14. Second Interlude: Nineteen Ninety-Seven
When Margarita and Sara Ruiz were one and five, respectively, their world came to an end on the corner of Eje 4 Sur and Calzada Tlálpan, in Mexico City. In a boringly common car accident, both their parents died when their tiny and ancient Renault was rammed broadside by a concrete mixer truck and pushed under a Ruta 100 passenger bus. The firefighters that extracted the small girls from the mangled and twisted metal were amazed that both children were completely unharmed. It was as if they had been shielded; it was a true miracle.
Completely unremarkable in a country full of people that looked like him, a short, tan, thin man gawked at the scene of the accident from the sidewalk, with an expressionless face that seemed amused, nonetheless. Nobody noticed when he disappeared into thin air.
Having no known relatives, the girls were placed in an orphanage. They were too little to understand or to assimilate what had happened to them, and no one had taken the time to really explain it to them—or at least to Sara—that they would never see their parents again. Whenever she cried and asked for mamá or papá, she was told that they had taken a long trip, and then she was given a lollipop.
Before the candy trick lost its effectiveness, a few days later, a businessman from the States arrived accompanied by a few lawyers, and bribed whoever was necessary in order to adopt both girls immediately. Soon after, with adoption papers which stated that the girls would have new names, Shari and Margaux Wingrove were taken into a home of loving and caring people who were gentle and truthful, and who raised the girls to be apple-pie true-blue Americans. The girls were so spontaneous and cheerful and pretty and cute, that the Wingroves never begrudged having been ordered by their Patriarch to adopt the girls. Whatever motives Patriarch Feldman had, they felt blessed to have the girls as their daughters. However, they might have felt somewhat uneasy if they had ever learned that Patriarch Feldman had been under orders himself…
But the girls filled the Wingrove household with singing and twirling and many bunnies and goldfish, and no one cared anymore about mysteries.
Although Margaux, "Marge", was a sparkplug, loud and boisterous, and generally considered to be liable to pull all sorts of crazy capers, it was quiet Shari who turned up pregnant at seventeen. Whatever motivated her to make those life choices, not even she herself knew. Maybe it was some sort of reaction to having her baby sister sent away to a boarding school, and feeling abandoned, lonely. Maybe it was some sort of outcry for attention, since Marge turned into a celebrity overnight at school, and all her aunts and uncles wouldn't shut up about how proud they were that Marge was so gifted, don't you know? Heck, even Patriarch Feldman spoke of Marge with pride at family gatherings. "The most Gifted One in a century!," they would go on and on about it. Who knows? But one day Shari sat her parents down and gave them the news, probably expecting to be kicked out of the house immediately by her enraged father, while her mother cried silently as she held her baby picture in her lap…
But the Wingroves were very supportive, and if they were disappointed of Shari's choice, they never spoke of it. Her father's first reaction was to enfold her in an embrace and whisper, "a baby is always a blessing!" Her mom did cry, but she was happy and excited, and immediately started making plans about all the things they needed to buy and about turning Shari's room into a nursery. Of course, her father stopped for a moment to look deeply into Shari's eyes and ask if the baby's father knew, and if Shari was planning on telling him, and if Shari wanted to marry him… "Hell, no!" Was all that Shari could say before she gave in to many mixed tears of gratitude and regret. Things seemed fine, and soon enough Giovanni was born.
When baby Giovanni was two years old, his grandparents died in a small plane accident during their first vacation outside the U.S.A. The Wingroves were not rich at all, and the insurance money was barely enough to cover all the costly affair of dying abroad. Although the aunts and uncles helped as much as they could, they were not rich either. So Shari and Marge did have the house, but hardly anything else to their name. Marge applied for scholarships at The School, and was able to continue her studies there, and Shari got the first of many part-time jobs, besides her regular job at the bank.
When Shari was twenty-one and Giovanni four, Marge turned seventeen and graduated from The School. She then did something no one had ever done before: she demanded an audience with the Council of Mothers.
For the Magick people living in the U.S.A., the Council of Mothers is the highest form of authority. Of course, when it comes to laws, all Magick people obey the law of the land, the government. They pay taxes; they all have driver's licenses. But when it comes to problems arising from the imporper use of Magick, the families are supposed to deal with whoever caused the problem themselves. If they can't resolve it, they ask the Patriarch to deal with the problem (the Patriarch is usually the oldest member fo a group of families that are often related to one another, but not always, necessarily.) If the Patriarch cannot or will not deal with the problem, then it can be reviewed by the Circle of Sisters, which is a monthly gathering of all the adult women in each region of the country. And for problems that find no solution on the local level, a special Council of Mothers is convened. All the mothers in the country gather at some convention center or hotel, and propose the solution, which is final and irrevocable. The Council of Mothers is led by the "Three Furies," who are also in charge of carrying out punishments. And when there are punishments, they are usually very severe, almost crippling, but unforgettable.
