A/N – Hi Everyone! Glad to see that this move went smoothly:) I hope their new service works a little better than the old one, but so far, it's not looking good. Thanks for all the reviews and feedback.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes, and no infringements intended.

BALANCING THE BOOKS

CHAPTER 3

IF PIGS COULD FLY

When Jackie opened her eyes in the morning, she expected to find herself in her own bed back in Illinois, laughing at the incredibly strange dream she'd had. As she looked around the room, she knew that it had been no illusion; it had been real. Seeing her blood stained shirt still lying on the floor where she tossed it, she looked down to see that she was wearing a t-shirt that she couldn't be sure who owned. She vaguely recalled a handsome young man tending to her, and like the shirt, assumed that he was also real. He'd been kind, and almost every time she had woken up, he had been nearby. "What did he say his name was?" she asked herself. "Bo, I think?" she answered, hoping that she did at least remember the good Samaritan's name.

Sitting up, her head reminded her of the ordeal she'd survived, though it was nothing compared to what it had been the night before. Noticing her jeans lying next to her shirt on the floor, she decided it might be a good idea to put them on. The blonde haired young man had a habit of appearing out of nowhere, and she didn't want to get caught with her pants down, literally. She could only hope that she hadn't already been in a situation that would embarrass her as soon as she remembered it. Dressing the lower half of her body, she was left to decide between the stranger's t-shirt and her own, soiled top. Had she looked around the room closer, she would have seen her luggage piled in the far corner, but she didn't. She opted for the t-shirt, hoping that the man wouldn't mind if she borrowed it a little longer.

Walking over to the dresser, Jackie Johnson looked in the mirror and scared herself. Most of her long blonde hair was sticking out in every direction, except for a few strands that had been matted down with red. A big piece of gauze was covering part of her forehead, and black and purple bruises dotted her otherwise clear and light complexion. "Oh no," she muttered, as her ow big, blue eyes stared back at her.

Seeing a comb sitting nearby, she hoped that the female of the house wouldn't mind. She really had no choice; there was no way she could walk out of that room without at least taming the wild beast she called hair. Dragging the brush as gently as she could through some of the tangles, trying not to aggravate the headache she still had, eventually her blonde strands looked like they belonged in twentieth century civilization. She spotted some cosmetics, and decided to give them a try, not caring if she had to replace them. Still thinking that she looked like she'd been in a fight and come out the loser, she knew there wasn't anything else she could do without her own supplies and a nice, long shower.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked down the hall to where she could hear voices. Moving through the living room, she saw the couch that she had first woken up on. Pausing in the doorway to the kitchen, she found three men working, though two looked a little lost. Leaning against the frame, she didn't make her presence known. She was watching a scene from the Three Stooges meets Suzy Homemaker, and it was comical.

The first man she saw was significantly older than the other two. He had gray hair and a beard, and both were a little on the long side Dressed in overalls, he epitomized the American farmer, and she gathered that he was the head of this family. He also looked like he was the only one who even remotely knew what he was doing in that kitchen, so it was only natural that he should be barking out the orders.

The second man was younger, but he looked to be older than the blonde. Both of the younger men had thick hair, but that was about the only thing in common that they shared. While the blonde was tall and thin, the other man was shorter and much more muscular. His wavy hair was dark compared to the yellowish color of the younger man. Both were handsome, but in a different sort of way. As her eyes found the one she recognized from the day before, she wondered how they were all related. None of them looked alike at all.

That thought was quickly pushed aside as she watched the blonde looking totally out of place. She could only see him from the side, and wondered if his face and eyes were really as kind as she remembered them or if her mind had just made that up in order to put itself at ease. One thing that had not been exaggerated; he was every bit as handsome as she remembered.

Jackie was brought out of her thoughts when the dark haired man started speaking to her. "Morning," he greeted her. "You look much better than you did yesterday."

With a horrified expression, she replied, "then I would have hated to have seen myself yesterday."

"Nah, you were just as pretty as a picture," Bo told her, smiling as he closed the gap between them.

"Have a seat, young lady," the older man invited. "We were just going to have breakfast."

"Are you feeling any better?" Bo asked her, as she winced at the mention of food .

"Yeah, but I think I'll skip breakfast this morning," she replied.

"Okay. C'mon, let's sit you down," the blonde suggested, slipping his arm around her waist and helping her to the table. She knew that she should protest, tell him that she was fine, but frankly, she liked his arm there so she just let him lead the way.

"Would you like some coffee?" the older man asked, and to that question, she agreed.

"Ah, thank you...sir," she said, not having a clue as to what his name was.

"That's my uncle Jesse, my cousin Luke, and I'm Bo. We're the Duke family."

She was glad that she had remembered the young man's name correctly, but as she took a sip of the hot liquid, a funny thought struck her. "Luke Duke?" she whispered, as she started to grin. "I'm sorry, it's real cute," she told him, hoping that she hadn't offended him.

"That's ok," he laughed. "I get that all the time."

"I'll bet you do."

"I'm Jackie...Johnson. You've all been very kind. I don't know how to thank you."

Thinking that she might want to put her thanks on hold for a while, Luke asked her if she remembered what had happened.

"I was driving," she stated, as she searched her memory for any details it could find. "Then I thought I saw a car...flying. No, that can't be right. I must have dreamed that up. I don't really know what's real and what I imagined."

"You weren't dreaming," Bo told her. "We did fly right over you in the General," he admitted.

"The General?" she asked, thinking that this was getting weirder by the minute.

"The General Lee. It's the name of our car," Luke informed her.

"Is it orange?" she asked.

