Lost and Found
By- Linda H.
------------------------------------------------
Dear Hutch -
I fear the end is near.
I know by now, you must have realized that I left the campsite. I
thought you got lost or somethin, so I went to find ya, and guess I got lost
instead. Dumb of me I know. What took
you so long anyway? You said you'd be
back in a minute, and a whole half-hour went by. I thought I could find my way to the lake, I was positive I was
heading in the right direction, but soon every tree looked the same. I called your name, but you never answered
me.
I'm freezing here Hutch.
Can't seem to stop shaking.
Shoulda listened to ya and worn my heavier coat. Too late now. Hey, I found this spooky looking cave. Good thing cuz it started
to rain.
It's real boring sitting here alone blintz. I found this slip of paper and pencil in my
shirt pocket, and well, there's so much I want to say to you, things I feel,
but never told ya before. So, here
goes:
I love you buddy. You know that, right? I feel closer to you than I do my own
brother. Can you tell Ma I loved her
too. She was the best. I ain't real good with the words, you think
of something poetic to say to her, something real sentimental, kay?
I was hoping by now maybe you woulda have found me. I tried to leave you a trail. Thought that might help ya out a bit. I took my last box of M and M's and
scattered them behind me. Probably
shouldn't have though, as I'm getting sorta hungry now.
Oh God Hutch, I keep hearing this animal type noise. Like a high keening sound. I hate the woods, why did I let you talk me
into going camping with you anyway? I
shoulda never left the city.
Well, I'm running out of paper. Guess I'll end this note here and just wait for the end to come. Figure some bear will eat me or
something. Bye buddy..
-Starsk-
***************************************
"Starsky!" Hutch shouted as he skidded into the
damp dark cave. His partner was leaned
up against the rock wall, snoring lightly.
Seeing that he was in relatively good shape, except for ripped jeans and
bloody knees, Hutch let out the breath he had been holding since he had
returned to camp and found his friend was missing.
Spotting a slip of paper clutched in his partner's hand, he
gently pried it free and sat down and began to read the goodbye note. It took every bit of control not to burst
out laughing at the overly dramatic tone of the message. Only Starsk, he
thought, and shook his head with a smile.
Facing his friend, he gently shook him out of his deep
sleep. Starsky's eyes snapped
open. It was obvious that, for a
moment, he was disoriented. "Hutch?"
he asked, blinking his eyes slowly.
"You okay, buddy?' Hutch asked with concern.
Starsky didn't reply.
His body was overcome with the chills.
With shaking hands he reached out towards Hutch, and grabbed onto his
arm.
"Hey," Hutch offered, rubbing a hand up and down
Starsky's jacket sleeve. "Come on, Starsk. Talk to me. You hurt
anywhere, besides your knees?" Hutch did a visual survey of his friend.
Starsky continued to shiver, and rubbed at his eyes. "M'cold Hutch. Think I caught pneumonia or something. I told you I hate the woods, but you didn't believe
me." He cleared his throat, voice hoarse.
Hutch pulled Starsky close and ran a hand up and down his
back to warm him. He pushed him away
for a second, and looked at him in appraisal.
Pulling off his own jacket, he draped it around Starsky's shoulders,
hoping that the warmth of the down filled jacket and his own residual body heat
might calm the shivers enough to get his partner back to the campsite.
Starsky pulled the jacket closed around his neck, apparently
too chilled to notice that his partner now faced the cold dampness with nothing
more than a sweatshirt.
"Hutch," he whispered.
"Yeah, Starsk, it's okay, you'll warm up in a
minute."
Starsky stole a look at him, then looked back down at the
ground. "I thought I'd never see
ya again. I wrote this note to
you." He glanced around, searching for the farewell message. Questioning eyes looked up at Hutch, who pulled
the paper from the pocket of his jeans.
"Um," Hutch began, biting at his lower lip. "Don't get angry, Starsk. I saw you holding this in your hand, and I
read it when I found you. Nice. Thanks." Hutch added with a quiet
chuckle.
Starsky grabbed the paper roughly out of Hutchs hand and
jammed it into his own pocket.
"Hmph," he sniffed, embarrassed.
"Starsk, I wasn't making fun of you, it was a nice
note," Hutch said, biting at the inside of his lip. "I'm sorry you were scared." He
turned up the collar of the jacket he'd draped around Starsky, and gave his
partner's damp; dark curls a quick pat.
"Honest."
Starsky looked at him darkly. "Whatever," he said, sitting up straighter. "Let's get going. I ain't feeling so hot, just want to go home
now." Starsky started to stand, forgetting he had skinned his knees
tripping over the jagged outcropping of rocks outside the cave.
