Lost In Death Valley
The case was solved, they'd gambled away some money
and made a new friend. Starsky, in particular, had
paid attention to the young dancer Vicky. When the
detectives found out that she had a disabled daughter
who badly needed surgery, they decided to help her
with the money they had won.
"Come on, pal, I'm ready to leave," and Starsky took
his bag, looked around the luxurious hotel room for a
last time, sighed and let his partner go through the
door first. In contrast to their arrival, they didn't
need to pretend to be somebody else and so they were
wearing casual clothing.
It had been an exciting week in Las Vegas. Finally
they had found the strangler who had murdered young
women. One of the suspects had been Jack Mitchell, an
old friend of Hutch's, and though Hutch couldn't
believe that he was the murderer, they had to chase
him because he was arousing suspicion. He had died
during the fight and when they found out that he had a
tumor in his head and that he had nothing to do with
the murder, Hutch felt guilty.
Now they needed some distraction.
Driving through the streets of Las Vegas in daylight
was a little different than at night, when all the
glimmering lights suggested that life was always
beautiful.
"Look over there," and Hutch pointed to a bus station
where a young girl was sitting, seemingly waiting for
nothing. She was drinking from a bottle hidden in a
brown paperbag. "A lost life," Hutch mumbled and
Starsky couldn't say anything.
"Hey, have you got the map, so that we can find where
Vicky lives?" Starsky was looking forward to visiting
the gorgeous woman and he noticed Hutch
fumbling in the glove compartment for the map. Hutch delved and soon
found out where the little place was and how they
would get there.
"We can turn right here, though it is faster through
Death Valley," Hutch mumbled.
"What - did you say Death Valley?" Starsky was all
excited. "Then let's drive through it! I've always
wanted to see it!"
"It's very hot there," Hutch tried to dampen Starsky's
joy, but there was nothing to keep Starsky from going
there.
"Look, we've got enough time and we need a little
sightseeing. Show me the way, oh you all-knowing
partner of mine," Starsky joked and Hutch gave in.
Soon they had left the road and noticed with
astonishment the changing of the countryside. No
plants and trees but hard sun-dried ground. Hutch
pulled down one window and blistering heat entered the
car.
"Wow, that's what I call heat!" Starsky was impressed.
Hutch, who was studying the map again, was suddenly
pushed against Starsky when the car abruptly turned
right.
"What the hell are you doing?" Hutch tried to remove
the map from Starsky's face and saw the mischievous
smile there.
"You won't believe it, but I just saw a sign, "Old
copper mine". Let's have a look. When I was a child ,
me and my friends in New york were always dreaming of
exploring an old mine, so now we gotta chance to see
one."
Hutch remained speechless . They followed the path
narrowed by rocks on both sides. In front of them they
saw bigger rocks and there was a sign with further
information. They got out of their car.
The heat was incredible. Soon both men were sweating
profusely.
"Let's go into the shade over there," Starsky proposed
and was already walking to the little cave, while
Hutch paid attention to the sign.
"This is the entrance to the mine!" Starsky shouted
and disappeared into the cave.
"Wait!" Hutch shouted and hurried over to the spot
where his friend had just been. It was very dark in
the cave and somewhere on the left there should be a
small path. Hutch had to adjust his eyes to the
darkness.
"Starsk, where are you?" Hutch's voice sounded hollow,
he wondered where his friend had disappeared to.
"I'm here, it's wonderful, the walls are sparkling , I
can't describe it, you must see it!" Starsky's voice
reached him from inside the mine.
"Don't go further. It's dangerous to enter the mine.
Rocks can fall down, or you can get lost."
Hutch's concern grew when he didn't hear Starsky
answer. He called several times for his friend, but it
was in vain. What should he do?
He felt his way around the next corner, walked
straight on till he came to a parting of the ways.
Where to go? He called Starsky's name again – nothing.
He had to find his friend. Was there a little more
light to the left? Hutch turned in that direction,
stopped for a moment.
"Starsk, are you there? Give me a sign, say something,
what's happening? " Hutch couldn't hide his fear any
longer. He followed the path when his feet suddenly
lost ground and he fell. He gave a short yelp – and
landed on something soft. Stunned he felt around and
could sense the material of jeans. "Buddy, is it you?"
he whispered , moved to the side and reached further
till his hand touched curls. Starsky!
"Fancy meeting you here," Hutch muttered. Starsky
appeared to be unconscious. Hutch pulled his partner
onto his lap and checked for any head injuries. He
felt the lump on Starsky's forehead at the same time
Starsky stirred and moaned.
"Feeling pain, buddy? Then you're still alive," Hutch
said encouragingly, scanning the surroundings. The
ground of the path had subsided but it shouldn't be
too difficult to climb back where they had come from.
What to do with Starsky? He had to wake him, by hook
or by crook.
"Wake up, schweetheart." Hutch imitated Starsy's
voice, " help me, Something's scaring me.." The trick
worked. Indeed, Starsky opened his eyes half way and
asked: "Whassa matter?"
"I heard some strange noises inside the mine and I
want you to help me find out what's wrong there. "
Starsky's consciousness came back and cop mode set in.
"I'll help you, don't worry. Let's go look for it,"
Starsky said and tried to sit up.
