Hey everyone: you are in for a treat with this story… because this one is not by me alone. I am honored to say that my friends the awesome Elenhin and Anakin's Girl 4eva are co-writers here. Because this is written in letter form, each of us plays the same role we do in the role-play we do together. Those roles are as follows:

Bo- Anakin's Girl 4eva

Luke- Elenhin

Daisy- Jordyn

Therefore when the letter is by Daisy, you know I wrote it. If it's from Bo, it is the wonderful Ani and Luke is the fabulous Elenhin.

Because this is all of us, the chapters are longer than usual. We hope you enjoy. Please review and let us know what you think! –Jordyn

Disclaimer- Nope, we don't own 'em.

September 9, 1968

Dear Luke,

Gosh, we miss you! How ya doin'? I hope that you're okay and safe.

Happy Birthday! Well, I guess by the time you get this it will have been and gone, but I wanted to write this and let you know that I have been thinking of you today. Did you get the package we sent you? I hope the cookies were still good by the time you got them and that you liked them. Uncle Jesse said not to send you a real gift, you bein' over there an' all, but I thought you'd appreciate some homemade cookies anyway… and if they did get a bit hard, I guess you could always dunk them to soften 'em up a bit. I hope you liked them anyway… I made a lot so that you could share with your friends if ya wanted to… of course if you're like Bo, sharing and cookies are never two words that go in the same sentence!

Daisy bit her pencil as she lay on her bed with her feet waving in the air, wondering what to write next. Her eyes focused on the picture of Luke sitting at the place of honor next to her bed. It was a full picture of Luke, standing at parade-rest after his graduation from boot camp. She smiled at the proud face as he stood somberly in his dress blues uniform that he was now allowed to wear, now that he was a full-fledged Marine. It was hard to believe that he was the same boy that used to put frogs in her bed and pull her pigtails as she walked past him. Just four months ago they had been finishing off the school year together. Now Daisy was a junior in high school and Luke was far away, fighting in a war.

I bet Viet Nam is a lot different from Hazzard County. I hear the weather there has been really wet lately. It's been pretty dry here for September, but Uncle Jesse's shoulder's been botherin' him an' he says that means we're gonna get rain real soon.

School's going okay for me so far. 'Course it's still the beginning of the year. It's really strange goin' without ya though. I keep finding myself expectin' t' see ya comin' 'round the corner with your books in one arm and some girl in the other. It's mighty strange.

Daisy sighed. Strange didn't even seem like the right word: wrong was more like it. Tears dropped on the paper as she continued to write.

We're all doing okay, but it's mighty different without ya. Without his human alarm clock, Bo's been trying to learn how to wake up on his own. I don't have to tell you how hard that is… or how many times he's been late to school already this year… but that's Bo for ya.

She didn't mention that it was even harder given the fact that Bo didn't sleep well without Luke, nor did she tell how many times she had woke up to hear muffled sobs from the room next door… or how many times she had sat in her own bed doing the same thing, just like now. Wiping her blurry eyes, she continued.

I'd ask how the food was, but since ya can't get Uncle Jesse's bisque there, I reckon the food can't be all that great. Bo laughed at me yesterday 'cuz we had so many leftovers, but ya know it's hard to get used to cooking for just the three of us…

Especially when no one feels like eating anyhow, she added in her head. Uncle Jesse ate of course, not because he wanted to but because he needed the energy to get the farm work done, and Bo and Daisy went through the motions. It never seemed like a meal now though… not without Luke. She couldn't even bring herself to look at grits anymore, much less eat them. They reminded her too much of her cousin who loved them.

I even set the table for four yesterday… guess I better go back to first grade and learn how to count!

