After six hours, the sky turned grey in the east as the sun started to think about rising. They'd been out all night, walking back and forth for miles, with no sign of Darla. They slumped against the cars, exhausted. Daisy had gone back to the farm during the last two sweeps, and was waiting for them with more coffee and sandwiches. Everyone dug in but Bo, who leaned against the front of the General Lee, staring off into space.

Daisy brought him a cup of coffee. "Here ya go, hon," she said quietly.

Bo took it without looking. "Thanks, Daisy," he said dully. There were shadows under his eyes in addition to the bruises on his eye and jaw, and his voice was hoarse from shouting for Darla. He looked older than she'd ever seen him. Daisy put her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. Bo was surprised, but he was grateful for the support and wrapped an arm around her. "I'm sorry I tried ta womp ya with the fryin' pan earlier," Daisy said.

"Yeah, well, I can't say I didn't deserve it," said Bo. "And besides, Cooter's fists are about the same size as your fryin' pan, anyways."

He looked sideways at Cooter. The mechanic raised his coffee cup in a salute and said, "Yeah, an' there's no question you deserved that."

Bo gave a tired smile. "I know."

Cooter walked over and put a hand on Bo's shoulder. "Have a little faith, man," he said. "We'll find her."

Enos had wandered off the road, looking at nothing in particular, when his eye caught the faintest glimmer of something in the brightening light. When he looked for it, it was gone. He looked toward the East; the sun was almost up. He turned back to where he thought he'd seen the glimmer, and waited.

The sun broke over the horizon, flooding the hillside with streaks of light as it filtered through the trees. Enos saw something glow bright gold in the brush and brambles. He ran and picked it up. "Bo! Bo, come 'ere!"

They all ran toward Enos's voice. Bo got there first. "What?" he said breathlessly.

Enos showed him the object in his hand. It was a short chain of gold, with several small medallions hanging from it that had been reflecting the morning light. "This is hers, ain't it?" he asked.

Bo took it and stared at it for a second. He nodded slightly. "It's the bracelet I gave her. She never goes anywhere without it." He had to bite his lip to keep it from trembling.

Hoping to head off another breakdown, Luke said, "Well, that settles it—we look in this direction now. And we can spread out now the sun's up." He put an arm around Bo's shoulders. Daisy came over and hugged him around the waist. They stood there for a minute, their arms around each other. "We're gonna find her, Bo, I know it," said Daisy. Bo took a deep breath and nodded.

"All right, everybody spread out now, but try an' stay within earshot," said Enos. He headed off with Jesse, while Daisy and Luke stayed close to Bo. That left Cooter and Rosco to pair up, and they headed across the sloping, rocky ground.

After half a mile, Cooter started noticing marks in the dirt near a large thicket of brush and fallen trees. He knelt and studied the ground. He wasn't the tracker Bo and Luke were, but he knew tracks when he saw them. "Hey Rosco, check this out. Somebody's been walkin' through here," he said. As Rosco walked over, Cooter heard loud chewing. He looked at Rosco and saw him gnawing on what looked like jerky. "Now where in the Sam Hill did you get that?" he asked.

"It's my own private stash," Rosco replied smugly, closing his ammunition pouch. "Rhuebottom's premium prize jerky, 'case I need num-nums while I'm out on patrol. And it's all for me, I don't—Cooter? Cooter, are you listenin' to me?"

Cooter was crouched, frozen in place, looking into the brush. "Rosco. Don't. Move," he whispered.

"What're you talkin' about?" said Rosco, following Cooter's stare. "Dgitdgitdgit!" he stuttered and fumbled for his pistol.

On a fallen tree in front of them, yellow eyes stared from a coal-black face. A huge black bobcat was watching them from the edge of the thicket. Rosco pointed his pistol at it; the big cat snarled in response.

"No! Geez, Rosco, put that down!" Cooter whispered harshly.

"Are you kiddin' me? That there's the Phantom Panther!" said Rosco.

