司氏姐妹：第16章 - 关闭的门

在格雷厄姆的悼念招待会上，法妈躲在花园一角陷入了回忆的白日梦里。多少年来，她第一次让她深埋在心底的记忆冒出表面。她消失在背景里，没有注意到在她眼前发生的事件。

这时侯，摩根，玛丽，和米娜也躲在花园的另一边角落里。她们正在悄悄地讨论亨特夫人最近态度的转变。起初，摩根和玛丽彼此通过她们的感应在交换想法，但米娜从她们长时间的沉默中感觉到她们必然在讨论什么东西，就拽着她们的袖子，央求她们与她分享。

“真古怪，”摩根说。“难道她没有自己的立场和想法？”

“好了，她是处在极端的状况下，”玛丽说，“想想她的儿子刚刚去世。这会让一个人的头脑失去理智的。”

“也许亨特先生最终说服了她，我们没有那么坏，”米娜建议道。她撅着嘴，擦了一下眼角的眼泪。“我很为她难过。”

姑娘们看了看四周，将目光投向仍在花园里磨磨蹭蹭的一个个家庭，而他们也带着一种犹豫不决的眼神偷偷地看回来。安玫瑰是这样小的一个小镇，她们在这儿长大，看到的是那些相同的面孔，只是随着时间的推移，他们的面容有一些慢慢的改变（尽管与她们的母亲相比，其变老的速度似乎要快得多）。她们感到好奇怪，虽然她们还是孩子，但看到那些成群的大人的眼睛，在看她们时仍带着恐惧的色彩。这是一种既振奋又侮辱的感觉。每当摩根看到这种恐惧的眼神，她胸中的怒火就会燃烧起来，就会有一种冲动去干点什么。对于玛丽，她的经验是冷静和计算。她会冷静地计算这种恐惧带来的优点和缺点——权威和孤立，象往常一样，她很清楚自己所处的位置。而米娜，虽然她的小小年纪还不到去思考这种事情的时候，她发现她会不自不觉地把自己想象成其他人，想象着他们的感受。每当米娜这样做时，她发现自己会产生一种对那些人的软软的同情心，因为他们不懂得她的家人。

这个花园其实在市长官邸的后院。这是一个白色2层建筑，木制结构，美丽而历史悠久，绿色的常春藤爬在墙上，高大的古树遮住了透向窗户的阳光。大部分窗户的窗帘都关闭着。在姑娘们来到安玫瑰后，她们还从来没有听说过除亨特家人外，其他任何人进入过里面。在玛拉和格雷厄姆订婚时，她们是去了一次，但她们只到了一个房间，而且很快被送出来。虽然这个房子显得洁白，崭新，晶莹透明，闪闪发亮，但它似乎与塔玛尼弄那座摇摇晃晃的司家房子一样充满了神密。

米娜注意到亨特太太和她的丈夫离开人群，沿着通往官邸的小径，静静而快速地移动着。他们低着头，弓着手，似乎在掩面而泣。

“你们看！”她说，“他们现在要离开了，我不知道出什么事了。”

姐妹们看着这对夫妇消失在房子的另一侧。摩根不耐烦地摔了下头，然后跳起来。“来吧，”她说，“让我们去冒点险。”

“绝对不可！”玛丽在摩根开走以前抓住了她的手臂。“你疯了吗？”

“我很无聊。难道你不希望看看那房子里面的东西是什么样的？他们在那里做什么？如果有人看到我们，我们可以说，我们看到亨特太太显得很伤心，想当面慰问她。”

米娜的眼睛也亮了，她掰开玛丽抓着摩根手臂的手指。“是啊，让我们去吧，玛丽，我想我们有一个不错的借口。如果我们悄悄溜走， 没有人会注意到。”

玛丽心软了，她自己的好奇心也起了作用。奇怪的是，让她感到心理平安的是她知道她们都戴着手镯。至少，摩根不能意外地做出一些愚蠢的事。在她一生中，她第一次觉得自己有一种冒险的冲动。因为手镯让她们变得“正常”，似乎危险也可因此降级到正常的危险。如果她们被抓住了，她们也只是像其他任何若了麻烦的顽皮孩子一样。