Because of her fame and prestige in the Magick world, Margaux Wingrove was granted an audience, and the First Extraordinary Council of Mothers was convened. In it, Marge exposed the point of view that the Magick people of America should get involved in the escalating Second War in the United Kingdom. Although historically the Americans and the British had kept out of each other's business, Marge believed that it was the American's duty and obligation to help all the innocent people suffering in this Magical War. Marge believed the Americans had the means to "counteract and neutralize" the rise of the Dark Lord over the people of Europe.
The Furies didn't even allow for debate.
No. The answer was no. The British had brought this upon themselves by squandering their Magick in trivial uses and failing to strike a balance with the world. They kept taking more and more lifeforce out of the real world in order to shore up their make-believe world, and all the negative energy was being exacted out of them in the form of He Who Must Not Be Named. They had bought it, now they had to pay for it.
Marge was devastated. She couldn't believe the categorical refusal to help their British cousins. She thought maybe they would not engage compeltely, but would send some kind of help, at least. But, nothing at all? So she did what everyone knew she would do: she went to London anyway.
The Furies were apoplectic with rage! The moment Marge returned to the States they would convene another special Council of Mothers and mete out her just deserts!
Unfortunately, Marge met in London with Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic, on August 1, 1997, which was the day that the Dark Lord showed up in person to torture, interrogate, and kill the Minister. Marge may have been the most Gifted Magick person of the century, but neither she nor the Minister of Magic were a match against the raw iniquity of Voldemort.
When the Furies found out, they were very upset and regretful, of course. The whole world of Magick was upset to see such a brave, young, and talented person murdered. Because Shari had never shown any signs of having the Gift, the Furies considered it would be more prudent to modify Shari's memories about Marge's School days, and they asked the relatives to refrain from mentioning it ever again.
Even so, the Americans stayed in America, and out anybody else's business.
***
Back in London, deep underground in a room which no one could open and guarded by the Ministry of Magic, in between dreams of lust and violence, the part of the mind of the Vampire Benjamin that was always awake and listening to the thoughts of the world raged in mute frustration.
"Ah, well, maybe the new babies will have the power…" but before he could continue the thought, another wave of madness drowned him in sleep for another eleven years.
When Margarita and Sara Ruiz were one and five, respectively, their world came to an end on the corner of Eje 4 Sur and Calzada Tlálpan, in Mexico City. In a boringly common car accident, both their parents died when their tiny and ancient Renault was rammed broadside by a concrete mixer truck and pushed under a Ruta 100 passenger bus. The firefighters that extracted the small girls from the mangled and twisted metal were amazed that both children were completely unharmed. It was as if they had been shielded; it was a true miracle.
Completely unremarkable in a country full of people that looked like him, a short, tan, thin man gawked at the scene of the accident from the sidewalk, with an expressionless face that seemed amused, nonetheless. Nobody noticed when he disappeared into thin air.
Having no known relatives, the girls were placed in an orphanage. They were too little to understand or to assimilate what had happened to them, and no one had taken the time to really explain it to them—or at least to Sara—that they would never see their parents again. Whenever she cried and asked for mamá or papá, she was told that they had taken a long trip, and then she was given a lollipop.
Before the candy trick lost its effectiveness, a few days later, a businessman from the States arrived accompanied by a few lawyers, and bribed whoever was necessary in order to adopt both girls immediately. Soon after, with adoption papers which stated that the girls would have new names, Shari and Margaux Wingrove were taken into a home of loving and caring people who were gentle and truthful, and who raised the girls to be apple-pie true-blue Americans. The girls were so spontaneous and cheerful and pretty and cute, that the Wingroves never begrudged having been ordered by their Patriarch to adopt the girls. Whatever motives Patriarch Feldman had, they felt blessed to have the girls as their daughters. However, they might have felt somewhat uneasy if they had ever learned that Patriarch Feldman had been under orders himself…
But the girls filled the Wingrove household with singing and twirling and many bunnies and goldfish, and no one cared anymore about mysteries.
