DOWNSTAIRS, ALICE WONDER’S HOUSE, 7 FOLLY BRIDGE, OXFORD, 11:00 A.M.
“N o one knows what we’ve done, Edith.” Lorina picked up a mirror and checked her carefully drawn eyebrows, still sitting on the couch. “Boy, I hate my eyebrows. I mean, I love my eyebrows, but not enough not to hate them. Ugh.”
“How can you be sure that no one knows?” Edith pressed against her wound.
“It’s a mad world, sis.” Lorina plucked a stray hair away. A smile captured her lips as if she’d conquered Rome. “Even if someone knows, who’d believe them?”
“I don’t know.” Edith sighed, frustrated with her sister’s carelessness. “But...”
“But what?” Lorina was done with her eyebrows. “Listen, sis. You need to get yourself together. Actually, you need to go out on a date, but we’ll talk about that later. Right now, we don’t care if anyone knows. Besides, even if someone does, it’s not like we’re alone in this. A lot of people have got our backs. Do you think this mirror is a bit foggy?” She wiped the mirror with the tips of her fingers.
Edith said nothing. She only stared at her younger sister. Outsiders usually considered Lorina the airhead, boyfriend-hungry sister, who’d trip wearing her heels at a party. Little did they know that Lorina was the cruelest creature in the world, even compared to Edith.
“So, I shouldn’t worry?” Edith said.
“Damn this mirror.” Lorina plowed it against the wall. She looked like a maniac for a second, but then returned to her Barbie-like look again. She stood up, rubbed her middle finger gently on her lower lip, and approached Edith. “Sis, you can count on me.” She rested her elbows on the kitchen table, facing Edith. “What we have done in the past stays in the past. We’ve done our part. Others will do theirs. Soon it will all be just fine.” She pulled Edith’s hand up and smoothly wiped the blood away. “Is that the knife?”
Edith nodded silently.
“Well, aren’t you sentimental, keeping such evidence at hand.” Lorina rolled her eyes. “Shouldn’t you have destroyed it about twelve years ago?”
“It’s a good knife,” Edith argued. She had no idea why she had kept this knife so long, sharpening it every few months. “You still keep the dress.”
“Ah.” Lorina looked at it. “The housemaid dress. But fair enough. Each of us is keeping a piece of the memory. Blood on the dress. Blood on the knife.” She snickered. “Which reminds me.” Lorina clicked her fingers. “Did you get rid of the girl’s body from last week? The girl from Drury Lane?”
“I did.” Edith snickered, influenced by her sister’s morbidity. Sometimes, Lorina’s ease of doing horrible things was the best way to bond the sisters together.
“Chopped her to pieces?” Lorina raised an eyebrow.
Edith nodded, eyes wide open.
“Good, sis.” Lorina patted her. “Sorry, I couldn’t help with the chopping. I had just manicured my fingernails.”
“It’s okay.” Edith rammed her knife through the carrot again. “I love chopping.”
Both girls laughed and forgot about the message.
It was a short-lived moment of happiness, though.
Lorina’s face changed all of a sudden. “Did you hear that?” She cocked her head upward. “I think Mother dropped something upstairs.”
“Mother isn’t in the house, Lorina.” Edith’s face dimmed again.
Both girls stared at the ceiling until they heard something moving upstairs. They lowered their heads and glared at each other. “A stranger is in the house!”