It was far too early to pick up Amy, not even 10:00 am yet, so instead of heading straight to her house, Enos found himself driving aimlessly though the hills of Northern Hazzard. He rested his elbow on the frame of the open window, feeling the wind rush against his face. It would have been pleasant if his thoughts weren't in such turmoil, but such as it was, he barely registered the cooler breeze, refreshing in the depths of summer. It would be a scorcher later, the sky already a dirty white - not of clouds, but of the thick, humid, clinging haze that seemed to drench every summer day in the deep South. It made him long for fall, for a sky that was proper blue, when everything was it's own vivid color and not merely different shades of dust.
The overhanging branches across the seldom used back-roads made the heat somewhat better. Here the sun had not baked everything to a crisp yet, and though the temperature was only marginally different, the shade at least cooled his temper. He'd gone a good ten miles into the depths of the middle of nowhere before he really paid attention to where he was. It took him only a moment to find his bearings - a crooked branch here, a rock by the road there - though truthfully he couldn't have explained how he always seemed to know where he was. Other people could play the guitar, sing, do math without counting on their fingers...Enos had been born with an internal compass.
It was the fact that he knew where he was that made him stand on the brakes, leaving a skid mark on the sparsely graveled road. He sat, debating his direction in the middle of the deserted road for some five minutes before sighing and continuing on, though at a considerably slower pace than before. The road was too narrow to turn around anyway, so he'd have to follow it to it's logical destination. Half a mile further, he turned off down another short lane even less worn than the one he'd come from, and parked the car beside the entrance to the old Pine Ridge Cemetery.
It had been at least two years since he'd been here, and truthfully he didn't remember much about the last time. They'd come to put flags on the veterans' graves, and on the graves of Lavinia Duke and his own aunt, Mary Tribble, but he'd stayed away from the crumbling monument with his surname on it in the midst of his ancestors' final resting places. He couldn't remember if he'd even looked at his father's stone.
"Three years ago," he thought, "three years ago, everything was normal."
He wondered if he would ever stop counting, ever stop playing that endless game with himself. He supposed if he lived long enough, there would come a day where his life without his father would number more days than the life he'd lived with him. Thirty- one. He would be thirty-one when that happened. It seemed an impossibly long way off to the eighteen year old.
He remembered coming here when he was little, when some moonshiner or obscure, distant relation had passed away. He'd scared her to death - Daisy that was- with tales of people falling into the old, unmarked graves. It was a rumor with the power of half-truth behind it. The old wooden coffins over time would rot and break down, and there were several graves that had sunken eerily by several feet. He, Daisy, and Luke would chase each other around the headstones until either Uncle Jesse or his father yelled at them to stop it and be respectful.
Most of the stones were old or broken, and many looked older than they were. Marble was the poor man's rock of choice for markers, but time and elements were harsh and unkind to the soft stone. Names that only fifty years ago had been carved into the brilliant, white slabs were now unreadable, the stones worn past the point of recognition and covered with lichen and moss - the memory of that person lost forever in the sea of time. The thought made him shiver.
He walked past several rows to the spot reserved for the Duke family and knelt down at the base of Aunt Lavinia's, clearing away the leaves from its base. It had been seven years ago that she'd died, leaving behind three Duke children and one Strate who had adopted her as a substitute for his own mother. It seemed both like an eternity, and as though it was only yesterday. He had been eleven, old enough to remember before she'd gotten sick that last winter. The house had never really been the same. She seemed to always be cooking or canning in the kitchen, and though Daisy had taken over those jobs at a fairly early age, she lacked the enthusiasm for them that Lavinia had had. Her presence had filled the kitchen with life, and without her, it had become just another room. Daisy had been eight, old enough to remember her as well, but it struck him for the first time that he had never heard her talk about her death.
He guessed he and Daisy were still very much alike.
His eyes drifted towards the rear of the cemetery, lighting on a newer, whiter stone among the many. He turned around and went back to his car.
Amy saw him - almost sensed him as he pulled into the driveway, and though she knew he was only going to the fair with her because he had no other options, her heart raced nervously nonetheless. If Daisy didn't want him, she'd take him. Another woman's trash is another's treasure, she thought, before discarding the idea. In her eyes, the only trash was the girl who had kicked Enos to the curb.
"You're libel to scare him away if ya' don't stop your blushing, Amy Lynn." Her softly spoken words echoed in the small bedroom. She took a deep breath, steadied herself, and left the room.
Instead of rushing straight to the door, she forced herself to wait until he knocked. The minutes dragged by like hours until at last she heard his footsteps on the porch and his knuckles rapped against the wood. Still she forced herself to wait, but she only made it to ten in her counting before she couldn't stand it anymore and opened the door.
