

Ghost Story
by Alex Reynard

Book Two: The Mission


     ~~~~~


*part 9*


The following morning, Milo awoke for the first time to a sunbeam on his face. The warmth on his fur was delightful, gently coaxing him out of slumber. He smacked his lips a few times and blearily opened his eyes.

Ruthie was there, but Suzy was not.

The absence of his new friend startled the young fox awake in a heartbeat. Where was she? "Suzy?" he called out, worried.

Like a gopher, her head suddenly popped up through the floorboards. "Milo?"

"Oh, geez, there you are. I woke up and... I was worried there for a second that I'd dreamed you."

She giggled. She floated all the way up through the hardwood and then made herself solid enough to stand. The morning sunlight filtered through her transparent form, making her shimmer and glow. "Nope, I'm real. I just woke up in the basement again."

"But last night we hugged 'n everything. I thought you were over that," he said, puzzled.

"I guess I'll have to work on it. Apparently it turned off while I was asleep. But I can get solid again now. Actually, now I can turn it on or off whenever I want. It's pretty cool."

"Noncorporeal," Milo said, enunciating it clearly.

"Huh?"

"It's the word for when you can float through stuff," he explained. "Non: no, corp: body. No body."

"Oh, okay. I always wondered if there was a word for that." She tried the word out, as if tasting it. "Noncorporeal. I'm non corporeal." She grinned. "I like it; it sounds spooky. Where'd you learn that?"

"Some science fiction book. You learn a lot of big words if you read enough of those," he said nonchalantly. Milo was not normally one to brag about his intelligence, but when the opportunity presented itself so neatly...

Suzy came closer and sat on the bed beside him. "I bet you're really good at crosswords," she said in a playfully coy manner.

Milo had to convince his brain that, no, he was not still asleep; there really was a pretty girl ghost on his bed flirting with him. "Actually I stink at those. I suck at spelling. No idea why. I can read just fine, but whatever part of my brain is supposed to remember what letters go where must've got broken somehow."

"But you're still smart," said Suzy. She laid down on her side beside him and hugged the little fox, slowly and with immense gratitude. Her tone became much more serious. "Milo... Thank you for last night. You're such a good listener."

"You're welcome. I was glad to," Milo said softly. "I want to do anything I can to help you, Suzy. What happened to you was..." he searched for any one word that could possibly describe the heartbreaking tale she'd told. "...despicable," he settled on. "No, it was even worse than that. Appalling, intolerable, reprehensible... I'd have to read a lot more books to know all the words to describe what that monster did to you."

She nodded, her heart feeling lighter just from the dedication in his voice.

"I want to help you, Suzy. Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it. Because that's what happens in books. The hero helps the sad girl because it's the right thing to do and it needs to be done."

She liked the thought of that. "So who are you then, James Bond?"

"I've always liked Robin Hood better. Bond's okay, but he's too in love with himself," Milo asserted. "Besides, bows and arrows are cooler than guns."

She could agree with that. "My dashing hero!" Suzy said, and touched her nose to his. They both giggled.

The little mouse ghost suddenly perked up, looking almost like a cartoon lightbulb had gone off above her head. "I've got an idea of something you can help me with right now!" she said enthusiastically.

"What's that?"

"Just go downstairs and get some breakfast! I'll meet you there!"

Milo nodded and Suzy hopped off the bed, looking very excited indeed. She vanished effortlessly through the floor again. Milo had to force himself to believe it wasn't some special effect in a movie; he was really seeing this. He was really living this.

The little fox tossed off his pajamas, pulled on some clothes, found his glasses, and ran down to the kitchen to meet Suzy. He, of course, took the stairs.

     ***

The kitchen was quiet, all chrome and tile. Mom and Dad weren't up yet. Perfect.

Milo entered to find Suzy lying on the table. She was always nude, of course, but seeing her lounging buttnaked on his kitchen table made the young fox blush quite a bit.

She noticed, and grinned. She turned onto her side, striking a sexy pose she'd seen in a perfume ad. "Hello, Milo..." Teasing this little fox was fun!

"Stop it," he said, not really meaning it at all. "Um... You're really pretty and all, and that's kinda the problem."

"What's the matter? Am I giving you a stiffy?" she purred.

"Geez!" squeaked Milo. He looked down and, yes indeed, she was giving him a stiffy.

She laughed, but good-naturedly, to show him she was only playing with him. "I'm sorry. I haven't worn anything in a year, you know. I'm not used to it. I know it's making you uncomfortable. I'll try to cover up somehow if you really want me to."

Milo walked over to the table and took a seat next to her. "That's okay. I understand. It's just... I don't really have any friends. I've *never* really had any. I like being by myself. So, I'm not used to being friends with someone. And you're a girl, too. And you're a *cute* girl..."

Her heart skipped a beat! 'He thinks I'm cute!'

"...So this is all kinda new to me," the little fox finished. He looked up and Suzy was smiling so warmly at him. Slowly he realized that she was the prettiest girl he'd ever met. "But Suzy..."

"Uh huh?"

"I like you. I really do. Okay, I was scared of you at first. But when I saw your eyes for the first time two nights ago, you looked so sad. I knew I had to make you happy again. And I was so excited when we started talking in the attic. I thought 'I'm really talking with a ghost!'. And then in the attic, well, you know... Kaboom."

"Sorry again," she said a little sheepishly.

"Heck, it wasn't anyone's fault. We just didn't understand each other yet."

"It was an honest mistake," she admitted.

"Anyway, it just made me even more determined to help you. And your story last night..." She knew how he felt about that, but his tone alone told her once more. "I just... I don't know how many times I can say the same things over and over."

She patted his paw. "It's okay. Say it as many times as you want. Every time you tell me how much you want to help me, it just makes me wanna jump up and down in happiness and hug you! I've been waiting for so long for someone to come help me. I'm so grateful to you. I'm so glad you and your family moved in."

He held her gaze and put his paw on top of hers. "I'm glad we did too. I told you I haven't had many friends, but I'm really, really happy that you're my friend now, Suzy."

She felt close to tears at hearing that. She scooted a little closer and put her arms around his shoulders. She gave him a kiss between his foxy ears. "Thank you, Milo. Thank you." She kissed him again and again, each one purely heartfelt. "Your hair smells nice. And you have cute ears."

He chuckled. "Thanks! Your ears are cute too."

"No way! They're too big!" she declared.

"They are not! They look perfect," he insisted.

She gave him an extra-big squeeze. "Okay, now I _know_ you're really my best friend. No one's ever said my ears were perfect."

"I like your tail too," Milo said.

"Yours is better. Fox tails are so gorgeous! I wish I had one!" She picked up her skinny, furless mouse tail and held it in her paws. "Mine's boring."

"No it's not! It's..." He tried to think of something. "It's graceful."

She leaned closer. "You are so full of it, Milo!" she said with a grin. She kissed his forehead. "Thank you."

He smiled back at her. All these kisses were making him feel like he was about to start floating up to the ceiling himself. "So, um, what was your idea that you got all excited about?"

"Oh! I almost forgot!" She jumped up and tugged on the back of Milo's chair. "Get up!"

"What do you want me to do?"

"Get some breakfast! Something really tasty. I haven't had anything to eat in a year and I think I've just figured out a way to have some of yours."

Milo was intrigued. He went over to the refrigerator. Mom had bought some groceries the day before but was apparently waiting till Friday to really stock up. There was some milk and OJ, but not much else that could qualify as breakfast. "Uh... Not much here."

"Oh, I don't care. I haven't had anything, do you hear me: A-NEE-THING, in a whole year! Just some toast would be great. Do you have any cereal?"

Milo started checking the cupboards. "Oh, hey! We do!" And it was his favorite kind too; Crunch-o Clusters. 'Thanks, Mom!' Milo thought.

"Perfect! With lotsa milk!" Suzy said, sounding like she was describing a diamond engagement ring, or her own private island in the tropics.

"Orange juice okay?"

"I love orange juice!" she squealed as if she'd just won the lottery.

Milo brought all the stuff over to the table and poured himself a bowl of Clusters and a glass of juice. Suzy watched, rapt in anticipation. "Okay, so, how are you going to eat this?" he asked, and wondered briefly if she intended to possess him, like in all those ghost movies he'd seen.

"Well, I don't know if it's going to work, but... Just watch."

Milo watched his mouse friend and his bowl of cereal carefully as Suzy let herself become noncorporeal. She walked towards the table, then slipped through it. It was an odd feeling for her. She could feel the tabletop running through her, but it wasn't obtrusive. It wasn't itchy or tickly, it was just *there*, like her hair or her toenails.

Concentrating intently, Suzy placed herself before Milo's bowl. She sunk a little lower into the floor, then tried to line herself up perfectly, so that when she floated forward, the cereal would be right in her mouth.

"Oh, I get it!" said Milo. "Since you can't bring the food to you, you'll bring yourself to the food."

"Something like that," said Suzy. "Here goes..." She wanted it so badly. No food for a year. Yet all along she'd never felt like she was starving, and that had felt wrong too in and of itself. She missed eating more than almost anything else from her former life. It was amazing the simple things that fursons take for granted, and how necessary they became once they were denied.

Suzy opened her mouth and floated forward...

Milk!

Milk and cereal!!!

"I can taste it!!" Suzy shouted with glee.

"Cool! That's great!" Milo said with a wide smile. "Is it good?"

"It's *incredible*! This is the best cereal I've ever had! The milk is so *cold*! I'm in heaven!" she gushed.

"Try some juice," Milo urged. He was excited just from watching her be so excited.

"Okay." Suzy's head floated through the table and entered the juice glass. "Hot DAMN!!" she whooped.

Milo was briefly frightened that she'd wake up his parents with a shout like that, but then he wondered if they could even hear her in the first place. "I take it you like it?"

"My head's gonna explode this is so good! It feels like the very first time I've ever eaten anything! I can't chew or swallow like this, and I don't even know where it'd go if I did, but just tasting it is wonderful all by itself."

"I'm happy to see you so happy," Milo told her.

"I'm happy that I can talk with my mouth full and you can still understand me!"

The two of them giggled in harmony.

"You should have some too," Suzy said. "It's your breakfast."

"Oh, right." Milo picked up his juice glass and experienced the bizarre sight of his fingers passing right through Suzy's face as he did so. "Man, that's weird." He took a drink. "But you're right, this is good juice."

Suzy switched back to the cereal, making satisfied 'Mmmmm' sounds. Milo was about to have some, but felt odd about sticking his spoon into his friend's forehead. "Um, your head's in the way."

"Just eat through me. I'm noncorporeal, remember? I don't mind."

Thus began one of the most bizarre breakfasts Milo had ever had. It was hard to notice the taste of the cereal since every time he took another spoonful he had to dip into Suzy's head to get it. Watching cereal come out of her face was something he was pretty sure he'd be seeing in his dreams the next few nights.

On the other hand though, it was also one of the most enjoyable breakfasts he'd ever had. Seeing Suzy so obviously in bliss made Milo's heart soar. He loved knowing how much he was helping her. He knew Suzy would be having many more happy moments like this one in the coming days, and he would work hard to bring as many of them to her as he could.

     ***

Mom and Dad woke up a while later and were pleasantly surprised to find Milo already up and fed. They assumed he was just eager to get to school. Milo had all of his books in his backpack, all his homework done, and nothing to do but wait in his room for an hour. An hour he and Suzy spent talking. About anything and everything that popped into their heads. Little things. Getting-to-know-each-other stuff.

When it was time to leave for the bus stop, Suzy followed Milo to the door.

"I wish I could go with you," she told him.

Milo looked around a bit to make sure his parents wouldn't see him having a conversation with thin air. "I know, Suzy," he whispered to her.

"Seeing the door, and thinking about everything outside... And I can't go out. I'm still stuck here," she said sadly.

"Hey, cheer up," he told her gently. "Now that you can become corporeal..."

"The opposite of noncorporeal?" she guessed.

"Right! And now that you can, why don't you go up to the attic and look through all your stuff?"

Sadness was wiped away like magic. Suzy's mouth dropped open in disbelieving joy. "Oh my gosh! That's right! I can do that now! All my toys!!" She threw herself at Milo and hugged him savagely. "Oh Milo! Thank you! I hadn't even thought of that!"

The little fox grinned. "So now you've got something to keep you busy until I get home, right?"

"Definitely! And when you do get home, come on up and I'll show you all my stuff!"

"Great! When I get it out of all those boxes, I'll show you mine too."

"Okay!" The distinctive rumble of a school bus engine could be heard off in the distance. If Milo didn't hurry, he'd miss it. "Well, have a good day at school then. If you get a chance, say hi to Mr. Derwood. He was my old teacher."

Milo opened the front door. A whoosh of chilly winter air leapt into the house. "I'm going now! Goodbye!" Milo shouted to his parents, and they shouted their goodbyes back. To Suzy, he said "I'll be home soon. Then we can have fun all night."

