Something to Remember Him By

By M. Willow

This story comes as a result of the S&H challenge on  yahoo group.

“It was awful.  The screams, the terror.  I don’t think I’ll ever stop hearing his voice.

“Is that when you struck her detective,” the portly sheriff asked.

Hutch looked up, his hands shaking as they glided through his hair.  “What choice did I have?  It was either her or my partner.”

The sheriff patted him sadly on the back.  “I know, I know, it must have been hard.”

“You don’t know the half of it.  I wasn’t raised that way.  But…but…in that moment, I didn’t know what else to do.  She was coming.  She’d already attacked once.  The way she came at him.  The way she kept coming.  I know what that’s like to be totally helpless.”

“Now, now, son.  It’s okay.  You did what you had to do.  Your friend is okay because of it.”  The sheriff sat down, his large stomach bobbing as he moved.  “You think you can tell me what happened?”

Hutch sat back, massaging the deep furrow between his brows.  “It had been a long week so Starsky and I decided to take a little trip.  We stopped off at this small town and decided to have a picnic in the park.  It was a nice day with plenty of sunshine and people playing Frisbee.  Anyhow, my partner and I got there around noon and laid out a picnic basket.  After lunch, he took off his shoes and shirt hoping to get a head start on his tan.  That’s when we saw them.”

Hutch paused, regarding the big man sitting next to him.  “Is that when you saw the nannie and her kid?”

Hutch didn’t speak for awhile.  Just sat there like a man reliving a nightmare.  Finally he spoke.  “Yeah.  And Starsky saw them too.”

“What happened?” the sheriff probed.

“Starsky couldn’t take his eyes off the nannie.  She just stood there, her white hair blowing in the wind.  He started walking toward her and she waited, she and the kid.  I don’t know, I don’t know.  I told him it wasn’t a good idea.  She had a kid there, for Petes sake, but he kept going.  He was mesmerized by her.  I never saw him like that before.  But, I should have done something.  Said something.  And then…and then…she came.  I never saw anything like it.  She hit him and he took off, but she kept coming.  She didn’t even care about the kid at that point.  I knew I had to do something, so I hit her.  Not hard.  Just enough to stop her from coming after him.  But now she was angry and chased both of us.  I can still hear her voice.  I can still hear Starsky screaming for me to run.”

 Hutch stopped talking again and the sheriff sat forward.  “So what happened?  You’ve got to talk about it.” 

“We found a place to hide.  I could still see her and the kid, but she left us alone.”

“Wow,” the sheriff said, clearly impressed with the story.  “So what brought you here spending your time talking to a retired sheriff in a shoe store?”

“My friend lost one of his shoes,” Hutch put his head down.  “I think she must have taken it.”

The sheriff laughed.  “Yeah, something to remember him by.  She and the kid are probably enjoying a hearty meal as we speak” He stood up.  “Well, I best get going.  I sure hope they catch those two goats.  It’s the second time they escaped from that zoo.”

Fin

A female goat is called a nannie; her offspring is called a kid.