I always feel silly putting a disclaimer on these things. After all since we're on this site we all know it's fiction made by the fans and not the people who actually own the characters or situations. Thank you for at least clicking on the title to see what this is like.

It was an ordinary afternoon in a small county in the center of Georgia. As a breeze drifted through the treetops, country music flowed out the windows of a black pickup as it made its way through the beautiful countryside towards a small town the county had been named after. The young girl driving the pickup checked her rear view as a siren drowned out the music from the radio and spotted the pure white Hazzard County Sheriff's car behind her. She glanced down at her speedometer to see she was in fact doing the speed limit then slowed down and pulled to the side of the road. The sheriff followed suit then approached the truck looking pleased as punch. The girl turned off the music, which was a shame since it was such a great song, then looked at the sheriff who was now next to her window.

"Afternoon, Sir," the girl said politely.

"Afternoon. Do you—" the sheriff started.

"Know how fast I was going? Yes, sir, the speed limit. 55 on old dirt roads."

He looked shocked as if he didn't know what to say next. "Um well—"

"You wouldn't by chance happen to be the Sheriff Rosco Coltrane, would you?" Flattery had always worked for the girl before, maybe it would help this time too. Hopefully get her out of a ticket too.

"That's me," the sheriff said.

"Oh bless my stars. I heard you were so much sweeter than Sheriff Little." More dim-witted, maybe but she couldn't say that out loud. "Ed's been nothing but a pain since I learned to drive. I could really use your help, Sir. I'm supposed to be meeting a friend of mine in a small town called Hazzard, but I must have gotten my map all turned upside down a'cause I've got no idea where I am." She laid the charm on thick as fresh cream, batting her eyelashes and looking as lost as she could. She knew she was no more than five miles from town but it was the best she could think of to get his mind off whatever he had stopped her for. She handed him the upside down map and he turned it around giving her directions. She thanked him kindly then headed for town.

The minute the girl reached the bustling town, her eyes landed on the building she had been looking for. She swallowed hard then pulled to a stop near the three story, brown building. There were three signs on the front that read Service, Office, and Hazzard Garage. Beside the service bay doors, painted on the actual building was a list of five services that the county garage provided. Standing just in front of the service doors was a man bent over the engine of a police car. She looked around and didn't see anyone else. She slipped from her pickup and walked over to him.

"Uh hi," she said softly.

"Hi, what can I do for you?" The man asked, pulling out from under the hood. He didn't look shocked to see her, rather curious.

"I'm looking for Martin Davenport."

"I'm sorry, he's not here."

"When to you expect him back?"

"I don't," he said, "he died six years ago."

"And his wife, Helen?"

"Five years ago. Is there something I can help you with? I'm their son, Cooter."

"You're—oh ... What I'm about to tell you may surprise you and I wouldn't blame you if you don't believe me. My name is Lizzy and I'm your sister."

Cooter stared at the young girl in front of him. She had the same brown colored hair he did and her blue eyes were looking at him nervously. She didn't look any older than his friend Bo which would put her at nearly the right age but he still couldn't be too sure. Not many people knew he had a kid sister and he couldn't think of any reason that anyone would pretend to be her. He led her into the office and looked at her carefully.

"I know you're probably thinking that I shouldn't know about her or how dare I—"

"When were you born?" Cooter asked the girl.

"October 17th, 21 almost 22 years ago." It was closer to 22 than 21.

"What do you know?"

The girl, Lizzy he guessed, toyed with the end of her hair before answering. "Um well, from what I've pieced together, I was adopted when I was just over a month old. My parents David and Leslie couldn't tell me why but said when they saw me, I was in good health and the lady at the orphanage said I had come from a loving family. It was like after a month my real parents just had to give me up. I did some digging and found out that the orphanage I was in had burned down; there were no records left. According to the birth certificate I had that lists David and Leslie as my parents, I was born at Tri-County Hospital. I went down there and filled out a few forms but they would only give me a copy of the one I already had. When I told the nurse I was adopted she told me that I'd have to get a court order and take it to the county courthouse and have them release it. My dad—uh David knows a judge who signed the order and the county clerk released it. I wasn't sure of my birth name but I was the only baby girl born on that date at that hospital so the clerk didn't have that hard of a time finding it. The library had a copy of old phone books and that's how I found this place."

