Work Text:
Title: Going boo in the night?
Author: UsagiRyu
Fandom: High Mountain Rangers / Jesse Hawkes
Categories: Humor (I hope) , A/U
Rating: PG
Setting: The show during the episode of “Old Friends, New Friends”.
Warnings / Author’s Notes: At the end of the episode, Cutler said “That was you guys throwing rocks?” And it got me wondering what all happened while Cody and Haley followed the Rangers.
Summary: What Cody and Haley did while being “on the run” from the Rangers in “OLD FRIENDS, NEW FRIENDS.”
Disclaimer: All characters are owned by A. Shane Production Company and CBS. I am doing this for fun.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
After several hours of searching through the mountains, Commander Matt Hawkes halted his white gelding, Gawain, in a meadow surrounded by a crumbling canyon wall on three sides. “It’s getting late,” He growled. “Let’s set up camp here for the night.”
“Where do you think they are?” Jim Cutler asked as he jumped off his horse, Domino.
“I wish I knew,” Matt rubbed his tired green eyes.
“Well, you know Cody better than any of us,” Robin Kelley said.
“I know. I’m pretty sure he’ll stay clear of Ice Heart Canyon and places that like. Haley’s too green, too city-girl to make it through there. But that leaves thousands of acres he can hide on.”
“How much farther can he take her? I mean, we’re up around ten thousand feet!” Robin yelped.
Matt stared at Robin. “He can take her anywhere in the Sierras, Robin,” He said gloomily. “But, I’m hoping he’ll stick to around here.”
“You mean, you hope Cody plays fair?” Tim Hart laughed. “Great, we’re doomed.”
Matt threw a dandelion at his Ranger. “Hey, that’s my baby brother you’re talking about.”
“Matt, you know Cody doesn’t play fair in these mountains,” Frank Avila snickered. “Or have you forgotten about the false trail he lead…”
“Never mind!” Matt turned bright red at the embarrassing memory. “Let’s set up camp and Avila? You’re doing dinner.”
Avila grumbled as he started pulling grass from a depression in the meadow.
(Above the Rangers, on Loca Ridge)
Cody Hawkes waved Haley Dawson over to the edge. “Look,” He pointed.
“The Rangers? Why are we stopping here, Cody?” Haley asked, worried.
“Because they’ve stopped. We’ve been following them for the past five hours,” Cody grinned.
“We’ve been following them?” Haley squeaked. “Won’t Matt be mad?”
“Very,” Cody stated happily. “Especially after tonight,” Cody tossed a pinecone coated in copper sulfate infused paint in the air and caught it.
“Cody Johnson Hawkes, what do you have planned?”
“You’ll see,” Cody giggled.
(That Night)
The Rangers sat around their campfire, roasting the fish Frank caught in the near-by stream. “This brings back memories, doesn’t it, Matt?”
“In a way,” Matt admitted. “Remember those old scary stories Dad and Running Fox would tell us?”
“Yeah. That werewolf that lived around here… caused avalanches with his howl. The headless miner.”
“Big Foot,” Matt nodded his head. “Had a lair around here, according to Dad.”
“I remember a lot of nights spent hiding in one sleeping bag with you after those stories,” Frank laughed.
“I know,” Matt admitted wryly. “Toad was never afraid. Heck, he wanted to meet Big Foot.”
“I remember that. Standing up in the middle of the camp and yelling for Big Foot to come to dinner with us. Yeah.”
Hart, Cutler, and Robin listened to the memories of the two local born Rangers. Just then, something exploded beside Cutler. “What the…?” He yelped.
“Jim!” Matt ran over. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Something grazed me, but I can’t find it.”
“What? I didn’t hear anything!”
Just then, a loud, mournful howl echoed over the meadow. Hart squeaked in fear and turned to his commander. “Y..you said something about a werewolf?”
“That was just an old story my dad made up,” Matt protested.
“Yeah, just a normal wolf,” Cutler said. “Just a normal rabid wolf,” He blanched when he heard the howl again.
“You guys,” Robin shook her head. “It’s just a wolf. Nothing to be afraid of, I hope,” She added to herself.