"Ow," He breathed in sharply, and nearly fell into
the blond.
Hutch quickly reached out an arm and grabbed Starsky's
elbow. "You did a number on
yourself, didn't you, Starsk? Come on,
lean on me, it's okay. Camp's just
around the bend, get you cleaned up and warm." Hutch pulled him toward the
mouth of the cave.
Starsky stopped dead in his tracks. "What?
Around the bend?" His expression
was pained. "Hutch, please tell me
you're jokin'. I thought I was miles
away. You know what? I really hate it
here," Starsky said, as loud as he could manage.
Hutch nodded, being careful to say nothing that might
provoke a tirade. Now that Starsky had
his jacket, he was feeling the chill himself, and he knew he would be able to
handle a grumpy partner better if he were warm himself.
The two men slowly made their way back to their makeshift
shelter. Settling Starsky down inside
the tent, Hutch gathered up all of the blankets they had, and draped them
around him, after retrieving his own jacket and shrugging back into it. Starsky had been quiet and slightly sullen
on the way back, but Hutch knew this had more to do with being embarrassed both
about the overly dramatic farewell missive, and having gotten lost and not
processing the proximity of cave to campsite.
Hutch wrapped the blankets tighter around him, knowing how
worried Starsky must have been to venture off alone in the wilderness. "You okay there, partner?" he
asked fondly. I'm gonna start a fire
and heat up some water for you." He glanced back over his to his friend,
who looked miserable, and still shivered, despite the layers of blankets
cocooning him.
Starsky smiled lopsidedly, all forgiven and forgotten in
that moment. "Sure, Hutch. I'll be fine." But Starsky didn't sound
fine; in fact it was becoming clear that he was losing his voice, and he
cleared his throat painfully.
"Don't sound so good there, Starsk," Hutch
observed.
"I'm alright Hutch." Starsky mumbled.
"You
sure?" Hutch said, not really convinced.
"You know, Starsky?"
"Hm?"
"You were only out there for an hour. Awful quick to be sounding like you are."
Starsky shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I might…"
"Might have what?" Hutch prodded.
Starsky rolled his eyes.
"I kinda woke up this morning with a sore throat, you know, just
scratchy, that's all."
Hutch sat back on his heels and sighed. "Why didn't you say something?" he
asked.
"Well…cause…" Starsky fumbled for the right
words. "You were so excited about
going camping, and it's been a tough coupla weeks, figured you needed to get
away." He shrugged again.
"Aw, Starsk," Hutch sighed again. "Have I been that unreasonable lately?
Starsky was silent.
Hutch ran a hand through his hair, and finger combed the
long blond strands back into place. He
exhaled noisily. "I'm sorry,
buddy. I know how I get sometimes, forgive
me."
"S'okay, Hutch," Starsky reached out and patted
his arm. "That's what partners are
there for sometimes, y'know? To let out
the steam you can't let out any other place, cause somebody'd slug ya."
Hutch smiled, still feeling guilty, but less so. "I guess so," he said. "Well, I'm sorry. And thanks." He shook his head.
"Make you some coffee?" he offered. "Warm us both up a little, huh?"
"That'd be nice, thanks," Starsky said, swallowing
painfully.
Starsky tried to get comfortable in the tent. Stretching his legs out, he inspected his
knees more closely, when it finally registered that he had torn his favorite
pair of jeans. "Shit."
He closed his eyes, intending to rest for a moment, when he
heard a high pitched squeal. What kind
of wild animal was that anyway?
Shrugging off the blankets, he went to find his partner.
Hutch was in the process of stacking an assortment of sticks
and leaves. The blond man struck a
match and on bended knee blew on the smoldering pile until the flames
erupted. Removing the old dented
coffeepot from the backpack, Hutch filled it with water and grounds and placed
it on the grate he had resting on the stones above the fire.
Forgetting the noise he had just heard, Starsky grinned down
at his friend. "Hey, Hutch, that
was cool. How did ya get that fire to
start?"
Hutch spun around at the sound of his partner's voice.
"Old Sea Scout trick. I'll show
you sometime, when you're feeling better."
The fire began to crackle to life, and the warmth from the
flames drew Starsky closer. He leaned
down and warmed his hands, closing his eyes blissfully as the heat began to
pervade his body, better than the blankets had. "That feels so good, Blintz," he said, his voice soft
and strained.
Hutch watched him for a moment, taking in the tiredness in
his posture, the dark circled eyes, the slight flush of his face, all the
things he should have noticed earlier when he'd been too preoccupied with his
own thoughts to pay attention to his partner.
"Starsk?"
"Mm?"
