Disclaimer: The character's of Starsky and Hutch are not mine, neither is Hallie Illingsworth, a real person, and her real name. I have meant nothing malicious by this story, and seek no money or gain by it. I just like to write about the guys and share it with all my list sibs who like `em too! This story does contain violence, we're talking about a pair of cops here! All standard

disclaimers apply. (Note: This story is based in part on a real event that happened in Washington State History.)

Ivory Woman

By Terrijo

Ali heard the truck before he did. She moaned slightly, not wanting to wake up. She was snug up against Hutch's back, one arm around his chest, legs intertwined, their hands still loosely laced together. She hugged him to her, trying to drop back to sleep, practically buried under the blankets. Hutch's soft even breathing lulled her back to her slumbers. The room was

chilly, embers from the earlier fire having died out, but Hutch was a radiator and she wasn't about to let go of him. She nearly succumbed to the contented, safe, blackness when her ears distinctly heard the sounds of an emergency brake being pulled on. She twitched, fully awake, lifting her head up over his neck and peering at the digital alarm on his side of the bed.

It was 1:48 in the morning.

"Al, go back to sleep." Hutch muttered groggily, tightening his fingers around her hand. Ali cringed.

"Sorry, hon." she whispered in his ear. He scrunched his shoulders, tipping his head back. She didn't see the slight smile play across his lips.

"Keep that up and there'll be a repeat of what happened earlier." he murmured. Ali grinned, pulling her hand free, and tucking a strand of his gold locks behind his ear. His eyes were still closed, but the smile, slightly lopsided, still touched his lips.

"Promises, promises!" she whispered back, her finger lightly running down his neck. He scrunched again, the smile growing, and as he began to twist around to face her, both of them heard the sounds of a truck door being slammed shut. Hutch's eyes popped open, looking at Ali.

"What was that?" he asked. Ali heaved a sigh, a slightly disgusted look on her face.

"There's a truck in the driveway. Sounds like a big one too." She looked at him, as he frowned, puzzled. Heaving a sigh, he rolled away, flipping the blankets back, and swinging his legs to the floor. He glanced at the alarm, running a hand through his hair.

"It's only 2:00 am!" he groaned, leaning over and tugging a robe off the closet doorknob. Ali buried her self back under the blankets, stealing his warm spot.

"Whoever it is, had better have a good excuse!" she grumbled right back. Hutch snorted, rising as he swung the robe on, tucked it around him, and tied it securely.

"I'll second that," he said reaching up on top of the gun cabinet and retrieving his Colt Python. Ali poked her head back out from under the blankets, as he did his habitual check to see if it was loaded.

"Want me to come with?" she asked, watching him. His long fingers snapped the barrel loose, his head tipping slightly left, a finger running across the top of six bullets. Satisfied, he snapped the barrel back in place, thumbed the safety off, and glanced at his wife. He smirked.

"After what happened the last time you traipsed off in the middle of the night..."

"You would have to remind me!" she groused, smiling slightly back at him, remembering the night Ray Bingham had killed his ex-wife.

"Somebody has too." he sighed, smiling back at her. Ali shook her head.

"Hurry back. You know I'm the ice cube in this marriage." she burrowed back under the covers. Hutch shook his head.

"And you wonder why I call you a heat seeking pig." He smiled at the sound of her giggling under the blankets as he slipped on a pair of flip-flops and left the room.

It was pitch dark, but as no lights had been turned on to obscure his night vision, Hutch easily negotiated the house. His right hand firmly gripped the Colt, as he made his way to the living room. Their front room door had inset windows forming a decorative arc across it's top, low enough for him to see out of. His eyes caught sight of the front end of an older model U-Haul truck, before it was obscured by the edge of their garage. It was parked across the driveway, near the paddock fence. Frowning, Hutch eased the door open, bracing himself for the chilly night air, and letting his eyes get used to the street light hanging from the apex of the barn.

It was a crisp, cold night, the frost casting a glittering, reflecting, carpet over the world. The moon was so bright; it cast shadows, and lit everything with its cool glow. Hutch eased up to the garage, gun kept carefully down, looking curiously at the old truck. He could hear someone tinkering with chains at the back, which was partially blocked by the Hutchinson's two vehicles. His even, calm breath was visible as he slipped up along side a frost rimmed Suburban. Reaching the back end, he cautiously poked his head out from behind the vehicle and froze.

