人會注意到。」

瑪麗心軟了，她自己的好奇心也起了作用。奇怪的是，讓她感到心理平安的是她知道她們都戴著手鐲。至少，摩根不能意外地做出一些愚蠢的事。在她一生中，她第一次覺得自己有一種冒險的沖動。因為手鐲讓她們變得「正常」，似乎危險也可因此降級到正常的危險。如果她們被抓住了，她們也只是像其他任何若了麻煩的頑皮孩子一樣。

姑娘們悄悄地沿著亨特夫婦走過的小徑溜走了。摩根試了下一個邊門的把手。沒有任何魔法，​​門開了。

走廊亮堂堂的，房子里散發出溫暖的燈光，雖然看不見發光的裝置在哪裡。空氣顯得昏昏欲睡，柔和的古典音樂從遠處的一個房間里傳來。她們的冒險嘗試一下子不再顯得那么危險。整個房子讓人感到溫馨，像一個家。感到安全。

她們走到大廳，環顧四周。牆壁是淡奶黃色的，牆上掛著一排排鏡框框起的肖像。鏡框內美麗的油畫頭像一定是亨特家族的祖先們，他們都是高頰，金髮，碧眼，對姐妹們微笑著，似乎在歡迎她們。沿著大廳有許多白色的門，帶著金色和玻璃的把手。所有的門都關閉著。

當她們走過大廳，鋼琴的聲音變得更加響亮。在走廊的盡頭，門是開著的，溫暖的橘黃色燈光從門框中溢出來。進門后是一個樓梯，看起來似乎通向另一個大廳。姐妹們互相看了看，走下了樓梯。

在樓梯底部有兩個門，其中一個微微開著，很清楚音樂從那兒傳來。摩根上前敲了敲，並向前推了下門。

「喂？」

門猛地被打開。是亨特太太。

「哇！」她說。「真是一個驚喜！」她的眼睛因為哭過而紅腫。房間看起來像一個圖書館或起居室，一個老式留聲機旋轉著，播放出優美的古典鋼琴音樂聲。亨特先生坐在椅子上，喝著一杯威士忌。

「我們......」瑪麗的話有點結巴。

「我們看到您離開花園時顯得很悲傷，」米娜幫著說，她的聲音甜美而柔和。「我們想來看看你還好嗎。」

「姑娘們，進來，」亨特太太說。「你們真是太善良了，會去這樣擔心。當然，作為一個母親......」

她用發光的眼神看著姐妹們，把她們擁進房間，坐在一個柔軟豐滿的沙發上。

「實話說，我一直想要女兒。」她跳起來。「你們想要什么？茶？」

摩根和瑪麗交換著困惑的眼神。亨特太太的行為太奇怪，太友好，太興奮。而相反亨特先生卻默默無語，象是沉浸在自己的思索中。

亨特太太端上了茶。她把第一杯遞給瑪麗，她突然停下來，使勁抓住瑪麗的手腕。她抓得那么緊，瑪麗幾乎痛得叫出聲來，但她馬上松下手來。這時，亨特太太帶著充滿興趣的眼神，輕輕地撫摸著瑪麗的手鐲。

「這真是一個漂亮的手鐲，」她說。「它肯定是從中國來的，是嗎？」瑪麗點點頭。亨特太太把其餘的茶杯分給姑娘們，再次站起來，「事實上，它讓我想起我藏在樓上的一些手鐲，我在很久以前，在我有格雷厄姆以前就有它們了...我還以為我會有女兒，等著，讓我去把它們拿來。。。」她急急忙忙地衝出房間，在一聲關門聲中消失在門外。

