GRANDMA by BOOMERCAT RATED FRPT

Grandma is a feisty old girl.

It was a rare rainy day on Tracy Island. The wind was at gale strength outside, but inside was a dry haven. The two youngest Tracy boys, Gordon and Alan, were bedeviling their grandmother. "Now, Alan, you just put that back! Honestly, you would think wild wolves raised you boys. Gordon! I want that spatula now! Give it here!"

The red headed fourth son of Jeff Tracy danced away from the tiny elderly woman. He held the captured spatula high in the air. "No Grandma! I'm holding it for ransom! I want ten cookies in a plain unmarked bag! Aaaack!!!"

Gordon backed away when his grandmother reached to tickle his ribs. She knew just where to get him, and he was determined not to succumb. Unfortunately he made a tactical error, and landed up trapped in a corner of the kitchen. Dodging did him no good, as his tiny adversary closed in. When he saw his blond haired brother escape to the living room, he surrendered graciously. "Okay, Grandma, I give up! Here! Just don't…. No! Grandma, please! No tickle bugs! Aaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Don't you think you're fooling me, young man! You play, you pay!" Gordon was twice her size, and could easily have pushed the tiny woman away, but Ruth Tracy had no fear. She knew her grandbabies would give up their lives before allowing any harm to come to her. She kept Gordon trapped, tickling him into helplessness. When he was red-faced and weak-kneed, she stood back. "You'd better get in there before your brother eats them all."

Breathing hard, Gordon nodded at his tormentor and escaped to the living room. His brother Alan sat on the couch looking smug. Brushing the hair from his eyes, Gordon flopped next to him. "You better have made that worth the Wrath of Grandma."

Smiling, Alan produced a double handful of chocolate chip cookies. "Six for you and six for me."

Gordon took his share of the booty and sat back nibbling. Tin-Tin, who had been reading a book in a chair at the other side of the room, spoke up. "Honestly! You two act like children! You shouldn't tease Grandma so! Look at your brother Scott. He treats her with respect. You two should do the same."

Instead of being chastised, the two young Tracy's looked at each other and started snickering. At Tin-Tin's affronted look, Alan grinned shaking his head. "That's not respect, Tin-Tin, that's fear!"

"What? I've never heard of such a thing! Why would Scott be afraid of your grandmother? None of the rest of you are."

Gordon piped up, "Well, that's not exactly true, Tin-Tin. I'd say it's a toss up between Scott and Virgil for who's more afraid of her."

Sensing a story, but wary of the boys' tricks, Tin-Tin replied with a skeptical, "Oh?"

Alan shook his head ruefully, "I can't believe we've never told you that story."

"Well, why don't you tell me now?"

Gordon looked at his watch. "Sorry. I told Brains I'd meet him in pod four at two o'clock. I want to discuss some improvements for Thunderbird Four."

"The only thing that would improve that hunk of junk would be a wrecking ball." Alan smirked.

Refusing to take the bait, Gordon got up and pointedly ignoring his brother, left the room. "See you later, Tin-Tin."

"All right, Gordon." Tin-Tin watched as the young man walked through the door, then turned to his brother. "What story, Alan?"

"This happened back when we were kids. I think it was long before you and Kyrano came to live with us. I would have been about four and a half, maybe five. Grandma had come to stay with us. Gordon and John and I thought it was great. I mean, here was this woman who produced cookies practically every day. And she would take us to the park to play. What wasn't to love?"

"Come now, Alan, surely you can't be saying that Virgil and Scott didn't love her too?"

"Well, you have to understand, this was some time after our mother had died. Father was trying to be both father and mother to us, and run a business at the same time. The bottom line was we were pretty wild. Scott and John had the run of the neighborhood. Father was pretty much at the end of his rope." Tin-Tin frowned. It was very hard to picture any of the Tracy boys as 'wild'.

"Anyway, here comes Grandma, and she is making us toe the line. Gordon, John and I are pretty much fine with it. I mean we were pretty young, and Grandma would let us sit in her lap for hours. And of course, there were those cookies. Scott and Virgil were a different proposition. They didn't like being reined in. Virg, of course, had that devious mind even then, and he and Scott came up with a practical joke that they thought was the funniest thing in the world."

Tin-Tin was caught up in the story, and when Alan paused to munch on a cookie, she urged him to continue. "A practical joke? Scott and Virgil?"

"Oh yes. They went into the kitchen after school one day and casually told Grandma that John was insane."

"What?"

"Honest! They told her that Dad didn't like to mention it, but that every once and a while, Johnny would flip out and go berserk. They told her to keep an eye on him, especially around knives, because he had sliced up a visitor one day. They said it cost Dad millions to hush it up."

Tin-Tin started to giggle. "No! How awful! What did Grandma do?"

"Well, she went along with it. She thanked them and told them she'd keep a close eye on him."

"Oh, poor John!"

"Poor John nothing! The next day, she hired a teenager from down the street to take Gordon and me to the park. Then she got together with Johnny and promised him a chocolate cherry pie if he would do what she asked. She coached him on what to do, and then set the scene. When Scott and Virg got home from school, they heard this awful scream from the kitchen. They both went running in, and there they found Grandma covered with blood, well, ketchup really. She had this bloody knife in her hand. Johnny was 'dead' on the floor. Grandma started crying, telling Scott and Virgil that she was so glad they had warned her, because John had gone crazy and she was forced to kill him!"

Tin-Tin's eyes were as wide as saucers. "Oh no!"

"Of course, they both just about had heart attacks. About that time, Dad shows up, looks at what was going on, and falls to his knees and picks up his 'dead' son. I only wish I could have been there to see it. Dad apparently figured out what was going on, and joined in the masquerade. John gave it away by starting to giggle. But ever since then, Scott and Virgil have been very 'respectful' of Grandma."

"And knowing all of that, you and Gordon still tease her? You are both braver than I thought!"

"Believe me, we know where the line is, and we are very, very careful never to cross it." Alan stood up, tossing the last of his cookies into his mouth. "See you later, Tin-Tin!"

As she watched her friend leave, she wondered if his story could be true. She heard a soft step behind her, and turned to find Grandma offering her a plate. "Have a cookie, dear."

Handing Tin-Tin the plate, Grandma Tracy winked, and walked away.