The truck had been towing another vehicle.

Jacked slightly up in the air, with its front wheels cradled on a two-wheel trailer hitch was an older vehicle, kept in immaculate condition. It's distinctive white stripe stood out like a signal beacon in the bright moonlight, the rest glinting a night dulled red. Hutch stared at it, his shoulders relaxing.

"Starsky!? What the..." he started when a familiar figure walked around the truck, hauling the towing chains.

In the bedroom, Ali heard her husband's exclamation, and jerked herself upright.

"Starsky?" she muttered, looking surprised. She snatched up her robe, scrambled out of the bed and stumbled down the hall.

In the yard, Starsky looked up at Hutch, his face lit in a huge grin.

"Hutch!" he greeted happily.

Hutch dropped his head, shaking it slightly as he thumbed the safety on the Magnum. Starsky jerked the passenger door to the truck open and deposited the chains on the floorboard.

"Starsky? What are you doing!" Hutch asked as he walked across the drive. Starsky gave him a quick once over, smiling still, as he shut the truck door.

"Sorry to wake ya up!"

"You're not sorry you woke me up! It's two o clock in the morning and you pull into my drive way with a U-Haul towing that thing!" Hutch spluttered. Starsky walked up to him.

"Yeah, you're right, I'm not sorry." he smiled. Hutch just looked at him then shook his head again, smirking.

"What are you..." he started to say, when Ali suddenly appeared at his elbow, wrapped in a terrycloth robe, barefoot, with her ivory white hair disheveled.

"What the..." she exclaimed taking in the sight of the truck, then looked at Starsky with her laser blue eyes. Starsky began to snicker.

"I finally did it," he said looking at Hutch, a devilish glint in his eyes. Hutch frowned slightly, looking at the curly headed brunette, and then a slow dawning appeared on his features.

"You didn't..."

"I did." Starsky grinned, nodding his head. Ali looked from one to the other.

"You didn't!" she cried.

"Spare room available?" Their unexpected guest asked.

"You quit the force?" Hutch asked.

"Noooo." Starsky smiled slyly.

"You resigned!" Ali blurted out.

"Still got a steel trap in that brain somewhere, Coulter!" Starsky joked. Ali snorted derisively.

"You resigned?" Hutch repeated looking at his former partner carefully. Starsky nodded.

"Dobey retired at the first of the year. I tried, Hutch, I tried to get along with the new Capt., but... well... you know..." Starsky looked for all the world like a guilty little boy 'fessing up to his father. He shrugged, grinning helplessly. "After three months I told him to take his job and his desk duty and stuff it. I asked for my retirement, packed my junk, and here I am!" he lifted his arms up in a shrug and dropped them.

"Can I stay with you?" he asked, looking at the tall blonde, hopefully. Hutch gazed at him a moment.

"As if you had to ask!" he said, the smile on his face growing, he handed the Colt Python to Ali, who was shaking her head in disbelief. Hutch grasped the back of Starsky's neck, shook him slightly, like a young pup, and engulfed his friend in a huge hug.. Starsky laughed out loud.

"I knew you'd let me!" he chortled, clapping Hutch's back. He pulled away from him.

"Let me grab my stuff!" he said jogging around to the drivers side of the truck. Ali looked at her husband, who glanced at her. He only shrugged at the question mark in her eyes then noticed her feet.

"Ali!" he snapped. "It's got to be 20 degrees out here, and you're barefoot!"

"Try 12," Starsky cracked through the cab. Hutch looked at Ali as they heard the other slam the door shut and join them. His breath, as well as theirs, hung in the frozen night air.

"Town clock said so..." he smiled.

"No wonder why you're like a block of ice!" Hutch snapped. Ali grinned, shrugging as Hutch pointed back to the house, looking at her in exasperation. She smiled coqettishly, the corners of her lips curling, she looked at Starsky.

"You owe me, buddy." she warned. Starsky frowned as she turned and led the way inside. He looked at Hutch.

"What?"

"Never mind!" Hutch growled, unable to hide the smile struggling to get on his face.

