CUSTODY BATTLE STICKY, COSTLY (FIRST OF TWO PARTS)

FRUITLAND -- When G.G. House rushed off the kindergarten bus Thursday, she looked more like an excited 5-year-old than the center of a complicated, nasty custody battle.

But her father, mother and grandparents have spent thousands of dollars each for the legal right to keep G.G. with them.

The history of the battle is worthy of a tabloid expose'. The characters are Paul and Charolette House of Fruitland, who are G.G.'s grandparents; Paul "Freddie" House Jr., who is G.G.'s father; and Karen House, G.G.'s mother.

Paul House Sr. said his son and daughter-in-law married seven years ago and had G.G. one and one-half years later. The entire House family lived together in St. Louis until G.G. was 2 and Freddie and Karen separated. Karen took her daughter.

Still, the family cooperated in caring for G.G.: The grandparents helped out when Karen needed time to herself or for schooling.

Things became complicated just last year, Charolette House said, when Karen announced Charolette no longer could see G.G.

"I felt that if I could keep a good relationship with Karen, it wouldn't come to this," she said. "The day she said I couldn't see G.G., it took several days for me to quit crying."

The elder Houses moved to Benton, Ark., where Paul, a fundamentalist minister, pastored a church. Last February they found out G.G. was living with Karen's aunt in Stillwater, Okla. Paul and his son hired a private investigator, found G.G., and took her to live with them in Arkansas.

After that there was a total breakdown in relations between Paul and Charolette and Karen. Allegations of lesbianism, witchcraft, abuse and neglect flew. An Arkansas judge granted Paul and Charlotte House temporary custody of G.G. until things could be worked out.

The grandparents had to take G.G. to St. Louis every other weekend to visit her mother, then stay in a motel until they could take her back. Gas and other travel bills began to mount, Paul said, but the generosity of his church helped him stay on top of things.

But then Karen filed custody papers in Division 14 court in St. Louis, and a judge there said the Houses had to move to Missouri to keep temporary custody of G.G. They moved to Fruitland three months ago because of an association with Good News Christian Center in Jackson and relatives in the area.

Without a church to pastor, the Houses must depend on their disability and retirement income -- his from a brain tumor and seizures; hers from stress-related illness.

Their legal, transportation and moving expenses to keep G.G. have reached the $50,000 mark, Paul said, and they are in danger of losing not only their granddaughter but their vehicles and other possessions.

Still, he said, they aren't giving up.

"My granddaughter was not being cared for," Paul said. "She was considered more of a possession than a child. And on Jan. 1 of this year, G.G. was a flowergirl in a lesbian wedding, and she has been exposed to drugs and alcohol and sexual abuse."

There, the real complications begin. Paul and Charolette say their daughter-in-law is openly homosexual and a confessed Wiccan -- a white witch.

An article in the News-Telegraph, a newspaper distributed in St. Louis and Kansas City for gays and lesbians, told Karen's side of the story. It quoted Karen as saying "they filed against my lifestyle" and that her lover, who G.G. calls "Kim-mom," has had an active role in raising her daughter.

It didn't say anything about the witchcraft allegations.

Karen, contacted at the Clayton hair salon where she works, refused to discuss the matter with a reporter.

Her in-laws have plenty to say. They said G.G. comes home from visits with her mother trying to cast spells on people. They say she engages in inappropriate sexual behavior and talks about "playing naked in bed" with Karen and her lover.

G.G. is in therapy at Community Counseling Center in Cape Girardeau, but her grandmother said the counselor hasn't been able to get much out of her.

Dec. 14 is a key date in the House family's custody battle. Karen, Paul Jr. and Paul and Charolette all have an interest in keeping G.G. If Paul Jr. was going to get custody, his parents probably would withdraw from the case.

At the upcoming attorneys' strategy meeting, the St. Louis judge will see if his order to all parties has been met.

Everyone was to pay G.G.'s guardian ad litem -- guardian for litigation purposes -- $750 each. They were to take G.G. to a court-appointed psychologist, which they did. And Paul and Charolette were to move to Missouri.

At this time the grandparents' continued participation in the battle depends on the $750 payment to the guardian ad litem, they said.

"My daughter-in-law's attorney knows that we are not able to keep up with our bills, and he's going to say we can't take care of anything," Paul said. "People don't look at right and wrong anymore; they look at who can pay and who can't pay."

MONDAY: The legal and financial side of custody disputes.