(Loca Ridge)
Haley giggled. “Cody Hawkes, I didn’t know you had a mean streak in you,” She praised him. “I thought you didn’t want to humiliate your brother.”
“This isn’t humiliation, Haley,” Cody corrected her. “This is fun.”
Just then a large dark figure brushed up against Haley. The girl struggled not to scream when she looked into the deep gold eyes of a panther. “C..c..cody…”
“Oh, hi, Inky,” Cody held out his hand to the massive panther. Inky trilled and licked him. “Inky, this is my friend, Haley Dawson. Haley, this is my old friend, Inky. He lives around here and we like to hang out together,” Cody made the introductions like Inky was human.
Inky rubbed up against Haley and chirped. “Hello, Inky,” She petted the panther’s head. “How did you two meet?”
“Rescued him from a leg trap about two years ago. Cared for him while he was hurt,” Cody shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, Inky, want to help me play a joke on Matt and his Rangers?” The panther nodded his head. “Good.” Cody knelt by his friend and whispered instructions.
“Cody, what do you have planned?”
“You’ll see,” Cody hefted his pinecone. Inky slipped off into the darkness.
(In The Meadow)
Rattled, the Rangers went back to their meal, but remained alert. No more rocks rained down on their site. “Matt,” Frank whispered. “I just remembered something.”
“I know,” Matt rubbed his eyes. “But it’s just a story. Just a story.”
“What?” Cutler demanded. “What’s just a story?”
“Well, Jesse said that an old miner lived around here and was killed as he walked to his claim, a rich silver mine, by people he thought were friends. They beheaded him… And his headless ghost walks the route from his cabin to the mine, k..killing anyone who interferes…” Frank stammered.
“A story, Frank… No such things as ghosts,” Matt insisted, his face pale.
“But, the miner was real, remember? In high school you did your senior paper on the various legends of Tahoe and which ones were true.”
“Yeah the murder was real but the ghost part? That was Dad’s invention.”
Just then, a shrill scream blasted through the campsite, echoing off the canyon walls. It ended with a horrifying gurgle. “Y…y…you were s…s…saying?” Hart gulped.
(Loca Ridge)
Cody ended the scream. Haley shuttered. “That sounded real.”
“I know,” Cody said. “Watch this,” Cody threw the pinecone into the fire.
(In The Meadow)
Matt shook his head. “That was probably a panther we heard. That’s all. It’s hunting for d…dinner.”
Just then, the campfire flared up and turned green. “WHAT THE HELL?” Cutler jumped away from the fire. “Matt! Look at the fire!”
(Loca Ridge)
“And now,” Cody hurled a black balloon filled with water.
(In The Meadow)
Before Matt could guess at what caused the fire to change color, the flames went out. “It went out…” Robin backed away, nearer to Cutler. She turned to face Matt and saw a pair of glowing gold eyes. Robin screamed and the eyes vanished.
“What’s wrong?” Matt demanded.
“EYES!” Robin pointed to behind Matt.
Matt turned around. “I don’t see anything.”
As soon as Matt faced Robin again, Inky opened his eyes, letting Robin see them, and then closed them again. At the same time, the howls echoed.
“That’s it,” Matt grabbed his gear. “Let’s go and camp somewhere else.”
“Gabe’s near by,” Frank suggested. “Maybe he’ll let us bunk with him?”
“Good idea!” Matt jumped on Gawain’s back.
(Loca Ridge)
Inky bounded over to Cody and licked his face. “You did good, Inky!” Cody laughed. “Here,” He handed Inky a piece of raw meat. Inky gobbled it down. “Let’s go, Haley. I know Matt and Frank. They’ll go to Gabe’s.”
“Gabe?”
“He’s this crazy old hermit that lives near here. He’s great, really,” Cody beamed.
“I can’t wait to meet him,” Haley helped pack up their gear. “Is Inky going to come with us?”
“Of course, Inky’s friends with Gabe too.” Dingy yawned and yapped. “Don’t worry, Dingy. You’ll have something to do.”
“Cody Hawkes…” Haley laughed.
(At Gabe’s)
Matt knocked on Gabe’s door. “Gabe? It’s Matt Hawkes!”
“Matty?” Gabe opened the door. “What’s wrong?”
