Chapter 2: Dreams
It was another week before Luke was released to his family's care, when he could stomach solid foods and walk on coltish legs again. Once home, Luke was treated to a huge Welcome Home party, and most of Hazzard was there, but he was asleep on the couch after hardly forty-five minutes of happy celebration.
Over the next several weeks, Luke slowly regained his strength, staying close to the farmhouse. He ate like a lion and slept like a hibernating bear, and steadily put back on the pounds of muscle and flesh he'd lost in the hospital. He was quieter without Bo around to bring out his playful side, and the farmhouse was quieter too, but he took the news unusually well, Jesse thought. He shed tears when they visited Bo's grave, and when asked, he quietly answered that he didn't intend to rebuild the General, but otherwise, life went on.
One evening, a month after his homecoming, Daisy sat with Luke on the porch swing. He had been playing at his guitar while she sang, but when he started to doze, she set the guitar aside and wrapped her arms around her cousin, letting him fall asleep against her. She looked out across the quiet farmyard and felt a familiar pang in her heart.
"Oh Luke, I miss him so much," she whispered.
"He misses you too, Daisy," Luke murmured sleepily in her arms.
"What do you mean, Luke?" Daisy asked gently, dabbing at her tears.
"Bo – he tol' me so," Luke answered.
Daisy was a little worried now. "Luke, hon, you know Bo can't talk to us anymore, he's gone."
"Mmmm," was Luke's response, all but asleep.
Daisy hugged him close and kissed him, hoping his words were the product of a dream and not some residual effect of the wreck. She held him for some time, watching the stars come out, before she began to doze herself, and she was soon fast asleep beside him.
It was a pleasant dream. Daisy walked along a cool stream on a warm summer afternoon, in sharp contrast to the chill November air she fell asleep to. It took her a few minutes to realize it was Bear Paw Creek, and tears came to her eyes. Around the bend in the path ahead was the little hollow where three Duke children playing hooky would meet up to fish the day away. She hadn't been back there in ages.
Her feet followed the old familiar path with wistful sadness, but her eyes were shocked at the sight that greeted her. There in the meadow of the little hollow sat the General Lee in all his glory, and sitting on the hood, Bo and Luke chatted back and forth, relaxed and happy.
Daisy gaped in shock, rooted to the spot, and she knew this wasn't quite entirely a dream. The boys broke off their conversation to look up. Luke smiled, eyes twinkling, and Bo grinned.
"Gone, huh?" he remarked. An instant later, his arms were full of his lady cousin, hugging him tight.
"Oh Bo!" she finally gasped. She started to step back, then hugged him again, and pulled away just enough to look up at him. "How…how…?"
Bo just shrugged and grinned. "Does it matter?"
Daisy hugged him again, tears on her cheeks, and she looked over at Luke. "You could have told me."
Luke just shrugged and smiled too. "And you wouldn't have thought I was crazy?"
Daisy blushed a little – that had been her worry, on the porch swing.
After that, Daisy was full of questions for both her cousins. She sat up on the hood of the General with them, and they talked for the first time in months, laughing and crying in turn. The sunlight never faded, and Daisy lost all track of time, but eventually Bo fell quiet and looked up.
"Time to go?" Luke asked.
Bo nodded. "Time to go. Uncle Jesse will worry."
Daisy looked from one cousin to the other. "Will I see you again?" she asked Bo.
He looked sad – he couldn't give her the same answer he'd given Luke. "I don't think so, Daisy. It's easier for Luke – he still ain't all healed yet, an' he spent for much time here before…" He saw the tears forming in her eyes and smiled weakly for her sake. "It's not forever, Daisy. I'll still be there, even if you can't see me. If you talk, I'll listen – I just can't talk back, for a change."
Daisy attempted a smile as the tears spilled over again.
"Come here, sweetheart." Bo wrapped her in a warm embrace, and she held him tight, knowing it would be for the last time. At long last, she pulled away and wiped her eyes.
"I guess most folks don't even get this much," she said, sniffing.
Luke put a comforting arm around her shoulders, sympathizing with her pain.
"I love you Daisy. I always will," Bo said softly from the hood of the General.
"I love you too, Bo. You take care of yourself," she said, then laughed a little, realizing it was a silly thing to say.
"'Bye, Daisy."
"'Bye, Bo."
There were tears in Bo's eyes as Luke led their lady cousin back down the path and out of sight.
It was late morning when Luke and Daisy stirred from where they slept on the porch swing, covered with blankets Jesse had spread over them.
"Weellll, it's about time you two got up and joined the living," was Jesse's only comment.