I wish you were here Luke… I could use your advice… Billy Ray Johnson asked me to go to a party at his daddy's farm. You remember Billy Ray? I told him I'd think about it. My friends are all tellin' me I should, but…Luke, I don't know why, but I just have a bad feeling…. I mean he ain't never been anythin' but a gentleman with me, but… I don't know…. I sure could use my big brother right now. I just don't know what to do. If I don't go, everyone's gonna think I am stuck up or somethin'… but if I do go…

If I do go, and things get outta hand, there'll be no Luke around to make things right again, she thought to herself, sighing sadly.

... ain't no telling what will happen. Wish we could go out and sit on the porch swing and just talk like we used to…

Tears were now falling quite steadily and it was all she could do to keep from breaking down all together as she thought of how long it would be before she would get to sit on the swing with him again, confiding in him. Four long years to go.

I miss you so much Luke and I'd be lying if I said I didn't worry about you. I wish there was a way I could just keep ya safe, but I guess Uncle Jesse's right… sometimes all ya can do is pray- so that's what I've been doing and trying to be brave like ya asked me to… I don't feel very brave right now though… not with everything I've heard about the war on the radio and t.v. lately.

Take care of yourself, Luke…please. Just come home safe.

I guess I better go for now, so I can mail this in the morning. I love you so much, Luke. Be careful, and I'll write again soon.

Love you more than you'll ever know,

Daisy

September 24, 1968

Dear Daisy,

I miss you to cousin. I'm doing fine though, so don't ya worry none now. I'm doing fine and I'm as safe as I could be.

As safe as he could be was true, but it was still far from safe. However there was no way he was telling Daisy that. He sat in the small circle of men that was their camp, squinting his eyes at the paper in the dusk. She didn't need to know that… he wanted to keep her from worrying.

I got the cookies, and ya made yaself quite popular when ya sent them. They were fine when they came, and thank you so much for them. Uncle Jesse's right. I ain't really going to be able to keep anything ya send, but cookies were fine. I did share them, same as the others do if they get some. Thank ya so much fer it Daisy. Fer a moment there, it was like being home again.

He swatted absently at a big bug of some sort, then rubbed the sting on his wrist where it bit him. Ya got used ta it rather quick, there wasn't much help fer that.

Yes, it is quite different here. It has been really wet. If Uncle Jesse says ya's gonna have rain though, then ya's gonna have rain. I ain't never known him ta be wrong about that.

I'm glad that ya's doing well in school, Daisy. Ya always was a very smart girl. I want ya to prove it ta them. Ya know I wouldn't be there anyway seeing as how I graduated, but I know what ya mean as well. Ya's gonna do fine Daisy.

A few of the words were slightly smudged and he knew why. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was that he had to leave, but that wouldn't help her none. He wanted to spend the next few lines begging her not to cry, but in the end he guessed that it would only make her more sad.

I know how hard it can be to wake up Bo, it took me years to perfect my ways. Don't worry though Daisy, he's gonna learn. If not, well, the bucket o' cold water always does the trick. That'll git 'em up, showered and ready.

He smiled softly, imagining the small chuckle as she read that. He knew Bo'd try his best, but after being used to having his cousin get him up it would be a big change for him, and coping with everything else that was different he wasn't really surprised. It wouldn't surprise him if Bo being alone in the room had something to do with it as well. A room could seem so empty at times… enough that it hurt.

Ya's right cousin, the food here don't measure up to Uncle Jesse's but it's good and wholesome. If Bo teases ya about the leftovers, ya tell'm he'd do better eating them, an' maybe when I get back I'd be able to see him when he's standing behind the fencepost.

Luke hardly reflected on his last words. The food here wasn't something you ate, it was something that ya chewed and swallowed only so that ya'd keep going. He hardly dared to think about his uncle's bisque; that would have been heaven. The same as the grits his cousin would make for him every morning. When he allowed himself to think about it he could still feel the taste on his tongue. He loved the way they tasted when you stirred in just a few drops of maple syrup as well.

Ah, Daisy, don't worry about that. It's a simple mistake. We's been setting the table for four for so long now that I'd do no better myself.