Her eyes picked out the differences in him immediately. He hadn't cut his hair, presumably since the previous summer when he'd decided to crop it really short. The haircut had made him look older, but almost too old, and she'd hated it - far too clean cut for a moonshiner's kid. Now it had grown back to it's normal length - just shy of falling in his eyes. He'd been working out more, too. He was more muscle than scrawniness now.
"Hey, Enos!" she said, smiling. "You're early."
He ran his hand nervously through his hair, raking it back from his forehead, and she turned around before he caught her staring at him.
"Yeah, sorry," he said, following her inside. "Didn't realize what time it was when I left out this morning."
She closed the door and turned back to him, understanding in her eyes. "You ain't gotta make excuses," she said. "And you're welcome here anytime. My pa' was as close t' yours as Jesse Duke was, ya' know." He grunted some sort of non-committal reply which she ignored. "Didja eat breakfast? You look like you ain't seen sleep in about three days."
"Thanks for noticing I look like crap, Amy. I'm much obliged." He winced and shook his head. "Gosh...I'm sorry. I don't mean t' ruin your day, too. Just ignore whatever th' heck I say."
Instead of the anger he'd expected, she laughed light-heartedly. "Don't worry, Enos," she said, "I've got thicker skin than I look like." She put her hand lightly on his shoulder and propelled him gently towards the small dining room. "Sit down, ya' need something t' eat."
He obeyed her with a sigh, pulling out a wooden seat and plopping down at the table. "Yeah, alright," he told her, but she had already disappeared into the kitchen.
She returned moments later with four slices of freshly baked bread and a jar of mulberry preserves which she sat down in front of him.
"How come you always seem t' be feeding me?" he smirked, not unkindly at her, remembering other days around this table when he was a kid - times when his pa' was visiting and Amy would chase him down and feed him snacks, much to his chagrin.
"Oh, I don't know. I just like t' watch people enjoy things I make, I s'pose," she said with a shrug. "Th' boys used t' scarf th' bread down nearly before it came out of th' oven. It's kinda quiet around here, now, though."
He smeared some jam on the bread and took a bite, admitting that if nothing else, the girl was a dang good cook. "You should teach D-... You should teach other people t' bake bread, it's really good."
"Thanks, Enos," Amy replied, letting the slip go. Even now, she knew Daisy was always at the forefront of his mind. It was expected. "Maybe some day I'll do something besides moon-shining."
They smiled sadly at each other, both knowing she would probably never leave these hills. That was just how it was. Enos was the exception to the rule.
"Well," she said, getting up with a sigh, "I've got some dishes t' finish up before we go, so I'll let you eat."
She left the dining room, condemning him to the silence of his thoughts.
Amy had suggested they stay around her house until after lunch so they wouldn't have to spend money on the food vendors at the fair. Enos, who never had more than two dimes together at one time, had agreed, and now as he droved them back into Hazzard, it was nearly 2:00.
Ever since Mr. Hogg had bought the fair grounds, he'd started charging $3 for parking. Looking around him, Enos reckoned he wasn't getting many takers. Most people were parking on the back-roads like himself.
The grounds were fairly crowed for this early, many people having come early to grab lunch. He and Amy bypassed the carny games and made their way to the 4-H barn where Amy's mom had a booth set up. As they approached, Mrs. McCullum waved and stood up, walking around to the front of the table.
"Enos! It's so good t' see you again," she said, giving him a hug which he politely returned. Instead of letting him go, she backed up, holding him at arm's length. Enos blushed self-consciously as she examined him with a mother's eye. "You look better than ya' did at Christmas. You've been working out."
"Yes ma'am," he said, embarrassed, "there ain't much else t' do there."
She flashed him a kind smile. "Well, ya' look real good. How's your mom?"
He shrugged. "She's doing fine." Truthfully, he hadn't been home in months. He figured if his presence bent her out of shape so much, he'd just stay away.
Amy picked up one of several dozen jelly jars arranged neatly on the table next to them, holding it up to the light to examine its color. "How's business going, mom?"
"Oh! I'm doing just fine," she answered, "Just a while ago, someone from th' orphanage came by and bought a dozen pints! At this rate, I'll be out by t'morrow." She looked from her daughter to Enos. "Did you two eat something?"
"Yeah, we ate some sandwiches at home before we headed out," said Amy, setting the jelly jar back down.
Mrs. McCullum pulled a five dollar bill out of her pocket. "Well, here's some spending money, just in case ya' need it later," she said, handing it to her daughter as a couple strolled over to the table to check out the McCullum's jams.
