Suzie’s House 232: The Ember of a Cartoon Heroine’s Embarrassment

Tentative, Suzie wasn’t sure if she should run outside to find out what the loud scrape and boom was or upstairs to see why Tracy had raced past. Gene took off after Tracy, so Suzie opted for the back yard.

When she stepped out, she found Miranda standing over the old painting ladder. From the way the held her hands out while turning away from it, Suzie guessed that Miranda had just dropped it.

“What are you doing? I thought you were going to take Tracy home.”

“Yeah, yeah. Later. Look.” Miranda pointed at Gene’s window on the second floor.

A woman’s butt and legs hung out the window, thrashing wildly. Suzie could see Tracy through the window, holding the sash down on the struggling form.

“Fran!” Their stalker had breached their defenses.

“We caught her,” Tracy yelled, her voice partly muffled by the glass. “We really caught her.”

“Oh good Lord.” Suzie raced to Gene’s room. Over her shoulder she yelled to Miranda. “Call the police.”

Miranda snickered, but Suzie could hear her running up behind. She’d make the call for them. By the time Suzie reached Gene’s room, Fran’s face had turned a dark red, and she yelled a lot of words Suzie would rather the kids hadn’t heard. Not that it bothered them in the least. Both Tracy and Gene grinned from ear to ear.

“We better get her out of the window,” Suzie said. “Wait. Let me get something to tie her up with first.”

While Suzie ran around, getting the rope, Tracy came up with a ladder backed chair and Gene manhandled the woman who had claimed to be his mother into the chair. They tied her up like a cartoon heroine destined for the railroad tracks. The ember of bitter hatred in Fran’s eyes flared, making Suzie uncomfortable.

“Miranda!” Suzie leaned into the hall and shouted. “Did you call the police?”

“I called them, but they said it would be an hour or two.” She rushed up the stairs and into Gene’s room. “Must be a bad traffic accident somewhere or something.”

“Two hours?” Tracy perked up. “Perfect.”

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