"Cooter!" The Duke boy exclaimed, looking down and seeing his friend a far distance below.

"Just hang on!" Cooter shouted back.

"Now's not the time for jokes!" The Duke boy replied.

"Who's joking? Just wait a minute, I'll figure out how to get you outta there." He announced as he scanned nearby trees, looking for one that was suitable to climb.

The Duke boy jerked his head as he heard footsteps in the forest and voices that seemed to be getting closer fast. "Ya might wanna make that minute a second. Sounds like trouble's comin'!"

Cooter peered through the trees and heard the sounds too. "I bet that's Dennison!"

"Get me outta here!" The Duke boy exclaimed as he began to pull on the netting in an attempt to break it apart.

"I know! I can shoot ya down!" Cooter announced.

"Are you crazy? That'll bring 'em in a hurry for sure. And ya only got one shot, once it's gone, were sittin' ducks!"

As the voices moved closer, Cooter looked back up at him. "We gotta git ya down now or we're gonna be in a whole heap a trouble!"

The Duke boy realized he was right. "Alright, but I ain't gonna look!" He replied, not all that anxious to look at the ground and see a gun seemingly pointing straight at him, knowing that it was definitely going to go off.

He turned and whispered a small prayer, hoping that Cooter was a good marksman. With only shot, if Cooter missed, not only would he be left in the net but he would be left there with absolutely no protection.

Shortly after the shot was fired, the Duke boy suddenly felt himself falling to the ground. As the voices began to get even louder, he turned his arms preparing to land in the best way possible.

Despite his best efforts, it was a long fall and he hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the wind out of him. As he struggled to breathe, he felt himself being scooped up by Cooter, who ran carrying him as quickly as he could down the hill they had climbed.

"There they are Pa!" He heard a voice yell out behind him.

'Pa' was a real shoot first and ask questions later kinda guy. Cooter felt chills run up and down his spine as a bullet whizzed past him. Instincts outweighed thought at that moment and he dropped to the ground, dropping the Duke boy who slid down the hill until he landed in the creek with a splash.

"I'll teach you boys ta trespass on my property!" Dennison yelled, pointing the gun at Cooter once again. He and his boys stopped in a hurry when Cooter pointed Mr. Maples' rifle right back at them.

Not quite sure what to do next, the gapped-tooth hillbilly took a moment to size Cooter up.

"Whatche doin' out here? You with tha feds?"

"Don't know what you're talkin' about. Me and my buddy's just out huntin'." Cooter replied, purposefully giving the trio a mean stare as he stood to his feet.

"Kinda hard for ya buddy there ta hunt without a gun, ain't it?" One of the boys piped up.

When Cooter didn't answer, Dennison continued. "If all you's doin' is huntin' why'd ya take off when ya heard us comin'?"

"You'd took off too if ya got in a trap somebody was settin' in the woods and that somebody was comin' toward ya." Cooter revealed. "Besides, why you so worried about us anyway? Ya got somethin' to hide up there?"

Cooter decided that wasn't the smartest thing he could have said when one of the boys shouted out. "Shoot 'em Pa!"

In response, Cooter raised the sights of the rifle to his eye in a threatening manner.

"Go ahead Pa that ain't no double barrel!" The other shouted.

With his choices limied to standing there and calling their bluff or running, both of which would probably result in him being shot, Cooter's senses went numb and he simply stood there, hoping they would somehow think that he'd had time to load the rifle again.

And then, a gun went off.

Dennison and his boys found themselves standing there with a look of surprise on their faces.

Cooter pulled his own rifle down to observe the trio as they looked at the gun Dennison had been holding which was now laying on the ground, shot clean out of his hands. In a moment, Dennison composed himself and reached to pick up the rifle when a voice spoke up.

"Ya git any closer ta that rifle Dennison and I won't miss next time!"

Cooter turned and looked toward the source of the voice. There in the creek stood Mr. Maples, one arm wound around a heavily breathing, soaked Duke boy and the other bearing the second rifle he owned.

"Ya go on, Brownie, none of this concerns you!" Dennison huffed angrily.

"Ya heard the boy Adam. They's up here huntin'. Now you best jest accept it and git back home 'fore thangs git ugly for ya!"

