A/N: The "yard bull" is the slang name for the railroad security officer or the railroad cop.


"Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't mean they don't love you with everything they have to give."
-Unknown


The graffiti covered grainer that Luke Duke was riding seemed to be in desperate need of repair.

It inched around the curves so slowly that he thought he might make better time just running along beside it, and rattled as if it were in imminent danger of falling apart. He lay down and propped his head up against his rucksack, squinting at the sun flashing intermittently through the trees and waited for time to pass.

He had waited a good three hours in the woods at the bottom of the valley before a train came by that Jack deemed suitable for riding. With a few pointers about how not to get himself killed, the rucksack of camping gear he'd filched from home and forty dollars in his pocket, he had hopped aboard the dilapidated grainer on his way to Etowah. Even riding on the open porch, the car smelled mustily of grain dust and the floor was covered with a finely sifted chaff, blown in from when the hoppers had been filled, that danced in time with the vibration of the rails.

It was quiet. Not the kind that came with a lack of sound - of sounds there was a gracious plenty - but the internal quiet of true solitude. The last time he had he spent any measurable amount of time without company had been in the Marines and that had been by choice, not by design. Outside of his element, he had generally kept to himself, and besides, that was back when the Dukes had still been heavily entrenched in the moon-shining business. No need to call attention where none belonged. That was the proper way of things.

Not like Daisy who had put the Duke family back on the radar of the authorities. What had she been thinking?

He'd sent Bo back home to Hazzard earlier that morning - back to Uncle Jesse and the farm. He didn't know how long it would take to find Enos and Daisy, and neither of them felt comfortable leaving their uncle alone for too long these days. It was like that story they'd heard in Sunday School growing up - how Jacob had sent all his sons to Egypt to buy food during the famine...except the youngest. No...Benjamin couldn't go because his father had already lost his favorite child and couldn't bear to lose another.

Luke ran his hand through his hair in agitation, thinking of how hindsight was always 20-20. How many times had Uncle Jesse reminded them to look out for Daisy? He should have seen that something had been wrong with her...should have said something more, done something different..


Etowah was a large yard for the size of the town, stretching nearly three-quarters of a mile long, with four tracks on the siding and another fifteen running past the station. It was so large, in fact, that Enos and Daisy agreed it would be safer to backtrack down the far side of the ridge, coming out not far from where they had originally gotten off the train and try to enter it from the south end. Here there were only two sets of double tracks to cross and they were away from where they had seen the yard-bull patrolling in his white Ford Bronco.

Daisy looked up at the sky. The days were still cool enough that it looked cobalt-blue and not the hazy grayish-white that would come later in the summer when the humidity turned the air sticky and unpleasant. The birds sang cheerfully from the trees and the sweet smell of cut hay hung thick in the air.

Beside them a set of double rails ran along a wide, gravel covered bank; cutting through the wilderness like silver snakes. Where the gravel ended, the trees began – as though the railroad itself had grown from the forest around it and, if not beaten back by man, would be swallowed again in time.

They walked in silence. Enos had set a quick pace, and with his longer stride, Daisy was forced to half jog to keep up. She wished he would slow down, or at least say something, but every attempt at conversation she had tried had ended in one or two word answers. He was so focused on worrying about things they had little or no control over, she wasn't sure he would notice if she was there or not. Losing the Feds had lightened Daisy's heart, but Enos still glanced nervously over his shoulder every so often, his eyes wary, scanning for signs of movement behind them.

She stole a wistful glance at him, feeling again the bubble of panic rise within her. It suggested that perhaps she was playing a rigged game - that he wasn't thinking of how to save himself from the FBI, but her alone - and that any ground she though she might have gained with him was merely a game of his own making. For the first time in her life, she had to admit that she honestly didn't trust him.

She quickened her pace in time with his steps and threaded her arm though his. "Stop worrying, sugar. If there was somebody following us, we'd know it by now."

He stopped and looked down at her, an apology in his eyes and a shy smile on his lips. "I'm sorry, Daisy. It just...it feels a little too easy, I guess. You sure you saw all of them FBI fellas leave?"

"Um hmm, about an hour before you woke up."

The FBI and State Police had left the railyard two hours after Enos had spotted them from the ridge. Daisy had waited another hour before waking him up from his nap. He claimed he felt fine after three hours of sleep, but he'd still managed to trip over the first track they'd crossed.

"You're sure?"

"I watched 'em with my own eyes, sugar. They packed up the dogs, got back in their cars and drove off."

"Possum on a gum-bush," he whispered, shaking his head in wonder. "I really thought they'd scout the area once them dogs hit on the car we's in."

She shrugged her shoulders and winced as the straps of her backpack shifted against the blisters it had rubbed. "Maybe they're still thinking we're hiding out in McCaysville or Copperhill."