Cooter rolled his eyes. "It's just a bobcat, Rosco," he said, "albeit a black one. Now there's somethin' ya don't see every day," he murmured.

The big cat hissed, but made no move toward them. The tufts of fur on its cheeks and ears left no doubt it was a bobcat. It was definitely smaller than a panther, but for a bobcat, it was huge. It looked over its shoulder, then back at them, then turned and slipped silently into the thicket of brush. They had barely let out a sigh of relief, when suddenly the bobcat was back on the tree, staring at them again. It let out a growl and disappeared again, then came back to the tree. "What is he doin'?" hissed Rosco.

Cooter hadn't moved from his crouch, but something about the bobcat's actions seemed off. "Call me crazy, but—I think he wants us to follow him," he said.

"Follow him?" exclaimed Rosco. "Oh, he wants us to follow him, all right; follow him right into his lair so he can chomp on us for breakfast, that's what he wants!"

"Whatever, Rosco; I'm followin' him," said Cooter. "You can stay here. Maybe his girlfriend'll come by and keep ya company," he finished with a grin. Rosco flinched, then followed Cooter into the thicket, muttering to himself.

Once they got into the thicket, the cat disappeared. Cooter stumbled over dead brush, fallen trees and branches, Rosco following behind him. He heard the faint growl of the cat somewhere near him. Suddenly he jerked to a stop so quickly that Rosco bumped into him, nearly knocking him into the giant hole in front of them. "What the heck is this?" he said.

"Now, ya see there? He's lurin' us into a trap!" said Rosco, pointing at the hole. The bobcat jumped in front of them and growled again, then turned and slipped away. He brought us to a hole? What in the heck is this about? Cooter thought. He must really be sleep-deprived, to be crazy enough to follow a cat. He'd nearly fallen in the dumb thing.

Nearly fallen in… He grabbed his flashlight and shined it in the hole. His jaw dropped. He spun and yelled, "Bo! We've got her! Over here, we've got her!"


Darla…

She couldn't move. There was nothing left to her. She had no body anymore. But she could feel pain.

Darla…

Papa? Jonas? Were they calling her? Where were they? Was she with them? Nothing was making sense. Why couldn't she move? Why was it so dark? Why did everything hurt, if she had no body?

If this was Heaven, then she was definitely demanding a refund from all her tithing.

Darla! "Darla! Darla, wake up! Luke, I gotta get down there!"

Bo? Darla opened her eyes. She could see a dark outline of rough stone walls. She was lying on cold, slimy moss and dirt, curled up in a ball. She tried to sit up, but her arms and legs wouldn't work; they were too stiff. Her hands and feet were so numb she couldn't feel them.

"Darla!" She heard Bo calling her frantically. "Dang it, Luke, get me down there!"

"Hang on, Bo," she heard Luke say. "Enos ran back for some rope; we can't get down there without it."

Enos? Things really weren't making sense now. Darla tried to move her limbs again; a moan escaped her lips as pain shot through her shoulder. "Bo?" she croaked.

"Darla," she heard Bo almost sob in relief. "Hang on honey, we're gonna get you out of there." She heard other voices; why did they all sound so far away?

Slowly, she rolled over on her back and looked up. There was a circle of bright light above her. She could see several familiar silhouettes looking down.


"Darla, honey, talk to us, please!" said Daisy. "Can you move at all? Are you hurt?"

"Shoulder," they heard her say.

"We gotta get her outta there, Luke!" said Bo.

"We will, Bo, just hang on," Luke answered. "Darla, hang in there a minute, okay? Try and move around a little." He looked around the thicket, then over at Cooter. "What in the heck made you think to look in here?"

"Well, I'll tell ya, Luke, it was the weirdest thing," said Cooter. "Me an' Rosco were walkin' over there—" he jerked his thumb behind him—"when a big ol' black bobcat got the drop on us."

In spite of his worry, that got Bo's attention. "Wait—a black bobcat?" He and Luke exchanged a look.