“Gabe, may we bunk with you tonight?” Matt asked sheepishly.
Gabe looked the bedraggled group over. “Sure, you boys look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I hope not,” Matt muttered.
Gabe held open his door and let the Rangers file in after they tied up their horses in Gabe’s old barn. Gabe looked over and saw Cody and Haley. He grinned at them. Cody winked back. Once the door closed, Gabe turned to the huddled group. “I think I saw your ghost.”
“What?” Cutler yelped.
Outside, Dingy ran through the junk Gabe collected, rattling and rustling the debris. Inky perched on a tree, ready to dart or scream, as Cody commanded. “Is this big enough?” Haley held up a decaying pumpkin roughly the size of a human head. “I found them in that field just like you said.”
“Great,” Cody took the pumpkin and carved a quick face into it. “Now, when I start moaning and Inky dashes across the door, I want you to smash the pumpkin on the door step. Just throw it so you don’t have to run okay?”
“Okay,” Haley agreed.
Inside the tiny cabin, the Rangers huddled together. Gabe watched them calmly. “I think you brought your ghost with you,” He said. When Cody howled, Gabe added. “And the werewolf too.”
“This is ridiculous!” Matt stood up. “We’re High Mountain Rangers! We shouldn’t be afraid of a few sounds.”
“It’s not the sounds,” Avila corrected. “It’s the eyes and fire going green then going out…”
“Cody is behind this, I’m sure of it,” Matt said. “There is no such thing as monsters.”
“That’s what Fred and Velma always say,” Cutler moaned.
“And Shaggy and Scooby always find the monster,” Hart agreed.
Just then, Inky ran across the doorstep and Cody screamed. Haley heaved and threw the moldy pumpkin. It landed with a heavy thud on the step. Cody waved Haley out of site and pulled his jacket over his head.
“WHAT WAS THAT?” Robin yelled.
“I don’t know,” Matt shuttered.
“You go and check it out, boss,” Hart said. “Since you’re the one who doesn’t believe in ghosts or monsters.”
“Fine. I’ll prove that there is nothing out there…” Matt threw open the door and saw the smashed pumpkin. Then Cody stumbled out of the shadows, moaning. Matt ran back inside, slamming the door.
“What is it?” Robin demanded.
“Nothing. It was nothing. Now everyone go to sleep.”
“It was something,” Hart insisted.
“Yeah, Matt. You have something face.”
“It was nothing and the next person who brings it up will be on desk for a month!” Matt ordered.
Outside, Cody quietly cleaned up the pumpkin. “Let’s go. There’s a cave near here with a warm spring in it. We can camp there for the night.”
“Cody Hawkes, I can not believe you did that,” Haley rolled her eyes. “But it was fun.”
“Yep. Matt’s going to be mad. Let’s go to that cave and get some sleep.”
(Three Days Later, Outside Barton Medical Center)
“Three more hours and we would have had you two,” Matt argued with his baby brother.
“Three more hours? If you were that close, I would have kept throwing rocks.”
“Wait a minute!” Cutler exclaimed. “That was YOU throwing rocks?”
“Haley and I have been following you for the past three days.”
“Um,” Cutler paused. “Did you hear or see anything?”
Cody howled. “Nope. Nothing,” He grinned. “Go to bed all of you!” He mimicked Matt. “If anyone brings this up, they’ll be on desk for a month!”
“You little brat!” Matt hollered.
“Temper, temper,” Cody teased.
“But, how did you make the fire go out? Or turn green? The eyes?”
“A water balloon and a pine cone coated in copper sulfate paint. And, the eyes? My friend, Inky the panther. And, before you ask Matt, I was the headless ghost you saw at Gabe’s. Haley threw the pumpkin. We cleaned it up after you went back in.”
“So that’s what happened to it,” Matt muttered.
“WHAT? You said you didn’t see anything!” Cutler said accusingly.
“I saw a Toad,” Matt growled and picked Cody up. “A Toad who is all wet!” He dumped Cody in the fountain. Cody pulled him in.
Cutler laughed at the brothers. “You’re all wet too, Matt!” Matt glared at Cutler and splashed him. “Nooo….!” Cutler wailed he joined the brothers in a water fight.
THE END