Author's Note: So, the inspiration for this one came out of thin air late one night after a very long day and little sleep. I got a kick out of the idea, and thought y'all might too.

Lost Sheep

Ahhh! Another fine summer day comes to an end. It's been quiet - even for Hazzard County. Here at the Duke farm, the family is turning in for the night, heading to bed for a good night's sleep before stirring up some dust in the morning. Wait - what's this, now?

The back porch screen door opened and swung shut with a bang! as Bo Duke neglected to ease it closed gently. He held a blanket and pillow under one arm, a lit lantern in the other, and an uncharacteristic scowl on his face. The scowl was directed at the barn, which he walked towards with huffy steps, grumbling under his breath. The kitchen light in the farmhouse went out, followed by the living room, and then the house was quiet.

Looks like Bo is gonna be spending the night in the barn. Now, don't go jumpin' to conclusions - for once, Bo didn't do anything to get himself in trouble. What happened was, he drew the short straw.

Y'see, a few days back, Mrs. Parsons up the road lost her husband to a heart attack. The Parsons owned a small herd of sheep that Mr. Parsons brought up into the hills to graze every day, and when Jesse Duke found out about Mr. Parsons' passing, he immediately did the neighborly thing and offered to take care of the sheep until things settled down. That means that the Duke boys have been busy and close to home these last few days, tending the sheep along with their other chores - maybe that's why it's been so quiet. That also means that every night, either Luke or Bo Duke has spent the night in the barn, keeping an eye on an ewe that's pregnant out of season and due any day now. And by now, Bo is starting to wonder if that straw system is rigged, 'cause this is his third night drawing short.

Inside the barn, Bo closed the doors and dropped the bars into place, more to keep out the night wind than to keep the animals in. He and Luke had constructed a pen for the sheep that took up two-thirds of the barn, leaving space on the end to stack hay. He headed for the pile of loose hay that had been his bed for three nights running, right next to the pen gate. The sheep bleated and baaaa'd nervously at his arrival, but he ignored their edgy behavior. Bo had never much cared for sheep before, considering them panicky, stupid animals good only for the wool they provided. He cared for them even less now, finding them smelly and troublesome, always ready to disappear from sight when he turned his back just a moment to wistfully watch a pretty girl drive past on the hill road. But, a promise was a promise, and he'd promised Uncle Jesse he'd help with the wool-brained animals. With a yawn, he settled down on the hay and wrapped himself in the blanket, and was asleep within moments.

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Bo woke the next morning with the distinct feeling that something was wrong.

He'd slept fine, no bad dreams that he remembered, no worries plaguing him, though his thoughts were a little fuzzy so early in the morning, and his vision seemed to be a bit off - things just looked weird. He looked around, the barn interior lit by the first grey predawn light coming in through the half-open door. The half-open door! The pen gate hung ajar as well. Dang it! he thought, I swear I locked those! These dang sheep… The thought trailed off as he looked closer at the pen and saw the young ewe standing against the pen fence, suckling a shaky newborn lamb. Double dang! He hadn't even woken up!

With a sulky scowl, he picked himself up, untangling his legs from the blanket, and headed out the barn door to see how many sheep were gone far afield. It was earlier than even Uncle Jesse got up, and with any luck, he could herd them all back in before breakfast without being noticed. He could just hear Luke's teasing now.

As Bo stepped out the barn door, he was shocked by the sudden barrage that hit his senses. He could smell the dew-laden grass on the hill just upwind, the strong odors of dung and sweet hay, the oil from the General, Dixie, and Uncle Jesse's pickup out front, and any number of other scents. Bo wondered if it had rained a little the night before, to bring out these smells so strongly, but the ground was dry but for dew. With a mental shrug, he headed towards a half-dozen sheep gathered near the treeline on the eastern side of the farm. He heard their annoying, nervous bleats a few moments before smelling the musky odor of coyote nearby in the woods, and the smell made him nervous. He continued on just the same, looking around constantly for signs of the other missing sheep.

When he reached the clump of six, his stomach growled, and he noticed a patch of untrampled grass. Noting the sweet smell of the grass here - probably the reason why the sheep kept disappearing on him - he plucked a tall stem. As he chewed on it, he looked back towards the farmhouse and saw activity inside. Uncle Jesse was probably up by now, maybe Luke and Daisy. Yes, there was Luke, looking out the living room window in Bo's direction. Luke called something back to Jesse, who joined him at the window, and Bo could see them speaking to each other. Then Luke was coming out the back door, trotting towards the barn with an annoyed expression.

