Chapter 8: Out of the Frying Pan

The evening passed slowly, without any contact from the kidnappers. Everyone was edgy and tense. Luke was near unapproachable, and spent most of the time sitting on the front porch, taping dynamite with blast caps to a small stack of arrows. Every so often he'd get up, bow in hand, and pace around the house and barn again in silent patrol. He'd stop and look out across the fields to the fences and trees, but he didn't walk more than a hundred yards from any of the buildings. Daisy had called out from work at the Boar's Nest, and sat talking with Enos at the kitchen table. He told her every funny story he could think of about Roscoe and Boss Hogg, but he stopped short when the stories involved Bo and Luke. Uncle Jesse sat with Cooter in the living room playing checkers. Jesse had positioned himself carefully so he could keep an eye on Luke's back through the screen door.

When Enos has run out of stories - or the heart to tell them, at least - the house was silent for a moment but for the click of checker movements. Unable to stand it any more, Daisy set down her mug of tea and stood up.

"Uncle Jesse, I can't take just sitting here! Isn't there anything we can do?" she asked, though she knew the answer.

Jesse's reply was cut off by the ringing of the telephone. Enos stood, straightened his uniform shirt, and answered it. Four pairs of ears listened sharply to his conversation.

"Duke residence…oh, oh, hi…did you…?…They did!…oh no…I'll be sure to tell them, thank you." He hung up the phone and took a deep breath.

"That was Mabel," he told them, "She finally got through to the FBI, and they…they…"

"They what? Spit it out, Enos!" Jesse urged impatiently.

"They said to call back during regular hours Monday morning, if we want to file a missing persons report."

Cooter's jaw dropped. Jesse turned three shades of purple. The skritch of tape resumed on the porch.

"We're on our own, then," Jesse said, when he had himself under control. His voice shook with anger. Enos nodded.

Daisy looked heartbroken. "I, ah…I'm kinda tired, I think I'll go to bed early," she said quietly. She kissed Jesse goodnight and headed for her room, the door near slamming shut behind her. They all cringed to hear muffled sobs a moment later.

Jesse looked at Cooter and Enos. "I better go talk to her," he said, and made his way down the hallway.

Enos sat back down at the table, idling fingering his coffee cup. Left without an opponent, Cooter went outside, and sat down on the porch steps with Luke.

"Hey, Cooter," Luke greeted him softly without looking up from his task.

The mechanic was surprised - it was the first Luke had said since before dinner.

"How's it going, Luke?" he replied. Silence punctuated Luke's lack of response.

Looking up at the bright stars and the moon that crept up above the treeline, just past full, Cooter commented, "Y'know, it's been a long time since anythin' happened in Hazzard that you Dukes couldn't fix, or that I couldn't help you with. Between Boss Hogg and Rosco, thieves, swindlers, even dognappers," he chuckled at the last one as he listed them off. "I don't like having to sit around here like this any more than Daisy."

Luke was silent still, and Cooter was about to get up, when the eldest Duke cousin spoke. "We don't have any leads. Nothing to go on. Nowhere to look, or even to break into. No evidence to find and race back in the General to prove our innocence. Bo's out there somewhere, I know it! But I can't leave Daisy and Uncle Jesse to look. I feel so…helpless," he admitted.

"I know, buddy. Me too."

Cooter stayed outside with him for a while before going back inside. It was getting late. Enos had fallen asleep in his chair. Cooter shook him awake as he passed, pouring himself a cup of coffee and starting a new pot. Jesse quietly exited Daisy's room and closed the door behind him, returning to the kitchen for some coffee as well.

"She's asleep," he told them with sad eyes. "You boys don't have to…"

"We'll stay, Uncle Jesse," Cooter answered for both he and Enos.

Jesse nodded. "Alright, then. Enos, you can take Bo's bed again, and Cooter, if you'd like the couch…" Cooter nodded. "…I'll stay in my chair, and keep an eye on things." He didn't try telling his nephew he should sleep too - he wouldn't be surprised to find Luke standing guard outside in the morning, and he doubted he could convince the boy to do otherwise.

The trio stayed up for a while longer. Enos turned in first, saying quiet goodnights. Cooter gave up on playing checkers against Jesse after the elder Duke hit a ten-game winning streak. He went back outside for a little while, then came in and made himself comfortable on the couch. Jesse put the checkerboard away and refilled his coffee cup, taking a steaming mug out to Luke as well. He had little comfort to offer his nephew but companionship, so they sat together for a while. Chirruping crickets filled the silence. The moon was high overhead when Jesse sipped the last of his drink and stood.

"Luke…" he said soft, but sternly, "I know you're upset, but…don't do anything foolish. We need you here – I need you here. I'm gonna go get some sleep." He didn't need to add 'And you'd better be here when I wake up'.