He frowned wondering what advice to give her about Billy Ray Johnson. Usually he was an alright fella, but he had heard that he could be different when he had had too much to drink. What was worse, if something happened he wouldn't be there.

If ya don't wanna go to any of their parties then don't Daisy. I ain't gonna say that anything bad would happen if ya did, but if ya don't feel fer it, then it ain't gonna matter none what they say. It's ya own choice Daisy, an' some of them don't know how much shine they can hold down yet. I want ya to have fun, but I also want ya to be careful. An' ya know ya can talk wi' Uncle Jesse 'bout it as well. He might know more about them boys than ya think.

Well Daisy, I can still picture sitting out there on that there porch swing, so if ya do, ya'll know I'll be thinking about ya.

I miss ya too Daisy, so very much, an' I ain't gonna lie to ya an' say this is like plowing them fields back home. But I did promise ya I's gonna come back, an' I am. Ya's helping me ta get through this Daisy, more 'n than ya think. An' ya's so much stronger than ya think as well. Ya's so very brave an' I'm so very proud of ya. I want ya to remember that.

He fingered a flower before he put it down in the envelope. It was a soft velvet-blue. It had looked so pretty where it grew in the mud and the bushes that he had thought about Daisy and picked it for her. He had knelt to pick it and held his fingers around the slender stem to snap it off and that was when he heard the bullet strike the tree trunk in front of him. If he had bent down one second later he would have been dead. In a hurried motion he snapped the stem and stuffed the flower in his pocket while making ready to fire back.

Ten minutes later it was over and he took it out of his pocket, missing one single petal now, and it had saved his life.

He couldn't let her know that, but now the reason he carefully laid it beside him to be folded up into the letter was to send her a token of how much she helped to keep him safe. The more thought of them back home helped him so very much.

This flower grew here, an' when I saw it I was thinking about ya, so I'm sending it home ta ya Daisy. Even here there are pretty things ta stop an' look at.

I love ya too Daisy, an' I think about ya every day, all of ya. Even when I don't, ya's always with me in my heart. I want ya to know that.

Luke

September 9, 1968

Hey Luke,

First of I'm gonna apologise for my awful handwriting….I kinda hurt my hand a little doing some wood shop in class so I can't exactly write great at the moment. Sill, there ain't nothing gonna stop me from writing to ya…

Not even some stupid idiots at school who think they can talk about my cousin the way they did…s'not my fault I just happened to overhear them and my fist just happened to connect with their jaws…

Anyway, Happy Birthday cousin! I know that it'll be long gone by the time ya get this but there ain't no harm in getting this a little late. At least you know I and everyone in the family was thinking about ya as we always do. Uncle Jesse told us not to send ya any real presents 'cause of where ya are and all but I don't think that's very fair so I sent ya something anyway. It don't matter none if it gets lost, just a little something I asked one of the older kids that you introduced me to 'afore you left to help me with…didn't think it would look very good in wood so I did it in metal.

Bo sat holding the small pendant in his hand in the barn, somewhere he always went to write his letters because it was the place that most reminded him of the good times him and Luke had. Swinging from the rope that hung from the rafters, jumping in the hay and most recently working on the engine that was someday going to be put in a car they were both to share…that was what they had been working on before Luke had to go away…since he had Bo hadn't touched it.

The pendant was a small circle of smooth metal, on one side was a delicately engraved picture of two hands clasped in a hold that looked like the occupants were arm wrestling and the other had both boys' initials carved into it. It had taken ages and a lot of patience on both Bo's and the older boy's part. But in the end it was worth it if it made Luke happy.

I hope you like it; it was interesting to say the least to make it. You know what I'm like with tools and stuff.