Hutch had to chuckle. His friend never thought of
himself , always cared for his partner…
"Take it easy. First we have to climb out of this ,"
Hutch pointed to the path above them.
"Be careful. Before I fell I was hit very hard ," and
Starsky put his hand to his head. Hutch nodded. "I
know. Stay here. I'll climb out and help you then.
Okay?"
Hutch steadied his partner putting his arms around
him. Then they got up very slowly. Hutch's realized
that his right foot was aching but he had other
problems to solve now.
Starsky was swaying lightly , so Hutch leant Starsky
against a wall. Both men took a breath, then Hutch
loosened his grip.
"Just a moment, then I'll help you out," Hutch
reassured his friend and with a pat on his stomach he
started to climb the wall.
With some effort he reached the old path, looked down
and said:" Come here, give me your hands. I'll pull
you up. I can see now what hurt you. There's an iron
rod coming out of the wall. Maybe an old cross beam…"
Starsky was moving toward the wall . Fortunately it
wasn't too steep, so he could climb out of the cavity
with Hutch's help.
"Boy, am I glad to be with you again," Starsky mumbled
and leaned into Hutch. But suddenly he stiffened.
"Which is the right way out?" He looked around, his
gaze full of fear. He could see several paths leading
in different directions. "Where to go?"
Hutch tried to remember very hard where he had come
from while searching for his friend. Somewhere he had
turned left, but where was the corner he remembered?
Now it all looked very strange, he could have come
from the right side, too…
"We're lost, right?" Starsky's voice sounded a little
strained. In the darkness it was difficult to see
Hutch's face. Starsky only felt Hutch's calming
squeeze on his shirt. Starsky knew that he had to be
strong for his partner who had been looking for him
and had saved him. He had been such an idiot to go
into the mine. He had brought them both into trouble.
Shit! And hadn't Hutch mentioned strange noises in the
mine? He had to help his partner, no question.
"We have to find out about the noise you heard,"
Starsky said with determination. "Where did you hear
it?"
"Wha…?" Hutch was preoccupied. Noises? Oh my god, what
should he say? Maybe the truth, that he had come up
with it to wake Starsky up?
"Buddy…," he started when Starsky interrupted him.
"Shhhhh, there it was again. Now I can hear it, too."
Both were listening now.
Far in the distance there were sounds, Hutch couldn't
believe it. Automatically they turned in that
direction. It was still very dark, and Starsky held on
to Hutch's belt. They were lost but they were
together. Together they had managed a lot in their
lives. The hard times when Hutch was left by Vanessa,
his ex wife. When Terry had died and he was about to
give up. Who had pulled him back to real life? Hu..
"Oops!" Starsky bumped into Hutch who had stopped
suddenly.
"Now I can hear it. Those are voices, " Hutch listened
very intensly. "Sounds like a group of kids."
" Do you think that's the exit ?" Starsky asked
hopefully. He had totally forgotten his aching head.
He only wanted to leave this unpleasant place. They
moved further and when they came to the next fork they
knew which way to use. It was getting brighter.
Soon they could differentiate the voices. There was a
teacher with kids who were answering questions.
"I told you already, there aren't any ghosts in this
old mine, you needn't worry…"
At that moment Starsky and Hutch tottered round the
corner, both covered with dust and the blood from
Starsky's forehead.
"Ewwwwwww!" Twenty small children screamed and ran,
leaving their stunned teacher behind.
"And I always thought kids had a soft spot for you,"
Starsky grinned and Hutch answered:" The same to you."
Looking at each other they had to admit that their
appearance was not trust-inspiring.
"May I help you, gentlemen?" the teacher offered.
"No thanks, you should try and capture your kids
again," Hutch smiled. He put his arm round Starsky's
waist and both men hobbled to their car.
Two hours later two exhausted detectives arrived at
Vicky's home. It was dark already and when she opened
the door she was frightened – before she recognized
her friends from Las Vegas.
"Come in, you two, how was the trip? Wait – what's
wrong with you?" She pampered Starsky, cleaned the
wound , gave them both something to drink and step by
step, Starsky felt better.
"Vicky, you won't believe it! We drove through Death
Valley and explored an old copper mine. It was
wonderful! The walls were sparkly and there were so
many paths…"
"And then, buddy?" Hutch dared to ask.
"What do you mean, Hutch? As I said, it was wonderful.
And then there were little kids with their teacher and
they were so impressed when they saw us. You know, not
everybody would be so brave as to…"
Hutch got up , rummaged in his bag and handed Starsky
a big envelope. "You should come to the big point,
pal." Starsky looked at his partner , became serious
and held out the envelope to Vicky who at first didn't
understand. When she opened it, saw the money and
looked into two pairs of blue eyes, she knew all of a
sudden what a special gift the detectives had given
her.
Starsky, who couldn't bear any soapy scenes,
disappeared to check on his car. Hutch explained to
Vicky what had happened in Death Valley that
afternoon.
"Well," he finished. It's right, we got lost – almost.
But we found you and it's a great pleasure to help
your kid. By the way, where is she? You must know,
children have a soft spot for us…normally!" And they
both laughed, till Starsky came into the room and
shared the laughter with them.
THE END
7