Cooter nodded knowingly. "Yep—looks like maybe the Phantom Panther legend wasn't a shuck an' jive after all. Anyway, he kept walkin' back and forth at us, tryin' to get us to follow him. Strangest thing I ever seen—it's like he knew she was down there."

Just then Enos came running back with a rope. "Darla," he said, "grab this and we'll pull you up!" They started feeding the rope down.

But Darla just stared numbly at the rope in front of her. "Can't," she finally said.

"What?"

"I can't," Darla moaned. It seemed hard to make her mouth work right; her lips felt like they were made of wood. "I can't grab the rope; I can't feel my hands, and I think my shoulder's busted. I can't do it."

"Bo, she's been down there for hours, and you know how cold it gets in these caves," said Luke, pointing the flashlight at her. "She's gotta be freezin'; she may be hypothermic." He shook his head. "You're right—we gotta get you down there."

Bo didn't hesitate as Luke and Cooter stood together, threw the rope over their shoulders and braced themselves. "Go on," said Luke.

Bo leaned back across the hole and started lowering himself. The rocky opening was covered with moss, and his foot slipped as he tried to ease himself down. For a second his palms burned against the rope as Luke and Cooter struggled to hang on to him. "Move it, Bo!" Luke yelled.

"Darla, look out!" Bo quickly did a hand-over-hand down the rope and dropped as soon as he dared, slipping again as he hit the ground. "Darla?" He turned around.

Darla was hunched over, her right shoulder at an odd angle, her lips bluish. Her pale skin was streaked with mud and blood, and her eyes looked strangely blank. "Bo," she whispered. She staggered forward.

"Oh, baby," said Bo, and folded her in his arms. She felt like ice. He kissed her hair, then tilted her face to his and kissed her cheeks, her forehead, and her lips, while he whispered, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, baby." He wrapped his arms around her again.

Darla leaned into his embrace. His arms were strong and warm around her. It felt like an eternity since she'd felt that warmth. For a minute, neither of them spoke. She felt Bo shaking, and looked up to see tears in his eyes. "Did you miss me?" she croaked.

Bo let out something between a laugh and a sob, and touched his forehead to hers, that intimate gesture they'd done so many times before. "Yeah, you could say that," he answered in a broken whisper, and kissed her again. "Oh God, Darla, I love you so much. I'm so sorry."

"What happened?" said Darla, as she looked at him closer. "Who did this?"

"Oh, um…Cooter thought I was pretty horrible to you," said Bo with a nervous laugh.

"Cooter?" asked Darla.

"Bo? How's she doin'?" Luke called out from above them.

"Cooter!" Darla croaked louder, looking up. "If Bo's face hasn't healed by the wedding, so help me, I'll make your face match!"

The others laughed in relief, hugging each other. "You better watch out, Cooter, 'cause she's prob'ly not kiddin'," said Luke.

Down below, Bo laughed too, and pulled Darla closer. She flinched and moaned as pain shot through her shoulder again.

"Lemme see." Bo tilted her face and looked at the bump on her head. It looked bad, but he knew head wounds tended to bleed a lot. Then he put his hands on her shoulder, probing with his thumbs. He flinched himself when she cried out. "Luke, her shoulder's hurt pretty bad," he called up.

"You think it's broken?"

"No. It looks like it's dislocated."

Oh, great. Luke frowned and looked at Uncle Jesse. They both knew what Bo was going to have to do. "You're gonna have to re-set it, Bo," he said.

"What?"

"Remember that time you fell out of the barn loft when you were ten?" said Luke. "You remember what I had to do?"

Bo looked up toward Luke, horrified. He shook his head. "Luke, I can't—"

"You've got to, Bo, or she can't use the rope to get out," said Luke. He felt terrible about what Bo had to do, but there was no alternative. "Right now, she's still cold so she won't feel the pain as much." He doubted that was true, but he didn't want Bo to feel any worse about it.

