Thanks to everyone who has been reading all along, and double thanks to those who have been reviewing.
I don't own most of them, do own a couple, and you can undoubtedly tell who is who. Doesn't matter, though, 'cause none of them are making me any money. Not even 50 percent of 50 percent of any money.
Chapter 12 – He Ain't Drunk, He's Just Like That
Enos and the state trooper had taken off as soon as the information exchange was complete.
The three Dukes and their mechanic friend moved a little more slowly, Bo stopping to reclaim his crutches. When they finally made it to Cooter's tow truck, Daisy grabbed the CB.
"Bo Peep to Shepherd, you got your ears on?"
"This is Shepherd, Daisy, I'm on my way to you."
"Now Shepherd, there ain't no need to come here. The boys is both here, and they're gonna be all right, though they should see the doc later for sure. But first, there's trouble in town and I need you to meet me at the Boar's Nest."
"10-4, Daisy, I'm headed that way. You sure them boys is gonna be okay?"
Luke took the mic from Daisy.
"Yeah, Shepherd, we're fine."
"All right then, you boys get home. And you'll be answerin' to me later! You got it?"
Daisy grabbed the mic back, "I'll see that they get on home Shepherd. You just meet me at the Boar's Nest."
"10-4, Shepherd out."
Before he could stop her, Daisy reached into Luke's jeans pocket and grabbed the keys to the General Lee.
"Daisy!" he snapped.
"Now Luke, there ain't no sense in fightin' me, cause you'd lose, even if you could stand up straight without swayin', which right now you can't. Cooter, you take them boys home, you hear me?" Daisy called as she sprinted to the General's hiding spot and slid in through his window. "You boys behave for Cooter, now!" With a roar of his engine, the General barreled right through the shrubs he'd been hidden in, and was gone.
"Cooter," Bo began.
"Now, Bo, she's right. You boys ain't in no condition to be runnin' around the county," their friend answered, trying to corral them into the front seat of the truck. It was akin to herding cats. Luke stepped aside to keep from getting gently pushed into the vehicle by the mechanic.
"Now Cooter, we can't let Daisy go out there by herself."
"She ain't gonna be by herself, Luke, Uncle Jesse's gonna be there," Cooter tried to reason.
"Cooter, you know we ain't about to let Daisy and Jesse go after Halloway alone," Bo put in.
"They ain't gonna be alone, they got Enos and that State Mountie, too. Besides, I don't see where y'all have any choice," Cooter said, standing his ground as best he could.
"Well," Luke looked at Bo, "we could take Doc's car."
"Nah, you don't wanna bother with that, cousin; we wouldn't get there until next week. Besides, that there car don't drive straight. It don't want to stay on the road."
"Now, Bo, there ain't nothing wrong with that car. She ain't as fast as the General, but Doc had her in to me last week, and there ain't a thing wrong with her steering. If you couldn't keep her on the road, then it's you that can't drive straight, not the car, and that's why I'm takin' y'all home," their friend asserted.
"Too bad you keep insisting on takin' us home, Crazy C," Luke said, and the first signs that he might be all right after all showed in the twinkle of his eyes. "You're gonna miss a heckuva fight."
"A fight?"
"Oh yeah, it's got to be a beauty. Why, you seen that state cop. And then there's that hired muscle that Halloway's got…"
"All right, buddyroe, we'll go to the Boar's Nest, but you two are stayin' out of the fight, you hear me?"
"Of course, Cooter," Bo said with a grin, as they all, finally, began to climb into the tow truck. It was slow going, what with Bo on crutches and Luke moving about as quick as a turtle stuck in molasses, so as not to further aggravate those ribs of his. And both of them gave the distinct impression that at any moment they might lose their lunches.
"You boys look like crap, you know that?" Cooter volunteered cheerfully.
"Thanks a lot, buddy," Luke answered dryly.
Not so very long ago, Enos had run moonshine for his father, though to him it sometimes seemed like a whole different lifetime. The driving maneuvers he'd once mastered were growing rusty; even chasing the Duke boys on an almost daily basis hadn't kept his skills up to the level where they'd once been.
Willet, on the other hand, was clearly at the top of his game, and Enos was having all he could do to keep up with the man.
As they were barreling towards town, a third police cruiser happened into their convoy, merging in from the High Ridge Road. Seeing the sheriff's car elated his deputy. Now he knew they'd get the crooks, what with his boss on the case.
"Enos! What are you doin' here? Get outta my way, wouldja? I'm the sheriff and I got things to do!" The words crackling over his CB reminded Enos that Rosco wasn't exactly on the same page as the other two cops. The deputy slowed a little to let the sheriff pass him, but he very quickly realized that the state trooper had other plans in mind.