Ninety minutes later, Hutch slipped back into the bedroom, quietly shutting the door. Ali had re-stoked the fire, which cast it's warm, soft, glow over the room. Somewhere under the mound of covers, she had burrowed her way to whatever warmth was left. Trying to be silent, he slipped the robe off and slid under the covers. She wasn't asleep. He grinned as she rolled over to face him, and drew her into the circle of his arms.

"So," she murmured. "Is our new roomie asleep?"

"Almost. Drove 18 hours to get here. He saw that bed and his eyes started to roll!" He stroked the errant blonde hair away from her face as they resettled comfortably. Ali, very deliberately, placed a foot on the underside of his knee. He hissed, clutching her to him.

"Ali, your feet are freezing!"

"And you're so nice and warm!" she smiled deliciously up at him, and stuck her other foot on the back of his other leg.

"Heat seeking pig!" he growled, smiling back at her, a look glinting in his eyes.

"What are we gonna do with him?"

"How should I know? I'm just glad he's here." he murmured, running his fingers into her hair at the back of her neck. "Said he's still got about four and half weeks of vacation time coming to him, and his sick leave, after that the retirement funds should kick in. Maybe by then we'll come up with something." Ali was running her fingers slowly down his arm. He caught

her hand in his.

"Ah ah!" he chided gently. "It's four am and I have to get up in two more hours." Ali smiled mischievously at him.

"It's Saturday, dear, your day off." Hutch looked down at her, his mind reeling off days. He realized she was right.

"You're right" he murmured as she freed her hand and set it palm first on the small of his back. He hissed again at her cold fingers. She hugged him close, resting her chin on his chest and gazing at him. She ran her fingers up his spine. Hutch chuckled softly, the muscles of his back tensing up.

"Want me to warm you up?" he had to ask, a knowing look passing between them. Ali grinned.

"Oink!"

With Starsky's unexpected arrival came also the arrival of Spring. A fresh tang filled the air as the temperatures climbed into the fifties during the day, but still dropped to the bone chilling teens at night. March brought in the new change in life. Plants began to bud, the willows first to be dressed in bright green. The Sparrow hawks found their mates, often seen in pairs now, and the great flocks of Sandhill Cranes hooted and cried high in the brilliant blue skies. Kingbirds began to make an appearance on highway fences, and the lovely sounds of the Red winged black birds could be heard as the males staked out their territories around any available source of water. Pairs of Mourning doves graced the telephone wires. Cattle had their

calves in the great cornfields. Everywhere, there was the sound of tractors and machinery getting ready for the coming of irrigation season and the new growing year. Willow Lake suddenly grew three times busier as the fishing season commenced, the resorts filled up, boats app Ken Hutchinson, with his former partner in tow, found an increase in his workload as Tucannon County's resident detective. Doug Riley, the Sheriff, was busier then ever now, and gladly welcomed the extra help from Hutch's friend. For the first time in many years, both men reveled in the re establishment of their long ago working partnership.

Ali was happy just to see her husband's joy, and getting to know his partner on a much easier basis then the past had held. Starsky's inclusion into the Hutchinson's household went very smoothly. Ali delved in the garden, preparing their immaculate grounds for the coming year. Yet at night, as the two men sat around the table and talked shop, Ali felt a strange

yearning hearing their tales of one bad guy after the other. One case after the other. She felt a little puzzled by it at first, knowing it had to be a part of her past trying to reassert itself in her damaged brain. Hutch noticed it also, but remained quiet, just watching as his wife cleared the main hurdle in their marriage (i.e. Starsky), and went beyond the forgiveness she had sought from her past actions with his partner. Ali had a temperament similar to Starsk's, and their friendship slowly recovered with time. Hutch felt himself blessed to have them both under one roof and getting along.

Somehow, Hutch managed to convince Starsky to go fishing with them. He even promised that they wouldn't have to go there on horseback. That Saturday morning, they tied down Hutch's battered aluminum fishing boat to the roof of the Suburban and headed off into the mountains, Bow Lake being their destination. All the way up to the site the two Hutchinson's joyously

tormented the superstitious Starsky with tales of the lake.

Unnaturally deep and cold, Bow Lake was surrounded by legends and ghosts. Situated on one of the forgotten highways of America's backroads, the lake and the roadway practically met in places, and had been the scene of some tragic accidents in the past. A lone lodge graced its shores at the main wide spot in the road, with a history that went back into the late 1800's.