"I'll miss you anyway, new best friend," Suzy said, and touched noses with him once more. "Goodbye, Milo."

"Bye Suzy!" he cried as he stepped out into the brisk cold morning. He waved to her as he shut the door.

Then he smiled to himself. He hadn't wanted to get her hopes up prematurely, but that breakfast thing had given him another idea. An idea on how maybe, just maybe, he could bring Suzy with him to school tomorrow.

Milo grinned and ran all the way to the bus stop. Today was gonna be a great day.


     ~~~~~


*part 10*

School flew by like lightning. Milo's head was buzzing all day with thoughts of his new playmate. His agile mind poked at the phenomenon of Suzy from every angle. From the personal: 'Is she gonna want to share the bedroom now? And if so, will she see my thingy?' To the practical: 'There's no way Mom and Dad will just keep on not noticing her forever, but how do I introduce them?' To the philosophical: 'Why exactly is she still here? Don't most spirits go to heaven or something? Why did Suzy get stuck here?' To the frightening: 'What if this is what happens to *everyone* when they die?'

The first half of the day went by so fast it might as well not have even existed. Milo breezed through a painfully easy science lesson, all the while staring off into space, his mind whirling on much more important topics. Lunch was consumed at breakneck speed. Afterwards, it was back to the library. There, Milo was lucky enough to find a goodly-sized treasure trove of books on the paranormal. He was sure that most of them would be utterly useless, but they were still worth looking through in the hopes of discovering some little nugget of knowledge that would be useful to either himself or Suzy.

The bell at the end of recess seemed to ring just seconds after Milo had begun his research. He hastily checked out everything, gaining a puzzled arched eyebrow from Miss Edwin, and ran back to his classroom.

The rest of the afternoon felt as real as a mirage. Later on, Milo realized he actually could not remember a single thing that had happened from recess onward. When the clock struck three, Milo was on the bus back home in a heartbeat. The same cat from the day before, who this time introduced himself as Will, sat next to him and they made small talk. Milo's mind was so far away he didn't fully grasp the astounding occurrence. He was actually being a tiny bit sociable, and it wasn't that bad. At least in small amounts.

     ***

Milo burst through the front door like a cannon round.

"Hi Mom! Hi Dad!"

His parents, both currently occupying the maroon armchairs in the livingroom, only caught a glimpse of a bespectacled orange streak as it passed by them.

"Bye Mom! Bye Dad!"

Milo's mother and father turned to one another, eyes wide in bewilderment.

"Well, he certainly seemed excited about something," Dad finally managed to say.

Mom nodded. "Perhaps he discovered something interesting in the attic yesterday. Maybe some old books."

Dad nodded as well. "Or he could be on dope," he deadpanned.

She hurled a throw pillow at him. "You're just awful, dear!"

     ***

Mindful of the dangers of accidental beheading this time, Milo carefully pulled down the attic steps. He bounded up them like an antelope. "Suzy! I'm home!"

At the top of the stairs, Milo was struck dumb with amazement. It looked like a tornado had hit a toy store and then travelled up here to dissipate. Suzy was sitting in the middle of the floor, surrounded by umpteen upturned boxes and probably every single thing she owned. "Hi! I kinda unpacked everything."

"Geez, you sure did!" Milo said. He heaved the stairs up behind him, shucked off his coat and backpack and tossed them aside. "You have got a *ton* of stuff!"

"Well, some of it's family stuff, but most of it's mine." Suzy had on a grin that looked permanently etched onto her face.

The afternoon sun was shining through the small circular window near the attic's eaves, and the glow of it suffused Suzy's translucent form, making her look stunningly like an angel. Milo gulped. She was so beautiful, he almost couldn't move.

Thankfully, Suzy didn't notice Milo's awestruck expression. She was much too wrapped up in her own joy. "It was so cool getting to *feel* all this stuff again! I mean, I used to be able to poke my head into the boxes and that was _it_. Getting to actually touch all my stuff again is so wonderful!" She picked up Ruthie, who was seated beside her, and gave the plushie a hug. "It's like early Christmas!"

Suzy's good cheer was infectious. Milo got himself calmed down and shared her smile. He was not only happy to see her so happy, but he also had to admit that Suzy had some cool toys too! He'd expected just a bunch of boring fashion dolls or other 'girl toys', but Suzy apparently held those in the same dim regard as him. There were lots of toy vehicles, a zoo's worth of model animals, oodles of action figures, piles of plushies, ranks of robots and billions of books! "Oh cool! You've got a lot of books too!"

"Yeah. Some of the kids at school used to make fun of me because I actually like reading." She rolled her eyes. "Buncha dummies. I've never understood why wanting to be smart is so  uncool."

Milo sighed in a 'you got THAT right!' kind of way. He nudged away some of her toys with his feet to make an area big enough to sit down. He carefully sat, and started fiddling with a nifty red sports car with pull-back action. "When I saw all this stuff, I thought you might be disappointed with my stash of toys. Most of what I have is books though, so you might find some good stuff after all. What kind of stuff do you read?"

"Mysteries and historical stuff. Sometimes I like science fiction. Though if it's got good characters, I'll read just about anything. Except movie adaptations. I've never read a single one that wasn't crap!"

Milo felt his heart flutter at her answer. While he was more of a sci-fi fan, he liked mysteries a lot too, and he definitely shared her other opinions. It seemed he'd found a kindred spirit. 'No pun intended,' he told himself. "You know that little bar in the basement? My parents don't drink, so I was thinking I might turn it into a reading nook."

"Great!" Suzy said with much enthusiasm. "That's where Mommy used to keep all her booze. Yecch! That stuff smelled awful and it made her even meaner than usual," She considered something. "Of course, sometimes she'd drink a lot and fall asleep for a long time too, so it wasn't all bad. But yeah, I think it's a really good idea. You might wanna check the cabinets first; they might still stink like that nasty combination of dish soap and bad grape juice."

Milo let the toy car go and it skittered across the floor and collided with a herd of plastic cows. He wrinkled his nose. "How can people drink that crap? My grampa drinks beer sometimes and it looks like pee!" Milo felt his train of thought take an abrupt turn. "Oh, I don't know why I thought of it now, but there was something I was going to ask you."

"Okay, what?"

"When I was doing research yesterday on you and the house and everything, all the photos I saw of you were black and white. And now you just look like a little cloud of clear mist. I was wondering, what color did your fur used to be?"

The question was so out of the blue, Suzy actually had to think about it for a moment. "Uh... Well, actually if the photos were in black and white, it probably looked like me anyway. My fur was a nice warm grey." Something struck her funny then and she hid a fit of giggles behind her paw.

"What?"

"Oh, I just remembered; Mommy used to say I looked like a little stormcloud, but Daddy said I looked like a dirty sweatsock!" She giggled so hard she snorted.

Milo was puzzled. "That doesn't seem very nice."

"He was only kidding!" Suzy explained. "It was kind of an in-joke. I asked him what he thought my fur looked like one day, and he said it was the exact same color of a sweaty used sock! And he was right, too! He got one of his socks out of the hamper and held it next to my arm and it was the same color! Perfectly! We both cracked up!

"After that, he used to kid me about it all the time. If he was doing laundry, he'd find me and shout, 'Oh look! That's the biggest dirty sock I've ever seen! Pee-yew! Into the hamper it goes!' And he'd pick me up and toss me into the laundry hamper and then run around the house with it, and we'd both laugh our brains out! Then he'd take me down to the laundry room and pick me up and, just when he was about to drop me into the washer, he'd pretend to recognize me. 'Oh, it's you, Suzy! Sorry about that! I guess I need glasses!'"

Milo was giggling now too. That sounded exactly like some of the goofy stuff he and his dad did together as well.

"So of course, his secret nickname for me was Stinky Sock. As weird as it sounds, whenever he wanted me to really know how much he loved me, he'd call me that. In fact, that's one of the reasons I have so many toys in the first place. If some night Mommy had been really hard on me, he'd pick me up from school the next day and take me to the toy store and let me pick something out. I'd get out of class and see his car in the parking lot, and he'd say, "Hop in, little Stinky Sock!" Though he was always really careful about making sure none of the other kids ever heard him call me that!"

"Yeah, I can just imagine that nickname in the hands of evil bullies," Milo mused.

"Dad *perfectly* understood that. I'd get in the car, and we'd talk about all sorts of stuff as we went to the store." Suzy paused, and became quieter. "Um, I don't want you to think he was just trying to bribe me with toys or something like that. Daddy never would have done that. I told you how trapped we were. It was just the best way he could think of to make it up to me for not being able to hold Mommy back. And I knew he was doing his best anyway. He didn't need to give me any toys at all for me to see that. He just wanted to, so I'd know he was always thinking about me. Heck, we didn't even have to go to the store. He could have just driven me home and talked with me and given me a hug and that would have been enough."

Milo skootched a little closer and patted her paw, saying silently that he understood. "So, did you have a secret nickname for him, or can you not tell me?"

At that, a smile returned to Suzy's face. "I did, but it's really awful."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, out of context, it's even worse than 'Stinky Sock'."

"Well, try me. I won't laugh," he assured.

Suzy was half-blushing, half trying to keep from laughing. "Um... Okay. I called him a 'Musclebound Dumbass'."

"What!?" yelped Milo, unable to keep a befuddled grin from surfacing.

"Hey! You said you wouldn't laugh!"

"Okay, okay. But that's a pretty dang weird thing to call your dad! I'm assuming there's a story behind it?"

"Uh huh." At that point, Suzy's face held the strangest mixture of emotion. Laughter mixed with heartbreak, determination mixed with defeat. But strongest of all was the love she carried for her Daddy. "I told you about how Mom and Dad would fight all the time after I'd gone to bed. One night they were at it again. Daddy had taken it for hours and he'd finally had enough. He just stomped off, and she screamed really loud at him, 'Oh that's right, Richard! Just run away from your problems, you musclebound dumbass!'.

"He came up to my room a little later, and he looked awful. I mean, he looked like someone had been beating him up. He looked like he was just about to fall down on the floor and cry. He came over to me and..." Suzy paused to wipe a single tear from her eye. "...And he sat down on my bed and hugged me with his great big arms, and he just said over and over 'I love you, Suzy. I love you.'

"I couldn't believe it. Here he looked like he was about to break like glass, and he was trying to comfort _me_! I hugged him back as best as I could, and I told him 'Even if Mommy says you're a musclebound dumbass, you're *my* musclebound dumbass, and I love you so much!' And of course, we both burst out laughing at that, and it stuck."

Milo understood perfectly the emotion that moment must have held. He hadn't had many himself, but he knew there were moments in anyone's life where things seem impossibly, insurmountably horrible, and all one has is the love of someone close to hold on to. And in moments like those, what else can you do but laugh?

"Whenever I'd call him that, we'd laugh," Suzy continued. "It was kind of our way at getting back at Mommy. It made us feel like 'we're in this together!'. We took that nasty name away from Mommy and made it something we could laugh about. And if you can laugh at something, it can't hurt you anymore. So that's the story of Stinky Sock and Musclebound Dumbass."

"...Coming soon to a theater near you!" Milo couldn't help adding.

The two of them fell over on top of each other laughing.

Suzy finally came up for air. "Wow. I really know what they mean by 'getting something off your chest'. Just talking about all this stuff feels good."

Milo took off his glasses to give them a wipe with the edge of his shirt. "You can talk to me about anything you want, Suzy. I'm always ready to listen. And besides, that was a great story!"

"Thanks. It's amazing how sometimes when something really awful happens to you, being able to laugh at it when it's all over can make it seem not so bad."

Milo nodded approvingly. "You are a wise mouse, Suzy."

She grinned bashfully. "Thank you!"

"Oh, that reminds me, I went to the library at school again today," said Milo.

"Didja remember to say hi to Mr. Derwood?" Suzy asked.

Milo winced. "Darn. I'll remember tomorrow. Promise. Anyway, I picked up a buncha books about ghosts."

Suzy seemed puzzled by that. "Why? I should be enough of an expert on the subject. You don't wanna exorcise me, do you?"

"Heck no!" Milo nearly shouted, even though he knew she was only kidding. The very thought of that was awful! He was just getting to know her, he certainly didn't want to make her go away. "I got them because I thought something in one of them might be able to help us figure out all the stuff you don't already know. Of course, some of the books'll be just junk, and some'll be all about getting rid of ghosts, which is the last thing I want!"

She was glad to see how strongly he emphasized that point.

"...but somewhere in one of them we might find something that'll help us."

"Like what?"

Milo shrugged. "I dunno. I guess that's up to you. And that brings me to the other question I want to ask you." He paused, and his eyes told her that this was a real biggie.

"What?" Suzy asked quietly, her eyes widening a bit at how solemn Milo looked.

"Suzy, what do you want?" Milo asked gently.

"Huh?"