"How long have you known?"

"About the adoption? My 21st birthday. All the other stuff I found out in the following weeks. I waited this long to come out here because I'm a barrel racer. One of the best up and coming in the state. I had to wait until the season came to an end," Lizzy explained.

"I always knew I had a little sister," Cooter admitted. Everything she said made sense. "My parents never kept that from me, but they said with a closed adoption we would never see her—you, again."

"Why a closed adoption?"

"It gave the orphanage more options. Not every family that wants to adopt is open to letting the birth family come back in."

"They wanted me to have the best shot at a happy childhood no matter what."

"Did it work?"

"Yes. I loved growing up over there. Cooter, do you think there's a chance I'll ever find out why I was adopted and you weren't?"

"I don't know. Listen, I have to finish that cruiser out front but afterwards we can get some dinner and then go through Mom and Dad's stuff. I haven't really touched it since they died."

Lizzy nodded and Cooter bent back over the engine. Cooter asked her to tell him about herself so she rested her arms on the top of the fender and looked down at the engine. "Well, like I said I'll be 22 in October. I uh ... I barrel race horses; been doing that since I was 10. Most of them have been Quarter horses but for my 21st birthday my brothers all chipped in together and bought me a pitch black Mustang. He likes to run, actually loves to run and is usually sweet tempered. He um ... His name is Diablo but that's only because he used to have a problem with biting and they said he was evil. He has been nothing but sweet to me," Lizzy defended.

Cooter nodded. "What do you do when you're not racing?" He asked. He looked up at her then looked around the garage.

Lizzy smirked and handed him the wrench he had been looking for that had been on the work bench. "I help my dad at his garage. I mean—"

"It's okay. That man raised you. He is your dad." David obviously meant a lot to Lizzy and Cooter didn't want to take that away from her.

"He owns the garage over in Chickasaw free and clear so Tate can't ever take it from him."

"Tate?"

"A.C. Tate Jr. Chickasaw County Commissioner. He doesn't like my dad. Ever since high school when my momma fell for my daddy instead of him, he's been jealous."

"You mentioned you had brothers. Any sisters?"

"Nope, just my three brothers. All of them are older. Uh, Henry is David and Leslie's son, and Sean and Todd were both adopted like me. Sean had an open adoption, his parents never visited but the file wasn't sealed and Todd was adopted when he was six and his parents died."

"Boyfriends?" he asked, glancing at her to see her reaction.

She didn't look up from the engine but she did sorta shrug. "Couple, every now and then. Usually last until they find out you can change your own oil, sparkplugs, and oh yeah rebuild a car from the ground up. You get used to it."

"You? From the ground up?"

"Yup, '69 Dodge Charger, three speed auto, dark green with a black interior. When I'm not barrel racing or helping my dad, I race him. Powderpuff league mainly; oh and the Annual Chickasaw Obstacle course. Tate raises nearly $500 every year. I'm a three time champ. What about you?"

"This is pretty much a full time job in this town."

"Oh come on, there must be some girl that's caught your eye."

"Not many are into the whole grease monkey look."

"I'm sure if they got to know you—"

"Maybe. Liz, if you took all that time to rebuild a Charger, why are you driving a pickup?"

"It's a loaner from my dad. The Mouse-mobile is in the shop. During the barrel racing season my dad loans me a truck so I can pull the trailer. He co-owns a car lot."

"You named your car?"

"My brothers did. When I was a kid they called me a mouse. Always so quiet and small. So they called it the Mouse-mobile."

"It sounds like your brothers really love you."

"Yeah." They continued to talk as Cooter worked until he finally pulled back and wiped his hands. Lizzy stood up and Cooter shut the hood.