School's been going okay so far though the work is so much harder than what I was doing last year. I'm trying though like ya said but boy are there some pretty girls here this year….it's a shame that ya ain't here to enjoy 'em but you'll probably get 'em as soon as ya get back anyhow. All the girls can really talk about are the hunky Army men or Marines that they's gonna grab as soon as they get the chance. Then again, being the brother of a Marine ain't that bad…

Except when some of the boys like to pick fights because they think I'm really tough because of it…that was when he was there. Most of the time now he found himself just skipping school because of those people or because he simply didn't want to go without Luke. He was in a new school and although Daisy tried to help as much as possible…it was still so hard…

…lots of the girls like to talk about ya with me so I get a lot of attention from them. I signed up for the school football team tryouts this year for a change instead of track. The coach thinks I have potential to be a linebacker or something…

Well actually it was more like the potential to be a water boy… as not only the coach had said but also all the team players had laughed about and spread round the school. Time to change subject perhaps, Bo thought to himself.

I found some decent parts in the junk yard for our engine yesterday with Cooter's help. He's been teaching me to work on the engines in his Pa's garage so that when ya come back we can get it done even quicker…

Bo sniffed slightly and furiously wiped away the tears that started to fall once more from his eyes. He didn't want any tears to get on the letter because then Luke would know that he wasn't the grown up 13 year old he thought Bo was. He would just be a baby as he always had in his older cousin's eyes…but the thought that his brother may never come home…he just couldn't talk about that either.

It sure is weird not having ya here Luke and I miss ya a whole lot and so does Daisy and Uncle Jesse. Daisy keeps making extra dinner for you and keeps setting the table with an extra place. It's kinda funny really and I know you won't believe this but even I can't eat an extra dinner and the leftovers…

There was a time that he could…but recently he couldn't even stand to finish his own dinner let alone anything else. He only really ate because Jesse told him to.

…and the farm's doing real well. Me and Cooter had to fix the tractor again for Uncle Jesse, it just up and died on him in the back forty the other day but other than that everything is working fine. The corn trade is running well too so we're getting in a little more money this year. When ya come back home we'll have enough that we can throw you a huge homecoming, won't that be great!

Hopefully Luke would understand what the corn trade meant. Bo never liked to put the moonshine trade in letters because he never knew who might read them before or after Luke.

I really hope you are okay Luke; I worry about you and pray for you every night. It's so different to have to sleep in an empty room and not have anyone to jump in the hay with in the barn no more. But I know you're gonna come home and we'll get to do this all again because you promised, gave your word as a Duke that you would and you ain't never gonna break it. That's what I tell Daisy when she asks why I don't cry like she and Uncle Jesse expected me too.

Well…I don't cry during the daytime when they expect me to anyway…

I really gotta go now, I'm out here in the barn as always and Jesse'll be sending out a search party if I don't get my butt indoors and start the chores you dumped me with.

I'll see ya soon cousin, and as always I'm looking forward to your letter. Don't leave me hanging too long.

Love ya always brother.

Bo

September 24, 1968

Hey Bo,

I'd say that ya's gonna have ta be more careful Bo, but I reckon that Uncle Jesse already gave ya that speech. Since you didn't say more, I reckon it wasn't the wood, but the wood for brains. Don't let them git ta ya Bo, I don't want ya hurt cause of them.

Luke reached up a hand to touch a small metal pendant through the uniform, hanging by a string next to his dog tags. He was worried that he would lose it, no matter what Bo said, but he was still so very grateful for it. He knew how hard it was for Bo to focus on the kind of tiny details, and he wondered how he had managed that. Or who the poor soul he had made help him was.

Thank you Bo, Uncle Jesse was right, but I am still glad you did. I am worried about losing it, especially since I know ya an' how hard ya must've worked on it. It is beautiful Bo, an' I love what it stands for. Thank you.

I'm sure glad to hear ya find school's okay. I know it's harder now than it was before. It's been the same way for everyone every year. Ya just make sure ya pay half as much attention ta the class as ya do to them girls an ya's gonna do fine.

They always want what they can't have Bo. Ya go fer 'em an' show them just what a farm boy is. They ain't gonna wait around fer no Army boy after that. Sides, us Marines beat the Army every day.