感覺怪怪的，摩根對瑪麗感應道，瑪麗擠了擠米娜的手，放下了手中的茶杯。

我們回去吧。

「好，」瑪麗對著沉默的亨特先生說。「其實，我覺得我們必須走了，現在我們已經看到了......嗯......您們一切都好。」

「我們的媽媽可能在找我們，」米娜說，姑娘們快步走到門前。摩根抓住手柄，轉動著開門。

門一動不動。摩根糊塗了一會兒，再次嘗試，這次更用勁。門是鎖著的。瑪麗轉身朝向亨特先生，她張大嘴，發現燈暗了下來，音樂也停止了。亨特先生把眼鏡放在桌子上，站了起來。他高大的身影在昏暗的燈光下，像一個長長的黑色陰影籠罩著她們。

Chapter 16 – The Door that Closed

During the reception for Graham』s memorial service, Fa had fallen into a reverie in the corner of the garden. For the first time in many years, she let memories that she had pushed to the bottom of her heart bubble to the surface. She faded into the background, not noticing the events passing before her eyes.

Meanwhile, Morgan, Marie, and Mina had huddled in corner on the other side of the garden. They were discussing the recent turn in Ms. Hunter』s attitude in whispers. At first, Morgan and Marie had communicated to each other through their minds, but Mina, sensing from their long silence that they must be discussing something, tugged on their sleeves and begged them to share with her.

「What a weirdo,」 Morgan said. 「Can』t she make up her mind?」

「Well she is under extreme duress,」 Marie said. 「Think about it–her son just died. That』s got to mess with your head.」

「Maybe Mr. Hunter finally convinced her that we』re not so bad,」 Mina suggested. She pouted and wiped a tear from the edge of her eye. 「I feel so badly for her.」

The girls looked around, eyeing the families that milled about the garden, who looked back haltingly at them. Ambrose was such a small town that they had grown up seeing all those same faces, altered slowly by the passing of time (though they aged much more rapidly than their mother seemed to do). It was strange to know that they were still children, yet see in those lined, adult eyes, a tinge of fear. It was a feeling at once empowering and insulting. Whenever Morgan saw this fear, a fire would burn up in her, a rage that would push her to action. For Marie, the experience was cold and calculated: she weighed coolly the advantages and disadvantages that came with fear–power, and isolation–seeing clearly, as always, her position in the midst of it all. Mina, though she was too young to be thinking of such things, found herself unconsciously thinking of the other person, imagining what they were feeling. Whenever Mina did this, she found herself feeling a soft pity for those people who couldn』t understand her family.

The garden was in actuality the backyard of the Mayor』s house, a white two story building constructed of wooden slats. It was a beautiful and historic building, with green ivy climbing up the walls and old trees shading the windows. Most of the curtains on the windows were closed. As long as the girls had been in Ambrose, they had never heard of anyone but the Hunter family going inside. The one time they had gone, during Mara and Graham』s engagement, they had only seen one room, and had been quickly shuffled out. Even though it was white and gleaming new, sparkling like a clean and transparent thing, the house seemed to be just as filled with secrets as the rickety Switches』 house on Tamany Lane.

Mina noticed Ms. Hunter and her husband easing down the lane that led back into the house, moving swiftly and quietly, their heads bowed as if crying into their hands.

「Look!」 she said. 「They』re leaving now. I wonder if anything』s wrong.」

The sisters watched as the couple disappeared around to the other side of the house. Morgan tossed her head impatiently, and then jumped to her feet. 「Come on,」 she said. 「Let』s go exploring.」

「Absolutely not!」 Marie grabbed out for Morgan』s elbow before she could take a step. 「Are you insane?」

「I』m bored. Don』t you want to see what the inside of that house is like? What they』re doing in there? If anyone sees us, we can just say we saw that Ms. Hunter looked really upset, and wanted to personally console her.」

Mina』s eyes were bright. She pulled Marie』s fingers from around Morgan』s arm. 「Yeah, let』s go Marie. I think we have an okay excuse. Plus no one is going to notice if we just slip away.」

Marie relented, her own curiosity also tapped. Strangely, It comforted her to know that they were wearing the bracelet. At least, Morgan wouldn』t do something stupid accidentally. For the first time in her life, she felt the urge to take a risk. Because the bracelet had made them 「normal,」 the dangers seemed to deescalate to normal dangers as well. If they got caught, they were just like any other stupid kids getting in trouble.