"Maybe," he grunted, sounding unconvinced.

Twenty more minutes brought them to the South end of the yard, and the gray siding and white trim of the Etowah depot rose above the the trees ahead of them.

As they turned the last curve, they froze as a nearby voice called softly, "Enos?...Daisy?"

Daisy spun around, fully prepared to face an armed FBI Agent, but her view was obstructed by a squat metal shed, painted the same gray as the depot, that stood at the edge the empty parking lot. She thought of swat teams... hiding...waiting to seize the two of them.

Enos caught the strap of her backpack and pulled her back behind him."It could be a set-up, Daisy," he murmured, echoing her own fear. "Don't say nothing." She leaned into him, her body taut and her hands gripping his waist, as he addressed the disembodied voice.

"Uh...were you talking to us, ma'am?"

A young woman stepped out from behind the shed, and Enos moved back, wondering if he should tell Daisy to run.

The woman glanced nervously between the two of them. "I'm really sorry, but...but if y'all are who I think you are, I sure am glad I didn't miss you. Trippy called last night and said you might be coming through, so I've been watching from the attic of the depot when I got a chance. I was worried I'd missed you until I saw you down the line a half mile back."

Enos, still not convinced the girl wasn't with the FBI, shook his head. "I'm awful sorry, ma'am, but we're just passing through." He grabbed Daisy's hand and pulled her with him as he turned to go.

"Wait!" she called after them. "Please... Jack said you might not trust me. He said to ask you if you still had the book he gave you...the one he used when he rode the rails."

Enos stopped in his tracks and shut his eyes against the memory of that day in Jack's basement. It seemed like months had passed since then. Knowing that only Jack could have told her such a thing, he turned back around and stepped forward.

"Enos Strate, ma'am," he said, holding out his hand, "and if you're a friend of Jack's, then I'm awful pleased to meet you."

Her eyes lit up with her smile as she shook his hand. "Annie Reece, Mr. Strate," she said, warmly, "and if what I've been hearing about y'all is true, the honor's all mine."

Daisy stepped forward. "You said Jack called you?"

Annie nodded. "Last night, late," she said. "I work the night shift at the CSX station. My dad and Jack go back a long ways."

"Army buddies?" asked Daisy, wondering how they might have known each other.

"Army?" she laughed. "No... My dad's Coldwater Steve. He and Trippy Jack are the last of a dying breed. There aren't many of the old-time hobos out on the rails these days."

"You look a little young to have a dad from the good-old days," said Enos, thinking that the girl couldn't be much over nineteen or twenty.

"I'm older than I look," she said, grinning up at him, "and my dad was fifty-two when I was born." She turned and gestured for them to follow her. "Come on, I need to get you into the depot before someone else sees you. There's been all sorts of cops poking their noses in here all day long, not to mention the FBI agent who's riding around with the bull."

Enos shot a disapproving look at Daisy who shrugged apologetically.

"Uh, no offense, ma'am, but is the depot really the safest place?" he asked, thinking that going into the depot was kind of like trying to break into prison instead of out of it. "You don't reckon we'd be better off just lying low until we can catch another train?"

"Out here's the worst place you could be," she said. "The depot's just a museum now since all we run is CSX freight these days. There's just me working dispatch today, but the next train's not due in for almost two hours so you've got perfect timing. Besides, Jack said you weren't set up to go riding around on trains and asked me to get you some better supplies."

"Supplies?" asked Daisy, not altogether certain about either the girl or being led to a place the FBI might be watching.

"Catching freight trains ain't like riding the bus," Annie answered, with a touch of humor in her voice. "Don't worry though, I'll fix y'all up."


Annie led them though the heavy oak doors of the depot turned museum, and into a room which time had forgotten.

The waiting area was narrow and long with a hardwood floor laid by hand in thin strips of oak, lovingly waxed and polished over many decades. The grain of each piece gleamed with it's own unique pattern, as if they harbored within them memories of many years. A matching oak wainscoting skirted the walls and above that ran thin strips of horizontal, white-washed paneling. The area was quaint and charming despite its utilitarian function.

At the far end of the room was a wide counter with a glass partition above it that still read "tickets", though the paint had peeled and faded over the years. Along the side walls sat two long wooden benches with wrought iron armrests. Enos imagined the place as it must have been sixty years ago, bustling with energy, when trains had been the heart-line of America.

With a sigh, he tore his eyes and thoughts away from the museum and followed Annie through a doorway and into another room which was more modern and considerably more disorganized. A row of gray metal filing cabinets stood against the far wall, their labels yellowed and unreadable. Upon them, stacks of binders, folders, and sheaves of loose papers leaned precariously against each other, ready to fall if the dust around them was disturbed. In the center of the room was a long table with one side pushed flush against the wall. A single light bulb hung unprotected from the ceiling, casting a harsh glare and adding to the dystopia.