He hoped that would cheer him up some, it wasn't easy to have all the other kids talk about something like that. He didn't think Bo needed anymore everyday reminders about how far away he was either.

I know it ain't easy Bo. I bet there is plenty of them there giving ya a hard time. But ya go there, an ya show them that no Duke lets himself be picked on by someone who ain't got half the brain ya do ya'self. Just please don't let them make ya skip classes Bo. I don't mind ya sneaking a day off every once in while. But don't do it too often. Stick to them girls Bo- that should git ya through it.

He had to smile to himself. Bo was such a sweet little boy, so easy to read. So easy to know what he was thinking: sitting in the hay, with the pencil, and trying to figure out what would sound the best to his cousin when he read it. He loved Bo for it.

Football team sounds great Bo. I bet ya's gonna do better there, and I bet ya's gonna be a linebacker. They pick on everyone, an' make them think they're only good for water boy and bench warmer. The coach'll say that to see what ya's good for. If ya sit down on that there bench cause of it, then that's what ya's gonna be. But if ya git up on that field and play like we's always done with Cooter an' the others, then ya ain't gonna be no water boy. Trust me Bo. No one starts on the field as a hero. Ya have ta fight fer it, but I know ya can do it.

So easy to know what he was thinking. There was no tear smudges on the paper, but that didn't mean he didn't know how his little cousin felt like when he was writing it.

Good ol' Cooter huh, well, he's gonna be able ta give ya a whole lot of advice there if ya take it. Just be careful. His pa ain't gonna be happy if ya make a mess in his garage. I'm proud of ya Bo. Ya ain't a grown up man yet. Thirteen is still to young fer that, but ya's doing a fine job. Don't worry if ya wanna cry. I do to when I think about ya. It's not making ya a baby Bo, it's making ya the cousin an' the brother I love.

Ah, he felt so sorry for Bo. He used to be able to put away with so much food, was always so cheerful at the table. He guessed that he didn't eat as much anymore.

I know Daisy set the table for four, it's just a habit Bo. Since she's done it so many times. Will ya do me a favor? I'm really missing Uncle Jesse's home cooking, would ya make sure that it ain't going ta waste? I'd hate if it was cause of me. An, sides that, if ya's gonna be the new star line backer of the teams, ya's gonna have ta be putting some weight on. Ya's gonna make it Bo, ya's gonna make it fine.

He smiled at the way Bo talked about the tractor, he could picture that the same as if he was there. He also admired Bo for describing the corn trade. Bo was a smart kid, very smart. He knew better than to write that they were running shine.

Ya know that there ol' tractor live for breaking down Bo, I reckon it just likes the attention it get when ya fix it. I'm glad about the corn trade to. Thought I'd rather that that money went to the farm and to the ya an' Daisy keeping good in school.

Once more, he could tell about the many nights Bo spent crying when he could no longer hold the tears at bay. He was so impressed of the way Bo kept a brave face. Very impressed.

I know what ya mean Bo, I've been in a room and there's over twenty of us, still is empty cause it ain't ya. Ya know Bo, I reckon that if ya took Daisy ta jump in the hay the two of ya'd have fun. Don't say it Bo, I know it ain't gonna be the same fer ya, but think about how much it would mean to her….

Not to mention it would be good for Bo as well, but he wouldn't know what was happening before he was laughing and having fun he too.

Ya don't have ta be ashamed of crying Bo, an ya don't have ta do it only at night. No one is gonna see ya as any less fer it. Ya make me so proud there, but I don't want ya to feel worse cause ya's putting on a brave face. Ya can sleep in my bed if it makes ya feel better. I ain't gonna tell.

Better get inside then cousin, an' sorry ta be dumping the extra chores on ya, look on the bright side though. They's gonna be helping ya to build up the muscle ya need to show that there dang coach that ya's a Duke and Dukes don't make good water boys. I'm gonna be writing to ya as often as I can, I promise.

Love always, brothers by heart,

Luke