Dennison gave Mr. Maples an evil stare before he reached down for his rifle. Mr. Maples, or Brownie as he was better known, kept his rifle trained.

"You kin come back fer that later after these boys is gone!"

"Well they better git goin', and I better not see 'em 'round here no more either."

"You kin jest rest yer head Adam. These boys ain't gonna hunt here no more."

With another stare, Adam ordered Toby and Jerry back up into the hills with him. Once they had walked on a few yards, Cooter turned and rushed down to his friend.

"You alright?" He asked, taking the Duke boy's weight onto himself and off of Brownie.

"I just got the wind knocked outta me. I'll be alright in a few minutes." The Duke boy confirmed as he struggled to breathe.

"Let jist get you two outta here 'fore Adam really gets riled." Brownie told them as he kept his gun trained on the departing Dennisons. Cooter put his friend's arm around his own shoulders and led him back to the tow truck, imagining what a 'really riled' Dennison would do, considering what he'd tried that time.

Once they were inside, they called Brownie over. He joined them and they drove him the short distance back to his place.

Ya need ta bring him in and let him sit down a spell 'till he's better." Brownie advised, nodding toward the Duke boy.

"I'll think I'll be alright in a minute." The Duke boy advised as he continued deep breaths.

"I'll git tha dogs outta tha house." Brownie told Cooter, completely ignoring the Duke boy. He went through the yard, nudging the lazy dogs out of the path before he entered the house to a parade of barks.

"We might as well go in. That old timer saved our skins today and he deserves a proper thanks." Cooter announced.

The Duke boy nodded and Cooter assisted him across the yard again. By the time they had crossed the porch to the front door, Brownie was pushing the screen door open to usher them inside.

Once they entered the Duke boy went and sat on the couch, trying to ignore the strong scent of dogs. Cooter handed Brownie's rifle back to him.

"Thanks a lot Mr. Maples. A whole lot. If you hadn't given us that rifle .." Cooter trailed off.

"I knew ya'd never make it outta thar alive without it." Brownie replied. "And I knew there's a good chance ya wouldn't make it with it. That's why I followed ya up thar. Thought it'd even up the odds a little."

Before Cooter had a chance to respond, Brownie went to his kitchen cupboard where he pulled out a moonshine jug. Coming back into the living room, he handed it to Cooter. "I know this stuff kin be awful addictin', but ain't none of it worth goin' around tha Dennison place. You take this and remember that next time."

The shine looked awful good right about then but Cooter reluctantly held up his hand. "You've got us wrong, Mr. Maples. We wasn't up there to get no shine."

"Oh?" Brownie arched an eyebrow. "Then why was ya up thar?"

Brownie found himself having to sit down as the Duke boy related the whole story to him about his cousin's murder on down to the advice from the jeweler. When he ended at last, Brownie was shaking his head.

"Adam Dennison may be the meanest, orneriest, scariest ole coot in Chicasaw County but I kin 'bout promise you boys him and his youngin's didn't have nothin' to do with robbin' that jewelry store. They jest wouldn't."

"Well that's what the clerk told us. He said he recognized 'em from school." Cooter reminded him.

"He has ta have his facts wrong. What's them cops 'round here found out so far?"

"They ain't told me nothin'." The Duke boy confessed. "You see, Sheriff Little sorta knows me, and he knew if I had any information, I'd be over here trying to find those thieves myself."

"Considerin' you're over here anyway, it seems Little knows ya a lot, if ya ask me." Brownie managed a grin before it disappeared. "I saw yer cousin that day. He's a handsome young man. It tears my heart up to see young good lookin' folks go down like that. I sure don't wanna hafta see it no more, 'specially if they's somethin' I can do to prevent it."

With that, he got up from where he sat and went to the phone. "Sarah, this is Brownie. Git me deputy Chris over at the police station."

Instinctively, the Duke boy jumped up and curled his fists in anger. The nice old man was about to have him sent home!

"Chris, this is ya grandpappy. Ya need to git over ta my house and ya need ta git over here right now!"

Ya'll ever heard of Jesse maybe havin' a brother named Brownie over in Chickasaw? 'Cause them two sure seem to think an awful lot alike.