Squib 26 Summer 1975

The Evans family was busy redecorating their house. Petunia was tearing the gardens almost completely out and starting from scratch. Apparently all the magazines were showing 'water features' this year, little ponds with fountains and bubbling creeks that circled back to the beginning. She was combining this with better drainage from the roof on the side of the yard that was often soggy. All of her exercise programs had her quite strong, and she had her father's help. Rose had de-cluttered most of the house, so Lily cleaned out her own closets (most of those things would never fit her again) and started on the attic. Boxes and bags went to the charity bins. Boxes of things they wanted to keep, including photographs and heirlooms, were packed into a locked compartment at the warehouse. Soon even the drapes, rugs and much of the furniture were sent for cleaning, and the painting crew moved in. Once the walls were covered, in soft pastel colors, Lily and Rose set to work with rollers, laying patterns over the paint in layers that rapidly began to look like custom wallpaper. It was a mild Summer, so the windows stayed open, and exhaust fans were set up for the fumes. Harold often brought home meals, or they went out. The week the floor finishers AND the roofers came in, they stayed in a hotel! They couldn't leave town because the kids were in classes again: Culinary, Art, Karate and German, plus being tutored for the 'A' levels by Eileen. Rose would take all three babies to the nearest Park while Eileen was tutoring.

It was worth it. The house and the gardens were beautiful. The Garden Center she had used took pictures and told Petunia they'd be interested in hiring her. Some of their furnishings no longer matched, so they got rid of and did not replace them. Clean rugs and drapes were laid back instead of buying new, though they looked good as they were. The house was barer, lighter and open, still familiar but more like the magazines. (No house in a magazine ever seems to have children, or more than a few books or pictures.)

The Watcher saw all of this, and approved. This family, at least, was staying in place and doing the same things as before. Doing this much work to your home meant you were going to stay!

At the Snapes, things were different. The factory was clearly going to close soon. The management was trying to encourage people to find new jobs and move away – they were even helping find those jobs and giving severance pay – but they were warning the end would be sudden. The fact that Tobias had two jobs, and some cash on hand, meant they were in better shape than most of their neighbors. It didn't help him know what to do. Sev was still in school, so they couldn't emigrate. Finally they decided that Tobias was nearly finished with his college course. By continuing in night class, he would need three more years, but if he went full-time he could finish in one. He would enroll full-time for the Fall session, maximum load. He would work up to the last day, and take any severance the factory offered, but they had enough money to do this. In the Spring he would be in position for a much better job, maybe even a Supervisor or Manager!

The Watcher knew the Snapes' plans, or thought she did, and it was clear this was another family that would not move this year. That's all she cared about. No Magic, no more babies, no one moving.

The factory closed July 31. Tobias, and all the others who were still there got a nice lunch, their final Pay including a month of severance pay, and a good Reference. Tobias was already enrolled at the college. He gave his pay envelope to Eileen so she could buy groceries, and headed to the bookstore. Sev was at his Art class, also at the college, so Tobias would pick him up. Eileen packed the girls into the stroller and headed for the bus stop.

The sound of air brakes and lorry horns got the attention of everyone in the neighborhood as THREE huge lorries, none of which should have been in this neighborhood, met head-on at the intersection. There were screams as smoke and steam and flames exploded, completely filling the space. "I saw a woman in that intersection, with a stroller!" The smoke rolled and sirens could be heard in the distance.

Eileen HAD been in that crossing, but Eileen was a witch! Seeing the trucks were out of control, she had touched her portkey, saying "Haven." She and the girls were gone when the bumpers met! Jacques caught her as they landed. "Quick, backtrack me and find an unseen safe spot for me to be running!" He vanished, popped back, and took the three back into the smoke, pushing her. She started running with the stroller in the indicated direction, bursting out of the smoke at the edge of the tiny park. Safe, she collapsed in the grass and began soothing the screaming girls. It didn't take long before she was spotted by the emergency workers, who were delighted she had survived when so many had been sure she and the girls were under that tangle of metal. "I had just turned to enter the park when I heard the trucks, and I started running," she explained. "I was in the smoke what seemed like forever!"

The next day, after Tobias took Sev to the dojo, he went to the nearby bar. "Toby! How's the wife and girls? We can't believe they escaped that wreck! What happened?"

He took a long pull on his bitter. "They are fine! We took them straight to the Clinic to be checked over, and they don't have a scratch! A little smoke inhalation, and a bad scare is all. We all were so shook up we slept together last night, with the girls between us and Sev in a chair. This morning Eileen packed up and took the girls to her Mother's. Sev still has classes, and I'm still working at the warehouse, so we're bachelors for a few days."

"Her Mum's? I didn't know you had anything to do with her folks?"

"Seems she's been sneaking off to see her Mum every so often, probably for years. I guess I can't blame her – I'd love to see MY Mum again! She's really shaken, so she'll stay there until she calms down."

Tobias would start his own classes, and the Evans would return Sevi and Lily to their train before Eileen would return to her home.

Unseen, the Prince elves and then the Goblins had checked the entire neighborhood for more murder setups – because they were all quite sure that was what had really happened. Eileen and the girls were intended to have died, and would have if she had not had the portkey. The Watcher had reported the accident and her survival, and gone back to her own classes. The Goblins objected to anyone meddling in their profits, so they began checking the homes and neighborhoods of their other Squib customers.

An anonymous call to the Utilities reporting a smell of gas from a rain drain brought a sensible Inspector who called a crew. A cracked gas line, deep in the earth but just by chance near the Snape home, was found and repaired. Investigation proved the usual monitoring program had been disabled for months, so the Inspector ordered a full visual Inspection of all gas lines. It would take months more, but many leaks were found and fixed. Meanwhile, wards were installed, and a silent, invisible elf now shadowed each of the Snapes and Evans at all times. All over England the Goblins were quietly repairing faulty brakes and shorts about-to-happen in fixtures. Prescriptions were checked for accuracy, and some were corrected. Lead pipes were replaced. Even food in iceboxes was checked. Some people were a bit surprised, not remembering cleaning out.