Chapter 7: Escape Artists


Kim got on the bus and stared out of the window as it left Hazzard County. She wasn't sure how this was supposed to work. Still, she guessed that it was worth giving it a shot. Kim sat back as she tried to get comfortable in the high backed seats of the bus. Not an easy thing to do with five broken ribs. An hour later the bus pulled into the bus depot where Kim's ticket indicated that she should change buses. Kim grabbed her suitcase and got off the bus. Even though she knew that there was no way that Ted could have caught up to her yet, she still couldn't help but look around anyway. She had to make the change before anyone saw her.

Across the parking lot Kim saw the green truck with tinted windows. Kim grabbed her empty suitcase and left the bus behind her. When Bo saw her he climbed out of his sister's truck that he'd borrowed. He went over and took the suitcase from Kim; knowing that even with the case being empty it was still a chore for her to carry it while she was injured. Bo hurried Kim into the truck then slipped behind the wheel and pointed the truck back toward Hazzard.

"Do you...think he... bought... it?" She asked.

Kim had been skeptical when Bo told her his plan. But then, he'd been in that same cell that Ted was in enough. He should know exactly what all someone in the downstairs lock up could see and hear while looking out the small barred window in the back of the cell. That was all said just in case Ted planned to find her once he was out. If not, and he follows the instructions from the court, Kim would lay low while Ted was in town. As far as anyone else would know Kim Appleby left town on the morning bus. Which was just as well since word had already spread all over town of who the man sitting in the jail was and why he was there. By the time the Dukes had all gone to church the day before, Kim Appleby and her ex-husband were the buzz around town.

"We'll find out when we get back to the farm. Kira and Jebb have a couple of racin' friends that will buy tickets in your name along the bus's route. That way there will be a trail for your ex to follow if he decides to." Bo looked sideways at Kim as she stared out of the window. He wasn't sure that she would agree to this plan but it had seemed better than just having her head off on her own and hoping that she could stay ahead of that bastard that was hunting her down like a she was a doe in deer season.

"Now what?"

"Now, I'll take you out to the farm and you'll hide out there for as long as you need to," Bo said as he kept glancing at her.

"So I'll... be a prisoner... out at the farm... until Ted... is stopped."

"It'll be better than him finding you out there. At least this way you'll have friends and your uncle around. Besides, between the main farm and Jebb's farm, there's plenty of space. There are creeks to go fishing in and all. You'll be able to find things to do to keep busy. It'll be alright."

"But I can't go to... town, can't go for a drive... can't go out to the Boar's Nest... or anything else just... in case Ted's still... in town or he's got... anyone keeping an eye... out for me."

"It's just until he goes to court. Just as soon as he does you can bet that our judge will throw the book at him. Then you can go back to doing whatever you want. You'll just have to put up with my company for a week, two weeks tops. Can you make it that long?" Bo gave Kim a grin while trying to lighten her spirits.

"I suppose so." Kim stared out the darkened windows of Kira's truck.

It wasn't hard to figure out why, out of all of the Duke vehicles, Bo had chosen his sister's truck to use for their clandestine mission. With the tinted windows no one would see her in the truck as they returned to Hazzard; though it was odd to see Bo in anything other than the orange stock car that he and his cousin co-owned and raced. But he'd brought the truck since there was no way that she could have gotten into the stock car with her broken ribs. Not to mention that the General Lee wasn't exactly a low profile vehicle.

Bo took Kim out to his sister's and grabbed the basket of food that had been packed for all of the men's lunch and headed back out to the fields where the other men were working. No one had a problem with him taking the morning off to help Kim out but he knew that he'd better show up as soon as he could. Otherwise his uncle would not be a happy camper.

First though, he had a call to make. He knew that up at his Uncle Abner's farm they all were able to head to the house for lunch; even during this time of year. Bo headed to the farmhouse and took advantage of its emptiness to call Coy. He dialed the familiar numbers and waited for the phone to be picked up on the other end of the line up in Tennessee and tried to figure out exactly what he was going to say. When the phone was finally picked up, Bo breathed out a breath, relieved at who answered.

"Duke Farm. Coy Duke speakin'. What can I do for ya?"

"Coy, you alone?"

"Bo? Umm... Kinda. Why?"

"Remember our little prank on Luke when he first got married?"

"Yeh, what about it?"

"I thought that you were goin' to make it a bit obvious."

"Huh?"

"Looks like Luke ain't as observant as we thought, Coy. Jo's pregnant and guess when she got that way."

"What?" Coy shouted into the phone.