Milo tried to fit together the best way to phrase it. "I mean, I always thought people went to heaven - or hell, if you believe in that too - after they died, and they only stayed behind as ghosts if they had something left here that they still needed to do."

She nodded. She'd pondered the very same thing countless times.

He went slow, not knowing if this might offend her somehow. "So, then, unless there's been some kind of horrible mistake, you're still here for a reason. And, given how you, um, died, I might be able to guess why."

"Me too," Suzy firmly agreed.

"So, if there's something your spirit needs to accomplish before it can rest, what do you think it is? And again; I'm not saying this because I want you out of the house. Heck no! I really like you and if you wanted to stay here with me forever that'd be okay. But in every ghost story I've ever read, if a ghost's still wandering around here, it means something is wrong. And I want to fix that. For you. If there's somewhere else you're supposed to be, someplace better, I want to help you get there."

Suzy couldn't speak for a moment. As much as Milo kept having to reassure himself that she was real, she had to keep doing the same for him. How could anyone be so giving, so selfless, so... Heroic? The little mouseghost leaned closer to give her foxy friend a big warm hug. She nuzzled his fluffy cheek. "Oh Milo..."

Milo gratefully accepted her hug. He could feel her touch, but it was like she weighed no more than a shadow. "So, Suzy, what is it that you want? What do you need my help for?"

Suzy started to list everything in her mind, but she stopped herself short. Even if it was impossible, she knew what she wanted more than anything else. "I want to get Daddy out of jail." She said it with absolute conviction. Her tone left no doubt that she'd do anything in her power, and beyond it, to see her wish come true.

Milo was not at all surprised by her answer. "Okay. If that's what you need to do, we'll do it. I have no idea how, but we'll do it."

Suzy was amazed by the simple assurance in Milo's voice. He was not idly agreeing with her. He was saying it like it was a foregone conclusion; they *would* set her father free, and that was that. "Milo! But how? I'm stuck here, and we're both just kids! What are you going to do, write a letter to the jail saying that Richard MacAllister's daughter's ghost says he's innocent?"

"Well, obviously that wouldn't work. The only way to prove his innocence is to prove your Mom's guilt."

Suzy's mind leapt onto that possibility and set about untangling it. Looking at it from that angle, it seemed a lot less impossible. "I still don't know how we'll do it."

"Hey, you're the one who likes to read mysteries. We'll figure out something."


     ~~~~~


*part 11*

Milo and Suzy had many things to discuss. For one thing, they tried to review every single court-themed TV show they'd ever seen, trying to put together everything they knew about the law. Unfortunately, it wasn't much. Technicalities and loopholes wouldn't work; they'd have to come up with some incontrovertibly damning evidence just to get the case reopened.

They pondered and contemplated, puzzled and mulled, and came to no real conclusions. So they decided to let the topic slip for the moment and let it percolate in the backs of their minds. When the time was right, the ideas would come. Talk turned to school, and then books, and then a series of stories Suzy told about where some of her favorite toys had come from.

Ruthie, by the way, had been the star of an extremely obscure cartoon that Suzy had fallen in love with when she was five. She had gotten up before sunrise to watch it every weekend without fail. The only problem was, while other cartoon shows were merchandized up the wazoo, 'Ruthie's Amazing Travels' had bupkus. Seeing Suzy's passion for the show, her father had gone to herculean lengths to find a Ruthie plush somewhere. Anywhere. His efforts finally led to a toy store manager who had a brother in another country where Ruthie was slightly more popular. He'd said that, for a wildly exorbitant fee, a Ruthie plushie just might be procured. Richard paid the man happily and thanked him a blue million times. As luck would have it, Ruthie arrived in the mail the week before Christmas. When Suzy ripped open the package and laid eyes on her very favorite toy for the first time, she was so excited she actually wet her pajamas a little. And it took her seven minutes to notice.

     ***

Dinner that night was rather interesting.

At dinnertime, Milo's father had searched the whole house for his son to no avail. Finally, in the second floor hallway, he heard some muffled laughter coming from above his head and spotted the pull-string for the attic stairs. While he'd known the house had an attic when he bought the place, he'd so far been unable to find it. And he could have sworn that pull-string hadn't been there the day they moved in.

Ascending the stairs, he'd been struck speechless the same way Milo had at the incredible vault of toys that had been unearthed. He told Milo that it was time to eat and commented on his son's goldmine. He said that the little mouse who'd owned the toys would probably have liked for him to enjoy them. Suzy found that rather amusing.

This answered for Milo the question of whether or not his parents were aware of Suzy's presence. Dad had been standing two feet away from the little mouse and had seen nothing. Suzy even followed Milo downstairs to the table and waved her paws right in front of his parents' faces. Not a blink.

Whispering, Milo asked if she thought they could hear her. Suzy giggled and decided to test that theory by shouting out an extremely colorful string of swear words. Milo nearly choked on his milk laughing. His parents stared at him and wondered if he needed medical attention.

As Milo and his family ate and made small talk, the little fox did his best to not gape at the mouse head that was floating around the table like a shark fin, sampling from all their plates. Suzy was delighted to find that her food trick worked a second time. She loudly voiced her enthusiastic enjoyment of Milo's mother's tuna casserole. Not that she could hear her, of course. Milo made sure to compliment the dish enough for both of them. His mother was quite pleased and gave him an extra cookie after he'd helped her with the dishes.

After the meal, Milo went back up to the attic to retrieve his backpack. Suzy came with him to get some of her books. The two of them went back to the bedroom, curled up on the bed in a cozy blanket, and enjoyed several quiet hours immersed in their books.

     ***

Suzy snapped her book closed with the satisfied sound of someone who has just finished an enjoyable tale. She sighed in contentment. "Man, it's so much easier to be able to just *hold* these!"

Milo looked up from his book. He was mildly startled to see the moon shining brightly above outside his window. A glance at the clock showed they'd been reading for a lot longer than he'd thought. "Good book?"

"Mmm-hmm. I'd read it before, but not in a long time. It's about a kid on a ship that gets attacked by pirates and ends up shipwrecked on an island full of monsters that turn out to be hallucinations. Weird stuff."

"Sounds like some old movie I saw once."

"Well, the book was my Mom's when she was a kid, so it could have been the same one. That's one good thing I can say about my mom; she gave me all her old books and sometimes we'd talk about the ones we both liked."

In her voice, Milo could hear a conflicted yearning. Suzy still loved her mother, despite all the horrible things that had happened. She still remembered what few good times they'd shared, and wished there could have been more of them.

"What about your books?" Suzy asked, changing the subject. "Anything interesting yet?"

Milo sat up to stretch a bit. He uncurled his tail and gave it a few shakes to wake it up. "Sorta. The first two were crap. One was supposed to be about all kinds of supernatural phenomenon, but all the author did through the whole book was just say everything was a bunch of B.S.! He didn't have an open mind about any of it! I stopped reading that one a few chapters in. The other one was, like, 'Baby's First Book About Ghosts'. Way too simple. Nothing helpful." Milo then held up the one he was currently into. "Now this one's _cool_! This author's the total opposite of the first guy. There's all sorts of bizarre stuff in here! There's chapters on UFOs and bigfoot and men in black and weird things falling out of the sky with no explanation-"

"Like what?" Suzy asked, her curiosity tickled.

Milo's eyes lit up. "You name it! There's a whole list! Fish, frogs, worms, money, black eggs, strange cut-up documents, mushroom-shaped foamy things... It even says that sometimes airplanes'll discharge all the stuff in their toilets in midair, and it'll freeze on the way down and turn into a giant green popsicle when it hits! They said one landed in some farmer's field, and he didn't know what it was, so he licked it!"

Suzy cringed at this deliciously gross tidbit. "Eeeeeeeeeewww!!"

"Of course, now I'm on the chapter about ghosts..." Milo smiled craftily at her, and being a fox, he pulled it off very well. "...and I think I may have found something interesting..."

"What, what?" Suzy asked eagerly, intrigued by that foxy grin.

"Okay, so, somewhere in here it's talking about weegee boards and automatic writing and all that stuff that people use to communicate with the dead..." He flipped through a few pages before finding the section he was describing. "Aha! Here! It's talking about how this can be dangerous sometimes because if you don't do it right, it could attract the wrong type of spirit, and it'll possess you and you'll go crazy or something."

Suzy frowned. "But what does that have to do with us? You've already contacted me, and I'm a nice spirit."

"You certainly are," he replied without hesitation, and got a very sweet smile in return. He shifted his attention back to the book. He was starting to get excited. "But then it goes on about spirit possession, and how, supposedly, it happens more often than people think. Sometimes people'll go into trances and a ghost will hop into 'em and talk or write about something."

Suzy began to catch on. "Do you mean... You think I could possess you!?"

Milo pointed at her like a game show host. "Exactly! We can at least try."

Suzy tried to wrap her brain around the very concept. It made her oddly uncomfortable. "Geez... I don't know. I mean, possession seems like something some demon or evil ghost would do."

Milo tried to reassure her. "But a lot of examples in the book seem to say that it's pretty easy for a ghost to do. And like I said, some people let ghosts possess them willingly. I'm sure there wouldn't be any danger. I trust you, after all. If I let you in, I know you won't do anything bad with my body."

She consider the idea a bit more. "Well... Maybe. What do you think we should do if I could?"

"Well, for starters, if you're inside me, maybe I can take you with me when I go outside."

That sparked Suzy's attention immediately. "Go outside!? Are you kidding!? I could go to school with you and see all my old friends!"

"That's exactly what I was thinking! And if it works, there's probably a whole bunch of places we could go to together that might help us find a way to get your Dad free, or at least contact him."

That idea struck Suzy like a brick. She got very quiet suddenly. Her face looked as if she'd just swallowed something, and realized too late that it wasn't actually food. "Wow. This is all happening so fast."

"I know. Everything's working out so well," Milo said happily.

"It's not that," Suzy corrected him in a slightly shaken voice. "It's just that a week ago, before you moved in, I didn't have any hope at all. I just thought things would go on like this forever. I'd just float around the house until... I didn't know _how_ it was going to turn out. I really had lost all hope. And then, suddenly, you're here, and you're being so nice to me, and I can see myself again, and talk and touch... And now I might even be able to leave here! It's too much! I think I'm in shock or something!" she nearly shouted.

Milo quickly set the book aside and moved closer. He took Suzy's paws in his. They were trembling. Her tail was even shaking. "Hey, it's okay! We don't have to do anything right now. We can take it slow."

She turned to face him; fear, uncertainty and hope blazing in her troubled blue eyes. "But I don't think we *should* take it slow! I feel like... well, we figured out that the anniversary of my death's gonna be in a few days. Maybe that means something. Maybe I only have so much time left until then!" she wailed in fear.

He tried desperately to reassure her. "Oh Suzy! I'm sure nothing bad'll happen to you if you don't-"

She cut him off. Despite not needing to breathe, she was gulping for air now from sheer anxiety. "But what if it does? It'll be one full year with me just sitting here, not getting anything done! I've read plenty of ghost stories too. What if I just poof out of existence if I don't start-"

This time, Milo cut her off. He grabbed her shoulders and drilled his gaze into hers. "Stop it Right Now! You're just going to make yourself go nuts if you keep worrying about this! This isn't some ghost story! It's really happening to us. To _us_. To *both* of us! Nothing is going to happen if you don't do anything by a certain date, okay? Nothing! I won't let anything happen to you. I promise I won't!"

His words were so forceful, they snapped her right out of what could have been a panic attack. Suzy stared back into his eyes for a moment, taking deep breaths. Slowly, she let herself relax, taking in the feel of his paws on her shoulders. "Okay. Okay. You're right."

Milo gave her a soft nuzzle with his nose. "You okay now?"

Suzy nodded. "Mm hmm." She paused to think, then cautiously said, "But maybe we should shoot for it anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

Suzy explained, sounding much calmer now. "I mean that, no matter how I feel about it, every day I spend not doing something is another day my Daddy has to spend in jail. I don't want him to have to stay in that awful place even a second longer. I wish he could get out right now! But he can't. Not until we think of a way to get him out." Her words were filled with love and longing.

Milo nodded. He took his hands off her shoulders and laid back against the windowsill. "Okay. I agree. Whatever we do, we do it as quickly as we can. For your dad."

"That's right." Suzy paused, unsure if she really wanted to go through with this. "So... do you want me to try and possess you now?"

Milo considered it. "We don't have to right now. My bedtime's not for a few more hours anyway. I'm ready now, but we don't have to start practicing until you're ready too. I don't want you to be uncomfortable with it."

"Seems like you'd be more uncomfortable than me. I mean, I don't know if I'll be totally in control of you or what."

Milo thought some humor might lighten the mood again. "True, but if you're inside me, it might be stinky in there. And what if I have to fart?" he deadpanned.

"Eeew! You're gross!" She picked up the pillow and whomped him on the head.

But at least she was smiling again.