The girls slipped quietly down the path that the Hunter couple had taken. Morgan tried the handle on a side door. Without any magic, it clicked open.

The hallway was lit. A warm light exuded from the house, even though there were no visible light fixtures in sight. The air was drowsy, and soft classical music was playing in a room far away. Immediately the adventure felt less risky. The house felt welcoming, like a home. It felt secure.

They walked down the hall, looking around. The walls were a light cream yellow, and small framed portraits hung on the walls. Inside the frames, the beautiful oiled faces of what must have been the Hunter family ancestors–all were high cheeked, blue-eyed, and blond haired–smiled at the sisters, seeming to greet them. There were many white doors along the hall, with golden and glass handles. The doors were all closed.

As they walked down the hall, the sound of piano became louder. At the end of the hallway, a door was open, a warm orange light spilling from its frame. Inside the door was a stairway leading down into what looked like another hall. The sisters looked at each other, and took the stairs down.

At the bottom of the stairs were two doors, one of which was slightly ajar and the clear source of the music. Morgan stepped forward and knocked on the door, pushing it forward.

「Hello?」

The door flung open. It was Ms. Hunter.

「Oh!」 she said. 「What a surprise!」 Her eyes were red from crying. Inside the room, which looked like a library and sitting room, a record player was spinning out the classical piano. Mr. Hunter was sitting on a chair, drinking a glass of whiskey.

「We…」 Marie stumbled on her words.

「We saw you leaving the garden looking upset,」 Mina chimed in, her voice sweet and gentle. 「And we wanted to see if you were okay.」

「Girls, come in,」 Ms. Hunter said. 「It』s so kind of you to worry. Of course, for a mother…」

She looked at the sisters with beaming eyes, sweeping them into the room and onto a plump upholstered couch.

「The truth is, I』ve always wanted daughters.」 She jumped up. 「Would you like anything? Tea?」

Morgan and Marie exchanged confused glances. Ms. Hunter』s behavior was strangely friendly and hyper. Mr. Hunter, on the other hand, was completely silent, as if lost in his own thoughts.

Ms. Hunter brought over teacups. As she handed the first cup to Marie, she suddenly stopped and clutched her wrist, so tight that Marie almost screamed out in pain. Immediately, the grip softened. Now Ms. Hunter caressed it softly, looking with interest at the bracelet.

「What a beautiful bracelet,」 she said. 「It must be from China, am I right?」 Marie nodded. Ms. Hunter handed out the rest of the the cups to the girls and stood again. 「In fact, they make me think of some bracelets I have upstairs that I got long ago, before I had Graham…when I thought I might have daughters. Let me get them…wait here.」 She rushed out of the room in a flurry, disappearing behind the click of the door.

This feels weird, Morgan thought to Marie. Marie squeezed Mina』s hand and put down her tea cup.

Let』s go.

「Well,」 Marie said, addressing the silent Mr. Hunter. 「I actually think we might need to go, now that we』ve seen…um…that everything』s okay.」

「Our mom is probably looking for us,」 Mina said. The girls walked quickly to the door. Morgan grasped the handle and turned.

The door wouldn』t budge. Confused for a moment, Morgan tried again, pulling harder this time. It』s locked. Marie turned toward』s Mr. Hunter and opened her mouth, but then the lights dimmed, and the music went out. Mr. Hunter put his glass on the table and stood up. In the dim light, his tall figure loomed over them like a long black shadow.

• [09/16]The Switch Sisters: Chapter 13 -- Powers Trapped
• [09/23]司氏姐妹 第14章: 哀悼的母親
• [09/23]The Switch Sisters Chapter 14: The Mourning Mothers
• [09/29]司氏姐妹 第15章：有其母就有其女
• [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

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