Although Margaux, "Marge", was a sparkplug, loud and boisterous, and generally considered to be liable to pull all sorts of crazy capers, it was quiet Shari who turned up pregnant at seventeen. Whatever motivated her to make those life choices, not even she herself knew. Maybe it was some sort of reaction to having her baby sister sent away to a boarding school, and feeling abandoned, lonely. Maybe it was some sort of outcry for attention, since Marge turned into a celebrity overnight at school, and all her aunts and uncles wouldn't shut up about how proud they were that Marge was so gifted, don't you know? Heck, even Patriarch Feldman spoke of Marge with pride at family gatherings. "The most Gifted One in a century!," they would go on and on about it. Who knows? But one day Shari sat her parents down and gave them the news, probably expecting to be kicked out of the house immediately by her enraged father, while her mother cried silently as she held her baby picture in her lap…
But the Wingroves were very supportive, and if they were disappointed of Shari's choice, they never spoke of it. Her father's first reaction was to enfold her in an embrace and whisper, "a baby is always a blessing!" Her mom did cry, but she was happy and excited, and immediately started making plans about all the things they needed to buy and about turning Shari's room into a nursery. Of course, her father stopped for a moment to look deeply into Shari's eyes and ask if the baby's father knew, and if Shari was planning on telling him, and if Shari wanted to marry him… "Hell, no!" Was all that Shari could say before she gave in to many mixed tears of gratitude and regret. Things seemed fine, and soon enough Giovanni was born.
When baby Giovanni was two years old, his grandparents died in a small plane accident during their first vacation outside the U.S.A. The Wingroves were not rich at all, and the insurance money was barely enough to cover all the costly affair of dying abroad. Although the aunts and uncles helped as much as they could, they were not rich either. So Shari and Marge did have the house, but hardly anything else to their name. Marge applied for scholarships at The School, and was able to continue her studies there, and Shari got the first of many part-time jobs, besides her regular job at the bank.
When Shari was twenty-one and Giovanni four, Marge turned seventeen and graduated from The School. She then did something no one had ever done before: she demanded an audience with the Council of Mothers.
For the Magick people living in the U.S.A., the Council of Mothers is the highest form of authority. Of course, when it comes to laws, all Magick people obey the law of the land, the government. They pay taxes; they all have driver's licenses. But when it comes to problems arising from the imporper use of Magick, the families are supposed to deal with whoever caused the problem themselves. If they can't resolve it, they ask the Patriarch to deal with the problem (the Patriarch is usually the oldest member fo a group of families that are often related to one another, but not always, necessarily.) If the Patriarch cannot or will not deal with the problem, then it can be reviewed by the Circle of Sisters, which is a monthly gathering of all the adult women in each region of the country. And for problems that find no solution on the local level, a special Council of Mothers is convened. All the mothers in the country gather at some convention center or hotel, and propose the solution, which is final and irrevocable. The Council of Mothers is led by the "Three Furies," who are also in charge of carrying out punishments. And when there are punishments, they are usually very severe, almost crippling, but unforgettable.
Because of her fame and prestige in the Magick world, Margaux Wingrove was granted an audience, and the First Extraordinary Council of Mothers was convened. In it, Marge exposed the point of view that the Magick people of America should get involved in the escalating Second War in the United Kingdom. Although historically the Americans and the British had kept out of each other's business, Marge believed that it was the American's duty and obligation to help all the innocent people suffering in this Magical War. Marge believed the Americans had the means to "counteract and neutralize" the rise of the Dark Lord over the people of Europe.
The Furies didn't even allow for debate.
No. The answer was no. The British had brought this upon themselves by squandering their Magick in trivial uses and failing to strike a balance with the world. They kept taking more and more lifeforce out of the real world in order to shore up their make-believe world, and all the negative energy was being exacted out of them in the form of He Who Must Not Be Named. They had bought it, now they had to pay for it.
Marge was devastated. She couldn't believe the categorical refusal to help their British cousins. She thought maybe they would not engage compeltely, but would send some kind of help, at least. But, nothing at all? So she did what everyone knew she would do: she went to London anyway.
The Furies were apoplectic with rage! The moment Marge returned to the States they would convene another special Council of Mothers and mete out her just deserts!
Unfortunately, Marge met in London with Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic, on August 1, 1997, which was the day that the Dark Lord showed up in person to torture, interrogate, and kill the Minister. Marge may have been the most Gifted Magick person of the century, but neither she nor the Minister of Magic were a match against the raw iniquity of Voldemort.
When the Furies found out, they were very upset and regretful, of course. The whole world of Magick was upset to see such a brave, young, and talented person murdered. Because Shari had never shown any signs of having the Gift, the Furies considered it would be more prudent to modify Shari's memories about Marge's School days, and they asked the relatives to refrain from mentioning it ever again.
Even so, the Americans stayed in America, and out anybody else's business.
***
Back in London, deep underground in a room which no one could open and guarded by the Ministry of Magic, in between dreams of lust and violence, the part of the mind of the Vampire Benjamin that was always awake and listening to the thoughts of the world raged in mute frustration.
"Ah, well, maybe the new babies will have the power…" but before he could continue the thought, another wave of madness drowned him in sleep for another eleven years.
To Be Continued…
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