It's early mornin' here on the Duke farm. The rooster's a crowin', the sun's beginnin' to rise, and the light in the kitchen there just came on. That means ole' Jesse's just about to get breakfast started, and from the looks of the sky, it's gonna be one beautiful day. Makes ya just wanna jump through the screen and be a part of it, don't it?

"Well, did ya manage to wrestle yer cousin' outta bed or did ya come in here after tha broom to beat him out?" Jesse asked as he heard footsteps come up behind him from the boys' room as he stirred eggs.

"Neither, Uncle Jesse, but the broom sounds like a good idea. It'd be nice to be on the givin' end of that exchange for once."

Jesse turned around and spied Bo grinning at him. "I thought you's Luke!"

"I figured that part out pretty quick." Bo replied, going to the coffee pot where he poured himself half a cup that would momentarily be adorned with an equal amount of milk and a fair amount of sugar.

"Ain't used to seein' you up and about first. Luke still in the shower?"

"He's supposed to be headin' that way." Bo replied. "He wasn't all that anxious to git up this morning."

Jesse frowned. "Well that don't sound like Luke."

"I know, Uncle Jesse. He's been that way all week though, the whole time you's gone to your ridgerunner's reunion."

"Well you know how hot it is around here in June. Heat's jist gettin' to him, I'm sure."

"You're probably right." Bo replied as Daisy came into the kitchen.

"Mornin', you two." She offered, looking over Jesse's shoulder. "I sure missed your breakfast last week, Uncle Jesse. Nobody can cook as good as you."

"What are you talking about, Daisy? You're a great cook!" Bo announced.

"Good, but not great like Uncle Jesse. Of course, one would have to actually slow down and taste the food to tell the difference, Bo." Daisy teased him. Despite his thin appearance, her cousin was well known for the huge amounts of food he could put away in just a short time.

A little while later when the breakfast had been spread onto the table, Luke came into the kitchen fastening the last button on his shirt.

"Mornin' everybody."

"Mornin' sleepyhead." Uncle Jesse replied as Luke took his place at the table. Once he was settled, Jesse bowed his head as he lead the mealtime prayer.

"Well now." Jesse began as the meal commenced. "What's on everybody's plate today?"

"Two eggs, a biscuit, and some gravy." Bo replied jokingly. As Uncle Jesse gave him a sidelong glance, he coughed and cleared his throat. "Um, I thought I might go fishin' over at Dixon Pond."

" Dixon Pond? Why you goin' over there? Everybody says that place is 'bout dead this year."

"'Cause if the fish ain't bitin' then they can't interrupt my nap under that big ole' oak tree." Bo replied. "What about you, cousin?"

"I'm with you." Luke yawned. "That nappin' tree sounds right up my alley."

"You alright, Luke? Bo here says you've been sleepin' a lot while I's gone." Jesse asked.

"I reckon I am." Luke assured him. "We've been workin' a lot this week but now that all the crops are finally in the ground, maybe I can get rested up."

"Sorry fellas, but there ain't nobody gettin' too rested 'till ya'll keep your promise." Daisy replied. "Today's the day I'm volunteering with the blood drive, and you two promised to roll up your sleeves for me."

"That's today?" Luke asked, disheartened.

"Um Daisy, I ain't too partial to needles." Bo admitted with a nervous smile.

Daisy laughed. "You didn't mention that when I's washin' the General last week."

"Washin' the General?" Bo shook his head, wondering what it had to do with blood donations.

"You forgot, didn't you? You wanted the General washed for your date with Becky May and I told you I'd do it if you'd make a donation."

"And I agreed to it?" Bo asked, suprised.

"Yeah, I heard ya." Luke announced. "'Course you might not remember it 'cause you's pretty busy starin' in tha mirror at tha time, flexin' what little muscles you have."

As Daisy laughed, Bo shot Luke an angry glare. "Well if I said I would, I guess I will then. Just how long's this donation gonna take?"

"Well, if you'll follow me down there, you can be first in line and I can get you out in about 30 minutes."

"Well, lets get it over with then!" Bo nodded toward Luke before getting up to stomp to the door.