Without saying a word, Willet slammed on his brakes, sliding his car into a 90 degree skid. The Hazzard County Sheriff's car was moving at high speed, and a simple application of the brakes wouldn't prevent catastrophe, so Rosco was forced not only to stop, but to swerve off the road. Enos, also, had to make some quick moves to avoid both cars, but he'd had a little more room for error, so the deputy simply slid to a stop behind the others, effectively trapping the sheriff. Not that he'd needed to; Rosco had been moving so quickly that his front wheels passed right over the culvert on the side of the road and were beached up on the bank on the other side. The rear wheels, on the other hand, were stuck in the ditch, spinning and kicking up globs of mud, one of which hit Enos square on the chest as he rushed to the aid of his superior.
Moving faster than a body that size ought to be capable of, Willet jumped the culvert and reached into Rosco's car, shutting down the engine.
"Ijit! Just what… I'm the sheriff here, what exactly do you think you're doin' pushin' me off the road. Gij! I'm gonna cuff you and stuff you and I'm gonna take you in, I mean it now, and then I'm gonna write you a ticket for drunk drivin'…" Rosco's fist was shaking in the air, hiding the fact that the rest of his body was quaking inside the car.
"It seems to me that I am not the one who's drunk," Willet responded calmly, but with eyebrows raised in concern.
"Oh he ain't drunk, Inspector. He's just… like that," Enos supplied, helpfully.
Rosco's eyes finally focused on the man he'd been threatening.
"Gyu." His mind was swirling, and he couldn't form a single sensible thought. This man was here to track down the illegal substance, which was currently in Rosco's own trunk. In the meantime, the closest thing he had to a friend, Boss Hogg, was dealing with Jim Halloway, alone, and that could be very dangerous. And even if Rosco could have gotten sufficient control over his body to restart the car and put his foot on the gas, well, it wouldn't go anywhere. He'd already proven that to himself.
"You okay, Sheriff?" The concern in his deputy's voice finally reached the aging lawman.
"Of course, I'm all right Enos!" Rosco snapped, then turned to the larger man. "Ijit! I got, I'm on duty, I ain't got time to be talkin' to you about your investigation right now."
"I'd think you'd make time, considering that your commissioner's in some danger, and I'm in a position to help you get him out of it."
"Gyu, well in that case…" Rosco opened his door and carefully stepped out. "I've got time. But not much! I think Boss might really have done it this time," he confessed.
Daisy had been closer to the roadhouse to begin with, and behind the wheel of the General, she got there in record time. Just as she was parking the car far enough from the building to hide her presence from anyone inside, Jesse pulled in next to her.
"Now, girl, before we go rushin' in there, you tell me what's goin' on," he demanded.
"Oh , Jesse, it's a whole mess'a stuff. But the most important thing is that Bo and Luke was haulin' illegal drugs, because Wooster was trafficking them for some guy named Jim Halloway. I never heard of him, but Luke knows who he is…"
Jesse's face was the very image of concern. "I know him, too," he said, very quietly. "Or know of him anyway. Jim Halloway – well back when you was just babies, he was makin' 'shine could blind a man, and he didn't care. Most of his customers was so darn poor they'd drink it anyway, just to take away their aches and pains. And it didn't bother him a bit! I ain't surprised he's moved on to sellin' drugs. It's the same thing, really."
"Well, anyway, Enos and the boys think that both Halloway and Wooster are in there," she pointed towards the Boar's Nest, "with Boss. And Luke says that there's also a couple of real big bodyguards in there as well."
"Leave it to J.D. to get himself in the middle of something like this. And of course, somehow your cousins got into the mess, too."
"Uncle Jesse, we ain't got time to talk about this anymore. We got to get in there."
"Oh we're goin' in, but you gotta get us in through the back door, and quietly."
Daisy pulled out her keys, and they approached the dark building. There was only one day of the week that the Boar's Nest was closed, and of course, that would be the day that Hogg would set up a secret meeting.
Cooter and the boys came in from the north side of the building, having cut cross-country to get there. With every bump and jostle that the rough terrain caused, Bo and Luke would grunt or groan, which Cooter figured served them right for insisting on doing this in the first place. All the same, he tried to take it easy on them, not wanting to make their injuries any worse. They were operating on pure adrenaline right now, he knew. One close look and there was no question that neither of these boys belonged on their feet at all.
"There's the General," Bo pointed out needlessly; the orange car stood out clearly in the moonlight.
"But where's Daisy and Jesse?" Luke asked for all three of them.
Cooter placed his truck next to the Dukes' vehicles and jumped out to race around to the passenger side before those boys tried to get out on their own. He got there just in time to plant a hand in the middle of Bo's chest, keeping him upright and avoiding the imminent domino effect as Luke stumbled while trying to get out of the truck behind his blonde cousin.
"You two are about as coordinated as newborn pups."
Luke waved a hand in the air, "Nah, we're fine, Cooter, if you'd just stop worrying over us like some kind of a girl or somethin'."
"Buddyroe, ain't no one ever mistook this mug for a female, and you know it. Now you two just settle down. We'll find Daisy and Uncle Jesse."
No sooner were the words out of the mechanic's mouth than it became very clear where the missing Dukes were. Daisy's bloodcurdling scream, coming from the building in front of them, was unmistakable.