Several expensive vacation retreats were built on the far opposite shore, and here and there one could see piers and docks jutting out in various stages of repair and decay. Trees surrounded the place and the mountains loomed all around them.

Hutch took them to a spot Riley had mentioned to him, a lonely boat launch far from the crowds and at that particular time, abandoned, although some sportsmen were out already on the lake, which had a reputation for excellent fishing.

The legends and Indian folklore claimed that the lake was haunted and that whoever died in it was never seen again. More unsettling to Starsky was the response from the others about how the few car accidents on the lake resulted in the fact that neither car or bodies were ever found. There were also legends of a woman supposedly seen to float over the water on eerie foggy nights, when the lake was shrouded in mists and visibility was very poor. Still others claimed to hear mysterious tire squealings that naturally resulted in investigations to see if anyone had actually plunged into the lake. By the time the three finally got the boat in the water, Starsky was ready to go back.

"C'mon!" Hutch was grinning. "We're here now, we might as well enjoy the fishing."

"Enjoy?" Starsky snapped, watching as Hutch hauled a pair of fishing poles out of the back of the Suburban. "Enjoy fishing on a lake I know is holding bodies in it! How can I enjoy it, knowing that!"

"They weren't ever found, Starsk! Besides, it's too deep and too cold for a body to surface. We won't even be near the road where they are, we're on the backside of the lake, far away from them." Hutch turned, handing the tackle box to his partner. Starsky took it, looking worriedly up at the fog-enclosed mountains. Spring had barely reached this area, and it was

grey and cool out. All three were bundled for the cold, although Starsky insisted on his aviator's jacket, for him a security blanket.

"It's gonna rain!" he protested.

"We only get 7 inches a rain a year." Ali's voice floated from the passenger seats, where she was gathering together a couple of thermoses, and some bagged lunches.

"Today's the day you're gonna get all seven!" Starsky growled. Hutch grabbed up a net, a nylon rope with metal hooks on it for holding fish, a set of binoculars which he handed to the brunette, then turned and shut the door.

"Got your license on you?" he asked. Starsky, hands full, shook his head.

"Nope! Left it on the kitchen counter. Can't go fishin', let's go back!"

"You can't get out of it that easy!" Ali trilled, walking up behind him. She waved the license at Hutch and stuffed it in Starsky's back pocket. Hutch smiled, winking at her.

"You two are conspiring against me!"

"Us?" Ali asked innocently.

"The last time I went fishing with you, we ran into those whatchamacallit's!" Starsky griped, following Hutch and Ali down to the boat.

"The witches." Hutch said. Ali looked at her husband, surprised.

"Witches?" she exclaimed.

"A whole mess of them! There's probably a bunch out here too!"

"A coven, Starsk." Hutch said, loading the fishing poles into the boat.

"What ever!"

"When was this?" Ali asked frowning in confusion, looking for the world like she was trying to remember something. Hutch relieved her of the lunches and thermoses.

"It's before your shooting, dear," he said adding the items to the boat. Ali looked at him for verification, and mouthed 'Oh'. Hutch turned to Starsky, taking the other items from him.

"They're probably out there trying to figure out some way of bringing one of those bodies back up! Use it for one of their...." Starsky waved a hand.

"Rituals. You ought to know better, pal, after Marcus's little circus. They don't want dead bodies." Hutch said checking everything over on the boat. Starsky raised an eyebrow, reluctantly having to agree. Hutch looked at Ali, who was looking at him perplexed.

"Get the oars for me?" he asked. She shook herself, grinned, and trotted back to the truck.

"Where's the motor for this thing?" Starsky asked, looking disgusted.

"Motors scare fish, Starsk, we row." Hutch replied patiently.

"You mean..." Starsky pumped his arms. Hutch smiled at him.

"Yup, " he replied, as Ali reappeared, handing him the oars. Starsky groaned.

"Got your poles?" She asked.

"Uh huh." Hutch replied again looking over the items in the boat. Something seemed missing.

"Tackle, net, licenses?" she asked. Hutch slapped a hand on his wallet, lodged in the back pocket of his jeans.

"Got it."

"Lunches?" she asked.

"Better be!" Starsky growled looking distastefully at the boat.