Annie gestured them to sit down before pulling up another chair, and with an air of authority that didn't match her young appearance, proceeded to lay out several maps in front of them. "First things first," she said. "Let's find out where you're going."

Daisy and Enos stole confused glanced at each other as she sat down and opened a folder she had taken from the counter.

"Where we're going?" Enos repeated, hesitantly.

"Um hum...," she answered distractedly, studying a page of numbers. "I think Jack's right...the midwestern route's gonna be your best bet, but we've still gotta get you through to De Butts first 'cause there's nothing else going out from here. I could send you north to Knoxville, but you'd be better off staying away from the larger cities."

Enos, who understood very little of what she was saying, shook his head. "I reckon I ain't real familiar with none of that fancy railroad talk, ma'am."

The girl stopped and looked up at him, laughter dancing in her eyes. "Mr. Strate, you gotta quit calling me ma'am. It makes me feel old, like the kids that call me the "museum lady". Just call me Annie."

"Shucks, you sure ain't old!" he said with an endearing grin. "And you can call me Enos...I mean...if you want, since that's my name...uh, well, unless-... Ow!" He glared at Daisy who had kicked his shin underneath the table. "Why'd you go and do that for?"

"Cause she's trying to tell us something and you're rattling on about nothing." With a smirk she said, "His real name's Benjamin," and pretended not to notice the glare Enos shot her.

"Oh, I love that name," gushed Annie, oblivious to the conflict between her two visitors. "I have a nephew named Benjamin, but we call him Benny."

"My name's Enos," he grumbled, rubbing his bruised shin. "Where'd you say we needed to go?"

"Oh, right! Sorry..." She pointed to the rail map in front of the three of them. "There's a twelve-fifteen leaving out on track six to DeButts yard in Chattanooga," she explained, circling the city. "I wish there was something more direct out west, but there's a dead spot between here and Nashvile and three counties without a connecting line."

She looked back down and tapped her pencil in thought for a moment. "You know what...Jack's worried about y'all getting caught switching trains at Memphis, but I think I've got a better idea. We've got a really nice grainer here that belongs to the Tennessee Southern Railway that needs to get rerouted back to them." Her eyes sparkled with mischief, although the reasoning was lost on Enos and Daisy. "I think I'll just reroute it the scenic way." She scooted her chair back from the table. "I'm gonna call Rosie down at Forest Yard in Memphis and see what they've got going out tonight." She picked up the phone that hung on the wall just inside the door and dialed a number.

Daisy leaned closer to Enos. "Did you hear her say out west?" she whispered to him. "How far west is "out west"?"

He shrugged. "I reckon maybe Memphis?"

They listened to the one sided phone conversation, but hearing only Annie's part didn't go far in explaining the plans that had she had apparently conjured up for them.

"...It's TSRR145988," she was saying. "If I could get that on something going up to KC tonight, that would be great." She glanced up at Enos and Daisy and flashed them a reassuring smile. "...Yeah, I know. No, you know how it is, this guy says he needs his shipment in LA tomorrow and I told him there's no way it's gonna be there this week..." She laughed. "Hey, I owe you one. Thanks a lot...you too...bye'."

Annie hung up the phone and scribbled a few numbers down on her paper before picking it back up and dialing the operator. "Hi Sue, say could you get me the Murray railyard at Kansas City?...Sure, I can wait...thanks." She covered the receiver with her hand. "I'm gonna try to go ahead and get you through KC, too, so you won't have to switch trains."

She turned her attention back to the phone. "Hi, Grace, this is Anne Reece down at Etowah. I've got a shipment going up there and I need to get it out on the SF western route tonight if possible...It's on a BN 5:45 from Forest Yard. Is there anything going out west that late?...Really? That's great...sure, it's TSRR145988...You, too...Thanks a lot."

She hung up the phone and flashed them a grin. "Well that was easy enough." She turned the map around so they could see it. "Okay...When you catch out here at Etowah, the car I'll put you on is gonna take you all the way out west, but they'll be moving your car to different trains at Memphis and then again at Kansas City. Don't get worried when they unhook you, just stay on the car I've put you in, but make sure you hunker down under the hoppers because security is crazy around the bigger cities. I'm having them hook y'all onto the LA-53 in KC on it's western run. That train's a cannonball to Los Angeles."

"Los Angeles...possum on a gumbush..."

Daisy shook her head. "What's a cannonball?"

"It just means the train doesn't stop at any stations on the way."

Enos was overwhelmed by the scope of the plan. "That's...quite a trip, ma'am- uh, Annie."