     ~~~~~


*part 12*


Some time later, Milo's mom poked her head in the room to say goodnight. Milo said his as well, and for her own amusement, Suzy screamed, "GOODNIGHT, MRS. LENNOX!" at the top of her lungs.

To both Milo and Suzy's surprise, Mom paused for just a moment. As if she'd heard the buzz of a fly, or the rustle of curtains. She shrugged. Then she wished Milo pleasant dreams and shut off the light, enveloping the room in cool blue starlight.

"Do you think she heard me?" Suzy asked, rather excited by the idea.

Milo wasn't sure just yet. "She could have. Of course, she could have heard something else too."

Suzy made a little agreeing sound. "Yeah. I guess your parents won't be aware of me until they decide to be." Then she thought a bit. "Say, why do you think you were able to see me right away?" she asked.

Milo had been puzzling over that one for some time himself. He shrugged. "Who knows? My best guess is that when I first saw this place, it kinda scared me. I was feeling creeped out anyway, so maybe I was more receptive to weird stuff."

That seemed to suit Suzy. "And we can probably both agree that you believing in me made me stronger. That even seems to make sense somehow, but I can't really put my finger on why. Do you think your parents would be able to see me or hear me if you told them I was here?"

Milo frowned. "Um, that might not be a good idea. They might freak out."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not saying we *should*, ya big doof. At least, not yet. But they might be able to help us eventually. I'm just saying, do you think they *could* see me?"

Milo weighed the possibility. "I'm not sure. They're both pretty firm believers in not very much. Nothing supernatural, I mean. Dad always says I'm the weird one in the family. I'd probably have to sit them both down and explain it reeeally carefully. I know they wouldn't believe me at first. In fact, they'd probably suggest I start seeing a therapist or something. But I'd like to think they'd trust me enough to at least consider the idea."

"Yeah, and then I could jump up and down and make a lot of noise and bonk them on the head until they noticed me!" Suzy smiled as a little lightbulb went off. "Or hey, I know an even better way! All I'd have to do is pick some stuff up in front of them and wave it around! I could toss some pillows, or turn the TV on and off."

Milo lit up. "Hey, that's a great idea! And it'd probably work too. Mom and Dad are realists, but they're not dummies. If something like that happened right in front of their eyes, I'm sure they'd believe it!"

Suzy was feeling excited now. It was good to be able to have a plan like this, just in case they'd end up needing help from someone else. She truly hoped that Milo's parents wouldn't mind having a ghost for a boarder. Then again, it was her house in the first place anyway.

"Hey, Milo," Suzy started.

"What?"

She hesitated. But it was best to get it out while she was still feeling so upbeat. "Um,
do you wanna try practicing that possession thing now?"

Milo was mildly surprised that she would agree to it so soon. "I guess. Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I really would like to go with you to school tomorrow. And we might not have any time to try this out in the morning."

"Fair enough." Milo paused as he realized he had absolutely no idea how to even start. "So... Um... Do something."

"Me? I thought you were supposed to know how to do this!" Suzy exclaimed.

"Hey, the book was just about ghosts in general; it didn't have any instructions!"

Suzy crossed her arms huffily. "Okay then, how the heck am I supposed to get inside you?" she said, mostly to herself.

She had an idea then. It was kind of weird, but it seemed pretty foolproof. "Okay, open your mouth."

"What!?"

"Open your mouth! I'll just jump inside. Pretend I'm a lion tamer and you're the lion. Come on, can you think of a better way to do this?"

Milo was stuck. He couldn't actually. "Ho well," he said with a shrug. With great squeamishness, and an equal amount of forced bravery, he opened his maw as wide as he could.

Suzy felt a shiver of fear/excitement tingle through her. The sight of Milo's wide open mouth sparked some deep ancestral instinct of the days when mice and foxes were natural enemies. 'Evolution makes strange bedfellows,' she thought. Then realized; 'Hey, that was pretty clever!'

"Are 'oo 'onna 'ake all 'ay?" Milo asked.

"Oh, sorry!" Suzy steeled herself. "Okay. Here I go!"

Suzy stared deep into the darkness of her fox friend's throat. Then she closed her eyes and thrust herself forward. Rubbery wetness covered her face for an instant, then a stranger sensation took over. It was as if she was being sucked through a straw, or more accurately, it was what being flushed down a toilet must be like. She felt herself become completely liquified as some force drew her deep within Milo's body.

Overcome by the shockwave of sensation, Milo fell back onto his bed, then slipped and landed hard on the floor.

"Ouch!" they both cried in unison.

Milo sat up, eyes wide in sheer disbelief. "Holy crap! We did it!"

"We did! Oh my god!" Suzy felt like she was wearing a rubber bag full of warm Jell-o. It was as if she was wearing Milo like a costume! Stranger still, she could feel everything he was feeling; the air on his fur, the floor under his paws. She seemed to have gained an innate knowledge of how his whole body worked too. Every part of him was laid out for her to operate. It was incredible! It was like sitting down at the controls of a helicopter and suddenly realizing you knew everything there was to know about flying it!

Milo stared in bizarre fright as his arm began to rise, completely out of his control. Suzy held his paw in front of their face. She brushed their fingers through his hair. She felt his fox ears; tall and pointy, so different from her own.

"Suzy, I don't know whether this is creeping me out, or if it's really, really cool," Milo said shakily.

"It feels like both from in here!"

"What's it like inside me?"

"It's really squishy, believe it or not! It's like being in a spacesuit full of hot soup! That's about the best way I can describe it. And I just suddenly *know* how to make your body work! Here, let me try to stand us up."

Reluctantly, Milo gave over the controls of himself. Without moving a muscle on his own, he felt himself grasp the bed for support and rise shakily to his feet like a newborn calf. "That was weird!"

"But I did it!" Suzy said proudly. "I was worried I'd fall over!"

Milo sat down quickly, just to prevent that possibility. "Hey, I just sat down by myself, so I guess we're kind of in joint control of me," he said.

"Looks that way," Suzy said. "Okay, let's do an experiment. I'll try to make you do something, and you try to resist me."

"Okaaay," Milo said warily, wondering what exactly she planned to do.

In a flash, Milo's index finger was out and headed for his nose like a snot-seeking missile.

"Oh no! You are NOT making me pick my nose!"

Suzy laughed her tail off as Milo struggled mightily to resist her control over him. He was actually doing better than she had imagined. He managed to slow down his hand, Suzy still urging it forward, until it came to a trembling standstill.

"Ha! Beat you!" Milo crowed triumphantly.

In that second his concentration slipped, and Suzy brought his finger in for a landing.

"EEEEW!!!" Suzy's laughter rung through his brain as he hastily removed his finger and looked around for something to wipe it off on. "You're a jerk!"

"Yeah, but at least we know now that I can only force you to do stuff like that if you break your concentration. It was a valuable scientific lesson," she said, and chortled heartily.

Milo couldn't help but smile. "Okay, it _was_ kinda funny."

Despite the fact that Milo couldn't see it, Suzy got a very wicked gleam in her eye. "So, you wanna go another round?"

Milo gulped.

What followed was chaos beyond description. Suzy battled Milo for hours, trying to get him to do an astounding cavalcade of things he most certainly did not want to do. She tried to force him to smell his socks, to toss his favorite toys in the wastebasket, to spank himself, to imitate a ballerina, and a dozen and a half more crazy ideas. Milo, though, gave as well as he got. Eventually, he figured out ways to get back at Suzy, including attacking all their most ticklish spots, ripping some truly awful farts, and dangling Ruthie out the window.

And, of course, the whole time they were laughing like complete lunatics.

In fact it was easily the most fun they'd had together so far. Their pranks and counter-pranks grew in creativity and outrageousness until eventually the both of them were laughing so hard it was almost impossible see through their tears or even stand up.

Their fun was abruptly brought to a halt when Milo's mother shouted up through the floor, "Milo! Knock it off or I'll mail your butt to the moon!!"

This only made them laugh harder, but by then they were so drained they couldn't even pick themselves up off the floor. So the two of them just laid there on the hardwood, convulsing with giggles.

Eventually they were so exhausted that all they could do was breathe. They sprawled on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, listening to Milo's heart thump, still occasionally tittering at the memories of the grand goofiness they'd raised.

"So, who won?" Milo finally asked, still panting.

"I'd be willing to call it a tie if you would."

"Fair enough."

Suzy picked up one of Milo's hands and held it up. It took Milo a second to figure out what she meant. Then he held up his other paw and the two of them shook. "Truce," they both said.

"Hey, you wouldn't have really dropped Ruthie out the window, would you?" Suzy asked hesitantly.

"Of course not!" Milo quickly reassured. "She's starting to grow on me too."

"Glad to hear it."

Milo was about to reply, when a sudden pressure 'down there' made him cringe. He sat bolt upright. "Oh heck."

Suzy sensed it too and giggled. "You have to pee, don't you?"

"Yes, and there's no way I'm taking you with me! Out!"

"Aw, you're no fun! I wanna know how boys do it," Suzy said eagerly.

Milo put his foot down. "No! It'll have to remain a mystery of nature. Now quick, find a way to get out of me before I wet my pants!"

Suzy paled a bit at that. "Uh... Get out?" She hadn't realized until just then that she would eventually have to find some way of doing that.

"You mean you don't know how!?" Milo said in a panic. "Crud! Think of something!" He stood up and started doing the pee dance.

Suzy wracked her mind. She'd come in through his mouth so... what did that mean about her exit? Ewww! She'd either have to come out as vomit or a fart! Not her idea of fun.

"Hurry!" Milo pleaded, now doing a rather interpretive version of the Charleston.

Just in time, Suzy got it. "Of course! I'll just get noncorporeal again and float out!" She did and slipped out of Milo's body as easy as pie.

Milo gaped in incredulity. "You...! Why didn't you just go in that way!?"

"I didn't think of it until now!" she said huffily. Then added, "Niagara falls!"

"Ooh, that's right!" Milo wasted no time in dashing from the room.

Footsteps down the hall. A door being flung open. The toilet lid clattering. The sound of a zipper. Tinkle tinkle tinkle. An extremely relieved sigh.

Milo came back a few moments later, looking like the most satisfied fox on earth. "Ahhhhh..."

Suzy honestly tried not to laugh at his expense, but failed miserably.

"Ha ha ha. Like you've never had to hold it," Milo sneered kiddingly.

"Actually, I haven't peed in a year. So there!" She stuck her tongue out at him, then realized what she'd said. "Gosh, I *haven't* peed in a year! Now that I think about it, I kind of miss it."

Milo arched an eyebrow. "You miss *peeing*?!"

"Well, hey, if you didn't go for a year, how do you think you'd feel?"

He considered it. "Allright, yeah. I guess I would."

Then Milo yawned. It looked like it was time for bed. He motioned for Suzy to go in the closet for a moment while he changed into his pajamas. She left and he slipped them on and hopped between the covers. "Allright, Suzy. You can come back."

She returned and sat down on the bed beside him. "Um, do you think I could go back inside you tonight?"

"Why?" Milo asked, a bit puzzled.

"Well, it might feel more like it used to that way. When I was alive," she added. "That, and I probably won't end up in the basement again this way."

Milo considered it, and even though it was a bit weird, he couldn't find anything really wrong with the idea. "Okay, I guess."

Suzy thanked him with a smile. She floated up over the bed and let herself become a mouse mist. She descended into him, Milo feeling only a gentle layer of warmth spreading through his body.

The little mousegirl settled in contentedly. "Thanks, Milo. You're actually quite comfy, now that I've gotten used to you."

"Thanks?" Milo was unsure how to feel, considering he'd just been evaluated as furniture.

Suzy yawned, and Milo followed a moment later.

"Well, goodnight, Suzy."

"'Night, Milo."

And so ended Milo's third day in his new home. Tomorrow would bring new adventures, and both he and his new friend were eagerly awaiting them.


     ~~~~~


*part 13*


To Milo's surprise however, the adventures started sooner than he'd anticipated.

Somewhere past midnight, Milo started having a wonderful dream. In it, Miss Edwin, the pretty avian librarian at school, had invited him into her private office. She asked him to have a seat in her big comfy office chair. Then she slowly took off her clothes, revealing herself clad only in feathers. Milo got an impressive hardon. Smiling tenderly, Miss Edwin leaned over and began to stroke it. The feel of those gentle feathers was amazing! Milo's eyes were shut tight and he murred in pleasure.

About then, his dream began to melt into reality. But the sensation of his penis being stroked remained. Blearily, his mind realized that that shouldn't be happening.

Rather disoriented, he opened his eyes and couldn't understand what he was seeing for a moment: his hand was jerking himself off by itself!

Then realization hit. "Suzy!!"

Milo's paw stopped in an instant. Suzy gasped. "Milo! I'm sorry!"

"What the heck?"

"I'm sorry!" Suzy repeated, sounding as if she was about to panic again. Her tone made it obvious that she hadn't expected to be caught. "I... I didn't mean to! I just woke up and it was there and I..."

