司氏姐妹 （The Switch Sisters）第一章：不许恶作剧

第一章：不许恶作剧

婚礼前夜，司法妈把女儿们叫到她的卧室里。

 “不许作恶作剧，”她说。

 她让她们看着她的眼睛，并和她们交心。她的女儿们知道这是严肃的：打破了交心后的承诺的后果是严重的，可以确信法妈毫不手软。

 米娜，那最小的女儿，嘟着嘴。

 “玛拉在哪里？”她说。“为什么玛拉不用交心？”

 摩根转动着她的眼珠。 “因为是她结婚，小傻瓜。”一根蜡烛闪烁在米娜的座位边，火焰似乎开玩笑似地跳上米娜的手臂，在她的袖子上翩翩起舞，然后在半空中的烟雾中熄灭。

 “嘿！”米娜跳起来拍打着手臂，转着圈子看她的衬衫背部是否完好。“玛丽，帮帮我！”她说，“把它熄灭！”

 玛丽也转了转她的眼珠。她一直在读一本她宁愿在自己房间悄悄读的书。她的母亲经常把姐妹们聚集在一起，给于长时间严厉的有关要保密和谨慎的说教，这些说教主要针对摩根。毕竟，米娜魔力还很小，除了有一次隔空打翻了一杯牛奶（后来大家都认为她可能只是在没人注意时用胳膊肘悄悄的蹭了一下），而每个人都知道玛丽永远不会去做任何逞能的事情。玛丽翻了一页书，放在她母亲的床边的一杯水在空中划过一道弧线，喷向摩根的头顶。 玛丽说：“帮帮忙”，她头也不抬。 “不要打搅我。”

 司夫人站了起来，拍了一下手，她的黑色长外套沙沙作响。 “绝不许作恶作剧，”她说。她的声音像嘘声渗透到房间的各个角落，直到一切默然寂静。她的女儿们低垂着头，点了点头。

 明天是大日子，玛拉，最大的姐姐，要和一名男子结婚。格雷厄姆－亨特是他的名字，大家都能猜出他是一个凡人，对司维曲家特殊的魔力一无所知。

 司氏家族的确特殊。一家四姐妹，每人都有象针一样笔直的黑色头发，柔软白皙的皮肤衬托出一双象猫一样明亮的眼睛。除了她们不寻常的外表之外，还有其他一些司家的东西让安玫瑰镇的居民不安。自从法妈手牵着一个女孩，背着一对双胞胎，挺着她那从黑色长外套里透出的鼓鼓的怀孕肚子，迈进塔玛尼巷中，人们就耳语不断。她在主街上开张了法妈食店－－小镇上第一和唯一的一家中国餐馆－－她把她的孩子们静静地安置到一栋房子里。随着她的女儿们长大，生意的兴隆， 她仍然象第一天看到那样年轻，她也从来没有一次跟乡亲们多说一句不必要的话。她冷漠和沉静，关闭和守护着她的女儿。除了在她的餐馆用餐，镇民们也让他们的子女远离法妈。在家里关上房门后，大家会悄悄地谈论这张年轻的中国人的脸是一个鹰钩鼻，皱脸皮，鼓眼睛的老妇人的面具。在手电灯下，人们在传说这种变脸在眨眼或转头之间即可完成。

 司家住在塔玛尼巷尾的一个老房子里。这是一个狭窄的两层建筑，黑色的油漆斑驳，屋顶边缘挂着瓦片。每当有游客经过这里，他们会惊叹它没被丢弃，竟然有五人幸福地生活在里面，因为它看起来太旧太小，不适合居住。

 但外表往往欺骗人。有机会进入房子的幸运儿会告诉你，里面是闪闪发光，焕然一新，抛光的红木地板和明亮的吊灯悬挂在大厅。一个玻璃制成的螺旋式楼梯弯弯曲曲延伸到二楼，这房子所展现的肯定比人们从它的外表外观猜测到得宽敞无比。他们甚至会说它具有有一种不是自然美的东西。其他人会点头，因为这也符合对整个家庭人员的描述。

 法妈把她的三个小女儿各自送到床上，掖好被角，给予警告。在姐姐的大日子里任何逗乐的恶作剧将会得到最高的重罚。最后，她来到米娜床边，她还太小去做那些让司维曲家庭显的特别的事情。她在床单里不安的抽鼻子，蹬脚和滚动。因此法妈不是给予警告，而是弯下腰来轻轻地吻了一下最小女儿的额头。

 “是什么事发生在我们身上？”米娜说，“玛拉会永远离开我们吗？”

 法妈用她的手抚摸着米娜的眼睛，将它们合上。 “嘘，”她说。 “该睡觉了。”她坐在米娜的床边，抚摸着她的黑头发。“好好睡觉，一切都会在明天早上明朗。”

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.”