Bo closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "Uncle Jesse, send your lantern down; I gotta see what I'm doin'." They pulled the rope up and tied Jesse's lantern to it. It gave out a soft glow as they lowered it down. Bo looked around and saw a place where the rock jutted out from the wall.

"C'mere, hon," he said, and took Darla's hand. "I gotta do this." Darla closed her eyes and nodded; she knew. He positioned Darla in front of him and squeezed his eyes shut. God forgive me, he thought. He grabbed her arm, twisted it back, and with all his strength, slammed her shoulder into the rock wall.

He felt a sickening crunch under his hand. Darla let out a hoarse scream and fell to her knees. Bo dropped with her and grabbed her in his arms again. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he said over and over. He rocked her back and forth while she whimpered.

Up above, the others all winced at Darla's cry. Luke shook his head. He remembered how Bo had cried after Luke had re-set his shoulder, all those years ago. It had killed him to do it to his cousin; he couldn't imagine what it had just cost Bo to have to do it to Darla.

"Bo? You guys all right down there?" he called.

"Not really," said Bo, "but give us a minute and I'll send Darla up." He felt her shiver in his arms. He quickly shrugged his jacket off and pushed her arms into it. "We need to get you out of here," he said. "You think you can hold the rope now?"

Darla was still favoring her shoulder, but managed a smile. "I dunno, we may have to tie me to it. Tying me up could be fun."

Bo gave her a shocked look and laughed in spite of himself. How could she still joke after all this? He hoisted the lantern again as they got to their feet, and Bo and Darla finally got a good look at the chamber they were in. "Hang on a minute." He held it up higher and they looked around.

The chamber was almost perfectly round, with moisture glistening on the walls. There were patches of moss here and there on the dirt floor, but in the middle, right under the hole, the stone was darker, almost black. He looked back at the walls. At first he'd thought there was moss growing on them too, but the colors were wrong. There was green, red and black…

"Whoa," he said, moving closer. "Look at this!" There were paintings everywhere on the walls. Some of them were just random designs, some were figures of people, and there were also a lot of animals. Even Darla, cold as she was, couldn't help but be amazed. "Is that a bear?" she pointed.

"Sure does look like one; Uncle Jesse said there used to be some in the Hazzard Swamp," Bo answered, still gazing at the walls. "Hey y'all," he called out, "you oughta see this! This is one o' them old Indian caves! There's paintings everywhere down here!" He looked around. "I can't believe we never found this! I thought we explored every bit of these caves when we were kids!" He looked around more. "Now how in the heck did them Indians get in here?"

"Through that," said Darla, pointing at a wide crack in the rock, partially hidden by the shape of the wall. "It probably leads to another tunnel or a cave entrance. If I'd known it was here, I probably could have gotten myself out." She looked up at Bo and said, "At least you found me." She coughed again.

He put his arms around her again and kissed her hair. "I never would have stopped lookin' for you," he said. "I'da dropped dead first." He tilted her chin up to look at him. "Darla, I love you. And I am the biggest jerk in all o' Hazzard county for sayin' those awful things to you. I know I don't deserve for you to forgive me, but…I'm so sorry."

Darla's dark hazel eyes looked into Bo's dark blue ones. "Yeah, you were the biggest jerk in all of Hazzard County. But if you get me out of here, I might think about downgrading you." She let her head rest on his chest. Suddenly she gasped.

Bo immediately let go, thinking he'd hurt her shoulder again. But Darla was staring at another painting on the wall. It looked like a tree, at and at the top of it was the depiction of a large black cat.

"The black bobcat," said Darla. "The poachers."

"What?"

"Poachers. They were tracking a black bobcat, and I caught them. That's who threw me down here. They didn't want me telling anybody about them."

"Wait—somebody threw you down here? They left you here?" Bo's voice got harder as he said it.

Darla nodded. "They were hot on getting that bobcat. I got in their way," she said softly. She looked up at Bo, then over at the rope, still dangling from the cave opening. "We've gotta find them."