"It's always calmest before the storm."


Bo pulled the General Lee off to the side of the road past the police cars, and the three of them walked back towards the short turn off that led out to the ridge. A plastic, yellow ribbon with the words "Police Line Do Not Cross" printed periodically in black across it, marked off the entrance to the overlook and extended past them, along the trees and back into the woods. They hadn't been seen yet, the ditch they were standing in being at a lower angle than the road, and Luke held them back as the voices came closer.

Four uniformed State Troopers came into view carrying between them a large black object which looked to Luke like a body bag, the sun glinting dully off the zipper running lengthwise down its center. The officers were closely followed by two men in dress shirts, ties, and slacks, and several more voices could be heard from further back along the trail.

Luke cleared his throat. "Scuse me, sir," he began, loudly, stepping forward, "is there anything we can help y'all with?"

The eyes of the two men in shirts and ties turned towards him, the elder one gesturing to the younger to continue with the police officers before he himself turned and walked over to where the three of them stood.

"Afternoon," he greeted, his voice serious. "I'm Special Agent Wilburn with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. I'm goin' to have to ask you to step back away from this area, please."

Luke, Daisy, and Bo exchanged confused looks between them.

"Isn't that like the FBI?" asked Daisy. Of all the crimes perpetuated in Hazzard County, few had been serious enough to warrant Federal attention.

"We conduct investigations with the state, ma'am. Right now, I need the three of you to cross over to the other side of the road."

He gestured towards the far side with a no nonsense air, and obviously expected them to move quickly. The three of them started back across the road, slowly, the agent following close behind, keeping tabs on them.

"What's goin' on, anyways?" asked Luke. "Looked like a body bag you fellas were bringin' outta there."

"That's not something I can discuss with you until the family has been notified," he told them.

As they stepped into the grass on the far side of the road, the man took a notepad and pen from his pocket. "I'm going to need your names and addresses. Just standard procedure," he explained when they looked surprised.

"Uh, well, I'm Bo Duke, this here's my cousin Luke Duke, an' my other cousin, Daisy Duke. We all live at the farm down yonder off Mill Road."

The agent, who had been diligently copying their information, stopped and looked up at Bo. ""Down yonder' won't cut it for the address, son. What's the number?"

"1217 Mill Creek Road," said Daisy. "So...you're sayin' somebody died back there?" She pointed towards the ridge.

"Looks that way, ma'am." The agent studied them for a moment. "Say, since you three are from around here, you wouldn't be able to tell me where I could find a-" He checked a previous page in his notepad. "- Deputy Benjamin Strate right now, could you?"

Daisy sputtered a laugh and Luke and Bo both looked at the man as though he were crazy.

"You mean Enos Strate?" she said. "You won't get very far calling him Benjamin. He hates that name."

The Agent scribbled down something then looked back up at her. "Would you know where he might be at this moment?"

Daisy shrugged. "Well, sure. I reckon he's at the Sheriff's Station if he's not gettin' lunch at the Busy Bee."

Agent Wilburn closed his notepad and slid it and the pen back into his shirt pocket. "Thank you, kindly, folks," he said, giving them a short nod of dismissal. "If we need any more information from you, we'll be in touch."

He turned away from them and walked back across the street to where his partner waited with the officers and, after a brief conversation, Agent Wilburn got into the driver's seat of the Plymouth. The Dukes watched as it sped away, followed by two of the State Patrol cars, the other Agent and officers staying behind to presumably safeguard the area.

"What the heck do you think all that was about, Luke?" asked Bo, still staring down the road into the dust.

Luke shook his head, slowly. "I have no idea, cuz, but I think we'd oughta go tell Uncle Jesse about it."

The other two silently agreed and began walking back towards the General Lee.

"Wonder what they wanted with Enos," mused Daisy.

Bo shrugged indifferently. "Maybe they got a tip that he's the only officer who knows what he's doin' around here," he said, with a smirk.


Enos watched Vivian as she walked away and sighed, frustrated. Why couldn't it be this easy with Daisy? Sure, Daisy flirted with him, but he could never make heads or tails of it. Was she actually attracted to him, or did she just enjoy seeing how many times could she make him squirm and blush in a week?

Four months ago - the day they'd almost gotten married, was the first time he'd truly sat down and thought everything through and been completely honest with himself. He hadn't had anything better to do, lying on the metal bunk in Hazzard's jail cell, waiting for someone to realize what a horrible mistake they'd made.

He'd begun to wonder then, as he did now, if he was more in love with the idea of being in love with Daisy. As hard as he'd tried to hold onto the memories of how close they used to be when they were kids, the older he got, the more he found they slipped through his fingers. He was still in love with the tomboyish girl with skinned knees and hand-me-downs he'd grown up with, but he wasn't sure that Daisy even existed anymore.

By the time the bank robbers had been caught that day, and his name had been cleared, he'd accepted that her proposal had been a rash gesture of one friend merely trying to save another, and nothing more. She'd surprised him by wanting to go ahead with their wedding, but, in the end, he couldn't take the chance that she was still only doing it to spare his feelings - not because she loved him, and so he'd snuck into the Boar's Nest walk in freezer, downed two pieces of coconut cream pie, and waited for the hives.

And now? The whole thing might as well not have happened at all. He had left her to take the lead, having vowed long ago that he would never push her into something that he wasn't sure she wanted, and she'd gone back to the meaningless, impersonal flirting just as before. Sometimes he felt like he was a hamster, running on a endless wheel but never actually getting anywhere.

He caught Vivian's eyes from across the cafe, and she blushed and flashed him a pretty grin.

Maybe he should ask Vivian out. Lord knew he wasn't getting any younger. It might be nice for a change, going on a date with someone he didn't have such a long and complicated history with. Get to know each other from the beginning. Would it shock the good people of Hazzard to know that Enos Strate was capable of being attracted to someone other than Daisy Duke? Not only that, but Viv was only twenty-one, twelve years younger than himself - not enough to be scandalous, but it might raise a few eyebrows.

Still...

He stabbed his last bite of pie and shoved it in his mouth, made sure he didn't have a milk mustache, and got up. He waited until Vivian had seated the next customers and the coast was clear before stepping back up to the counter.

"Forget something, Enos?"

He pulled two dollars from his pocket and laid them down in front of her. "Yeah, I plum-near forgot that Rosco wanted a corn-dog."

"Oh, okay," she said, easily, and picked the money up and deposited it in the cash register. "Hey Josh, I need a corn-dog!" she yelled to the pimply, freckle faced teen in the kitchen behind her before turning once more to Enos. "So...you gotta work all weekend?"

He shut out the portion of his heart that vehemently disagreed with his current plan of action and stepped closer. "Actually," he said, softly, trying his best not to fidget, "I was wonderin' if you'd like to go see a movie tomorrow night."

She grinned shyly and glanced down quickly before looking back up at him, a warm pink coloring her cheeks. "Yeah, I'd love to, Enos."

It was in that moment when she said 'yes' without hesitation that he was reminded of every time Daisy had turned him down or, more frequently, had a good excuse why she just couldn't go out with him that week. He almost didn't know what to say.

"Great! Uh, how about I pick you up at five and take you somewhere to eat that doesn't serve corn-dogs?"

She laughed. "That would be absolutely wonderful."