司氏姐妹 第11章：第二天早晨

第11章  第二天早晨

当米娜，摩根和玛丽蹑手蹑脚地下来吃早餐时， 今天的晨报已放在厨房的饭桌上。昨天晚上她们几乎彻夜未眠，即使在跟着法妈回家，静静地爬上床上后，她们仍没合眼。外面的天空已经开始焕发出粉红色。姐妹们没有互相交谈，但他们仍然躺在床上，无法入睡。

现在是夏天。通常在这样一个正常的夏日，她们会吃完早餐，跑到外面与朋友见面一起玩耍，但姐妹们知道，昨天晚上的事情会让她们永远被禁闭在家。当她们下楼时，厨房里空空的，迎接她们的是那份报纸。

婚礼变成谋杀！全镇震惊！头版头条的标题呼之欲出。新娘为主要嫌犯！是下一个标题。整个头版充塞了有关昨天事件的文章。前面中心的图片是玛拉在花园里的照片， 她穿着那滴着红色血滴的白色婚纱，露出小鹿般胆怯的眼神。除了玛拉的照片外，还有亨特家里人的照片。格雷厄姆的帅气肖像出现在题为格雷厄姆－亨特，24，不幸惨死的文章前。底部是亨特市长胳膊环绕着他哭泣的妻子的照片，旁边的标题是：悲伤的市长请求司法公正。

摩根厌恶地推开报纸，让它翻了个身，使天气预报出现在表面，玛丽却一把在桌上抢到了报纸。

“给我。”她的眼睛迅速扫描着页面。 “他的尸体仍然没有被发现，”她说。她把报纸折成一半大小，集中阅读在底部的那篇有关格雷厄姆父母的文章。

“听着，”她说。 “尽管亨特女士初步肯定凶手是死者的新婚新娘，市长敦促乡亲们不要妄下结论。 “我们要有一个公正的调查和审判， 这是非常重要的，在这之前请不要指指点点，”他说。 “我们每个人都会不稳定的动摇，包括我的妻子和我，但我们必须让司法发挥其当然的作用。”

“胡说，”摩根说。 “难道不是他的妻子在指指点点吗？”

玛丽提了提她的眉毛。 “谁知道。也许他比他的恶婆妻子更讲点道理吧。嘿，在目前情况下，我们不应该去疏远那些甚至稍微站在我们立场上的人。“她把报纸拿回到她的面前。米娜走过来，踮着脚尖， 透过她的肩膀一起读着报纸。

“看看这个！”米娜指着页面中心，埋在长长的头条新闻中的一个段落。她开始慢慢地一字一句地读出声来。 “虽然没有对此事的绝对证据，安玫瑰的许多居民都在长期怀疑司氏家庭有超自然的能力和活动。居民们担心，由于神秘的犯罪嫌疑人和她的家人的魔力，一个正常的调查和审判是很难富有成效的。十多年的司家邻居乔汉麻解释说：“她们一直非常隐秘。如果事实证明了她们是巫婆，我们怎么证明她们有罪？她们可能会以一种秘密神奇的方式毁灭证据的。”在安玫瑰高中的几何老师莎拉汤讷也同意。 “没有人能找到尸体这个事实就说明了她们可能具有某种奇怪的魔力。”

摩根一拳头砸在桌子上，从玛丽手上抢过报纸。 “真是见鬼了！这就是所谓的公正报导吗？“

玛丽越双臂交叉。 “真是令人厌恶。有人来采访过我们吗？“

“反正妈妈也可能不会让他们来，”摩根说。

“你说得对。”在她们身后的一个声音说。这是法妈，悄悄地走进了厨房。即使她穿着她的家常便服－－围着白色短围裙, 比摩根和玛丽都矮－－她的存在马上让女孩们沉默无语。她是一个很小的人，但她能产生强大的威力。

“你们一定读了报纸了，”法妈说。她开始拿出炒锅和鸡蛋做早餐。她的女儿们并没有被这个看似平常的早晨惯例所误导。她们的母亲，作为一个餐馆老板和中国母亲，永远不会让任何事情耽误了每个人吃一顿像样的饭。她们的处罚不是挨饿，而是更可怕的东西。

“所以，你们必须明白为什么发生在昨晚的事是绝对不能接受的。不仅是不能接受的。是危险的！愚蠢的！灾难性的！“

女孩们静静地围坐围在厨房的桌子边上，她们的母亲一边煎鸡蛋，一边继续着她的寒冷，面无表情的声音。

“这个镇已经与我们作对。与玛拉作对。他们已经决定，她是凶手。聪明的孩子， 她留下来了，尽管你们的白痴行为， 她还是留下来了 。想想如果昨晚她逃脱了，事情会变得怎样！想想如果你们这帮傻瓜成功完成任务，今天的头版头条会是什么！每一点质疑玛拉为凶手的疑问将付诸东流。只有有罪的人才会有逃跑的理由。而且，你们毛头小丫可能自认为聪明，但你们能敌得过格雷厄姆真正的凶手吗。“

煎鸡蛋和烤面包是女孩们的早餐。她们默默地看着饭碟，没有食欲。法妈眯起眼睛看着她们。如果有什么事情都能比直接违抗母亲的旨意更厉害的话，那就是不吃放在面前的食物。玛丽无奈地看着她的盘子，拿起叉子。其他人纷纷效仿，静静地咀嚼着盘里的鸡蛋。

“当然，”法妈继续说，“你们会有一段时间不准离开房子。会有更重要的事情占据你们的头脑，使你们没有时间去思考其他任何愚蠢的想法。但现在，马上吃好饭，穿好衣服。我们家来了一个访客。“

摩根张开嘴巴，露出她舌头上还没下咽的食物。

“注意礼仪”法妈说。

“但我以为”

“是谁呢？”玛丽说。

法妈叠起她的胳膊，看着她的女儿们。 “市长来了。”她走向楼梯，大概要换下她的家常便衣。在离开前，她转过身来说。 “我们必须表现出我们最好的行为。”

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.”