"Luke told me over the weekend. They ain't told no one else, so you can't go tellin' no one yet."

"Geez! I figured that Luke would have caught it."

"Looks like you did a little too good of a job. Do you know how hard it was for me not to tell him about what you did when he told me?"

"Me? It was your idea."

"I was drunk when I thought of it. 'Sides, you were stone-cold sober when you actually poked the holes in the packs."

"It was still your idea though."

"The question now is how are we goin' to tell Luke that his accident was really a set up?"

"Do we have to tell him?" Coy asked only half joking.

"I think we should though I ain't tellin' him alone. You did the deed, not me. I'll wait until you're here, too."

"In that case, I think I'll be busy for a while."

"Very funny. I'll wait! I better head out and get the lunches out to everyone. I'll talk to you later. In the meantime, you'd better think about how we're goin' to talk to Luke."

~01~

In town, Boss was reluctant to accept a check from a stranger as bail. Especially when he heard what the man was in for. But as always, for enough money, Boss Hogg could be convinced to go along with just about anything. Ted offered to double the bail and Boss called the bank that the check was drawn on to make sure it was good. When the bank assured the commissioner that the check was indeed good, Ted strolled out of the courthouse. Across the street at the town's garage, he saw Kim's uncle. He figured that he'd better do some damage control. When he walked over, both Irving and the mechanic stopped talking as he neared them. Both men were shooting daggers at him.

"Irving, I wanted to talk to you. I understand that Kim might have misconstrued just what happened Friday."

"Ted, how dare you put this all on Kimberly! Well, I didn't misconstrue her injuries. Don't you ever touch her again!" The aged doctor said as he turned to face his niece's ex-husband.

"Now wait a minute, Irving."

"Mister, I think that you'd better head on out," Cooter said with a bit of an edge to his voice. "I saw what you did to that little girl and I'll be the first to tell you that there ain't a man around here that would pass up a chance to give you a taste of your own medicine, Doc. Me included."

"This ain't none of your business, so back off!"

Cooter straightened to his full height and looked the man dead in the eye before he responded. "In this town, anything that goes on is everyone's business. Now, unless you want me to make it further my business, I'd appreciate you gettin' off my property. I'm in the middle of servin' a payin' customer."

Ted glared at the men while considering his options. He could press his luck and stay to try to talk to the older man but what was the point? He had a lead on where Kim was going. He'd go over to the hotel and make a few calls. Find out exactly where Kim had bought a bus ticket to. Then he'll follow in behind her. He was getting tired of this cat and mouse game. It was time to make sure that he doesn't have to take off from his practice to go hunting for her again. When he catches up to Kim this time she won't ever get away again.

Cooter watched as the man walked away. He wasn't sure if he'd back down or not. One thing was for sure, though. Ted wouldn't have been nearly as lucky if Bo had been here when the man came over to the garage. Cooter watched as he headed to the hotel. Looks like the doctor was planning on a stay right in the middle of town. Cooter hoped that when the judge came to town that he'd throw the book at the coward that beat up the town's lady doctor.

~01~

Out at the farm over the next several days the family pretty much kept to their usual schedule. Daisy went to work on her usual shifts and the men all worked out in the fields during the day. Kim hung out with Kira and the boys at her house some; even helped out a little in the garden when the women all worked in them (what little she could with busted ribs at least). Today, Jo pulled her aside when Kira took the twins upstairs for their naps. Daisy had the noon shift so they were able to talk without being interrupted.

"Kim, I was just wondering, is it still okay to paint?"

"I believe so. Why?"

"Well, it seems that the general thought that I'd like a job to keep me busy. At least this time he isn't trying to get me a job that is in D.C."

"What does that have anything to do with painting?" Kim asked her friend.

"Well, the V.A. is looking for a way to raise some money from the private sector. My father heard about it and asked me if I'd get together some paintings like I had up in my show last fall. Then they can be auctioned off and the proceeds will be donated to the V.A."

"That sounds cool. I'd like to see them when you get done."

"Well, I have plenty of time. Thankfully. Especially since he wants me to get quite a collection together. Most of them will be military based but I may throw in a few off topic paintings just for the fun of it."

"You'll love having something to keep you busy. Just make sure you have plenty of fresh air. The baby will be just fine."

"Baby?" Kira asked as she came down the stairs. Looking between the two women, Kira fought back a smile. "Should I go back up and pretend that I didn't hear anything?" Kira asked since it was clear to her that she just overheard something that she wasn't supposed to.