"Armed?" she asked.

Both men, one right handed, one left, lifted up a side of their coats revealing their weapons snug in their holsters. Ali smiled wickedly. "Remember, it's not legal to shoot a fish."

"Where's the life jackets?" Hutch asked.

"Yeah!" Starsky exclaimed. Ali suddenly cringed.

"Oops."

"Ali!" Hutch remonstrated.

"If I fall in there...." Starsky started looking at her with murder in his eyes.

"Ken'll get you out! He's a diver, said he was a lifeguard. Right?"

"Sometime in the far distant past." Hutch agreed and sighed.

"Sorry guys." She said, shrugging helplessly. Hutch nodded at Starsky to get in. He did, slowly and reluctantly, wobbling horribly as he turned and sat in the bow. Hutch and Ali, both helped shoved the boat out deep, with Hutch scrambling to get in before the water went over the top of his beat up cowboy boots, rocking it a bit more.

"Watch what you're doing!" Starsky snapped as the boat slid across the surface. Hutch seated himself, setting the oars in their locks.

"Relax pal! We're fine!"

"Wait a minute!" Starsky protested, glancing down in the clear waters, seeing the logs and stones at the bottom, before the black, inky, deep swallowed the view. He looked at a hugely smiling Ali standing on the shore, waggling her fingers at him.

"Why isn't she in here too?!"

"Scared of the logs." Hutch informed him, manning the oars.

"What!?" the other exclaimed.

"Underwater logs scare the daylights out of her. Can't even get her to go swimming in one of these lakes."

"Have fun guys!" she sing-songed to them clearly as Hutch neatly maneuvered the boat.

"Hey! That's not fair! If I'm stuck out here, you should be too!" Starsky yelled back, gripping the edges of the boat so tight that his knuckles were white. A trick of the lake enabled them to clearly hear each other's conversation.

"I told you I'd get you back!" she replied. Starsky looked at her in surprise then glared at Hutch.

"Get me back for what?"

"I plead the fifth." Hutch replied.

"Coulter!" Starsky yelled. Ali's laughter floated back to meet them. Hutch shook his head, smiling hugely.

"Relax buddy, She brought the portable grill, she'll have everything all set up by the time we get back and I guarantee you'll have some of the best fish you've ever tasted in your life!" Hutch promised. "Sautéed in butter and garlic!" The way to a man's heart was through his stomach. Starsky looked at Hutch disgusted, and relaxed.

"This thing doesn't have any holes in it does it?" he asked

"Only the one I patched under your seat last year." Hutch replied, his blues twinkling impishly.

They were out for hours. Ali remained at the launch for a while, setting up camp. They had a cooler of extra food and drinks, the grill, and the other necessities for a day out on the lake. She listened to the two men squabbling good naturedly at each other for a while, enjoying their banter, then decided she wanted to explore down the trail that beckoned to her

along the lake's edge. She could see it wending here and there along the shoreline, and giving in to the urge, she retrieved a second pair of binoculars, slung them over her shoulder and set off to explore.

There was very little in the way of shrubs in this more arid region of the state, but the trees were plentiful and thick. Wispy grass and lots of lichen covered rocks dotted the area as she wandered aimlessly along. She paused at one point to admire a small waterfall, feeding a tributary going into the lake. All around, the forest provided a hush in the grey gloom of the day, and occasionally a bird would announce its presence. Ali crossed the stream on a fallen log and wandered further along. Eventually, the trail dipped in close to the lake and here Ali steered carefully away from the edge. For some unknown, even to her, reason the sight of logs under the water scared her. It wasn't so bad if the log was halfway on land and sticking out into the lake, but if it was completely submerged... She shivered, ducking under the canopy of low growing willow branches and continued following the trail.

Occasionally, she glanced out at the lake, locating the fishing boat, the two men's voices getting slightly faint. Starsky actually was in the act of struggling with a fish on his line, whooping excitedly, the boy in him coming out to play. Ali grinned, meandering around a bend in the trail and abruptly came to a stop.

The trees thinned slightly, revealing a short meadow, thick with last years dead cat tails, reeds growing in tussocky mounds, indicating another stream. At the far edge, away from the lake were the decaying ruins of a stone fireplace. Ali studied it, frowning. For a good hour she tried exploring around the old site, only to find it succumbing to the marsh, but enough to see that it had once been an old homestead. The ruins looked sad and lonely. Ali finally gave up, and wandered to the creek, picking her way across it, and continuing on. Again the trail dipped in close to the lakes edge.