Amy pocketed the money and grinned back at her. "Thanks, mom. We'd better get outta here before we cost you sales."
She gave her mom a quick hug and turned back to Enos. "I guess we might as well walk around and see what else there is t' do."
He shrugged. "Alright. Bye, Mrs. McCullum."
There wasn't much to do at all. After they'd exhausted all the entertainment the 4-H barn had to offer and had walked through the livery stables, they found themselves back at the food tent. Most of the tables were filled with teens, gushing over the latest dramas infecting Hazzard High, and Enos' eyes automatically picked Daisy out of the group, sitting with a group of girls he didn't know. Her back was turned to him, and she hadn't seen him yet. He wondered if he could escape without her notice. First things first, though.
"Hey Amy, I'll be right back," he said, gesturing to the brick building with restrooms next to the food area.
"Oh, sure, no problem, I'm gonna wait in th' shade, though, I'm gonna fry if I don't get outta th' sun."
There was already a line inside the men's, so Enos unhappily took a spot along the inside wall by the sinks, waiting for his turn.
Several minutes later, he was washing his hands when a girl's voice drifted in over the noise of the crowd. He couldn't tell what she was saying from inside the building, but whatever it was, she didn't sound happy. Wondering what was going on, he hurried out.
At first he didn't see Amy, but then he heard the voice again and realized it was hers, coming from around the far corner of the brick building. He walked around the side - and stopped short, fury building inside him. What th' heck?.!
"Get away from me, you freak!" she screamed, trying her best to kick the guy who held her pinned against the brick wall. "Leave me alone!"
Not waiting to find out who the guy was, or what exactly he was trying to pull with Amy, Enos crossed the distance between himself and her assailant. He grabbed the guy and pulled him off of her, throwing him roughly to the ground. It was only then that he realized it was Darcy.
"What th' heck's wrong with you?" Enos yelled down at him. "She said t' leave her alone!"
Darcy clambered up from the ground, ignoring Enos. "You came with this guy?" he asked Amy, incredulous. "Honey, I can show you a much better time than he can." He turned back to Enos. "How's it going, maggot?"
Enos gritted his teeth. "Ain't there some hole you need t' crawl back into?"
Darcy laughed him off and leaned closer to him, "Say, you can have Daisy back now if ya' want," he whispered, "...I'm all done with her."
Whether Darcy saw Enos' punch coming was debatable as blood sprayed from his nose, splattering over the wall beside him in large red droplets. He staggered a moment before sitting down hard on the ground, his bewildered expression changing quickly to rage.
"You're gonna pay for that, Strate!" he shouted, pointing at Enos while the blood flowed freely from his nose and split lip. "I was just kidding, you idiot!"
Enos rolled his eyes and turned back to Amy. "Hey, you alright?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, Enos."
"You hear me?" Darcy screamed again. "I swear, you're gonna get yours someday!"
For Darcy's sake, Enos draped his arm protectively around Amy's shoulders. "You outta get cleaned up 'fore ya' draw flies," he told him, with a smirk, before he steered Amy away. He didn't let her go until they had turned the next corner, away from the crowd at the food tent.
"Hey, I'm sorry about Darcy," he said. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Amy waived off his concern. "Oh, I'm fine, Enos. Darcy just doesn't know what t' say when a girl tells him 'no'. And by th' way," she added, "I know you were just showing off for Darcy, so don't think I read nothing into you putting your arm around me. You should've see th' look on his face when ya' did, though."
Enos laughed, relieved that she'd known the truth.
"Maybe he'll finally leave me alone at school now."
Daisy turned back to the group of girls sitting at the table with her. She had no way of knowing what had transpired between Darcy, Enos, and Amy. All she had seen was Enos and Amy, walking past the food tent, his arm around her shoulders. If anyone would have told her, she would never have believed them. She'd thought for certain he'd come here with Amy just to...well, just to make her mad, not because he actually felt something for Amy after all these years.
"That used to be me," thought Daisy, sadly. "That's where I belong, not her." She wasn't paying attention to the other girls until one of them shook her shoulder.
"Hey, Daisy, you coming with us?"
She looked at the expectant faces around her. They weren't normally kids she hung out with, only knowing their names from school, but she hadn't been choosy when she'd sat down. "Where're ya' going?" she asked them.
"Oh, there's a party out at Crater Lake," the girl said, "Come on, it'll be fun!"
Daisy sighed. She expected anything would be more fun than sitting here by herself. Maybe it would take her mind of of Enos for a while. "Yeah, I guess so," she said, with a shrug.
"Great, come on!"
With a last look back at where Enos and Amy had disappeared to, she followed the others away from the food tent.