"No, Luke and I were trying to figure out when we should tell everyone anyway. I suppose that it was bound to get out eventually. I was trying to make sure that I wouldn't lose this baby, too, before we told everyone," Jo said as she shook her head.

"How far along are you?"

"Nine, almost ten weeks," Jo told Kira.

"So I'm guessing that I should get some of the boys' old things together." Kira grinned as she finished walking down the stairs.

"You kid now, but that won't be such a bad idea in a few months."

The women all gathered in the living room and discussed Jo's pregnancy so far and even brought up Kira's own pregnancy. She tried to gloss over some of the problems that she'd had when she was pregnant since she didn't want to scare the older woman after all. But, Jo seemed to be privy to more of what had happened than Kira thought. They continued to discuss pregnancy and babies in general. Especially the two Kira and Jebb had and the one that Luke and Jo were expecting. Eventually, Jo asked Kim if she had ever thought of having kids. Especially since neither Jo nor Kira had thought about kids until they were already expecting babies of their own.

"Well, I had at one time, but I can't have any now so it isn't anything I really think about anymore."

"Why not?" Kira asked.

"Ted," Kim said. Just that one word could explain a lot of things in her life. "It's a long story." Jo and Kira exchanged looks as Kim suddenly found something on the floor very interesting to look at rather than the other women in the room.

"Alright. Well. I think I'll let you two get back to your talk from earlier. I have a call to make while the boys are down. Mr. Whitney asked me to look over some papers for him. I don't like what I saw in them. I'd better get to it before I have two little blond boys hangin' on me while I try to do it." Kira stood and headed toward her at home office.

Jo would keep an ear out for the boys while Kira was on the phone so Kira shut her door; both to get some privacy and to give it. She had the feeling that Kim may feel more comfortable talking to Jo without her around.

~01~

That night the whole family (plus Kim) all ate over with Jebb and Kira. Jo had told Luke that Kira came in on her talking to Kim about the baby. Which meant, the secret was out. They needed to go ahead and let the others in on it. Luke didn't mind since he'd only stayed quiet because Jo had asked him to. He did confess that he'd told Bo already. Mainly so that he could torture his cousin over the prank that he'd played on them after their wedding. Jo was about to complain that Luke hadn't kept the secret like he was supposed to but Jebb and Jesse came into the room; effectively ending the discussion. Now he was trying to find the right time to tell his uncle and the cousins who had yet to be told of the impending arrival.

While everyone was eating, Kira told the family about the land deal that Mr. Whitney (Kira and Jebb's neighbor on the opposite side of them as the other Dukes) was ready to settle with Boss Hogg. He was thinking of selling his farm to the greedy man since he was so far in debt to the commissioner. There was speculation as to what the balding man would want the farm for. Usually, his plans didn't bode well for the Dukes. Jebb figured that he might want to go visit his neighbor to see what all he might know of Boss's intentions for the land since anything that Boss would do on that piece of land would likely affect both Duke farms.

When dinner was over, the family gathered into the living room while Jebb told everyone how Mikey had somehow climbed out of the crib last night. Jebb had been surprised when he went upstairs for the night and found his oldest sitting in the middle of the floor of his and Kira's bedroom.

"I think our escape artist is telling us that he doesn't want to sleep behind bars anymore," Jebb said while laughing.

Bo chuckled at that as he ruffled his nephew's hair who was sitting at his feet playing with his brother. "Buddy, you're a Duke. You'd better get used to sleepin' behind bars."

"What good is a crib when the kid can get out of it? Maybe we should go ahead and ditch it. Get the boys some toddler beds instead. If Mikey is climbing now, Jay won't be far behind."

"Well, don't get rid of it just yet, Jebb. We might be able to use it when the boys are done with it." Luke grinned as he leaned back on the couch with his arm on the back of the couch behind Jo.

"Let's hope so," Jesse said. "I'd like to have a few more youngens around here while I'm still young enough to enjoy them," Jesse added as he brought his cup of coffee up to his lips to take a sip. Bo glanced at his cousin and saw that he was trying to tell their uncle that he wouldn't have to wait very long for at least one more Duke to be added to the family.

"Well, I'm afraid that you'll have to wait a while, Uncle Jesse. But I think that you can wait until November can't you?"

Jesse choked on his coffee as he looked at Luke. Daisy jumped at the news and came over and hugged both Luke and Jo as Jesse and Jebb both absorbed the news. Finally, Jesse found his voice with a huge smile on his face.

"I suppose that I can wait that long. If I have to that is," Jesse chuckled.