Milo sat up a little. He glanced at the clock and groaned.

"Um, I thought that since I saw you that other time doing it, that you wouldn't mind," Suzy explained in a very timid voice.

She sounded so scared, it was impossible to be mad at her. And it wasn't like she'd done anything really wrong. He had let her inside of him after all. It wasn't unexpected that she'd be curious about exploring a boy's body for the first time.

"Are you mad at me?" Suzy asked oh-so-quietly.

Milo sighed. "No, I'm not mad. I just wish you'd asked or something."

"I know. I should have. But it was just so cute! I had to! It feels so different from my cunny. And good, too! I could feel everything when I was playing with it!"

"It did feel pretty good," Milo admitted. And as he thought about it, he knew that his shyness would have kept him from ever agreeing to this if she had asked. Even though a big part of him would have wanted to say yes. That same part wanted to say yes to it now.

Was it wrong though? Milo knew he wasn't supposed to be even thinking about sex stuff at his age. That was for teenagers and college students. He was still only in grade school after all.

Though as the responsible side of him and the hormonal side of him tussled over the issue, his horny self started gaining ground. *Why* exactly would it be wrong? They were both the same age. They both wanted to. No one would get hurt. He doubted severely that she could get pregnant. And it had indeed felt really good. Plus, even though it was his own paw, not being in control of it made a lot of difference in terms of pleasure.

Milo was quiet for some time and Suzy knew exactly what he was thinking about. Shyly, she asked "Would you like me to keep doing it?"

Milo bit his lip. Could he allow himself to agree? Should he be a prude or a horn dog?

Fortunately, his bladder decided to solve the dilemma for him. "Oop! Gotta pee!"

Suzy giggled. "Can I come with you this time? Pleeeease?"

She'd asked so cutely that he couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, allright."

"Really?! Yaaay! I get to see how boys pee!" she said excitedly.

"It really isn't that impressive," Milo said, trying to keep her from getting her hopes up.

"Are you kidding? You guys get to stand up! Do you have any idea how annoying it gets having to sit down every time? Especially when you're out in public and you have to go in some store bathroom that hasn't been cleaned in weeks and the seat's all slimy!?"

Milo had never thought of it like that. "Okay. Good point. Well, let's go then." Milo slipped out from under the covers and headed off toward the bathroom.

Suzy was so excited, Milo could *feel* it coming off of her like heat. "Can I aim it?" she asked coyly.

Milo stood firm on that. "No! You'll spray it all over. It's not as easy as it looks, especially when you're still half-asleep."

"Sorry. I'll admit I don't know much about penises," she said bashfully. "Except that they're cute!"

Milo winced a little. "Um, first rule: don't call it cute. Guys hate that, 'cause cute makes it sound small."

"Ohhhhh," Suzy said, as if taking in a great wisdom.

Once in the bathroom, Milo took his usual position in front of the bowl. "Here we go. I hope you enjoy the show."

When he took his young boycock in his paw, Suzy could feel it too. The smooth skin, the furry sheath. She cooed in aroused curiosity. Boys were very different, but wonderfully so!

Milo's bladder hesitated a bit before deciding the coast was clear. Then a good strong stream of pee began to flow out.

Suzy loved it! "That's so cool!" she shouted.

Milo almost shushed her, before realizing his parents couldn't hear her anyway. "If you say so." Though he did have to admit, peeing did feel nice when one took the time to stop and  concentrate on it.

Suzy could feel the warm liquid traveling through Milo's cock. She could feel the warmth of it inside and out. "Wow. Penises are great!"

That seemed an overly simplified, if enthusiastic, assessment. Milo declined to comment.

When he felt good and drained, Milo shook himself, dreading those last few drops that almost always ended up in his pajamas. Fate was kind to him though, and he tucked his maleness away without incident. He went to wash his hands. "So, I take it you liked it?"

"Yeah!" Suzy said, sounding as excited as if she'd just been masturbating. "It was so different! It felt really nice."

"Glad you think so. Just don't go makin' me pee my pants 'cause you want to try it again."

She chortled at the mental image of that. "Oh, I won't. I promise. Although it would be tempting to make you squirt right in the middle of lunch tomorrow with everyone watching," she said devilishly.

Milo was not amused. "That's it, I'm gonna go sit on Ruthie's head and cut a muffin."

"No!" Suzy immediately cried. "I won't! I won't!"

Milo grinned. He'd won that round at least. "Okay, I'll believe you. Let's get back to bed or else I'll be a zombie at school tomorrow."

On the way back, Suzy brought up her question again. "So, um, would it be alright if I played with it some more?"

It seemed easier to decide this time. Milo thought not only about how good it would feel for him, but how good it would feel for Suzy too. He did want to make her happy. And she was pretty darn cute and sexy, even for a ghost. And it would probably be a lot of fun...

"Milo?"

He didn't feel like he had to say no anymore. He smiled. "Okay, Suzy. We can."

"Really? Awesome! Thanks, Milo!" Suzy was so happy she took control of his arms and made Milo give himself a hug.

Milo laughed at the odd experience. "You're welcome, Suzy."

Back in his bedroom now, Milo squirmed under the covers again. He looked out the window for a moment and noticed how bright the stars were now. The sky was an intense deep blue that covered the whole neighborhood like a heavy, soft quilt.

Milo got himself into a comfortable position on his back. Then he relaxed himself all over. He picked up Ruthie and cuddled her in one arm against his side. "Okay. I guess I'll just lie here and you can do whatever you want."

Suzy could have made a joke there, but decided not to. She could tell Milo was still a bit skittish. She didn't want to do anything to upset him. She just wanted to see what being a boy was like, and hopefully make both of them feel good in the process. "Okay."

Suzy took Milo's paw as if it were her own, and laid it gently upon his sheath.

The little fox cock was already awake so it slid out and stiffened within a few seconds. Suzy wrapped their fingers around it and held it gently. She admired Milo's maleness. It was completely unlike her own sex, and yet she found it beautiful. She liked just holding it like this. The pleasant feelings from it were like the ones she got from her little button, but much stronger, since there was a lot more area here.

"That feels nice," Milo said softly to her.

She made a small squeak, pleased that she was pleasing him. And she could feel it herself too. It didn't feel like it was a part of her, but she could feel every sensation coming from Milo's paw and penis as if they were her own nonetheless. It created another interesting feeling; her cunny was tingling in excitement but she couldn't touch it unless she put her paw through Milo's.

Milo was glad Suzy was taking it slow. He was still a bit jittery, and some part of him insisted he should be feeling guilty about this. He did try to ignore that voice though. His paw on his cock was a good feeling. He found he enjoyed knowing that he was sharing it with Suzy too.

Suzy decided it was time to start stroking. She curled Milo's fingers around his shaft and started a gentle rhythm.

Milo and Suzy both murred.

Suzy could feel Milo's heart beating a little faster. It startled her, since she hadn't felt her own heart beat in a year. She was concentrating so much on the pleasure of the sensation, the sheer weirdness of their situation had almost gone over her head. Here she was, dead, a ghost, possessing a boy that had moved into her house, and now they were... Well, what *were* they doing? Since there were two of them, it couldn't exactly be masturbation. But it didn't seem like 'sex' either. Of course, given that this situation probably hadn't ever occurred before anywhere in the world, it wasn't surprising there wasn't a name for it.

As Suzy got lost in her thoughts for a moment, she slowed down, leaving Milo just a bit disappointed. "Um, Suzy?"

"Oh! Whoops. Just thinkin' about somethin'." She decided to make up for lost time. She squeezed their cock gently and began to rub harder and faster. She and Milo both let out little sounds of enjoyment at that. Their voices mingled in pleasure made a beautiful sound.

Milo squeezed his eyes shut and just let himself get lost in the incredible thing that was happening. His cute ghost friend was really beating him off! It wasn't a dream, it was really happening! And *damn*, but this made regular ol' masturbating seem like nothing!

Suzy was getting into it too. She went faster, but was always careful to be gentle. She was feeling things she'd never felt before, things that were so alien she almost couldn't process them. It was intense beyond any of the experiments she'd ever done with her own sex.

Milo grit his teeth. "Suzy! Keep going! You're doing great!"

"I know! This is wonderful!" she lustfully replied.

Milo felt himself getting close. He wished he could last longer, but he was, after all, a yiffy little kit. "I think I'm gonna cum soon," he warned Suzy.

"What should I do?"

"I usually cup the tip of my dick in my other paw so the stuff doesn't go everywhere."

"Okay!"

Suzy took control of Milo's other paw, careful to keep Ruthie out of the line of fire for any flying spooge. She cupped Milo's deeply red tip, now almost shockingly sensitive. "Oh!"

Milo felt himself start to tip over.

Suzy could feel it too.

The orgasm hit the two of them and shook them both. Never in the history of the world had two lovers shared a climax so perfectly. The moment was electrifying, intimate, and cemented Milo and Suzy together forever in a way that neither of them could ever fully describe or break.

Suzy felt Milo's paw fill up with a miniature torrent of sticky stuff. Normally she would have thought that was icky, but it felt too darn good to not enjoy.

"Suzy..." Milo said quietly, panting a little bit now.

"Uh huh?"

"Thank you, Suzy. I love you so much."

Suzy was truly touched. His sincerity had rippled through the both of them and resonated in her heart. She hadn't felt a love like this since she'd lost her family. But no, Milo's love was different, and special. It was their own to share with only one another.

"I love you too, Milo. Thank you for saying that."

"You're welcome, Suzy."

The moment was quiet and heartfelt, but there was also the matter of a pawful of cum to deal with. Milo decided to do what he always did. He carefully lifted his paws to his lips and lapped it all up.

"Oooh..." Suzy found the taste of it compelling. It wasn't at all like she'd expected. It was both sweet and salty, but in different ways than her own juices had been. "I kinda like it."

"I'm glad you do. I like it too. It's a little weird, but it's either this or keeping a box of Kleenex by the bed."

Suzy giggled. "Your mom might get suspicious."

Milo blushed. "I hope she doesn't know. That would be too weird."

"Milo?"

"Yeah?"

"That was really fun. Thank you for letting me. Do you think we can do more stuff like that again sometime?"

Milo felt the very last of his prudish resistance fade away. "Sure," he told her. After all, it was just showing his best friend how much he loved her. And what could ever possibly be wrong with that?


     ~~~~~


*part 14*


The next morning, Milo got up and put on his underwear, socks, pants and shirt. Suzy, however, was already dressed, since she was wearing Milo himself.

The two young furs were jittery with excitement. It was time for their big experiment to see if Milo could really smuggle Suzy back into the outside world. Suzy was trying so very hard to keep her hopes in check. Her mind insisted on showing her memories of all the wonderful things she'd known outside these walls that had been her prison for a year. She had to keep forcing herself to not get too excited, since there was no guarantee their idea would work.

Breakfast helped to take the edge off at least. Milo's mother had woken up that morning feeling unusually domestic and had spent some happy time in the kitchen making a huge pile of pancakes on a lark. The scent of them hit Milo's nose at the head of the stairs and he rushed down in anticipation. He dug into a great syrupy heap of them with gusto. He thanked his mom enthusiastically, and tried not to show how close he was to bursting out in laughter, since Suzy was enjoying the pancakes even more than him, and was shouting overzealous commendations to Milo's mom at maximum volume.

Milo did notice that every now and then one of his parents' ears would twitch, as if noticing some faint but unusual sound in the air. It was impossible to tell whether they really were picking up bits of Suzy's dialogue or not, but he hoped so. He knew it was inevitable they'd have to meet her someday. Anything that would help ease them into that moment was a good thing.

Afterwards, full of pancakes and a mousegirl ghost, Milo stood at his front door. Everything was ready. He had his backpack and his jacket. Now to see if he could take more than just those to school with him.

Suzy fretted openly over whether it would work or not. Milo couldn't blame her. He opened the door and simply walking through it had never seemed like such an incredible task.

Milo took a hesitant step forward and felt some bizarre force resist him. It was as if some strong sheet of rubber had been stretched across the door. He pushed harder, but it wouldn't budge.

Suzy nearly collapsed in tears. It seemed so unfair. After all of their successes so far, why couldn't this have worked too?

Milo was not about to give up though. He pressed forward again and again, still getting nowhere. It was incredibly frustrating. He could feel the chilly December air on his fur, see the length of the sidewalk just in front of him, and it was all totally inaccessible.

From out of nowhere, Suzy suddenly gave a loud squeak as if she'd been poked with a pin. At first Milo was terrified that something had hurt her, but instead she she told him that she'd just been struck with an idea.

The night before, she said, he'd dangled Ruthie out the window. Milo didn't see the significance at first until she laid it out for him. She had been inside him then, and she hadn't been able to stick her own arm out the window since becoming a ghost. And yet he'd had no trouble sticking _his_ arm out the window with hers inside of it! So it _was_ possible!

