Katherine Forbes Riley
Anna keeps quiet. She hears some legitimacy in her mother’s complaints.
“She reminds me so much of my mother,” Elizabeth continues. “My mother
used to get mad at people all the time too.”
“It’s because she has so much money,” Fer says, “she thinks she can do no
wrong.”
It’s not enough just to sing, thinks Anna, it’s the song you choose.
“I know what I really think,” Elizabeth says later. She lowers her voice
conspiratorially, glances around. “But I don’t say it out loud. People think I’m crazy enough already.”
Anna glances around too, sees Fer trailing behind. “What do you think?”
“I think she’s possessed. Demons aren’t what people think,” Elizabeth
hurries to add, “It doesn’t have to mean you’re spitting pea soup. There are little demons. Sometimes your mother gets this look in her eye. It’s just...evil.”
A group of people is already waiting for the tram. When it comes they all
rush on. An old lady is left behind, first in line but last to rise.
“That wasn’t fair,” Elizabeth says to her as the tram departs.
At first it seems the women didn’t hear, for she doesn’t reply until she has
slowly and carefully reseated herself. Only then does she turn her head.
“It happens,” she says.
This is all she says, but there is something about the way she says it that
seems to encompass not just this temporary inconvenience but also other, far more significant phenomena, like her age and the sea. It’s a powerful effect, and they all stare, taking her in. She looks ninety, at least. She looks ancient, but at the same time she’s quite tall and sturdy, and while fragile, there’s an elegance
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