The konk-a-lee cry of the red wings died off as she left the little marsh behind her, keeping to the forest side of the trail, nervously eyeing the logs that had fallen into the lake over the years. She looked back out over the water, now unable to see the boys. She started off again, having to pass under the boughs of yet another willow where several old pines had toppled over, one actually blocking the pathway. She looked disgustedly at it. A recent fall, most of it's top lay in the water, the trunk lying across the path, and it's roots forming a wall to her left. Beyond it, lay an older one jutting far into the dark waters. Ali

heaved a sigh, grabbed some of the roots, got a foothold and climbed on top of the log.

She had to swat away the long draping limbs of the willow growing beside it all, defying the waters. She was about to jump down on the trail again when she glanced down the log, looking back to see if she could spot the fishing boat. Something caught her eye.

She gripped a handful of the willow, peering uneasily in the gloom under the trees, the underwater logs disappearing out into the blackness. There was something strange under the water at the end of the furthest log. Ali frowned, wondering why it had gone quiet so suddenly. She shifted position, sidling along the log, towards the water, trying to ignore the icy prickles crawling up her spine. She clung to branches, finally reaching one of the few limbs actually poking out of the water from the log she was on. She glanced back, swallowing nervously. She was only about ten feet or so out over the water but she noticed her knees shaking.

Ali swallowed thickly, wondering why she was doing what she was doing. She glanced out into the water again looking for the object. It was a little more defined, sunk only a few feet under the water, looking a strange ghostly eerie white. Ali suddenly found her mouth had gone dry as she sidled a little further out to get a closer look. She clung one handed to the branch and peered down into the depths.

What she saw she'd never, ever forget. Floating about ten feet under the surface was a greyish white object. Ali felt every single nerve ending in her body freeze solid.

One long, loud, blood-curdling scream echoed around the lake.

"KENNYYYY!"

Hutch's head snapped around so fast, Starsky heard his neck pop. Both men could hear the note of sheer terror reverberating at the sound of his name being screamed.

"ALI?" The blonde exploded, starting to stand up in the boat. Starsky's hand shot out, as he dove forward, the boat tipping dangerously.

"Hutch!" he shouted at him, dropping the fishing pole he had been holding. He grabbed hold of Hutch's jacket, pulling on him. "Sit down!"

Hutch, half risen, caught his balance as Starsky jerked him back into the boat, loosing his pole over the edge in the process.

"What direction!" Hutch demanded, his blue eyes flashing as he sat, grabbing for the oars.

"That way!" Starsky snapped, pointing towards a small point of land, yards away. He struggled trying not to let the sudden thought of them both falling into the pitch black waters scare him any more than Ali's scream had already done. He failed miserably in keeping the fear out of his voice, and it made him mad.

"What the hell'd she do?! Fall in?" he snapped.

"How the hell should I know?" Hutch snapped back, his face growing pale before the other man's eyes. Neither had ever heard Ali scream like that before. The boat spun around like a living thing, and with Hutch's powerful strokes, fairly skimmed across the waters. Urgency added even more speed. Starsky quickly reeled in his line, and grabbed the edges, hanging on

for the ride.

Hutch's named being shrieked again met their ears, only this time with a note of panic in it.

As they rounded the point, Starsky quickly spotted her.

"There!" he said pointing her out as Hutch swung around to see. Ali was far out on a partially submerged tree, literally wrapped around a lone branch jutting from on top of it.

"Ali?" he yelled, but she didn't look up at him, she was staring in wide-eyed horror down at the water.

"I thought you said she was scared of logs?!" Starsky exclaimed, still mad.

"Underwater!" Hutch growled, somehow managing to get a little more strength to row even faster. "This is something else!"

As they neared her, Ali was drawing breath to yell again. She was white as a sheet, clinging to the limb as if it was life itself.

"Ali!" Hutch snapped, closer now, shipping the oars slightly. Ali tore her gaze from the water and looked up at the blonde. He could see she was shaking.

