Hetty’s Attic

40

Hutch receives some sad news.

 

Author’s Notes: Thanks to Robbin for writing prompt of Hutch sneezing in an attic! Hetty is an amalgam of a Great Uncle who had an amazing collection of clocks and musical boxes and a Great Aunt who travelled widely in her seventies with her best friend by her side. They really did sail on a Russian trawler around the Norwegian Fjords!

First published 2021.

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“Hey buddy, what are you doing here so early on a Saturday?” Starsky asked as he opened the door to his partner’s polite knock. “You’re lucky I’m awake!”

Hutch looked at him as if he hadn’t realised the time. “Oh sorry. Want me to come back later?”

Starsky shook his head and waved Hutch inside, wondering why his friend seemed so subdued. Something clearly wasn’t quite right in the world of Kenneth Hutchinson. “What’s up, pal?”

“My father rang this morning. My Great Aunt Hetty has passed away.”

“I’m sorry.” Starsky patted Hutch’s arm and then pulled him towards the kitchen. “Come on, I’ll make you breakfast…Aunt Hetty? Is that the lady who went on a tour of European lakes on a Russian fishing trawler because it was cheaper than a regular boat? And dragged her best friend with her?”

Hutch smiled. “Yeah, that’s the one. She and Minnie Cromarty went to the fjords of Norway for her seventieth birthday. Well remembered.”

“I always thought she sounded like a great character. Took guts that; going on a Russian trawler at age seventy!”

Starsky made coffee for both of them as Hutch sat down at the table. He collected bowls, spoons, two boxes of cereal and a pint of milk and set them out on the table. Unsurprisingly, Hutch chose the least sugary offering.

“Is Aunt Hetty also the lady who persuaded that dirt farmer she bumped into in a café in Flagstaff to fly her over the Grand Canyon in his crop-duster?”

“Yeah, she did that too.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t ever meet her – she sounds like she was fun.”

“She was fun. My mother always said she was eccentric, and they didn’t get on that well, but I always thought she was fun when I was a kid.”

After a few moments of silence, Hutch said, “The funeral’s going to be on Friday and my Mom wants me to help clear Hetty’s house. So I’m going to ask Dobey for Thursday and Friday off and see if I can get a plane out early Thursday and come back Sunday.”

Starsky swallowed down his mouthful of cereal and asked, “You want me to come with ya? Moral support or whatever ya call it?”

“I couldn’t ask you to give up two days’ leave for me, buddy.”

“You’re not asking, I’m offering and I wouldn’t have suggested it if I was worried about how many days’ leave I had left. Do ya want my company?…Although, I guess funerals are for family. Maybe you’d rather I didn’t come along. Just thought I might make myself useful clearing stuff and running errands for ya.”

Hutch nodded. “You are family and I would like the company. Thanks buddy.”

“No problem. So do we need to ring Dobey at home and ask for the time off? Monday might be a bit short notice.”

“Good point. Can I use your phone?”

Starsky looked at his watch. “Yeah but leave it half an hour. If you call too early, he might be grumpy. You want to catch him in a good mood.”

“That’s for sure. Good thinking, Starsk.”

Starsky shrugged and then grinned. “I have my moments!”

*****

Hutch was always slightly on edge when he visited back home in Duluth. It wasn’t that his folks were bad people – they did a lot of good for the local community; fundraising for the hospital and the veterans association and so on – it was just they had such high standards in everything and his father didn’t suffer fools gladly. Hutch always felt like he was walking on eggshells around them. They were usually better behaved if there were other people around so having Starsky along meant that they should be on their best behaviour and hopefully the weekend would go smoothly and quickly. It was bound to be busy what with the funeral and trying to clear Hetty’s house.

Hetty’s house. Hutch had happy memories of visiting there as a child and teen. Hetty had collected clocks and every room of the house had an unusual clock in it. There was also a collection of cuckoo clocks hung every few feet along the wall going up the staircase. She had most of them set so that they all went off once a day at around five p.m. Guests knew to time their visit to enjoy or avoid the spectacle of the clocks, which lasted for approximately five minutes. Hutch remembered running from room to room to see different cuckoo clocks opening and shutting, listening to ones with unusual chimes, and that the last clock to speak was a walnut Grandmother clock in the hallway.

His thoughts were interrupted by Starsky nudging his shoulder.