But what was different now?

Suzy hit upon another idea. She suddenly screeched out for Milo to look behind him. As he whirled about in horror, she gave his body as hard a push as she could.

The two of them wobbled out the doorway and tumbled down the front steps to land in the freshly fallen snow.

Milo was about to shout at her for that, when he suddenly realized that they'd done it! They were outside! He asked Suzy how in the world she'd gotten them out.

"I guess the trick is to not realize you're doing it," she said.

     ***

Despite almost getting in trouble a dozen or so times for seemingly bizarre behavior like talking to himself and staring at people, Milo thought it was one of the best days at school he'd had in as long as he could remember.

From Suzy's reactions, one would have guessed a simple school bus was the most exciting amusement park ride in the world. The little ghost was practically leaping out of Milo's body in excitement at every turn. He let her take control of his head and he thought she was going to twist it right off his neck looking around at everything. Her old school bus route was the same. The houses, the stores, the everything! Images she'd seen only in her memory for so long were real once again.

Arriving at school, Suzy pointed out about a billion and a half people she used to know. Her mouth went at the speed of light, describing former foes and friends. Milo did listen carefully since this was a nice chance for him to learn more about the little details of his new school. Maybe he'd feel a bit more at home here now.

In class, Suzy pointed out several former friends and acquaintances, including Milo's cat pal Will. And to Milo's mild embarrassment, she revealed she had a crush on that white-furred wolf boy in the back row too!

When Miss Henderson came in and the room got quiet, Suzy let Milo alone to take in her own thoughts. She let out a sigh of serene triumph. She was here; she'd made it. Finally, she was out of that house! And while this hadn't been one of her old classrooms, she knew she'd get a chance to peek into at least a few of them later on.

As happy as she was though, it was still tempered with a little sadness. It was hard to look through Milo's eyes at her old friends. She had no way to communicate with them, to tell them that she was right there among them. To tell them she'd missed them all so much. To tell them not to be sad and afraid anymore, because death wasn't the end after all.

Later on that morning, Milo and Suzy's symbiosis turned out to be mutually beneficial when the teacher announced a surprise spelling test. Milo, along with most of the rest of the class, groaned. Suzy however, was rather excited. Spelling had always been one of her strong subjects. This was a perfect chance to repay Milo for all the help he'd given her so far.

Milo was starting to sweat as the teacher said the first word. Milo could define it and use it in a sentence as well as any published novelist, but his brain refused to tell him how to _spell_ the darn thing.

To his surprise, a little voice in his ear rattled off the letters for him perfectly. When he saw the word on the page, he knew she was right. 'Thanks Suzy!!!' he wrote on a little piece of scrap paper. (No talking during a test, after all.)

Suzy was more than happy to help. With the two of them working together, they got all twenty five words correct. Even the two six-syllable monsters the teacher threw in at the end for extra credit. They both knew this was cheating, but they weren't really worried. After all, who could ever possibly prove it?

     ***

At lunch, Suzy almost went into sensory overload. The bustling cafeteria held so very many memories! As Milo stood in line she told him all about everyone she saw who she remembered. She even told him which lunchladies to be extra nice to, since some of them were known to slip extra desserts to children who were polite.

Lunch was pizza... Again. Milo had only been here three days and he'd had pizza twice already. And it was the same pizza that was probably served at every school in the world: rectangular slab of leather-hard crust, boiling hot tomato sauce, bizarrely textured cheese that would drip grease for two minutes if you held it up by the corner, and, of course, the obligatory two pepperonis huddled in the center as if comforting each other about their impending fate. Any kid who managed to wind up with a rarely-seen three pepperoni slice was considered the luckiest kid in school for the day. Milo had only ever had one once.

To Suzy, their meal could have been a sumptuous five-course dinner served at the fanciest eatery in town. Certain foods are more than just their ingredients. Their flavor evokes memories. And nasty-ass school pizza was definitely in that category, drippy grease and all.

And the rest of it was evocative as well. It seemed she'd come on 'Quintessential School Lunch Day'. The rest of the meal (served on the traditional five-sectioned styrofoam tray, of course, into which intricate designs could be poked with the tines of one's plastic fork after one was finished eating), consisted of a handful of anorexic french fries as limp as shoelaces, green beans served fresh 'n dripping from the can, a tiny plastic cup of peach slices drowned like dead goldfish in their own syrup, and a little half-pint of milk in the ever-popular cardboard container. This one had a cartoon sabre-tooth tiger on the side, who advised the nation's youth to brush their teeth every night. Several smiling disembodied anthropomorphic teeth backed him up on this.

When Milo opened the 'open other end' side of the carton out of sheer spite, just like she had used to do, she knew she was in love with him.

     ***

Milo neglected recess for the third time in a row, but this time he didn't head for the library.

Cautiously, in case any teachers or janitors would think he was some weirdo, he let Suzy lead him around to all her old classrooms. They stood on tiptoes to peek in through the windows on the doors. For Suzy, everything was a memory. From the hand puppets in her old first grade class, to the racks of paperbacks she'd raced through in second, to the small microwave in the third grade room which had a story attached to it about a science experiment gone horribly awry that had Milo nearly wetting himself in laughter.

As he stood there in helpless giggles, a heavy paw fell on his shoulder. Milo nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Hey there, what are you doing wandering around giggling like that?"

Milo looked up to see that it was another teacher; a tall dog with chocolate-black fur and small oval spectacles.

"It's Mr. Derwood!" Suzy cried out. Her tone betrayed that she had the tiniest of crushes on her old teacher. "Say hi, Milo!"

"Ummm... Hi, Mr. Derwood," the fox nervously sputtered. "I'm new here," he added as a weak explanation.

The imposing canine smiled. "Oh, just getting the feel of the place then? That's okay, but you might want to have another teacher or someone like that guide you around. Being out in the halls by yourself like this, someone might think you were up to _mischief_." His tone and his smile politely added, 'You weren't, were you?'

"Oh no, sir. I'm not up to anything," Milo reassured. "Just like you said; lookin' around. I'm comparing it to my old school. That's what I was laughing about, actually. I got reminded of something funny that happened there."

Mr. Derwood seemed to buy it. "Nice save," Suzy whispered. "Geez, I wish I could tell him how sorry I am that I never got my science fair project finished on time," she mused.

"Oh, and Suzy's sorry she never got her science fair project finished," Milo blurted out.

As he realized what he'd just said, he tried to keep his eyes from showing just how much he'd utterly stepped in it.

Mr. Derwood stared at Milo as if the little fox had just slugged him. "Excuse me... What did you say?"

"Um um um..." Milo stalled for time as he tried desperately to get himself out of the pit he'd just dug himself into. "Well, I don't know if you know, but I moved into her old house recently. And, well..." Inspiration struck! "I was looking through some of her old things in the attic and I found a diary she kept. One of the last entries was about her project, and she sounded really excited about it. I only meant that I *assume* she would have liked to tell you she was sorry for not finishing it. Uh, if she was here, I mean."

With astonishing luck, Mr. Derwood took Milo's nervousness to mean that he was still a bit shaken up to be living in the same house as a murder victim. He kneeled down to eye level with Milo and smiled comfortingly at the young fox. "I'm sure she would have. Suzy was a good student. I liked her a lot. It was beyond a tragedy what happened to her."

From inside his head, Milo heard "Whew! That was an even better save! Sorry I tripped you up!"

"Yeah," Milo agreed with both Suzy and Mr. Derwood. "I didn't find out until we'd already moved in. I'm not freaked out or anything. It's not like I'm seeing ghosts in the house..."

Suzy sniggered.

"...but when I read her diary, I really felt like I was getting to know her. I wish I could have. She sounded like a nice person," Milo said, lying like mad and trying to sound sincere.

It worked. Mr. Derwood suddenly gave Milo a very unexpected hug. "She was, Milo. She was a little burst of sunshine, that one. It makes me glad to hear that you're not one of those kids who look at that house like it's some damn museum exhibit, or worse, fodder for some campfire ghost story."

Both Milo and Suzy were surprised by the fervor in the teacher's voice. Suzy felt especially glad to know that someone still cared so much.

But his next words shifted them both into anger. Mr Derwood stood back up and shook his fist. "That father of hers... I hope that man rots in prison forever."

Milo could not help it. He might not have had any idea yet on how to get Suzy's dad out of jail, but he could certainly start by helping to mend his reputation. "Now wait a minute," he spoke up. "In her diary, Suzy talked a lot about her dad and it sounded to me like they both loved each other a whole lot. She went on and on about all the nice things he did for her. It was her _mother_ who sounded like a wackjob. Every other entry, there was something about how her mom would get drunk and fight with her dad all night, and call Suzy all kinds of horrible names. Now, I thought her dad did it at first too, but I'm starting to have some really serious doubts! If the wrong person's in jail, then I think Suzy would be really sad to hear so many people saying mean things about her father like that!"

Suzy was incredibly moved by Milo's little speech. "Oh, Milo!"

Mr. Derwood seemed equally impressed. "Um... Well, I mean... I'd never even considered it that way. I had no idea Suzy even kept a diary." This new wrinkle seemed to shock him. Milo could almost see his mind shedding preconceptions like layers of an onion. "My goodness..."

Milo didn't want to rattle the guy too much. "Hey, it's okay. I did some research online. I know how the news kinda convicted him the moment he was arrested. And it did look like a  pretty darn solid case against him at the time. It's not your fault for not knowing."

Mr. Derwood nodded. "Yes, thank you. It's just... Well, you're absolutely right about the media. They do tend to crucify people without any trial." He paused, and looked off into the distance. "Suzy, if you can hear us, and I have been hating an innocent man all this time, then I apologize."

Suzy had tears in her eyes. "You're forgiven."


     ~~~~~


*part 15*


When the final bell rang, Milo dug some quarters out of his pocket and went to the payphone to call home.

His mother answered and, like all parents getting a call from their son at school, was instantly worried. Would it be trouble or injury this time?

Milo pacified her by saying that he just wanted to ask if it was allright if he skipped the bus today and walked home. He said he wanted to have a look at some of the little stores downtown, and that he promised to be home before supper.

His mother was a bit apprehensive about the idea. But she knew her son was a smart, responsible kid. She knew he could take care of himself for an afternoon, even in a new place. And it was good to hear that he seemed to be adjusting to the move so well.

Milo very politely whined until finally she agreed. She asked if he had any money for bus fare if he ended up getting lost. He said he did. She also made him promise to stick to main streets and only cross at crosswalks. Milo rolled his eyes a bit, but agreed.

With that out of the way, Milo was free to treat Suzy to an afternoon at The Den Of Beans.

     ***

Not refried beans, not navy beans, not even jumping beans: coffee beans!

Remembering Suzy's story about how her father had brought her there for milkshakes, Milo had secretly looked in the phone book for the coffeeshop's address and found that, while it was a bit of a ways walk from the school, it was still certainly do-able. He and Suzy chatted so much on the way there that she didn't guess where he was taking her until they were on the same block.

Milo had been a bit worried that this might backfire on him. He hoped that it wouldn't just remind her of the day she'd died. Thankfully, she understood he was only trying to do something nice for her, and she thanked him generously.

Milo looked up at the place. It was a tiny brown building squished between a sandwich shop and a jewelry store. Downtown was a pretty nifty little area, with all sorts of ultra-pretentious shops filled with neat stuff to look at that one would probably never have any real reason to buy. The Den Of Beans was one of the few places that looked genuinely interesting beyond window-shopping potential.

The fox and mouse pair stepped inside. For Suzy, it was like stepping into a snapshot of her memories. For Milo, it was like stepping into The Coolest Place On Earth.

The Den Of Beans was tiny on the inside, yet immediately cozy. It was as thoroughly unpretentious as every other little boutique and bistro surrounding them was uber-pretentious.

There were several rickety table and chair sets, a street-level window ledge heaped with concert fliers and free local magazines, plus a rather dirty and slightly warped wooden floor. Off to the side was a large bookshelf filled with all sorts of reading material in any genre one could hope for. At the back was a little stage small enough for a four-fur band to uncomfortably squeeze onto. But what commanded the most attention was what lay behind the counter; a coffee-making machine of some sort that looked like it had been created by a mad scientist. Steam was pouring out of the top of it like an old train engine. It looked like it could produce rocket fuel. It looked like it could get up and run around terrorizing people like in a bad low-budget sci fi flick. It was *severely* cool.

The place was also completely devoid of other customers. But given the time of day, that wasn't too surprising. This place seemed like it would only really come alive once the sun went down and the freaks came out.

"A tiny bohemian?" the barman asked abruptly.

"Huh?"

The furson behind the counter was a jaguar in his mid-twenties. His fur was the color of a jack-o-lantern's insides, with little round black spots spread all over like jellybeans. He had jet black, obviously-dyed hair styled with oodles of gel into a corona of spikes. He had on a T-shirt that read 'Tell yer Mom I said Hi' with a little smiley face underneath. And he was wearing a necklace made of what appeared to be noserings.