"NO!" she shouted, as he was about to sink an oar in the water. Hutch barely managed to jerk it out as the boat turned, perpendicular to the log she was on. He was looking at her in a mixture of anger, fear, and concern.

"Ali! What the hell..."

"Hutch."

Something about the sound in Starsky's too calm voice cut straight through the tall blonde. He looked at his partner. Starsky, knuckles white on the edges of the boat, was staring into the crystal clear waters. Hutch looked down.

If his face could have gotten any paler it would have, as the breath was sucked out of him. Starsky pulled his eyes away and looked at him accusingly, his blue eyes unnaturally bright. Quietly, very calmly he said.

"I thought you told me bodies never surfaced in this lake."

She was about ten feet under the surface. Eerie bluish-gray white in color, opaque enough that one could barely make out the skeleton here and there in places. Eyes closed, mouth hanging slack, dark hair hanging in a medusa swathe around her head. She was tied, her arms folded across her chest, with aged rope around her torso, waist, and legs. Several coils had,

at some point, fallen around her ankles causing her to float vertically. Her hands were poised loosely up, almost in weak supplication. Tattered pieces of a nightgown clung here and there. Mossy bits hung in her hair, the rope, and the gown. She looked for all the world as if she was just sleeping, but the hair-raising color of her skin and it's opaqueness lent a macabre air to an already horrifying scene.

Hutch, always the calmer of the two, noted that the rope trailed off from her feet to a frayed end. His face blank, he reached down, pulling Starsky's fishing pole to him. He flipped it around, and leaning carefully over the boat, reached down to her with it's tip. All three could see the tip touch a bare forearm. Hutch, arm up to his elbow in water, pushed ever so

gently. The tip began to sink into the skin...

"Judas Priest!" Starsky snapped as Ali sucked air in a horrified gasp. Hutch hastily yanked his arm and the pole out of the water, quickly swishing the tip, far away from the boat.

"Ali!" Hutch snapped, his voice trying to cut through to her, as he dropped the pole back into the boat, causing Starsky to jerk his feet away quickly. Ali, still clinging to the limb, was once again staring in fascinated terror at the woman below the surface. She didn't respond to him. Hutch frowned, taking up the oars once again. Carefully, he maneuvered the boat

to come up alongside the tree on the opposite side of the body.

"Switch places with me, Starsk." he said curtly. The blonde grabbed hold of the tree, pulling the boat in extra close. In one quick move, Hutch scrambled onto the log, as Starsky quickly shifted to take his place. Hutch's momentum pushed the boat away. He stood up, balancing himself and reached for Ali.

"No!" she yelled, hugging the branch to her at the feel of his hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay!" he said bending over her, bracing himself, his hand slipped under her arm, to grasp her wrist. Ali was literally shaking.

"Let go of the branch, Al, I've got you." She shook her head vigorously, still staring down into the water.

"Al!" Hutch said a little more firmly. "I need you to go call Doug! Let go of the branch, I'll get you back to shore." She shook her head again. Hutch, one hand gently clutching her shoulder, pinched a nerve in her hand with the other. Ali gasped in pain, jerking her hand away from him, looking at him in surprise. Hutch instantly pulled her away from the branch,

hustling her back towards the trail.

"Kenny!" she exclaimed, grabbing her hand, her feet moving as he steered her along.

"Had to get your attention somehow!" he growled in her ear. He jumped off the log ahead of her, helping her down as she rubbed at her hand, looking at him with a hurt expression. He took her face in his large hands, making her look directly at him.

"Call Doug, tell him what we've got. Use the radio in the truck. Tell him he needs to have the Coroner bring a tank with him. One large enough for a body. You got that?"

She looked at his serious, careworn face, his eyes seeming to reflect hundreds of years. His voice was commanding and insistent.

"Use the radio, call Doug, get the Coroner."

"They'll need a tank, it's important Ali!"

"Okay, okay!" she said nodding her head. "A tank!"

"Big enough for a body."

"Big enough for..." She looked up at her husband with dread in her eyes.

"Hurry." he added, turning away from her. Ali nodded and took off at a run. Hutch drew in a deep breath, momentarily closing his eyes.

"HEY!" A voice yelled.

He snapped to attention and looked out over the water. Starsky, now sitting aft, clinging to the boat's edge's, was drifting away from shore. He was looking at Hutch in a combination of bewilderment and disgust.