"I'm sending y'all as far away from where the FBI might be looking as possible," she said. "The Sante Fe's western route will take you through Kansas and Oklahoma and across the Rockies before it turns around in Los Angeles and comes back east. Jack's plan wasn't to get you to California, just off the FBI's radar. Union Pacific has a quicker route, but it runs too close to Mexico and they'll probably be checking those stops. This Sante Fe route will keep you outta the desert, too. There's nothing worse than getting stuck out in the desert for three or four days waiting for a train to come by."

Daisy was more worried about the distance. "How long a trip is it?"

"It's three days from KC to LA," answered Annie, and laughed at the expressions on their faces.

"Three days with no stops!?" cried Daisy.

"It's three days with no station stops," she explained. "But trains have to change crews every twelve hours. Usually it takes about ten minutes for a crew change, but always get off together and take your stuff because some engineers do rolling stops even though they aren't supposed to. That means they'll slow the train down just enough for them to hop off and the new crew to hop on without actually coming to a full stop. It saves time since it doesn't take as long for the new crew to get the train back up to speed."

"So we'd only have about ten minutes between stops?"

"If you're tired of riding, you can just get off at a crew change spot and set up camp and then wait for the next crew change. There's usually a train everyday on this route, but the time's might be different, so just be ready. And make sure it's headed the right way," she added.

"So these crew changes," said Enos, "how do we know when they are?"

"That's what Jack's book is," she told him. "It's a crew change guide. Most hobos carry one. If you've got it, I'll show you how to use it."

Daisy handed Enos his backpack, but he shook his head. "It ain't in mine," he said softly, not meeting her eyes, and something in his voice made Daisy's heart skip a sickening beat. "I put it in yours...just in case."

She unzipped her bag, thinking darkly of all the reasons why Enos might have put something he had been entrusted with into her care instead of his.

"It's wrapped up in your blue shirt at the bottom."

She felt through her clothes and found it where he had put it. As she pulled it out, Enos held out his hand.

"Here...Daisy, let me have it, please."

She looked up at him, but his eyes were riveted on the book. He's scared, she thought, and yet she couldn't fathom what had suddenly caused him such panic. Making a mental note to get to the bottom of everything later in private, she held the book out to him. As she did, a piece of paper slipped from its pages and settled on the floor beneath her chair.

In a desperate move, Enos tried to grab it first, knocking his chair over and tripping himself up in the process. Daisy, who was used to such uncoordinated displays from him, picked up the paper.

"Daisy...please...gosh, don't read it."

She ignored him.

Dear Daisy,

By the time you read this, you should be safely back at Jack's house. Please return this book to him and tell him how much I appreciated everything he did for us. Please don't be blaming Matt for letting me go. He didn't know anything about what I had planned and neither did Jack or Jane. It's best this way, Daisy, I want you to believe that. Whether they've taken me back to prison or whether I'm dead, it doesn't matter to me so don't come trying to save me again. I'm sorry I snookered you, but it was the only way I knew to keep you safe until your name gets cleared. You know I love you.

-Enos.

He still knelt before her where he had fallen from his chair. She refolded the note and looked down, into the eyes of a man still haunted by his past and terrified of the future. She told herself he must have written it days ago, and that he'd chosen her on that ridge instead of turning himself in, but in her heart she knew the truth was closer to her unspoken fears. He was simply running to bide his time, and the day he deemed it safe for her to go back home would be the last day she ever saw him.

Her breath caught in her throat as a sob and she looked away, towards Annie, who was watching the two of them with the wide-eyed look of someone who has stumbled suddenly upon a secret tryst.

"Uh...I can show y'all how to use the book later, if you'd rather."

Daisy took a deep breath and blinked back the tears that stung her eyes. "Nope, we're just fine, Annie," she said, "I just...seem to have gotten something in my eye is all. Is there a bathroom around?"

"Sure..." She gestured back towards the door they had come through. "Down past the waiting room and turn left."

Not trusting her voice even to say 'thank-you', Daisy swept out the door, thinking of Enos and all his damned letters. Her footsteps echoed through the empty station as Enos righted his chair and sat down with a heavy heart.

Annie watched him in silence for a moment before asking softly, "Are you two..."

Enos fidgeted nervously and rubbed his neck as it flushed a splotchy crimson. "We're just..." He paused, not knowing how to continue. What were they? Friends didn't seem to cover it. "I...don't rightly know what to call us sometimes."

Annie's hand flew to her mouth in shock. "Oh, no! I didn't mean...Gosh, Enos, I wasn't asking about nothing personal." She laughed in an effort to hide her embarrassment. "I was gonna ask if you two were alright. Daisy seemed kinda upset."

"She'll be fine," he said, waving off her concern. But as he glanced back at the door Daisy had disappeared through, he knew that the trip to Kansas City was going to a very, very, long ride.