"I'm so sorry," Hutch offered.
"For what?" Starsky asked, his voice squeaking between
the two words.
"I should've noticed, I should've…"
"Stop it.
Now." Starsky said firmly.
"I feel crummy and I don't have the energy to walk you through a
Hutchinson Guilt Trip." He looked piercingly at the blond. "Okay?"
Hutch's expression softened. "Okay," he agreed.
"Okay."
Starsky repeated. "I'm not
dyin', it's a sore throat, it'll go away." He leaned away and coughed harshly. "and the sooner the better."
Starsky pulled his blanket closer around his body. He really
didn't want to worry Hutch, but he was feeling rotten. His head was pounding,
his throat was so sore that it burned, and to top it all off, his stomach was
now starting to churn. Standing up, he
poured his cup of coffee on the ground, and went toward the woods.
"Starsk?" Hutch asked in concern.
"S'okay, Hutch, Nature calls." Starsky quickly
walked towards a copse of trees located behind the campsite. Taking deep breathes, he tried to will the
intense nausea from overtaking him. He
was startled by warm hands holding him from behind. Hutch. Of course.
"It's okay, Starsk.
I'm right here."
"Feel sick, Hutch.
My stomach, it hurts." A chill swept through Starsky's body, as he
leaned forward.
A moment or two went by, and he was finally able to look
back at Hutch.
"Better now." Hutch pulled Starsky into his arms,
and helped him back to the campsite.
"Starsky, sit down, stay warm. I'm going to pack up the
car. No arguments, buddy."
Starsky didn't have the energy to put up a fight. He sat on a large rock and watched as Hutch
swiftly and efficiently packed up the camping gear. Throwing dirt on the fire was the last task to complete and soon
both men were safely tucked inside the heated vehicle.
"Shut your eyes if you can, buddy. If you feel sick again, just let me know."
Hutch reached over to pat his friend on the arm.
"'kay Hutch." Starsky shut his eyes.
As Hutch drove down
the mountainside, he noticed from the corner of his eye what could be a
mountain lion disappearing into the thick bush.
Fascinated by the sight, he was caught unaware of the buck
that had just darted into the path of his car.
He slammed on the brakes and the deer jumped out of harm's way, with
only inches to spare.
Instinctively, Hutch's hand shot forward, trying to prevent
his partner from slamming into the windshield.
Starsky woke with a start, after being roughly tossed into
the console of the car. He sat back in
a daze.
"Hutch? What
happened?" Starsky croaked.
"Deer, Starsk. Sorry about that, he ran right onto the
road. You all right?"
"Hutch, I really wanna go home." Starsky face
suddenly became panic stricken. Hutch
followed his friend's stare to the mountain lion peering angrily at them from the
base of a tree.
"What the," Starsky muttered.
Trying not laugh at his friend, Hutch patted him on this
knee, forgetting that it was bruised from his earlier fall. Starsky flinched.
"Okay, buddy.
Sorry you got startled like that.
Hutch looked quickly back to where the large cat had been, thankfully it
was now gone.
Hutch slowly edged the car forward and continued his journey
down the hill.
The trip home seemed endless. Despite Hutch's attempts at conversation, Starsky remained silent
and detached. When they finally reached
the apartment, Hutch helped his unusually quiet friend to bed.
"May as well throw away my pants Hutch. They're ruined now." Starsky sniffed.
Hutch patiently picked up the frayed jeans from the floor,
and tossed them in the garbage can.
Sighing, Hutch than sat on the edge of the covers. "Need anything else buddy?" Hutch had already dispensed aspirin, taken
his ill friends temperature, turned up the heat in the apartment and applied
antibacterial cream and band-aids to Starsky's scraped knees.
"Hutch, Starsky whispered, this was the WORST day of my
life. I just want it to be over with.
Good night."
Turning over on his side, he closed his eyes, trying to rid
his mind of images of the day's events.
The cold cave, the mountain lion and its prey that nearly caused an
accident. And his jeans, he loved those jeans.
But the worst thing of all, was the farewell note to Hutch. Maybe the contents of the letter would be
forgotten. Cringing, Starsky ran his
hands through his curls in frustration.
"It's okay, Starsk, try and get some rest now. Hutch stood up. Tell you what, how about if
I stand guard over you, make sure no bears eat you while you sleep?"
Starsky turned murderous eyes on his partner. By now his voice was virtually gone, yet he
still felt the need to express himself to his friend who stood so innocently
by.
Reaching his arm up in front of Hutch's face, Starsky
saluted him with his middle finger.
Message received. Hutch quietly
exited the room, leaving a grouchy Starsky to fall asleep in misery.