"Bo!" he called, entering the barn from the other side. He came out the open door on the near end and looked around as the sky faded from blue-green to yellow. "Bo!" he called again, and then Bo could hear him talking to himself, "What was he thinking, leaving the pen open like this?"

Uncle Jesse came out of the farmhouse to meet Luke next to the barn. "Was he in there?"

"No, looks like he definitely slept there, but I don't know where he is now."

"Well, you'd better start getting the Parsons' sheep back in without him. I'll have a talk with him later."

"Yes, sir."

Clearly annoyed with his cousin, Luke strode towards the clump of sheep he saw near the trees, figuring them as likely a bunch to start with as any.

Doesn't he see me? Bo thought as Luke walked in his direction. "Luke!" he called out, but the sound caught in his throat. He moved to wave an arm, but that wouldn't cooperate either. What is wrong with me? Bo thought as he looked down at his…hoof? Oh, no. Oh, no no no. Bo looked down around at himself, and couldn't believe what he saw - four legs, four hooves, and a thickening coat of fluffy yellow-white wool. "Luke!" he cried out as his cousin approached, but the sound the emerged was "Baaa!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Luke declared gruffly looking right at Bo, and for a moment, the young Duke cousin thought that he had things all wrong, that he was sick and delirious and that Luke was going to lecture him about leaving the gate open and leaving the job of capturing that sheep to him.

That was before Luke roughly grabbed Bo by the scruff of the neck - or rather, by the wool of his neck - and called down to the farmhouse, "Hey Uncle Jesse! Someone's ram is loose with the Parsons' herd!"

"Well, tie him up away from the others, and I'll call around!" Jesse called back.

Bo was both confused and mortified as Luke led him back down the barn and tied him to the beam next to his previous night's bedding. He didn't understand what on earth had happened to him or why, and he bleated plaintively as Luke stepped back to assess his knot.

"There ya go, fella," he said with a friendly ruffle of Bo's wooly head, "Now we just have to find out who you belong to." Then Luke was out the barn door again, off to bring in the other sheep.

Bo could have cried. What was he going to do as a sheep? He'd never drive the General Lee again, or chase girls, or go out for a beer with Luke - and Luke! How could he tell his cousin what happened? Or Uncle Jesse, or Daisy? What would they assume when he went on missing for days, weeks, months? He watched miserably, these thoughts churning in his head, as Luke brought the stray sheep into the barn in two's and three's. Finally, exhausted with worry and misery, he knelt down and settled onto the loose hay, folded his head against his chest, and fell asleep.

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When Bo woke up again, Luke was gone and the barn doors were shut and latched securely. He stood up and stretched his stiff limbs, running a hand through his hair to remove a few straws of hay. That was the last time he was sleeping in the barn! Short straw or not, it's Luke's…Bo paused mid-thought and looked at his hand. Then the other. Then down at the blue t-shirt, tan longsleeves, and jeans he'd slept in the night before. Then at the rope tied from the post to his neck. He ran his hands over his face and body in disbelief. He wasn't a sheep! It had been a dream! But the rope…oh, who cared, he wasn't a sheep! With a little deft work at the knot, Bo untied the rope and ran for the barn door - careful to shut it securely behind him.

The sun was bright and high in the sky - past noon, he thought, as he burst into the farmhouse breathlessly. Luke and Uncle Jesse looked up at him in surprise from the kitchen table. Luke started to speak, but Jesse beat him to it.

"Bo! Where have you been!"

"I…I…" Bo stammered, wide-eyed. He certainly couldn't tell him he'd been turned into a sheep. Luke and Uncle Jesse loved him, but they'd have him locked up for his own good. "I was… helping this trucker look for this missing ram who'd escaped from his truck while he fixed a flat," Bo invented quickly, "He, ah, heard the sheep in our barn and knocked on the door… It looks like you guys must have found the ram first. I just took it out to him, and invited him in, but he was in a hurry."

Jesse's anger drained from his face. "Oh. That explains why none of the neighbors were missing a ram," he said aside to Luke, then turned back to Bo, who waited expectantly, "But you left the gate and barn door open when you left. You need to be more careful, Bo, Luke had to round up half the herd while you were gone," Jesse chided.

Bo bowed his head, properly chastened. "Yes, sir."

"Now, I expect you're hungry, since you missed breakfast. Sit down and eat up, there's chores to be done."

Bo eagerly sat down in the empty chair across from Luke and reached for the sandwich fixin's. Luke caught a whiff of his cousin and wrinkled his nose.

"Bo, go clean up first, would you? You smell like a sheep."

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Now that's what I call a sheepish adventure. Y'all come back, now.