Retrograde Dusty
Summary: After falling off Freckles, yet again, Dusty is stricken with amnesia. Mr. Callahan finds him wandering out in the woods and takes care of him through a violent rain storm. With the aid of Lulu, Betsy, Andy, and the Brookhavens Mr. Callahan helps Dusty remember his former life.
I watched most of this series about four years ago when I was writing my Gilligan's Island stories (one of which I never finished... Sorry to anyone who was reading it... My life got flipped turned upside down, and I just lost my motivation on that one.) But I'll finish this one. I swear. In fact, it's all already written. I just need to publish it, one chapter at a time.
At any rate, I've been re-watching episodes of this show lately, and remembered how much I love it. It's a really cute little series, and I'm sorta sad it's basically lost to time. I can't even find six of the episodes at all, anywhere... (If anyone can tell me, by the way, via PM or review, where these episodes can be viewed, I'll forever be in your debt: "Two of a Kind", "Danger Stranger", "How Dry Was My Valley", "From Here to Maternity", "Day at the Races", "Pechango Berries") I simply cannot find them...
Anyway, I wrote this little story, about Dusty falling off Freckles and as a result, coming down with a wicked case of amnesia and about Mr. Callahan finding him and trying to help him recall his memories. Dusty and Callahan are the main characters, and the only characters in the first several chapters, but all the others make an appearance eventually, some getting bigger roles than others. This story was inspired by the Wizard of Ooze episode, where Dusty falls off Freckles and gets amnesia, but rather than focusing on any bit of dire information Dusty needs to recall to save anyone, it's just going to focus on Dusty's relationships with all the other characters, primarily his relationship with Mr. Callahan. It's very much a Dusty/Mr. Callahan friendship story, and Mr. Callahan is very much a father figure to Dusty in this. Very, very much. It's a huge theme in here.
I hope someone out there reads this... I know only about seventeen people on the entire earth have even seen this show... But seriously... I'm a little bit proud of this story, and I really hope someone actually reads it. He he he...
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Chapter1
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Dusty groaned and brought his hand up to his forehead as his eyes slowly fluttered open. Above himself, he saw various criss-crossing tree branches swaying lightly in the breeze, and beyond those, he saw large, dark clouds slowly rolling across the sky. That meant he was lying on the ground, for some reason, outside, and unfortunately, it looked like it was going to be stormy pretty soon.
For a moment, Dusty just lay there, un-moving, staring up at the heavy clouds slowly drifting by behind the tree branches. He wondered if those clouds might do him the courtesy of holding off their rain until his mind put itself back together. As it was, Dusty couldn't even think of where he needed to go to avoid this storm. Did he live around here? And where was 'here' anyway?
He felt so confused. He didn't know where he was or what had happened to him. Why he was lying on the ground right now was a mystery. He just knew that his head hurt, his arm hurt, his ankle hurt, and, well, pretty much all of him did. He felt like he'd fallen off a horse or something. But did he even have a horse? Did he even know how to ride one? He couldn't remember. Why was he out in the woods? Did he live nearby, or was he camping in the area? He couldn't say for sure. Come to think of it, he couldn't really even say what his own name was.
Frowning, Dusty sat up, still rubbing his aching temple with his finger-tips. He had a headache out of this world. Under his fingers, he felt crusted, dried blood as well as a small bump. That explained the headache, and maybe why he couldn't remember anything too. He must have hit his head on something. Or maybe someone else had hit him...
Shrinking down a bit, Dusty looked cautiously around the clearing he found himself in. Had he gotten into a fight with someone? Or maybe he'd been attacked by some animal, a bear, a wild dog... or... maybe even a lion... Did lions live around here? It could have been anything! Not being able to remember how he'd ended up here was alarming. All he knew was that he was out in the woods, by himself, and he was hurt. What if someone had done this to him? What if they came back to finish the job?
Dragging himself to his feet, Dusty looked around the clearing. There was no sign that any one way was the correct way he needed to go to sort this mess out. He didn't know if he lived near here, or if he had merely been passing through. Maybe he'd been kidnapped by land-pirates and they accidentally dropped him off their land-boats. Perhaps he didn't live near here at all. Perhaps he had nowhere to go...