“You all right, buddy?”

Hutch turned away from the window overlooking the wing of the plane and nodded. “Yeah, just remembering Hetty’s clocks.”

“Huh?”

“I must have told you about her collection of clocks?”

“Nah. Don’t think so. How many did she have?”

“At last count, thirty four.”

Starsky’s eyebrows shot upwards. “Thirty four clocks! What kinda clocks are we talking here?”

Hutch proceeded to describe the Grandfather clock and Grandmother Clock that stood at opposite ends of the hallway; the half a dozen cuckoo clocks that lined the wall from the ground floor to the first floor (two of which she had brought back from trips to Switzerland); the table clock that was Hetty’s pride and joy because she had managed to get hold of one that had a little man that came out and rang the bell on the hour; and the tiny gold mantelpiece clock that had a chime that would wake the dead.

“The table clock reminded her of a trip to England,” Hutch said, “Let me think, she did tell me…There’s a clock in a cathedral somewhere that has something to do with the stars and moon and a man comes out and rings the bell. Damn it, I can’t remember where it was…I hope Mom remembers.”

“Well, maybe when you see it, the story will come back to you and if not, hopefully, your Mom will know the answer.”

Hutch nodded. He looked sad for a minute. “You always think the person will be around to tell their stories forever…And you assume you’ll remember them anyway because you’ve heard them so many times…But now I wish I’d made notes.”

Starsky nudged his shoulder again.

“Talk to your Mom over the weekend and write down anything she remembers. Add it to the stories you already remember, I expect you’ll have quite a collection.”

Hutch nodded. He glanced out of the window again just as the light came on for them to put their seatbelts on. “Looks like we’re coming into land.”

“Who’s meeting us?” Starsky asked.

“Dad, I think,” Hutch said. There was a slight nervousness in his voice that only Starsky would pick up on.

“It’s all going to be fine, pal. You got nothing to worry about,” Starsky said reassuringly.

Hutch nodded. He didn’t say anything but Starsky saw the ‘glad you’re here’ look his friend gave him and was thankful that he’d decided to keep his best friend company.

*****

Friday was taken up with the funeral and wake. Hutch was pleased to find that Hetty’s best friend Minnie was alive and well enough to come to pay her respects. He managed to get some time alone with her and got her to tell him some of the old stories of hers and Hetty’s adventures together when they had been younger, and not so much younger, women.

“She was a beautiful person, your Aunt Hetty. Loyal to a fault. Held me together when my brother died. I’m not sure I’d still be here if it hadn’t been for her…and what fun we had together.”

Minnie dabbed her eyes and squeezed Hutch’s hand that she had been holding ever since he had sought her out. Starsky appeared with cups of tea for both of them, next produced a small coffee table from nowhere – like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat – and then silently went away to bring them some food from the buffet table.

“Minnie, did you go on the trip to England with Hetty?” Hutch asked.

The elderly lady sipped her tea and slowly began to smile. “Oh, what a trip that was. You know about your Aunt’s obsession with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. She planned our itinerary to visit all the places that had connections with the legends – Winchester, Glastonbury and Tintagel. We stayed a few nights in each place, explored and then moved on. Magical it was…although,” Minnie started laughing, “We stayed in this old haunted pub in Glastonbury – The George and Pilgrims, I think it was called. Lovely place but not a wink of sleep. The bells in the church tower next door rang every half hour all night. Boy, were we glad to move on from that place!”

“Didn’t see or hear any ghosts then,” Starsky’s voice suddenly said.

He’d appeared suddenly at Hutch’s elbow and sat down on a chair next to them without either of them noticing his arrival.

“No, no ghosts sadly. Hetty was very disappointed.” Minnie chuckled then fixed Starsky with a twinkling eye. “You must be Ken’s friend, David. Hetty talked about Ken quite a lot so I feel like I already know both of you.”

“Very pleased to meet you,” Starsky said, with a smile. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you, too.”

“Minnie? Do you remember the reason Aunt Hetty bought that clock that sits in her dining room? The one with the little man? Was it because of your trip?”

Minnie screwed up her face in thought and then nodded slowly. “Yes, that’s right. It was somewhere we visited that had a clock like that. It was a cathedral.”

“I remember it had something to do with stars,” Hutch offered tentatively.