"It sure is," Bo said nervously. "Look, we're really sorry for spooking you like that. We don't get too many out of town visitors here, and well, we do it all the time so we just think everyone's used to it. Anyway, another car came out of no where. We don't know who it was cause they didn't stop, but you swerved to avoid them and then you hit the tree."

Looking over at Bo, she could tell that he felt bad. "Then that's not your fault," she assured him.

"If we hadn't distracted you, ya might not have lost control of the car. We're real sorry," Bo told her.

"Well, if pigs could fly, we might all be millionaires, too," she giggled. Uncle Jesse snickered at the comment, but the boys failed to respond. "Look, there's a lot of 'what ifs' in the world. You can't blame yourselves for that. If I had kept my eyes on the road like they tell every driver to do, I might not have lost control of my car, either. That's why they call it an accident," she said, patting Bo's hand as a measure of reassurance, glad that his expression lightened immediately. "I'm just glad that I'm not going crazy," she said, "but, how'd I end up here?"

In between eating, the boys filled her in on the details. After hearing them, another thought suddenly struck Jackie Johnson. "Where's my car?"

"A friend of ours is the mechanic in town. We called him, and he towed it to his garage. He's something of a wiz, so it's in good hands and I'm sure it'll be done real soon," Luke told her.

Just then another male voice from outside the door made its presence known. "It's done, Lucas," he said.

"Hey Cooter, come on in. We'd ask you to have breakfast with us, but we ate it all," Uncle Jesse laughed, getting up to get another cup of coffee.

"That's so sweet of you, Uncle Jesse," Cooter told him, stepping inside. "Ma'am," he said, tipping his hat. "I take it that the orange Mustang belongs to you."

"Orange Mustang?" Uncle Jesse asked. "Lordy, you mean to tell me that there's someone else driving an orange car in this world?"

She laughed and nodded her confirmation.

"Just goes to show that she's got real good taste," Bo said.

"That you do, ma'am. That really is one fine automobile," Cooter told her.

"How is it?" she asked, not sure if she wanted to know.

"Well, one tire was blown out, and there was some frame damage to the front end and hood. I fixed it all up, and it's parked right outside."

"Really?" she asked, wanting to see for herself, but having her head remind her that getting up too quickly wasn't such a good idea. Bo told her to sit back down, saying that he'd go out with her in a minute. "How much do I owe you?" she asked, turning to look at the mechanic, again.

Cooter quoted her a price, and the young lady looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "What? Too high?" the mechanic asked.

"No, I was thinking that was quite a bargain, actually. Are you sure that's all it is?"

"Yes ma'am," he responded, a grin lighting up his features. He wasn't used to being told that his prices were too low by the good folks of Hazzard, but compared to big city prices, maybe he was undercharging them.

"There's only one problem," Jackie continued. When everyone turned to look at her, she added, "I don't know where my purse is."

"Oh, your purse and your luggage are in Daisy's room. I picked them up yesterday when I met Cooter at your car," Luke told her.

"Oh ok. Guess that means I can give you your shirt back," she giggled at Bo, getting up to go get her money.

Bo knew she didn't mean anything by the remark, but it felt like a slap in the face. He liked having her wear it. "You just keep it as long as you want. It looks better on you than it does on me, anyway," he yelled after her, and the other three men agreed.

Coming back with money in hand, she paid Cooter and thanked him again for the bargain and the speedy work.

"So, you're from Chicago?" he confirmed, pocketing his fee and sitting back down at the table.

"Yes I am," she said.

"Is it really windy there?" Bo asked, wanting to kick himself for sounding like such an idiot.

"Yeah," she laughed. "It is."

"Do you like living there?" Bo asked.

"Yeah, I guess. I've lived there all my life, so it's home."

"Yeah, but you know what they say? Home is where the heart is," Bo lightly commented, not even trying to hide the fact that he was flirting with her.

The other three men rolled their eyes, and Luke decided to rescue their guest. "So, where are you headed to?"

"A little town called Hazzard," she replied, turning her attention away from the blonde.

"You're in Hazzard," they told her, explaining that the town itself was about 15 miles away.

"Good! Then it looks like I made it to my destination."

Still being flirtatious, Bo wouldn't be detered. "So, are you here on business or pleasure?" He asked, hoping that the pleasure would be all his.

"Business," she replied, but didn't elaborate.

After a little more conversation, Uncle Jesse announced that the chores wouldn't get done by themselves. Jackie offered to help, wanting to repay their hospitality, but she was put in her place immediately. Realizing that they weren't going to let her do anything, and she'd already been a lot of trouble, she declared, "I should probably get going."

"Go? Where would you go?" Bo stammered.

"To town," she replied. "I've got a reservation at a boarding house."

Bo and Luke were both trying to talk her into staying when Uncle Jesse interrupted them. "You know, miss, that's probably not the best idea. You probably shouldn't be alone with a head injury, and Daisy won't be back for a while, so you're more than welcome to stay."

It took all three of them to persuade her, but eventually they got her to agree. Before long, she started to regret that decision. She offered several times to help with anything, but all three of the Duke men were stubborn, and refused. In some ways, it became the longest day of her life.

As evening approached, they wouldn't even let her help with the dinner dishes, though she assured them that she felt much better. She spent most of the day wishing that she would have left for her room in town. She wasn't used to being ordered to simply sit. However, when everything was done for the day, Bo extended an invitation that included more sitting, but this one she discovered she really liked. He called it genuine southern porch swinging, and they gently rocked as they looked up at the sky and talked about nothing in particular. The disappointment she felt surprised her when the late hour ended their session.

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