Daisy never spoke of that night's dream to Luke, but she knew by the look in his eye that it had been as real as she thought. Nor did she ever ask him about the other nights when he slept so soundly and deeply that no amount of clamor could wake him, and in the morning he awoke refreshed and in a jovial mood.
Fall faded into winter, and Luke eased back into the regular schedule of early mornings and farm chores, though no one begrudged him the occasional afternoon nap. Towards the end of January, though, his still-weakened body took ill, and Jesse spent several sleepless nights trying to cool his fever. And one night, overtired himself, Jesse fell asleep at Luke's bedside, late in the early morning hours.
After running 'shine and living sixty-eight full years in Hazzard, Jesse instantly recognized the hollow on Bear Paw Creek where he and his brothers played hooky once upon a time. But he also immediately knew that this was no place in Hazzard, despite appearances, and this was no ordinary dream. His suspicion was confirmed when a familiar gleaming orange car came into view, and a lean, long-legged blond stood there waiting for him.
"Bo…" he whispered, drawing the boy into his arms and holding him tight.
"Uncle Jesse…" Bo returned the greeting hoarsely.
After some time, Jesse broke the embrace and stepped back to look his nephew up and down. Then he looked around at the creek and trees, wonder in his eyes.
"What is this place?" Jesse asked, looking back to Bo.
"A place where Luke can rest, when he needs to," Bo answered simply. Jesse followed his gesture, and for the first time he noticed Luke asleep among the gnarled roots of a cottonwood tree nearby. "He's been so tired lately, with this flu."
Jesse nodded, even more amazed, but he turned his attention back to Bo. "Are you well?" he asked.
The blond smiled and nodded. "It's not bad, Uncle Jesse. I have the General, at least. But I miss you guys."
"We all miss you, Bo. There's nothing I wouldn't give to change what happened, but I know the Good Lord has his plans…" Jesse swallowed hard. He had seen the mangled bodies of both his boys pulled from the wreckage, while Enos held Daisy back. It was a token blessing when the coroner reported Bo had died instantly from the gunshot wound, and not in the slow agony Luke had endured.
With sad eyes, Bo looked up at his uncle. "I know, Uncle Jesse." He looked off into the trees, attentive to something Jesse couldn't see or hear, and he looked downcast. "I'm sorry, Uncle Jesse, but…" He looked back at the path, and Jesse understood.
"I have to go?" Bo nodded. Jesse sighed. "If I have to. It's more than I could hope for, getting to see you one last time, and knowing Luke is well looked-after. He's pretty lonely these days."
Bo looked over at his sleeping cousin. "I know. I wish thing were different, but if wishes were fishes…"
"…We'd be frying catfish morning, noon, and night," Jesse finished with a smile. He pulled Bo into another hug. "I love you, Bo."
"I love you too, Uncle Jesse." There were tears in Bo's eyes again, not only because his uncle had to leave, but because he knew just how soon he'd return to this place for good. "Take care of yourself, huh?"
"I will, Bo, I will."
When Jesse woke, it was morning. Luke was sleeping peacefully, fever abated, and Jesse leaned in to kiss his brow before getting ready for the day's chores.
It wasn't long before Luke closed his eyes one night in the weariness of a hard day's work, and he found himself once again in that most restful of places. He frowned, though, when he came through the trees and Bo didn't greet him with quite his usual bright grin. Worried, Luke bypassed the usual pleasantries and cut to the chase.
"What's wrong?" he asked with a frown.
Bo sighed. Luke always knew how to read him. "Luke…" Another sigh. "I don't know how to explain, but I can't…we can't meet like this anymore."
Luke looked away, hoping to hide the crushed expression and welling tears. He knew this day would come…he just wasn't expecting it to be today.
"You're almost back to your old strength," Bo went on, "and they…they want me somewhere else. I don't know much about it, but…"
Luke hung his head. "It's okay, Bo. I know you don't have control over these things any more than I do." He sighed. "Like Daisy said, most folks don't get this much."
Bo nodded, but it was still hard, for both of them. Trying to make the most of their time, they attempted to talk as they had before, but the overriding sadness in the air kept drawing their conversation into silence. At last, it was time to say goodbye.
"I promise, no matter what, I'll be watching over you and Daisy and Uncle Jesse," Bo whispered, hugging his cousin tight.
"I know…we'll watch for you in the stars, little cousin."
"I miss you already, Luke."
"Shhh, I know, it'll be okay, Bo," Luke found himself comforting, even though his heart was breaking all over again.
As he walked away into the trees, Luke heard the roar of the General's engine somewhere behind him, and the first notes of 'Dixie' sounding out through the forest and the engine faded in the opposite direction.
There were tears on his pillow when he woke up.