“Of course, how could I have forgotten? The Astronomical Clock at Wells Cathedral. Beautiful clock and a beautiful place. Very busy with tourists though.”

Starsky nudged Hutch and handed him a pad and a pen that he produced from his jacket pocket. “Write it down, buddy, so you don’t forget again.”

“Thanks.”

While Hutch scribbled a few notes in the pad, Minnie’s eyes started twinkling again. She spoke to Starsky, “Ah, I see you’re a Boswell too.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Boswell. Constant companion. I was Hetty’s. It’s nice to meet another.”

She reached out a hand to Starsky who took it and held on to it for a few seconds. She glanced fondly at Hutch and then back at Starsky.

She smiled sweetly at both of them and said, “I shall be heading home shortly but it has been so nice to talk about Hetty to people who are interested. Thank you for listening.”

“No, thank you,” Hutch said. “You’ve helped me to remember some of her stories. I’m very glad we were able to talk to you today.”

Minnie waved at a young lady who was hovering nearby. She came over and handed Minnie a walking stick before helping her rise from the sofa. Hutch and Starsky stood up too.

Minnie leaned over to kiss them both on the cheek and said, “Hold on to each other. Best friends you can have fun with are one of life’s most precious gifts. Don’t take it for granted.”

Hutch nodded. “I try to remember that every day,” he said.

Starsky didn’t say anything he just placed a hand on Hutch’s shoulder. As Minnie walked away, Starsky said softly, “Do you think we can slip away for a while and go see the clocks at Hetty’s house? Would your Mom and Dad mind?”

Hutch said, “They won’t notice. Let’s go now. Tomorrow’s going to be all about packing things up and throwing stuff out and seeing what’s valuable and needs to be shared with all Hetty’s relatives. I’d like to see Hetty’s house again just as it is before all that depressing stuff happens. Let’s go.”

*****

Hutch walked up the stairs to the attic’s already opened door.

“Look at all the dust-covered junk in here!” he complained, then had a rhinitis attack.

“Gesundheit!” Starsky sympathised.

He knew Hutch wasn’t disgruntled about the amount of stuff in the attic – well, maybe just a little – it was more that it had just hit home that Hetty’s house would soon be put on the market and Hutch was having to say goodbye to someone he had loved and marking the end of a piece of his childhood.

Starsky was glad that he and Hutch had been able to sneak over on Friday just in time to catch the clock spectacle. They had both watched entranced as the little wooden birds had peeked their way out of their houses and cuckooed the hour. Then they’d run into the dining room just in time to see the silver plated man ding the shiny silver bell five times. That night, Hutch had asked his Mom if there was any chance he could have that clock as a keep-sake. She’d said she would check with the rest of the family but thought it would probably be fine. Hutch had been happy at the thought.

Today had been spent methodically clearing every room in turn, bagging up serviceable items to go to the thrift store on Monday and throwing away any rubbish. The clocks had been valued in the week leading up to the funeral and each branch of the family was going to choose one to keep as a memento. The rest were to be sold like the house.

Hutch’s mother and aunt were working on the bedrooms now and he and Starsky had offered to make a start on the attic so here they were. Starsky looked around. It wasn’t too bad. A broken rocking chair, an old lamp and a few paintings that Hetty had stored up here after she’d run out of space on the walls. There was also an old wooden doll’s house, two metal trunks (one of which was padlocked) and boxes of Christmas decorations. First, they took the old unwanted furniture and paintings down to the ground floor then they took the Christmas decorations straight outside to be taken back to the Hutchinson’s home and sorted there. Hutch vowed to himself to have a quick look through tonight because he was pretty sure his mother was just going to chuck the lot out and he seemed to remember Hetty had some unusual items that had come from her travels that he might like to keep…or share with Starsky, who he knew would appreciate them.

They went back up the stairs and he and Starsky opened one trunk. It was full of pieces of material, some little pieces of furniture and dolls for the doll’s house. They closed the lid and looked at the padlock on the other trunk. Hutch went to the head of the stairs and called down to his mother.

“Mom, have you seen a key anywhere? There’s a trunk up here that’s locked.”

His mother appeared and handed a small key over to her son. “I remembered seeing a key in Hetty’s jewellery box. Maybe it will fit.”