"Bohemian. It means..." he started.

"No, I know what bohemian means. I just wasn't sure you were talking to me," Milo explained.

"Oh, okay. Come on in. You seem a bit young for java, but we got plenty of other junk. Unless, of course, the caffeine got to you early."

Milo instantly liked the guy. He had an air about him that he was perfectly calm with all the world around him. All of life's problems would be met with a wry grin and easily whooshed away. Yet at the same time, he seemed beneath the surface to be intelligent, serious and kind.

"That's Damian," Suzy said. "He's nice. When Dad and I came in last time, he introduced himself and called us 'big squeak and little squeak'."

Milo thought that was quite appropriate. He approached the counter and goggled at the giant monolith o' coffee. To his surprise, the jaguar held out a paw. "I'm Damian. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Milo, a little started by the out-of-the-blue friendliness, returned the shake and introduced himself as well. He winced though; as skinny as he was, Damian had a handshake like a steel vise.

"Always like to make my customers feel like they're hangin' out at a friend's house. What none of the other places here downtown understand is that the best way to make money is to keep your customers happy. I'll make you a bet: go into any other store on this street, especially one with some ultra-schmancy one-word name that has nothing to do with the merchandise they sell, and try to get a handshake from anyone working there. Five bucks says they'll either look at you like you're crazy, or like you're the scum of the earth. It's all about appearances in this town, man."

Milo couldn't help a grin. Damian was possessed of quite the magnetic personality. "I just moved here a few days ago, but a friend said you had good milkshakes, so I decided to check it out."

"Damn straight we got th' good shakes!" Damian declared proudly. He grandly pointed out a row of brightly colored bottles along the edge of the bar. "Any freakin' flavor you like, no charge for mixing, but until you grow a few feet, the liqueurs are off-limits."

"Hey, no problem there. That stuff's nasty anyway."

"My man!" Damian put up his paw for a low-five. Milo happily slapped some paw pads. "The only thing I get inebriated with is music. You are wise, young one. The way of fermented yeast is nothing but destruction."

"We've gotta come in here more often," Suzy declared. Milo could practically feel her grinning. "This guy's worth it just for the entertainment!"

Milo pretended to scan the menu (which was drawn with multicolored chalk on a blackboard with little doodles of happy coffee cups all around the edges), but he already knew exactly what he wanted. "I'll have tw- I mean, one grasshopper please." He felt a bit like a doof considering he'd been about to order one for Suzy as well. She noticed, and giggled.

"Good choice. They're the best in the state, maybe the country," Damian calmly stated in a voice that assured he knew what he was talking about.

The cash register came up with an amount that made Milo's eyebrows go up. He didn't think it was possible for a mere milkshake to cost that much. But it would be rude to say it was too much and just leave. And he did want to do this for Suzy. So, regretfully, he dug in his wallet and came up with the cash. So much for a trip to the bookstore this week.

Damian took the money and went swiftly to work. Milo and Suzy watched in fascination. Damian played the enormous coffee-robot-thingy like it was a musical instrument. His slim fingers whizzing with practiced precision, Damian had the shake whipped up in seconds.

Milo also began to realize his money had been a good investment. It was not only the biggest shake he'd ever seen, but it had real ice cream, milk right out of the carton,  splashes of syrup from two of the bottles along the wall, and a generous amount of dark chocolate shavings sprinkled on top. Damian stirred it up good in an electric mixer, then poured it out into a glass. To Milo's surprise, Damian handed him both the glass and the metal tumbler with the remaining shake residue. He'd certainly never had that happen at a fast food place before!

"There ya go, my slightly-nerdy-but-undoubtedly-wise-at-heart little friend," Damian said, which made Milo oddly pleased. "Anything else?"

Milo thought a bit. "I'd like two straws."

"Why two?"

"For a friend who I'd like to share this with, who can't be here right now," said Milo.

"Aww, that's sweet!" Suzy said.

Damian nodded solemnly. "Absent friends. Keep them in your heart, young one. Never forget them," he said quietly, with a look in his eyes as if he knew well what he was talking about.

And then, something seemed to come over the jaguar. He regarded the milkshake, looked at the calendar, looked back at Milo, and his expression became momentarily puzzled and then surprisingly sad. "Um, say hi to your friend for me," Damian muttered. He reached under the counter and produced a white chocolate chunk cookie. "Here, on the house. Gotta keep the customer happy, after all."

Milo took the cookie with a grateful smile. He could sense from Damian's complicated expression that it somehow meant something more than just a friendly gesture. He found a cozy booth near the back and sat down. From behind him, Damian put on a tape of some quiet, foreign-sounding electronic jazz.

Suzy could barely believe it. She sounded pleasantly in shock. "...I don't know how, but he remembered..." 

"Remembered what?" Milo asked.

"Me! He remembered me!" she squeaked. "I have no idea how! Maybe he saw something in your eyes."

"How do you know?"

"The last time I was here, the night I died, I told you Dad and I both had grasshoppers and we talked for a long time. Just as we were leaving, Damian came out from the kitchen with some fresh-baked cookies. They smelled wonderful, and I told Dad I thought so. He bought one for me right then and there and told me I could have it after dinner."

Suzy sighed. "I never did get to eat that cookie. I think you know why."

Milo wished she'd been sitting beside him so he could have put an arm around her shoulders.

To his surprise, Suzy's sad tone became happy again. "I'm glad he remembered. It's nice to know that someone remembers _me_ and not just what happened to me."

"I'll make sure to leave a good tip then," Milo pledged.

     ***

Milo's first taste of the grasshopper nearly blew the back of his skull off. The price he'd paid for the milkshake? It was a bargain! An absolute steal!!

It was easily the best milkshake he'd ever had in his life. He didn't even have to think about it. The minty-chocolately flavor was amazingly bold. It seemed to climb right up out of the straw and say hello to him. And he really appreciated the little extra bursts of flavor that the dark chocolate flakes and the mint syrup added.

Suzy was equally in heaven. It was even better than she'd remembered. And, for reasons she wasn't exactly sure of, she decided that it was very important to save the cookie until after dinner that night and eat it then.

After the initial awesome thrill of the milkshake had passed and they could now speak words other than 'Mmmmmmm' and 'it's so GOOD!', Milo and Suzy decided to have a brainstorming session about what to do about her dad.

Milo's blatant lie about finding her diary turned out to be a really good idea. Suzy decided at the time to capitalize on it by asking Milo to pass on several different messages to her old friends, explaining it by saying it was something Suzy had written in the diary. The idea had spooked a few people, but most of the fursons he'd talked to felt a surge of remembrance overcome them, and thanked Milo for giving them a last message from their departed friend.

The diary idea had even more potential than that, Suzy thought. She did, in fact, have a daily school planner from around that time. With her own memories, and the planner to back up the dates, it would be possible to actually write out a diary that told her side of the story. She explained that if Milo could go to the police with it, saying he'd found it in the attic, it might help get the case reopened. And since it would be in Suzy's own handwriting, it couldn't be disproved.

Milo thought it was a fantastic idea. But then he came up with a way to improve on it even further. Instead of the police, he'd leak the diary to a local newspaper or TV station. They'd do a much better job of publicizing it. It made for great drama after all. 'Murdered Girl Speaks From Beyond The Grave To Defend Her Incarcerated Father!' the headlines would scream. Milo and Suzy were both getting into the idea. The story would have all the elements for a week-long media frenzy; a horrible tragedy, newly surfaced evidence, an innocent man in jail for murder... and coming so close to the anniversary of the crime, when people's minds would be on it anyway!? Holy crap, the papers would fly off the stands!

Buoyed as they were by this exciting new idea, they still had to face reality. One diary on its own would not a prison sentence reverse. They'd have to dig up something else. The diary would help defend her father and get people to start having suspicions about her mother, but it wouldn't be enough. They had to come up with something to really drive the nail in the coffin, so to speak.

As the milkshake dwindled, all sorts of ideas were tossed about. Unfortunately, none were anywhere near as good as the diary idea. That and the fact that Suzy's father actually _had_ knocked her down the stairs, albeit accidentally, meant that there would be no way to pin it solely on her mother. The best strategy would be to find a way to prove that Suzy's mom was crazy as a witch, to make people really believe that she'd tried to hit Suzy, and that her father had only been trying to protect her.

While they hadn't settled on any fixed plans yet (aside from the diary), it still helped to hash out everything, to set the problem before them and let them look at it from every angle. If nothing else, they knew just what wouldn't work anymore so they could concentrate now on things that *might* work. Their aims were more focused now. Seeing it in that light made both of them feel better.

Milo slurped up the last of the grasshopper from the metal tumbler and sat back in the booth with a satisfied sigh. His tummy felt quite full and happy.

"See, I told you they were good," Suzy said.

"No argument there! Thank you so much for recommending this place! I'm probably gonna hang out here all the time. Especially when the weather clears up and I can ride my bike here."

"And thank you so much for taking me, Milo," Suzy said. "Thanks for taking me to school, and for pretty much everything. I know I keep thanking you over and over, but it's because you keep doing such nice stuff for me!"

Milo chuckled. "You're welcome a whole bunch of times. And thank you for helping me stomp that spelling test. I probably would have gotten a D on it if you hadn't been there."

"Hey, considering all the stuff you've done for me, I'll be glad to help you with school stuff and homework any time you want. In fact, I'll make that a promise: From now on, if you need help with spelling or anything else, I promise to help you out."

Milo smiled at that. "That's really nice of you, Suzy. Thanks!"

Milo glanced over at the clock on the wall (which had all the numbers on it printed backwards for some artistic reason), and noticed he'd have to hurry to get home before dinner. "We gotta go, Suzy. Mom'll probably think I've been kidnapped by a van full of perverts if I'm not home soon."

Suzy agreed. "Are you sure you can eat anything after that humongous shake?"

"Well, running home in the snow oughtta burn up some calories and give me an appetite again."

Milo got up and brought the glass and the tumbler up to the counter. Damian took it from him, saying, "Muchas gracias. Most folks just leave this stuff on the table."

"Well, I'm a very satisfied customer," Milo said. "That milkshake was incredible!"

Damian seemed very pleased to hear it.

Milo reached into his wallet again and stuffed a dollar in the tip jar. He would have liked to give more, but it was really all he could spare.

The fox had a thought then. He turned back to Damian. "Oh, and... Suzy says hi back. And she wanted to thank you for the cookie," he said quietly.

An expression came over the cat's face then that was pure heartfelt bittersweetness. "Th-that's good. I hope she liked the shake too."

"She definitely did. I'm pretty sure of it."

Damian nodded, smiling softly to himself. "Come on back whenever you feel like it. We got live mike poetry on tuesdays. Free concerts on fridays."

"I will. See you later, Damian," Milo called out as he headed for the door.

"You too, little wise one!"

The door shut behind Milo with a pleasant jangle of bells.

Damian sat down on a stool in the empty coffeehouse. Memories of a night nearly a year past flooded his mind. A little girl who had died mere hours after he'd last seen her. A father whose every word and action proved to Damian (who sometimes felt as if he was the only one in the whole city who felt that way) that he couldn't possibly have done what the newspapers had said he'd done. A trial where he was called to the witness stand and dismissed as a liar because of his age and appearance... and something else.

Damian hid his face in his paws and began to silently cry.

"Little girl... wherever you are... I would have given anything for a chance to save you..."

And yet, he felt somehow that she knew. And that he was forgiven.

And that she had indeed enjoyed her milkshake.


     ~~~~~


*part 16*


Knock knock knock.

The elderly bloodhound cocked an ear towards the front door. He paused for a moment, then the knock came again. He glanced at the clock above the fireplace and noticed it was early afternoon. Scowling, he hefted himself up out of his plush armchair and hoped this wasn't just another teenage punk handing out fliers for some new restaurant downtown.

Peering through the peephole, the old dog saw a young red fox standing on his porch. He grimaced, hoping it wasn't school fundraiser time.

The door swung open cautiously. "Yes?"

Milo looked up at the old man, and for a fleeting second he felt a mad desire to ask him if he wanted to buy some Girl Scout cookies. "Um, hello. I'm Milo. My family moved in next door a few days ago."

The bloodhound's wary expression softened. The kid seemed to be a polite little pup. "Well, hello then. My name's Franklin Gardener. You can call me Frank if you like. So, how do you like the house?"

"It's okay," Milo replied. And before the subject could be turned to what had happened in the house before he'd moved in, Milo switched it himself. "I'm sorry my folks and I haven't introduced ourselves sooner. We've been busy putting boxes away and stuff like that." 'And communicating with the dead,' he mentally added.

Mr. Gardener nodded. "That's allright. Nice to see someone movin' in after all this time. The place just sat there empty for so long, lettin' the rumors spread and grow. It's a shame, really. All of it."

