DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own The Dukes of Hazard.

I got this idea after re-watching The Ghost General Lee on You Tube.

To Hell and Back

Ch. Four

Scene Six

Paula walked beside the nurse as they pushed Luke's wheelchair out the front door. They'd all been thrilled when they'd finally got a positive response when it came to a first name. She just wished he would remember his last one.

The strength in his arms and hands was better than it had been but therapy would still be needed for awhile. They were happy though; he had enough strength to hold a pencil for a decent amount of time and he could actually write legible words now.

He'd written a few things down. One, besides his first name and the fact that he was a former marine, he knew how to handle a bow and arrow well; two, that he got the feeling that someone had been chasing him. Why they were chasing him was something he did not remember; three, he lived out in the country and four; when it came to family- he'd written 'I have voices that haunt me but no faces or names. I'm not sure if those voices are everyone I know or just the ones that mean the most to me.'

The pain in his eyes after wards still bore heavily on Paula's mind. How she wished she could give him back what he had lost. "Here you go." Nicolas helped Paula get the man he now looked on like his own brother into the van.

Physically, it was the nerve damage done to his back and his legs that were the biggest concern. Mentally? All they could do is stand by him and make sure he knew they weren't going anywhere. Arrangements had been made for a therapist to travel to the farm. Thank goodness Jake had an excellent job and had just been given a pay raise.

Paula knew it wasn't very nice of her only, at times like this, she was sort of glad her brother had 'woken' up and divorced his ex. That woman didn't have a charitable bone in her body! Luke would have died for sure if they'd had to depend on her to help with his care.

She looked at Luke while Nicolas secured his seat belt. His dark brown hair had grown to the point where it was past his neck. They'd have to swing by a barber shop and get it cut. He looked better with the short hair he'd been sporting when they'd found him.

Would he ever speak again? She looked at the sign language books the doctors had given her and sighed; guess it would beat him having to write everything down.

"Where's Jake?" Paula climbed in and sat beside Luke.

"I believe it's called work," Nicolas winked at her, while she went red from embarrassment. For whatever reason she had it still being Sunday!

"He and Leslie moved everything into the house out in Hazzard over the weekend." Leslie was Jake's girlfriend. It looked like the two would soon be engaged. Paula had to smile.

"Lean back and enjoy the ride." Paula turned and looked at Luke. She was shocked when he put his left hand over hers and smiled.

She might have said something but Nicolas would never have 'let it die'; besides, she was totally unprepared for the feelings that swept over her. The trip to Hazzard was a quiet one. She was glad of that. It gave her a lot of time to think.

Scene Seven

Jesse, Bo and Daisy were all working near the wood pile when the stranger's car pulled up. They watched as the gentleman opened his door and stepped out. He must have a lot of money to be driving a Mercedes around. He stood almost six foot tall, his brownish/gray hair was thin and cut to just above his neckline. "Looks like we got company." Jesse said as the man approached them.

"Hello, my name's Nicolas. I'm going to be renting the farm next to yours for the next year. I was told by the owner that there might be a possibility of getting some help from one of you. I'm not talkin' farm help though and, I'll be honest with you, even between my brother, my sister and I? We can not pay very much." He figured he'd best make that one clear right from the beginning.

"What kind of help?" Bo asked. He didn't care about the amount of money they paid-none of them did-as long as they paid what they said they would.

Shifting his weight a bit Nicolas asked as politely as he could, "Could we sit down somewhere and talk?"

"Oh sure, come on inside. We were just sayin' how we needed to take a break anyhow." Jesse smiled and headed for the kitchen door. Once inside they sat around the table.

Nicolas sat back in the chair and started explaining how he had flown his sister and brother down in a friend's helicopter 'a few months' back and then went on what was supposed to be a leisurely Sunday drive in the man's father's pick up truck and wound up getting the shock of their lives instead, "it was my sister who saw the man. Some people have criticized us for rushing him to the helicopter and flying him to another county's hospital but, sir," he looked at Jesse, "I mean no offense to any one person in Hazzard county, really. It's just that the county hospital here does not have the best of reputation -at least, it didn't at the time. We felt he had a better chance of survival if we took him elsewhere."

Jesse nodded, "No offense taken. So, you need help with him? How bad off is he? Why ain't his family helpin'?"

"Yea, what kind of family turns their back on an injured member?" Bo was disgusted at the thought.

Nicolas shook his head, "You can't go blaming his family. We haven't been able to contact them because we don't know that much about him. He's been unable to talk ever since he woke up," He went on to explain exactly how they'd been communicating with him and what the gentleman had had to go through to get where he was, "we know very little about him. Like I just said, up to a couple of days ago we called him Matt. We asked around to see if anyone was missing any family members but no on was."

Daisy sat straight up, "You sister is Paula Mills! She came to the Boar's Nest one night."

"We've been askin' 'round," Bo spoke up, "Only thing is...kinda hard to have anyone help you if ya can't even describe the person to them and we didn't have even the smallest description of her 'aquaintance',"

Nicolas was embarrassed and it showed as the corner of his mouth turned up and his face went a bit red; he replied, "Yea, we sort of realized we messed up there after we got back to the hospital. We seem to have this habit of focusing so much on his recovery we keep missing simple things like that."

Jesse smiled and chuckled, "At least the man has been blessed with good people willin' to stand by him. What has he been able to tell ya? I mean by you either by using that question/blinking method or him writin' things down. What does he look like and exactly where did ya find him?"

"He's from the country, knows how to use a bow and arrow," Nicolas started speaking; the fact that they sat up straighter still at the mention of the bow and arrows told him he may just have gotten into at least the ballpark, "he says he remembers being chased but he doesn't know who by or why they were chasing him..."

Before he could get another word in Jesse interrupted him, his voice almost choked with emotion, "Where exactly did you find this fellow?" He, Daisy and Bo found themselves holding their breath. It did not pass by Nicolas.

"In the tall grass near Hazzard Pond." He answered.

Bo jumped up and flew into the front room. Within a matter of seconds he was back and handing Nicolas a picture.

BALLADEER: Anyone thinkin' that picture is one of General Lee has less sense than my pet squirrel.