"I know, Uncle Jesse. I won't, I promise."

"Good lad," Jesse smiled, patting his shoulder. He turned and went inside.

The moon was trailing its way down the arch of the sky when Luke was starting to grow tired. Restlessly he'd paced around the house and barn since Jesse had gone to sleep, leaving caches of dynamite arrows in select spots just in case. He'd sit down, only to hear some whisper of a sound, a twig snapping, a leaf rustling, that would set him on edge again. He'd investigate, to find nothing. Once he went inside for a plate of cold chicken when his stomach reminded him of his missed meal. Now he sat on the porch steps again and leaned his head against the porch beam, closing his eyes. The night had cooled off, and dew had settled onto all surfaces – the grass, his hair and clothes, the wooden planks. It felt good on his skin. He sat for a moment, just like that, letting the tension ease out of his muscles as he listened to the night.

Then he heard the unmistakable metallic click of a pistol cocking, right next to his ear.

Luke's eyes flew open and he leaped to his feet, shouting "UNCLE JESSE!" despite the cold gun barrel inches from his chest. The three men surrounding him smiled cold smiles, and he raised his hands in surrender.

Jesse woke at the shout of warning, only to find himself surrounded as well. Cooter, Enos, and Daisy were hauled roughly from sleep by several more gun-bearing men. Family and friends were herded into the living room, with all exits guarded.

Luke recognized Sonny standing before him with the smug expression of a plan well-executed. The gorilla Snake stood at the back door with two others. Tall Alec stood at the kitchen door with four. Three more stood behind the captives and two on either side of Sonny. The murderous leader laughed as he saw Luke counting the men present against the men from the previous night.

"Had to wait for reinforcements," Sonny said with a feral smile. Then it was his turn to count captives. "Where's your blond possum-hunting brother? He didn't run away like a coward, did he, and leave you to me?" the man goaded.

Luke looked at the thug with a killing glare. "You…!" he began to snarl, but Jesse caught his arm.

"Easy now, Luke. Don't make things worse," he cautioned with a pointed look. Luke backed down, wondering at his uncle's rebuke.

Sonny watched the exchange with amusement. "Well, we'll just have to wait until the little Lost Sheep comes home, won't we? Then we can take care of all our witnesses, where not even the FBI can find your bodies. And you two," he looked at Cooter and Enos, "You picked the wrong friends to visit tonight. Keep 'em quiet," he ordered his men, "And keep an eye out for our friends."

The Duke cousins and their friends were none too gently seated on the couch and chairs in the family room. Jesse had never even had a chance to rise from his old armchair. Luke's heart beat fast with two revelations from the criminal leader's words: one, they'd been monitoring the Dukes on the CB, but two - more importantly - wherever he was, these murderers didn't have Bo.

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Not ten minutes had passed before one of the men at the back door quietly called for Sonny, indicating something out past the barn. The gang leader smiled and turned to his men.

"They're comin', boys. Let's finish this tonight!"

The men smiled back with nods and quiet words of agreement, pulling out their firearms. Three remained with the captives while the rest readied themselves at the doors. Jesse could see motion out the window – military-style, organized movement from tree to shadow, men who knew how to use the available cover to their advantage. Sonny saw it too, unphased. He signaled his men. They burst out of the doors. The shooting began.

Luke strained to hear and make sense of the commotion outside. It sounded like a war zone – and he would know. Leaders shouted orders, men shouted warnings to one another, gunfire was punctuated by the cries of those hit. The fight waged back and forth, moved away from the farmhouse towards the barn as the criminal gang pressed the enemy, then back towards the house as the enemy pushed back. Sonny's men had taken them by surprise, forcing the fight before they were in position.

Luke noticed their guards were distracted, watching their fellows through the windows and doors. He traded looks with Uncle Jesse and Cooter, who'd observed the same. He held out three fingers…two…one…and they leaped up, knocking their captors down. It was a moment's work before the three were disarmed and unconscious. Daisy found a roll of baling twine, and they hog-tied the three men together. Cooter ventured a closer look out the window.

"It's the FBI!" he exclaimed, seeing the large yellow letters on that jackets of the enemy Sonny's men fought. They didn't seem to be winning.

"We'd better help," Luke said, looking out the window himself, "Enos, you stay in here with Daisy. First chance you get, get out and go for help. Get Jim Samuels and Joshua, anyone you can find."

Jesse, Luke, and Cooter braced themselves at the back doorway. The gunfire had fallen off, as ammunition ran out and there was no time to reload. The fighters had taken to fists, wooden slats, any stray object that came into their hands, with varying degrees of success. The three Hazzard residents charged out of the door into the fray.

Now, why do you figure whenever somethin' big happens in Hazzard, the Dukes always manage to step square into it?