Hutch tried the key in the padlock. It fit and clicked as he gently turned it. He lifted the lid to find the trunk was full of papers, notebooks, old photo albums, letters and diaries.

“Oh,” Hutch sighed and sat down on the closed trunk.

Starsky sat down next to him and reached out a gentle hand to pick up an old cardboard photo album. He carefully turned the pages.

“Hey Hutch, I think this is that lake trip. Look at the pictures of the boat! Is that Hetty and Minnie in that one?”

Hutch took the proffered album and peered at the picture. “Yes, that’s them. They don’t look a day over fifty. No-one would ever believe there were both seventy!”

They looked through the rest of the album and then picked up the next one. It was full of pictures of the family. Hutch pointed out a family gathering at a picnic with all his aunts, uncles and cousins.

“That’s you, Blondie, isn’t it?” Starsky said, pointing to a skinny lad standing behind a much younger looking Hetty.

Hutch snorted. “Yeah. How’d you know? My cousins are all blond too.”

Starsky shrugged. “I’d know my blond buddy anywhere.”

“I wonder if Mom will let me have this album to keep.” Hutch put it on the box next to him and then pulled out a third album. “Hey, Starsk. Look at this. I think it’s Hetty and Minnie as teenagers!”

They both looked at the picture and noted the big grins the girls had on their faces as they hugged each other and looked at the camera.

“Look as if they’re about to get up to mischief,” Starsky said.

“Funny. They kind of remind me of you when you’re about to get up to mischief!”

“I never get up to mischief,” Starsky protested.

Hutch gave him a look of disbelief that had Starsky chuckling within seconds.

“Let’s put everything back inside and then suggest to Mom we take it back to the house to sort. We can bring the other trunk and the doll’s house downstairs – my aunts can decide if any of Hetty’s great nieces would want it and the bits that go with it.”

He and Starsky managed to get the trunks and the doll’s house down the stairs without too much difficulty. Then they carried the tin containing the papers outside and pushed it into the back of Mrs Hutchinson’s car.

As the three of them climbed into the car, Hutch’s mother said, “Thank you so much for all your help today. Your aunts and I can get the last of it sorted next weekend.”

“I was glad to help, Mom.”

“Thank you for all your help, Dave.” Mrs Hutchinson turned round and smiled at Starsky. “So good of you to give up your leave. I know it’s precious.”

“That’s all right. I was happy to help,” Starsky assured her.

“Well, it’s appreciated.”

She gave him the sort of dazzling smile that was a clear reminder that Hutch was his mother’s son.

Hutch looked at his friend in the mirror and said, “It sure is, buddy.”

Starsky nodded but swiftly moved the conversation onto safer ground so as to avoid a soapy scene.

*****

As a piece of turbulence disturbed his concentration, Hutch looked up from Hetty’s diary and glanced at Starsky, who was having a nap, his head leaning against the window of the plane. His partner really could sleep anywhere and through anything. Hutch smiled and returned to his reading.

Hetty was recounting a day spent in Glastonbury – first at the Abbey and then at the Tor, both sites with religious significance and Arthurian connections. It was clear that Hetty had felt a very special peace descend on her at the Abbey and so far it seemed to have been one of the favourite parts of her trip. Her search for King Arthur finally concluded on a cliff walk overlooking Tintagel Castle. At the end of the entry Hetty had written; Arthur needed a whole group of knights to protect him and his kingdom; I just have Minnie and she’s as good as all of them rolled into one person – no one could be more loyal or loving. I’ve been blessed to have such a friend!

Hutch closed the diary and thought back over the weekend. Somehow, Starsky’s presence had just made everything better. He’d helped Hutch keep his nerves and sadness at bay even succeeding in making him laugh a few times over the weekend; he had shared in the final ringing of the clocks that was such an important part of Hutch’s childhood memories; and somehow he had even managed to get Hutch’s parents to both sit still long enough to take a photo of them all together. Hutch had been sat with his mother on the sofa after dinner last night, looking through Hetty’s photo albums. Starsky had excused himself for a moment and come back with his camera and insisted on taking a photo of Hutch and his mother. Then he had persuaded Hutch’s father to join them and promised Hutch’s mother that he would send a copy of the photo to her when he got it developed.

As he looked over at his sleeping friend, Hutch’s thoughts echoed Hetty’s closing words – I am blessed to have such a friend!