"Okay that does it. Enos will be over in the morning to pick this up so I'm going to lock up and we'll get dinner," Cooter said.

After dinner they spent most of the night looking through his father's—their father's, papers in his office. Just when Cooter thought he had found something, he noticed Lizzy was fast asleep. He sighed, put the papers aside, then turned out the light going to bed himself.

The next morning he got up to find Lizzy had made pancakes, eggs, bacon, and what looked like fresh squeezed orange juice. "You made all this? Where'd it come from? I didn't think I had any food left in there." Cooter motioned to the fridge.

"You didn't," Lizzy smirked. "My Grammy Jackson always said if you ain't up before the rooster crows, you're late and the late bird doesn't get breakfast. I got up a little early and found a store that was open. Grammy taught all of us to cook. I mean—" Lizzy stopped realizing she may have just insulted him.

"It's okay. Like I said yesterday, they are your family and I don't mind you referring to them as such."

"Thank you, now eat up."

"I think I found what we were looking for last night. It's only one piece of paper."

"Okay." Cooter showed her the page he had found and she saw it was a copy of the form that stated her parents had given up their parental rights. Unfortunately where it stated a reason was all smudged, almost as if someone had shed tears over it. "Do you have an attic? Maybe there's more up there."

"Turn left at the top of the stairs, the ladder folds down from the ceiling."

"Cooter, thank you."

"For what?"

"When I left home, I had no idea what I'd find here. I really expected doors to be slammed in my face and dead ends but you've been nothing but helpful and really nice, so thank you."

"Mom always said that's what family is for."

They did the dishes then Cooter went in to work and Lizzy checked the attic for anything related to her adoption. Then there it was. Behind a couple cardboard boxes and some very old looking baby toys was another cardboard box marked 'Liz.' She opened the flaps of the box and inside was a knitted pink blanket, a manila envelope, and a file folder. She dusted off the box then carried it down to the office on the main floor. She sat down then reached into the box, pulling out the blanket. She had been right, it was handmade and very soft but suddenly her hands began to turn bright red and itch. She quickly dropped it on the desk then rushed to the nearest sink and scrubbed her hands and arms until the itch went away. That meant the blanket had to be made out of yarn since that was the only thing she was allergic to. She grabbed a pair of gloves from her truck and went back to looking through the box. The manila envelope contained her original birth certificate with a Polaroid of a baby and a woman in a hospital bed. Lizzy figured it was of her and her mother. The woman was beautiful and she had Cooter's smile.

The last thing in the box was a file folder. Lizzy pulled out the folder and flipped through the pages. Medical records, adoption records, and letters; all handwritten, all too faded to read. Lizzy sighed, resigning herself to never finding out. That was until she came across letter addressed to her.

"My dearest Lizzy,

If you are reading this then I have either passed on or couldn't get up the courage to tell you this in person. By now you probably already know you're adopted and that we are your parents. For the past 21 plus years there hasn't been a moment that has passed that I haven't thought of you, wondered what you looked like, how you're getting along, and if you're happy. When you meet your brother, I hope you get along and that one day you will forgive me and your father for what we did. We loved our little girl but times were tough back then and we made a choice: what we wanted or what was best for our little girl. It's a choice I hope you never have to make."

The letter went on but it didn't say anything more about her adoption or the reasons behind it. Lizzy sighed and carefully put everything back in the box leaving the letter on top. Then she went out to the barn. The Jacksons had kept all their baby clothes, old quilts, and baby furniture in the loft of their older barn. They had just built a bigger one farther from the house and used the older one for storage. As it turned out the Davenports had the same idea. Their old barn was used for storage but it looked more like tools and car parts. Looking deeper, she did spot broken and damaged furniture then some old steamer trunks in the loft. Looking around Lizzy found a ladder and made her way to the trunks. The first of three contained a lot of quilts, mostly handmade and almost all made of yarn or wool. The second was dustier than the first and filled with boy's stuff and the third, the dustiest one of all, was only half full but contained girl's clothes, toys, and blankets. She could see the edge of a book but it was beneath yet another hand knitted blanket. She shut the lid dusting it off then went back to the house. Noticing that her clothes were all dirty, she stripped and threw them in the wash. Once they were in the dryer, Lizzy took a quick shower.