With a small whimper, Dusty shrunk down and glanced around himself again. What was he supposed to do? Walking one way might result in getting himself even further from wherever he was supposed to be, but staying still would certainly not get him anywhere. Why couldn't he remember anything?
He felt like he was beginning to panic. Dusty's breathing was becoming frantic, coming in short, quick breaths as he continued looking around the clearing. Finally, he just decided to start walking. Surely he'd find a town or something, or a house, hopefully belonging to someone friendly and not a land-pirate.
As soon as he took a step, Dusty cried out and stumbled forward, landing on his knees, and then his hands, which caused him to cry out again as he let himself fall down the rest of the way so that he was completely on the ground again, face-down this time. His ankle hurt when he put pressure on it, and his wrist hurt very much more than his ankle when he'd caught himself.
Holding back tears, Dusty dragged himself to his feet again, cradling his injured arm in his other hand and taking his steps more carefully. His ankle hurt every time he took a step, but it didn't seem to be broken. His wrist may have been though. He could still walk, even though it wasn't as comfortable as he would have liked, but his wrist throbbed enough to bring tears to his eyes now that he'd put so much of his weight on it.
He limped onward, still not sure where he was even going. He hoped he'd find a town soon, because he wasn't sure how long he could go on walking aimlessly before he started to really panic. The dark storm clouds looming above him were making him pretty nervous too.
Dusty's ears perked up and his eyes widened when he heard the sound of a horse's hooves approaching, accompanied by someone yelling something.
"Dusty!" the voice called out. It was getting closer, "Where are you?!"
Dusty felt his eyes grow wider as he looked around, trying to spot the source of the voice. It sounded like a man, and it sounded like he was looking for someone called Dusty. Was that him? If so, why was this guy looking for him? Was this the guy who had hit him? Was he coming back to finish him off?
Looking frantically around the area, Dusty searched for a place to hide. There were no large bushes and the tree trunks weren't very thick. Nevertheless, he dodged behind a tree, probably not hiding himself very well at all, but it was better than nothing. He held perfectly still as the person drew nearer.
"Dusty?" the voice continued as the person made his way into Dusty's line of vision. It was indeed a man, a large, strong looking fellow. He looked to be in his fifties, Dusty would guess, but also looked like he'd have no trouble winning a fight. The man was sitting on a beautiful horse which had dark freckles all over its fur. If Dusty hadn't been so scared, he would have taken a minute to admire how pretty the horse was. But at the moment, all he knew was that he was terrified of who this person might be, and of why he might be looking for him, if Dusty was even his name...
Still behind the tree, but peeking out just enough to watch the mysterious man, Dusty tried to keep himself calm. It seemed like he hadn't been spotted just yet.
The man on the horse continued looking around the clearing. "You gotta be around here somewhere, little pal," he murmured, almost to himself.
Dusty continued standing still behind the tree, until it seemed like the horse-rider looked right at him. He felt his eyes grow wide as he sucked in a panicked breath, but he didn't dare move. Maybe he hadn't really been spotted. Perhaps it only seemed that way. Dusty held his breath as he stared at the man.
"Dusty?" the large man jumped off the horse, which immediately ran off just as soon as its rider landed on the ground. But the guy didn't bother going after it. His focus was entirely on Dusty as he narrowed his eyes and took a step toward the younger man. "What are you doing out here?" the man wondered.
Shaking his head very slightly, Dusty continued staring at him. He wasn't sure what to say or do. Who was this guy? And why was he looking for him? He didn't look particularly mean, but Dusty knew looks could be deceiving. He didn't know this man, nor did he know his intentions. He couldn't just trust that this guy didn't mean to hurt him just because he looked friendly. After all, Dusty had woken up with several pretty harsh injuries, and this large man was the only other person around. Maybe this guy had tried to kill him already, had failed, and had now come back to finish him off...
"You alright?" the stranger asked, taking another step forward.
Dusty didn't answer. Instead, he turned and ran as fast as he could...
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