Chapter 1
A young man sat alone in the dark, foggy cemetery that sat on a hill behind a once lively farm. The only sounds to be heard were the croaking of small tree frogs and the steady creaking of the old rusty gate at the entrance of the cemetery. The wind blew, ruffling his hair, and making him shiver a little. He looked at the three new headstones and fresh mounds of dirt covered with flowers and other artifacts that had been added in the past week, and gently traced his fingers along the names engraved in the cold grey granite. He read two of the three names to himself. "Uncle Jesse…Daisy…" He whispered as tears of pain, sorrow, and loneliness made their way down the sides of his face as the terrifying memories of the past couple of weeks haunted him. The third name he just couldn't bring himself to say. His cousin, his best friend, the one who he thought of as more of a brother then anything, was gone. He knew in his head that his family wouldn't come back, but his heart refused to believe it. He just couldn't believe he was alone, and that thought terrified him more then what had taken his family from him. The sky darkened, hiding the full moon and stars, casting an eerie silence across the cemetery, which matched the young man's mood perfectly. Even the tree frogs stopped croaking and the gate quit creaking. In the distance, a lone coyote let out a lonely howl. The young man ignored the chills that went up and down his spine as he looked at the new graves. Graves that shouldn't even be there yet. A light rain started falling around him, but he didn't care. He couldn't stand to go back into the house that was so full of memories. Everything he touched or looked at brought back memories of the only family he ever knew. As he sat staring into the darkness that had surrounded him, he thought about the events leading up to him being in there in the first place.
The Duke family had been planning a trip to Louisiana for a few months. They had been saving the money to go for almost three years, wanting to take a vacation out of state. After several weeks of debating where to go, they had finally agreed to go to Louisiana.
"I can't wait to get going." Sixteen-year-old Bo Duke said to his older cousin. Bo was the baby of the Duke family. He had curly blond hair, baby blue eyes, and a smile that would make any girl's heart melt. He was tall and muscular, and had a tan all the ladies thought made him even cuter. He usually wore a blue t-shirt under a yellow button-up shirt, tight blue jeans, and cowboy boots. He was also the one who was most likely to find trouble.
"Yeah, it'll be good to get away from Boss Hogg for a couple of weeks." Twenty-one year old Luke Duke said. Luke was the oldest cousin. He had dark curly hair, sapphire eyes, and was the brains of the family. Even at a young age, he was intelligent. He wore a blue plaid shirt with blue jeans and cowboy boots. On occasion, he wore a jean jacket. He was a little shorter then Bo, but was more muscular then his baby cousin.
Luke loved both of his cousins as if they were his brother and sister, and was very protective of them. Luke was usually the one who got him and Bo out of trouble.
Bo and Luke were in their bedroom, which they've shared since they both came to the farm when their folks died, busy packing and getting things ready for the trip. They were planning to leave in two days, and were planning to be gone for about two weeks. After they finished packing their stuff, they would have to go into town to get permission from their probation officer, 'Boss' Jefferson Davis Hogg, J.D. Hogg or Boss Hogg for short.
The boys had been caught running shine a year before and put on probation instead of being sent to prison as part of an agreement with the government. Jesse had agreed that the Dukes wouldn't sell or make moonshine again as long as Bo and Luke got probation.
After they finished packing, Bo and Luke went outside and ran over to their orange stockcar, the General Lee. The boys had spent the last three years saving money and building the General from the ground up. By the time the General was finished, it sported a large rebel flag on the roof, a big black 01 trimmed in white on the doors, and the name General Lee painted above both doors. The doors had even been welded shut, since the boys planned to use it as a racecar. Even though Bo wasn't old enough to legally own General Lee, he and Luke still shared the orange 69' Dodge Charger. Luke had agreed that once Bo was older, he would put both of their names on the pink slip and make the shared ownership official.
Luke climbed in the passenger's side window, knowing his baby cousin would want to drive. Bo wasn't far behind Luke. He jumped into the window and slid into the driver's seat with ease. He started the powerful engine and listened to it purr for a moment before putting the car in gear and speeding away from the farm in a cloud of dust. Both boys were grinning as Bo drove them into town, taking every shortcut possible, and even making a few new ones along the way.
Once in town, Bo parked the General outside of the Hazzard County Courthouse. Bo and Luke climbed out of the General and headed inside to try getting their travel permits from County Commissioner, J.D. Hogg.
J.D. 'Boss' Hogg didn't care much for the Duke family, and would rather see Bo and Luke in jail then out on the streets. Boss and Uncle Jesse used to run moonshine together back in the old days, but something happened and Boss came to hate the Dukes, although the Duke family didn't do anything wrong.
Bo and Luke bounded up the steps, both of them in very good moods. They opened the wooden doors and headed inside. Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane was sitting at his desk, brushing his loyal basset hound, Flash. Rosco wasn't the brightest man on earth, but he was definitely the least intelligent.
Flash barked and wagged her tail when she saw the Duke boys. Rosco looked up and frowned.
"What do you Dukes want?" Rosco asked clearly not happy that they were there.
"Now Rosco, before you go tryin' to arrest us, we need to talk to Boss." Luke said, hoping the sheriff would listen.
"Oh tiddly tuddly. What could you Duke boys want to see the Boss for?" Rosco asked.
"We need travel permits." Bo said.
"What do you need travel permits for?" Rosco asked.
"So we can leave Hazzard legally." Luke said. Rosco was about to say something when Boss Hogg himself came out of his office.
"Rosco, what's all the commotion about out here?" The short fat man in white asked.
"Boss, me an' Bo here need travel permits. We's going outta state for a couple of weeks." Luke said.
"Travel permits? Why would you Dukes be going out of state for?" Boss asked, lighting a cigar.
"We're goin' on vacation." Bo said. Boss looked at the two cousins before having them follow him back to his office. Bo and Luke followed Boss back to his office, both of them hoping he'd give them the permits.
Boss sat at his desk and looked through a drawer. After a moment, he pulled out a piece of paper and started writing on it.
"Where you boys going?" He asked.
"Louisiana." Luke said. Boss nodded his head and finished writing. He then handed the paper to Luke.
"Alright, now get outta here before I have Rosco arrest ya." Boss said. Bo and Luke smiled at Boss before leaving. After they left, Rosco came into the office.
"Boss, why'd you give them their permit?" The bumbling sheriff asked.
"Because you knucklehead, with them Dukes out of the way, I can finally pull off my schemes." Boss said. Rosco grinned in that awkward way of his and giggled.
"Your brilliant, lil' fat buddy." Rosco said pinching Boss's cheek. Boss slapped Rosco's hand and frowned at him.
"I'll lil' fat buddy your head if you don't get out on patrol." Boss warned. Rosco jumped a little before running out of the room. Boss sighed and sat back in his chair.
He knew with the Dukes out of Hazzard, he'd be able to pull off more schemes, even if it was for only two weeks. He grinned to himself as he thought of all the moneymaking schemes he could do during that time.