"Remember Bo…." Uncle Jesse interrupted, holding a finger up. "…….the Lord loveth a cheerful giver." He announced, taking amusement in his nephews skepticism.

"Then why ain't you goin', Uncle Jesse?" Bo asked.

"Yeah Uncle Jesse, come to think of it, you haven't volunteered!" Daisy pointed out.

"Well I ummm……" Jesse replied, racking his brain as his three charges stood waiting for an answer.

Bo smiled. "Don't tell me you hate needles too, Uncle Jesse!"

There was no way Jesse was going to admit that. Nodding toward Daisy, he replied. "I'll be on over this afternoon."

"Thanks Uncle Jesse! I'll be sure to put you down." She replied. As she followed her cousins out the door, the amused smile Jesse had given to his nephew quickly turned into a frown.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Luke! Luke!"

A groggy Luke slowly came about. The first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes was thick green leaves against a blue sky from where he lay beneath the oak tree by Dixon Pond.

"What, am I gettin' a bite?" Luke asked sitting up and watching for a bend in his fishing pole.

"No, you just been sleepin' awhile, that's all." Bo replied.

"Well what's wrong with that? We worked ourselves to death last week." He replied with a stretch. "Not to mention that it hasn't been all that long since I went on your grave diggin', mad science rescuin' hero spree."

Bo snickered. "Okay, okay, I can't argue with that. I'll just walk on home and tell Uncle Jesse you'll be home…..whenever. I'm hungry."

"Suppertime ain't for a couple of hours." Luke pointed out.

"Suppertime is now, cuz." Bo replied.

Luke shook his head. "Good Lord, is it 5 already?"

After Bo nodded his head, Luke rose to his feet and collected his gear. He then began to walk with his cousin the short distance to the Duke farm.

"What's wrong, Luke? You got a headache?" Bo asked as Luke rubbed his head with the back of his loaded hand.

"A little one." Luke admitted.

"I've kinda had a headache myself. Must be a side effect from donating that blood."

"Yeah, must be."

Once the boys got home they stowed their gear in the usual spot and put the few fish they had reeled in into the freezer in the corner of the barn. Once that was done, they went into the house.

"Hey Uncle Jesse." They greeted in unison.

"I'm glad you boys got back home you're cousin's about to drive me crazy." Jesse replied.

"Daisy?" Bo asked.

"Yep, been callin' ever five minutes startin' 'bout an hour ago. Lookin' for you, Luke."

"What's the emergency?" Luke asked.

"Apparently not a desperate one, she ain't told me what the problem is."

Luke shrugged his shoulders. "Guess I'll go find out." He announced, walking toward the phone just as it rang.

"Hello?" He asked, picking it up.

"Luke! You're home! Why didn't you call me back? Didn't Jesse tell you I needed to talk to you?"

"You didn't give me time, darlin', I just walked in the door." Luke explained.

Luke, there's someone here at the blood drive you need to talk to. Hang on." Daisy replied.

"Who is it? Daisy, what…."

"Hello?" A strange voice asked.

"Hey, who've I got here?" Luke replied.

"My name is Simon Robbins. Is this Luke?"

"Sure is, what can I do for you, Mr. Robbins?"

"Mr. Duke, I work for the Tri-County Blood Bank, the organization in charge of the drive here today. Specifically, I head up the laboratory, where we do all of the testing on the blood before it is released to new patients."

As Luke processed the information, he continued. "As you may have heard, the bank has been desperately short supplied in the area of new donations. For that reason, the bank dispatched me to perform the testing in my mobile laboratory here at the donation site, in the hopes that today's donations could be available as early as this evening."

Luke shook his head. "Well…sounds like you've got a good system there but why did you feel led to tell me any of this?"

"Well, Mr. Duke, I'm not sure I'm the one who should be passing this on to you, but I found some concerning things in the test results for your blood."

Luke frowned. "Such as?"

"Well, it's hard to say. What I found could mean a great number of things. But I can say this, it's concerning enough that you should see your doctor, and the sooner the better!"

Poor ole' Luke. He found trouble just tryin' to perform a good deed. Ya know, I bet if you turned the situation around and gave any of them Dukes a map to Trouble with a big red X on it, they'd wander around for years and never get into nothin'.