姑娘们悄悄地沿着亨特夫妇走过的小径溜走了。摩根试了下一个边门的把手。没有任何魔法，​​门开了。

走廊亮堂堂的，房子里散发出温暖的灯光，虽然看不见发光的装置在哪里。空气显得昏昏欲睡，柔和的古典音乐从远处的一个房间里传来。她们的冒险尝试一下子不再显得那么危险。整个房子让人感到温馨，像一个家。感到安全。

她们走到大厅，环顾四周。墙壁是淡奶黄色的，墙上挂着一排排镜框框起的肖像。镜框内美丽的油画头像一定是亨特家族的祖先们，他们都是高颊，金发，碧眼，对姐妹们微笑着，似乎在欢迎她们。沿着大厅有许多白色的门，带着金色和玻璃的把手。所有的门都关闭着。

当她们走过大厅，钢琴的声音变得更加响亮。在走廊的尽头，门是开着的，温暖的橘黄色灯光从门框中溢出来。进门后是一个楼梯，看起来似乎通向另一个大厅。姐妹们互相看了看，走下了楼梯。

在楼梯底部有两个门，其中一个微微开着，很清楚音乐从那儿传来。摩根上前敲了敲，并向前推了下门。

“喂？”

门猛地被打开。是亨特太太。

“哇！”她说。“真是一个惊喜！”她的眼睛因为哭过而红肿。房间看起来像一个图书馆或起居室，一个老式留声机旋转着，播放出优美的古典钢琴音乐声。亨特先生坐在椅子上，喝着一杯威士忌。

“我们......”玛丽的话有点结巴。

“我们看到您离开花园时显得很悲伤，”米娜帮着说，她的声音甜美而柔和。“我们想来看看你还好吗。”

“姑娘们，进来，”亨特太太说。“你们真是太善良了，会去这样担心。当然，作为一个母亲......”

她用发光的眼神看着姐妹们，把她们拥进房间，坐在一个柔软丰满的沙发上。

“实话说，我一直想要女儿。”她跳起来。“你们想要什么？茶？”

摩根和玛丽交换着困惑的眼神。亨特太太的行为太奇怪，太友好，太兴奋。而相反亨特先生却默默无语，象是沉浸在自己的思索中。

亨特太太端上了茶。她把第一杯递给玛丽，她突然停下来，使劲抓住玛丽的手腕。她抓得那么紧，玛丽几乎痛得叫出声来，但她马上松下手来。这时，亨特太太带着充满兴趣的眼神，轻轻地抚摸着玛丽的手镯。

“这真是一个漂亮的手镯，”她说。“它肯定是从中国来的，是吗？”玛丽点点头。亨特太太把其余的茶杯分给姑娘们，再次站起来，“事实上，它让我想起我藏在楼上的一些手镯，我在很久以前，在我有格雷厄姆以前就有它们了...我还以为我会有女儿，等着，让我去把它们拿来。。。”她急急忙忙地冲出房间，在一声关门声中消失在门外。

感觉怪怪的，摩根对玛丽感应道，玛丽挤了挤米娜的手，放下了手中的茶杯。

我们回去吧。

“好，”玛丽对着沉默的亨特先生说。“其实，我觉得我们必须走了，现在我们已经看到了......嗯......您们一切都好。”

“我们的妈妈可能在找我们，”米娜说，姑娘们快步走到门前。摩根抓住手柄，转动着开门。

门一动不动。摩根糊涂了一会儿，再次尝试，这次更用劲。门是锁着的。玛丽转身朝向亨特先生，她张大嘴，发现灯暗了下来，音乐也停止了。亨特先生把眼镜放在桌子上，站了起来。他高大的身影在昏暗的灯光下，像一个长长的黑色阴影笼罩着她们。

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.