"Lizzy!" Cooter called after work that day.

"Living room!" Lizzy answered.

Cooter walked in and sat down next to her. "I didn't know what kind of pizza you liked, so I got a pepperoni and a supreme." Cooter set two pizza boxes down on the coffee table.

"Pepperoni is fine. I found some more stuff. There was a box in the attic and a steamer trunk in the barn loft. I know I shouldn't have explored out there without your permission but I was curious."

"It's fine; my farm is your farm."

"Thanks. I was hoping I could convince you to go through it with me."

"Of course. There is a tarp in the bed of the tow truck, spread it on the floor in here and we'll bring the trunk in." Soon the trunk was on the tarp and between slices of pizza, Cooter was going through it. After he had pulled out three knitted blankets he turned to Lizzy as she worked on her third slice of pizza. "You could help you know," he suggested.

"Can't," she answered.

"You break a couple fingers in the past couple seconds?" Cooter asked. She was still holding her pizza so it was more of a sarcastic question.

"No," Lizzy laughed, "but I'm allergic to yarn."

"But yarn's made out of cotton."

"Actually most knitting yarn is made out of wool hence why I can wear a cotton t-shirt without a problem. My grandma knitted me booties after they brought me home and my feet swelled so bad they had to rush me to the hospital. It was not good."

"Okay," he answered. After three more blankets and Lizzy's final slice of pizza, Cooter pulled out the book Lizzy had spotted and another one. He dusted both of them off and handed them to her.

"A photo album and a baby book. Ok."

"The rest are just clothes and toys. Oh man, I haven't seen this in forever. Pupperoo," Cooter said as he pulled a stuffed puppy from the trunk. "Dad bought this the day you were born. Mom had been in labor with you for like 21 hours straight and I was bored and restless so Dad took me down to the gift shop. I found this and Dad said it was perfect. You didn't leave home without it until you were like ... well until you were adopted."

"He's cute," Lizzy answered, smiling as she took the puppy from Cooter.

"You can keep him," Cooter said, hesitantly.

"Thanks."

"Why don't we head up to the Boar's Nest and hang out there for a while? You can meet some of my friends."

"Thank you but I was thinking of getting back on the road to Chickasaw."

"Oh," Cooter said disappointedly, "Well it was nice to meet you."

"I just meant to pack a bag. I've got the summer off and would like to get to know you better. If that's okay?"

"I'd like that."

"Listen, if you can loan me a shirt tomorrow, I'll go out tonight. It's just aside from my PJ's I only have this one shirt and I'd rather not wear it three days in a row."

"Yeah sure." Cooter smiled and finished his pizza then they headed for the Boar's Nest. The Boar's Nest was different than any roadhouse or bar she had ever been in. There was a jukebox playing in one corner and tables spread throughout but most people were just sitting and talking.

"Reminds me more of a restaurant than a bar or a roadhouse."

"Never said it was; just said it was a place to get drinks."

"Hey Cooter, who's your friend?" a brunette waitress asked as they sat down. She seemed to be friendly so Lizzy didn't judge her too harshly.

"Daisy, this is Lizzy. Liz, this is Daisy, one of the friends I was telling you about."

The girls greeted each other then Daisy took their order. "She's cute," Lizzy answered when she walked away.

"And a very close family friend; almost like a sister."

"Oh, okay." They talked for a while until Daisy dropped off their drinks. Shortly after that two young men approached the table.

Oooh, cliffhanger. Who are these two men and what do they want? Will it spell trouble for everyone's favorite mechanic and his new found sister? Tell me what you think and what you'd like to see. If you don't review I can't know if you want me to continue this. Thanks!