AN - I miss the old show, folks. My first major crush as a child was on Matt Hawks. The one and only Christian Conrad. Every time I saw him gracing the television screen, I would get the most pleasant little chill up my spine. This is for him, written decades later by a law student who remembers him warmly. And it's for you, the fans who will never forget High Mountain Rangers as long as you live. (The Noble Rot)
Above the Unbroken Horizon
It was never supposed to end like this. Jesse Hawkes was the man who would live forever, and his Rangers would always be there to keep the peace above the treeline. But fate has always had a way of dealing out difficult cards.Dealing them, one at a time, the way Jesse's widow dealt cards in Tahoe.
His sons, his brave, wonderful sons, coped with the death of their mentor in very different ways. Cody needed constant contact. He was always underfoot these days, sitting close to Robin in front of the fire, sometimes crying, sometimes just talking. Or he would join High Eagle on his patrols at dawn. Izzy stayed near him as often as he could...trying to help the young man make sense of the senseless.
"He was a good man, your Dad." Izzy said, not looking at Cody directly. They were seated on a rough-hewn plank bench behind the ranger station, watching for Cutler and Hart to return from a grocery run in town. Cody nodded, his eyes misting over a little.
"I feel strange without him. Like he'll be home any minute and all I have to do is wait. Wait for his truck in the drive, or his hand on the door."
"I know what you mean. I lost my Mom a few years back... "
"But you didn't even really KNOW your mom, Iz! My Dad was my whole life! When he and Mom decided to split up, there wasn't even a question of who I wanted to go with! It was always Dad. I wanted to be him!" Cody took a deep breath, angrily running one hand through his thick brown hair. He felt betrayed and angry that his father had left so soon. But falling from a precipice in the mountains he had so loved seemed a not unfitting end. It was the way, Jesse often told his boys, that he would want to go.
Izzy didn't know quite what to say. He didn't expect the kid to get over such a tragedy so soon. It had only happened a month ago, after all. After a long search, it was Matt who had found the body. Matt who had strapped his father to his back and carried him eighteen miles to the road, then another six to the station. Matt who had walked into the building tight-lipped and pale to inform the rest of them that the search could end, and someone needed to contact the coroner, and was Cody anywhere nearby? Could someone fetch him? Matt had seemed so terribly brave to everyone that day. he didn't weep, in fact no one had seen any sort of grief from him yet. The big blond man with the gentle blue eyes simply did what was necessary, not saying much to anyone.
Jesse lay on the concrete floor of the garage for two hours, covered in Matt's coat, before the men in the white ambulance finally came and took him away. During that time, Cody was found and told the awful news by his elder brother. He'd reacted badly, striking out at Matt and accusing him of lying. Matt accepted the attack, not even moving to defend himself as Cody hit him in the face, the shoulder, finally collapsing into his brother's arms with tears running down his face, helpless.
And human.
There was something unsettling about Matt's calm acceptance of his father's accident. But then, Izzy had never fully understood the man. Liked him, yes. Worked well under his command, of course. But understand? Never.
Cody stood up suddenly, jarring Izzy from his unhappy toughts.
"I need to take a walk. Who's night is it to cook?"
"Uh...I think it's Robin's. So we'll probably have canned ravioli or something. Stupid pizza kid stopped delivering up this far since that avalanche last year. It wasn't even that big. Man, townsfolk are such pussies sometimes."
"I'll be back by eight or so. Don't worry, I'll be fine. Thanks, Izzy."
Of course he would be. The kid knew these mountains as well as his father had. Izzy watched him walk off into te brush scrub, his hands in his pockets, head down against the wind. It was rough, losing the person you loved the most. Even rougher for a kid like Cody. He was turning into a fine young man more and more every day...a man his father would never get to meet. With a last glance at Cody's retreating form, Izzy got up and wandered back into the station.