Milo could hear the sadness in the man's voice, and wondered how well he'd known Suzy.

But that was something he could find out later. Right now, he and Suzy were playing amateur detective. "Would it be allright if I came inside for just a second?"

The canine considered it a moment. "I guess so. Could I offer you something to drink? A glass of milk?"

"That's okay, I don't need to take up any of your time. I just need to borrow your house for a science experiment."

Mr. Gardener had been on the verge of stepping aside to let Milo in when those last words made him stop and arch an inquisitive eyebrow at the boy.

"Oh, don't worry. It's for school."

The old hound softened again, and ushered Milo in.

Milo was delighted to further prove his theory that most adults will let you get away with just about anything if you say it's for school.

"Um, what kind of experiment are you talking about?" Mr. Gardener fretted. "I just cleaned the carpet."

Milo entered the living room. While the house was the same style as his own, Mr Gardener had lived in his long enough to make the place feel cozy. The room was neatly kept and furnished in pleasing earthtones and plaids. "Actually, all I need to do is look out the window here."

"That's all?"

"Yeah, it has to do with how sound travels. I'm working on this with a partner. She's in my livingroom and when I give the signal, she's supposed to scream her head off and see if I can hear it."

Of course, this was not really a science experiment, but it was the most plausible rationalization Suzy and Milo could come up with. The real objective here was, of course, to see if Suzy's parents' raging fights had could have possibly been audible to the people next door. Maybe someone had heard something. Enough, at least, to show that it was Suzy's mother who was the loose cannon in the family.

Milo could clearly see across the yard. Suzy was standing in the livingroom waiting patiently. Milo waved at her.

He gave the signal. He could see Suzy obviously putting her heart and soul into a glass-rattling banshee screech, but to his disappointment he couldn't hear a single thing.

"Sorry, kid, but I can tell you right now you're not going to hear a thing," Mr. Gardener said. "The houses are too far apart, and this place is too well insulated. Take the family that used to live there before you moved in; I knew they argued constantly because sometimes I could see their shadows, but I never heard a peep of what was said."

Milo felt the tiniest flicker of hope. "By any chance, did you see anything the night of the... Well, the night it happened?"

The bloodhound seemed to sag with frustration, as if a large weight had been placed upon him. He sunk back to lean against his chair. "No. No, I didn't. I wish like hell that I had. That night I went to bed early. To think that not twenty feet away... I'll wonder the rest of my life whether I could have done something to save that girl."

Milo nodded gravely.

Mr. Gardener's brow furrowed then, and his teeth gnashed. "It's a damn good thing that man's locked up. I may be old and weak, but there's no telling what I'd do to him if it was just me and him in a locked room together," he said with cold, cold malice. His anger was set unshakably in stone.

Milo bit his lip. He was very glad Suzy hadn't heard that. "I think I should be going now."

It looked as if Mr. Gardener, and his house, wouldn't be providing them any help.

     ***

Suzy was more than mildly annoyed to hear about the failure of their experiment. They would have tried it with the neighbors on the opposite side, but Milo's mother had told him that they'd moved in sometime after Suzy's mother had moved out. So even if the house was less insulated, they wouldn't have heard anything anyway.

It seemed the two friends were not cut out to be detectives. After coming home from the Den Of Beans the day before, Milo had picked at his dinner and then gone upstairs to the attic to brainstorm with Suzy for a while longer. The idea about the neighbor's house was about the only thing they came up with. Not wanting Suzy to become depressed about their lack of prospects, Milo tried to lighten things by switching topics. As it turned out, they ended up having a lively discussion on their favorite books and movies. Both of them were happy to find out that they shared at least a few favorites in common.

But through it all, Suzy seemed to have lost some of her spark. It was nothing he could put his finger on, but it troubled Milo nonetheless.

Suzy and Milo shared the bed again that night, although this time Suzy slept beside him, not inside him. She wanted to test if she'd still end up in the basement or not. She also wanted to be alone with her thoughts for a while.

Milo fell asleep first. As Suzy lay there listening to his quiet breathing, she studied the patterns the moonlight made on the cardboard boxes that were still cluttering up their bedroom floor. She felt dejected. All their ideas were turning out to be nothing. It probably had a lot to do with the two of them reading too many books. Some insanely adventurous plan that might work in a story might end up getting Milo arrested in real life.

And plus, they were just kids after all. How could they honestly be expected to free a man from life imprisonment? Grown-ups hardly ever listened to kids anyway. It was even worse in her case since they couldn't even see her either.

For the first time since Milo had given her reason to hope, Suzy was starting to feel that hope slip away. She could wish forever that she'd get to see her Daddy again, and it hurt to realize that in all probability it would never really happen. Her Mommy had simply gotten away with it, and that was all. Realistically, the thought that she and Milo could do anything more than comfort one another about it was a laughable one.

She did not know how much longer it would be until she simply accepted the fact that her Daddy would stay in jail forever. Or how much longer until she accepted that she herself would likely haunt this house until the end of time.

Those thoughts scared Suzy badly. When she eventually fell asleep, she was curled up in a tight ball, as if expecting something to attack her.

     ***

Milo sensed her depression as soon as he woke up.

Today was saturday, so there was no school. It was also the beginning of winter break. From now until four days after New Years', Milo had nothing but free time.

It was also the first full day they'd had to spend together. Milo was very excited. But as soon as he woke up, he could tell something had changed about Suzy during the night. Her sleeping face was set in an expression of frightened desperation.

He gently shook her awake. Suzy gave him a muttered 'good morning' and started staring at the floor. She hadn't bled through to the basement after all, but she didn't seem to care much. When she didn't even want to join him for breakfast, Milo knew he had to do something fast. He remembered her telling him that she'd been completely hopeless before he'd arrived. The last thing he wanted was for her to have to feel that way again.

     ***

"C'mon, Suzy. At least try one. They're really good."

Milo was sitting on the livingroom couch, a plate of cookies to his left and a sad little ghost to his right. His parents had gone out to the grocery store, so he and Suzy had the house to themselves for a while.

Suzy looked at the cookie. It did look tasty, but a cloud of bleakness had fallen over her the night before that prevented her from caring about much of anything now. She'd been having blue moods spring up like this for a long time now, ever since her death. Once she was in them it was nearly impossible to find joy in anything until it had passed. "It's okay, Milo. Thanks anyway."

Milo couldn't stand to see her like this. She'd been laughing and happy just the other day. And he felt so sure that the big idea they needed was just around the corner. "Please, Suzy? I hate seeing you so sad. A snack always helps to cheer me up." He held the cookie out to her once again.

It wasn't the treat itself, but instead Milo's look of concern that eventually made Suzy reconsider. He cared about her, and it wasn't fair of her to act this way towards him.

'If nothing else,' she told herself, 'at least I'm not alone anymore. Milo's my friend. And even if I do end up stuck here haunting this place forever, I'm sure Milo will stay with me for a long, long time." Suzy took the cookie and gave Milo a tiny grateful smile in return.

Suzy opened her mouth and just sat the cookie on her tongue. It was pretty good, and it did cheer her up a little bit. When she'd thoroughly tasted it, she took it out of her mouth and handed it back to Milo. "Thanks."

Milo accepted it warily. "That's kinda weird. If it was anyone else handing me back a cookie they'd just had in their mouth..."

"Oh don't be a wimp. I don't even have saliva anymore," Suzy said curtly.

Milo shrugged. "Good point." He ate the cookie with a thoughtful look on his muzzle. "So, done anymore work on the diary?"

She'd found an old empty notebook in with a box of her school things, but she hadn't started writing in it yet. "Um, no. I'm just getting my ideas together now. I wanna make sure it'll look accurate."

"That's good," Milo said, trying to keep her from seeing it as a failure. "We don't want your mom's lawyers to just tear it up before it even gets to trial."

At that, Suzy looked depressed again. She drew herself into a cross-legged little bundle of fur.

"Suzy? Did I say something wrong?"

She felt like she was about to cry, or scream, or beat someone up. "Milo, I don't think there's going to *be* a trial."

"Hey, don't say that!" he immediately yelped. "We'll think of something eventually."

"But what if we don't?" she burst back. "We've been trying for days! I don't think we're getting anywhere. I think this is just too big for us to solve. We're both just kids, and I'm dead! What can we do, huh? What the heck could we possibly do?"

Seeing her slipping back into hopelessness was tearing at Milo's heart. "Suzy! Please! Don't... Don't do this. I'm not gonna let your mom win."

"She always wins, Milo!" Suzy spat. "It's what she's best at! She controls everything! She makes all her coworkers think she's the sweetest woman in the world, she made all my teachers think she was the best mommy in the world, she made *everyone* think she was perfect! She had Daddy and me trapped like... Like we were puppets! She could just put her hands up our butts and make us do whatever she wanted! Someone to yell at and someone to hit. She always wins!!"

Milo got up from the couch in a huff. He was so angry he didn't even notice that he'd spilled the cookies everywhere. "Dammit! Suzy I... Your mom... I wish I was in control of her!" He growled deeply and clenched his fingers into fists. "I'd like to just... I don't know! Tie her to a chair or something! Tie her up and put her in a room and just hit her and kick her until she admitted what she did to you!!"

Suzy's head snapped up.

"What...?"

Milo calmed himself down. "Geez, I didn't really mean it. I was just venting."

Slowly, ever so slowly, Suzy's expression changed. It went from blank depression, to the spark of epiphany, to full understanding. A grin, tiny at first, spread across her face.

Milo backed up a few steps. "Uh, Suzy? You look really creepy right now..."

Suddenly, Suzy vaulted from the couch and literally leaped into Milo's arms, crushing him in a hug and squealing loudly.

"What the heck!?" Milo sputtered. He lost his balance and Suzy toppled him over onto the floor.

Suzy stood up and picked Milo up with her as if he weighed nothing. "Milo!!! You did it!!!" she exploded.

"Did what!?" Milo yelped.

"You got the idea! The big idea! What to do with my mom!" Suzy's grin was so luminous it was nearly shooting sparks. "We'll _trap_ her!!"

Milo was getting scared now. "Uh, that sounds like something we'd get in trouble for. Besides, even if we do catch her and beat her up, what will that-"

Suzy cut him off. "No, no, no! Not literally, you big dummy! We trick her! We get her to come here and then we scare her into confessing!"

Milo felt his heart leap. Was it possible? "I... I dunno. It sounds like an episode of some cheap cartoon."

"No! It'll work!" Suzy insisted. In her wild eyes, Milo could almost see the cogs and gears of her brain spinning faster than lightning. "I know how to do it! Don't you see? It's Mommy's whole perfect image that we can use! We'll use it *against* her!"

"How?" Milo asked.

"We force her into a position where she has to come here or she'll look bad in front of other people. She won't be able to refuse! Even if she thinks something's fishy, she'll still come because nothing is more important to her than making sure everyone in the whole world thinks she's perfect!"

Milo started to feel like Suzy was really on to something. "Okay, okay. So we get her here. What then?"

"We wait until she's not expecting it, then you accuse her of murdering me. Use lots of specific details that no one else could know. It'll freak her the hell out! She'll get flustered, then she'll try to deny it, but just keep pressing her and pressing her and eventually she'll say something to incriminate herself. I know she will! And if she doesn't then..." She hadn't quite worked it all out yet.

"What, what?"

Inspiration struck again. Suzy's grin was now mad with joy. "I'll possess her! I'll jump right into her and *make* her confess! It'll be great!!"

"We're really going to do this?" Milo asked, starting to get swept up in her excitement now.

"Yes, yes!" Suzy squeaked. "We're going to do this, and it's going to work, and Mommy will go to prison and Daddy can come home!!"

With that, Suzy couldn't contain herself anymore. She flung her arms around her fox friend and launched the both of them up to the ceiling in a gravity-defying tornado spin.

Milo yowled for his life.

Suzy brought them back down a second later. She apparently had only enough power to flaunt gravity for a few seconds. She flopped down on the couch with Milo and squeezed him tight. Giggling like crazy, she peppered his face with mouse kisses.

At this point, Milo was just completely along for the ride.

Suzy sat up and took in a deep breath. Her melancholy mood was eradicated now. In fact, she was so bursting with confidence, she seemed to almost glow.

Milo tried to speak, but nothing his brain came up with would reach his tongue.

Suzy stared off into space for a few moments, obviously thinking over the details of her plan again and again. Then, her attention snapped back to Milo. "Let's get started!" she said. She grabbed Milo by the shoulders and yanked him up off the couch beside her.

"Okey dokey."

Suzy giggled.

"What now?"

"Sorry. You just stepped in the cookies."

Milo looked down. "Aw crud."

"No use crying over spilt cookies, Milo!" Suzy said brightly. She struck a heroic pose, just like Ruthie did before setting off on another daring adventure. "We've got a Daddy to free!" And with that, she dragged him up with her to the attic to begin work on her plan.


     ~~~~~


End of Book Two