"Starsky!" Hutch snapped, climbing back onto the log. He made his way down to the limb Ali had been clinging to only moments before.

"How do you run one of these things?!" Starsky demanded.

Hutch pinched his temples in one hand, looking down and rubbing hard. He ran the hand through his hair and glared at his helpless partner.

"Row, Starsk, you row! Grab hold of the oars and pull!"

As Hutch coached him in the finer points of manning a small boat, he looked down into the clear waters of the lake. The woman below the surface hadn't moved, and Hutch wondered just how long she had been there.

The retrieval of the body nearly became a media circus. No body had ever surfaced in Bow Lake. Only by the efforts of Doug and his Deputies, had they been able to keep the reporters away from the actual site. Search and Rescue was there as well as the Coroner, and the local Feds. The sleepy little lodge and bar on the edge of the lake suddenly saw more activity than it ever did in a lifetime. Two special boats were brought in; one rather large with a considerable hoist attached to the aft section. In the smaller boat, the Coroner, Hutch, Doug Riley, two scuba divers, the driver and a huge glass fish tank, carefully angled it's way into where Hutch's aluminum boat bobbed, moored and lonely, tied to the tree. The bigger boat dropped anchor, unable to get any closer.

Upon site of the woman, the Coroner grew very excited, muttering 'beautiful!' under his breath as the two scuba divers slipped noiselessly into the lake.

"Careful boys, careful!" the man admonished, as the two men took up position on the far side of the boat.

"You boys know what to do!" he encouraged as the driver, and Hutch, gently tipped the tank into the lake. Letting it fill with water, the tank, already heavy, grew weightless in the liquid environment. The two divers took over from there. With painstaking care, the two men slowly moved the tank in behind the woman, slightly beginning to rock with the disturbance of

the water around her.

"Easy, easy!" the Coroner shouted, although the divers couldn't hear him. Hutch and Riley watched silently as the two men slowly, inch by inch worked the tank around the grey white form, being absolutely careful not to touch her. Once enveloped, the two divers slowly, righted the tank, the eerie opaque corpse at last resting in a watery glass coffin.

"Brilliant!" the Coroner enthused, the two men brought the tank up close to the surface, but not allowing it to break through. The coroner snatched up three heavy duty canvas straps, lowering them gently into the water, peering excitedly into the tank.

"Absolutely beautiful!" he enthused. Riley shook his head, unable to speak, feeling his stomach lurch. The three straps were affixed around the tank and it was maneuvered into position along side the smaller boat. Next began a snail's paced ride to the bigger boat, the two divers staying in the water, holding the edges of the tank.

"Perfectly preserved!" the Coroner murmured, studying the bound woman as best he could in the failing light of day. "A once in a lifetime find!" he stood up and clapped Hutch on the shoulder, smiling broadly.

"Good head on you, son! Very good! Careful! We don't want the body to rock!"

"What is he babbling about?" Riley muttered as they drew up alongside the bigger boat. The Coroner was grabbing up a long panel of glass, handing it to the divers in preparation to seal the lid on before lifting it out of the water with the hoist. Hutch sighed, looking at Doug.

"The body has saponified, Doug. Any rough movement or touching her, will literally cause her to fall apart." The tall blonde rubbed his eyes, looking away from the bustling scene as floodlights from the bigger boat were turned on and illuminated the weird scene going on before them.

"Saponified?" Doug exclaimed moving away too, unable to take the macabre body any longer. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Her body is like jelly, Doug. " Hutch said to the confused man. He paused then added.

"Sometimes in a very cold lake, a body won't decay. The fats in the body react to chemicals in the water and it saponifies. Turns to soap, Doug." he nodded at the Coroner. "Basically she has the consistency of liquid soap. That's why he's so excited. It's extremely rare. And she is in extremely good condition."

"She's turned to Ivory?!" Doug exclaimed, involuntarily looking over at the busy scene.

"Not quite, Doug, but close enough."

"Don't get that silicon inside the tank! Make sure the tank is full to the top!" the Coroner ordered as the lid was sealed on. Before too long the great winch on the back of the larger boat, began to lift the now considerably heavy burden out of the inky blackness.

Dripping great rivulets of water, the woman in the lake finally became free of it.

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