The Ghost of a Mouse
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Barbara is dead! Miraculously, I'm alive. A great many people think badly of me. They're saying I'm a spoiled rich, promiscuous young woman who is getting away with murder. It all started early that morning in May when I awoke suddenly in a state of panic. Probably, my sleep wasn't restful. It couldn't have been but it did take me several minutes to get awake and gather my faculties together and that little silvery metallic mouse with black diamond eyes had time to scamper about on my bed several times just like it did when it wasn't a ghost. Now that it's a ghost, it disappears the minute I awake and get my mind working. Awake, I sat trembling upright in my bed knowing I was in for trouble. The only time that damned mouse comes around is when I'm in danger or ill. Some people have guardian angels. Perhaps, I do too, but since mine isn't always on the job and during occasions of its irresponsibility, the pesky mouse warns me, sets my adrenaline flowing and fills me with apprehension. Ike wasted no time responding. "That's pure foolishness. Don't you worry your pretty head one minute about such a thing. You are just one pretty, little, sweet, intelligent woman in this generation. That's enough for the Schmidt-Baker family, especially your parents. The mixing of my genes and yours will produce great results. They can wait for the next generation, our kids. They'll make the Schmidt-Baker folks stand up and take notice." That instant the greatest happiness I had ever known swept over and through me. Ike held me tightly in his arms sharing my happiness. Even when my eyes caught sight of the cut wiring of the old telephone and the knowledge that it was from this room I was abducted the happiness remained. I was conscious of the many changes that had taken place and that the greatest changes were the changes in me. No longer did the old ghost mouse exist and if I really had a guardian angel she or he must have been working hard to have everything come out so great. This time I was not the only one kissing. Ike was giving his share or more. THE END
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About the Book
Mickey is stunned and grief-stricken after going to Rodney's home where she saw Barbara dying and a distraught Rodney. Mickey and Rodney were being protected by their relatives, friends, and parents from the public and the prying eyes of reporters. These same people, including Mickey, were asking who and why such a terrible thing had happened? Mickey's mother was the most verbal. She had always feared one or both of her children, Maxene or Phillip, would be kidnapped for ransom to punish the Schmidt–Baker Banking and Investment Institution by some unknown enemy of the company. Mickey is abducted from her parents' home and driven far away into the scrub, bare, desert mountains where she is accused of murdering Barbara. Mickey manages to escape on foot but is slightly grazed by a gunshot to the shoulder. Mickey collapses from exhaustion and the abductor drives away. A miner finds Mickey wounded and shoeless about nightfall and carries her to his primitive camp and cares for her wound but has no way to get her home. There is no transportation or even any way of outside communication. After a few weeks the miner's partner shows up in a van but refuses to help believing that, since the two are bearded and rough looking, they might be considered accomplices in the crime. Tension in the camp grows and gets even higher. Finally, Mickey works out a way to get back home and the entire mystery is solved and her whole destiny in life is changed.
About the Author
Frances Little is a versatile and prolific writer. She has two university degrees; a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts. She is a multi-talented individual. It was while researching and writing for a textbook publishing company that she found California's mountains and deserts fascinating, captivating, and enchanting. Some of her fiction writing reflects this emotion. She didn't need to study or do much research about cities. She knows them and lives in one. Being multi-talented her experiences include being a paid public speaker and a public school administrator. She is also a recognized artist. Frances is also a world traveler. She has visited twelve European countries, Russia, and China. She was one of the first tourists permitted by the United States to visit China after President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger re-established relationships. At present her home is a neat and cozy Mediterranean style house located two blocks from the Pacific Ocean in the unique little city of Seal Beach, California.