Author's Notes: There is one particular scene here that y'all may not find entirely characteristic, but it's something I've been wanting to see happen for some time now, and dang it, it's my fanfic. :-D Enjoy.
Chapter 5: Hogg Over Heels/The Digging Begins
Howell took Cooter with him to collect manpower and materials for the digging effort. They passed Daisy coming in along the way - she'd come in to tell Cooter and Luke that the women had food ready down below, knowing they hadn't eaten dinner. Jesse insisted that Luke go eat, though Luke was reluctant to leave. He finally agreed when Jesse told him he'd dig better on a full stomach than an empty one. Daisy led him out, taking his arm as a lady would hold a gentleman's.
Luke was just as shocked to see the turnout of folks who'd come to help and lend support. Howell and Cooter were talking to the groups of men at the bottom of the slope, and he could smell the scent of hot food drifting up from the tables set up on the field. Small children had been taken home by elder siblings, but mothers and older children remained, playing and chatting in vigil while their husbands prepared to work. Luke and Daisy walked down the slope, the latter keeping her impatient cousin from running to eat and get back to the mine. As they reached the parking lot, a familiar white open-topped car drove up, steer horns fixed to the hood. The driver stopped nearby, and Boss Hogg climbed out.
"Luke! Oh, the poor boy, the poor boy!" Boss cried melodramatically. Cooter and Howell turned to look, along with many other eyes from those gathered together. "I have always said that Bo Duke was one of the best, one of the very best Hazzard County had to offer. What a tragedy!"
Daisy felt Luke tense, watching the display.
"Luke, Daisy, let me offer you my heartfelt condolences for your loss. Oh, the poor boy!" Boss cried again, stepping towards the Duke cousins.
In a movement too fast for Daisy to protest, Luke took two steps forward and punched Boss Hogg square in the jaw with a strong right hook, sending him tumbling head over heels into the dirt.
"I don't know what your angle is or what you hope to get from this, but you're not making a dime off this 'tragedy'!" Luke snarled angrily, "Bo's not dead! And he's not gonna be any time soon!"
More than a few jaws hung open in shock as Luke Duke stalked away from the county commissioner struggling to pick himself up off the ground.
"Help me! Help me! Assault! Battery! Rosco, arrest him!" Boss cried out, eliciting a patter of laughter from the group of men nearby. Rosco didn't bother, more afraid of the mood of the crowd than of Boss Hogg just now.
By the time Luke reached the tables of food, applause had started among the crowd, building strong to include shouts and catcalls of approval. Luke smiled despite himself, gratefully serving himself a plate of fried chicken, corn on the cob, and bits and pieces of every other dish on the table - he knew all eyes were on him, and he didn't want to offend any of the generous ladies who'd contributed their culinary skills. Then he went and sat down on an open spot on the grass where he could eat and watch the activity around him. Daisy soon joined him, bringing him a glass of lemonade, though she hardly knew whether to scold him or congratulate him. He just grinned, and she smiled back, and left it at that.
It didn't take Luke long to eat - not only because he wanted to get back up to the tunnels, but he was also very hungry - it seemed a very long time since that picnic lunch after noon. Mrs. Dunney came to gather his dishes and thank him for finding her son - she hadn't had the chance until then. Luke accepted her thanks with all the grace he could muster, but when she'd left, he looked back up the hill to the mine.
"Can I go back now?" he asked his keeper with a teasing tone, though the question was serious. Howell and Cooter had headed in with a group of men several minutes before.
"Yes, let's go," Daisy granted permission with a smile, pulling herself to her feet.
Luke walked with long strides back up the slope into the caves, Daisy keeping pace. Inside, a group of men were securing beams to frame the entrance of the collapsed side-branch, the first of many they'd use to shore up the shaky tunnel as they dug. Jesse stood aside, talking with Ben Howell in low voices. Jesse's face looked deeply serious.
"I think Luke and Daisy should hear this," they heard him say, and he motioned them to come over. Luke furrowed his brow with concern.
Howell turned to them both, speaking so quietly that not even the other workers could overhear. "What I was telling your uncle is, this is going to be dangerous."
Luke nodded - danger was no problem for him.
Howell shook his head, interpreting Luke's meaning. "Not for us, for Bo. As we dig, every hit with a shovel, every strike with a pick, is going to shift the rubble in there just a little bit. When you put that pipe in, you did the same thing - it was risky, but it bought him time. You said he told you there was a big slab of rock leaning over him, that that's what saved him…if our digging shifts things too much…"
"…That rock could fall and kill him," Luke finished for him, just as quietly. He met Jesse's eyes. "What other choice do we have?"
"We don't," Howell said bluntly, "But I wanted to make sure you knew the possibility."
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Once the first shoring was in place, Howell organized the men into four groups. Luke, Cooter, and Jesse all joined in. One group of six was sent outside, to wait. One group held flashlights on the digging and watched for problems. One group hauled buckets of debris towards the back of the cave, piling it up near the last branches of the main tunnel. The last group - including Luke - went at the collapse with pick and shovel with a will, biting into the rocks and boulders with straining muscles. Daisy stood back with the flashlights, keeping an eye on the two-inch pipe that was Bo's lifeline.
The first few feet of the dig went quickly and well, and they had cleared to end of the second pipe when Howell called a halt. The diggers were sent outside to rest and send in the waiting group, and each crew rotated - except Luke. He refused to leave the digging, and Howell didn't argue with him. The second digging crew hoisted another set of beams and shoring, to keep the unstable walls from tumbling in on them. Other men from outside brought in loads of lumber, and several women brought in pitchers of water, glasses, and towels. Though it was a fine cool summer night outside, it was quickly growing hot inside the tunnel.
Bo listened to the shoveling with hope. Dust specks floated down and made him sneeze. He was back in darkness, but it hardly mattered…there was just a few feet of broken stone between him and freedom. The work resumed, and he thought he could pick Luke's efforts out from the rest. He heard voices here and there as they spoke warnings and encouragement, working together to move a heavy boulder. It grew hot, and he inched closer to the pipe for cleaner air. He wanted to call out, to hear a comforting voice, but he didn't want to disturb their efforts, so he lay silent, just listening.
When another length of pipe came uncovered, Howell rotated the crews again. Again, Luke refused to move. Howell frowned, but again allowed it. He couldn't blame the man for his fear and worry, and he drew energy from it like four other men combined. More shoring went up. Just fifteen feet - three lengths of pipe - to go. The work had become more difficult - large boulders had to be dug around and heaved out, wider sections of the tunnel had collapsed further in, and the constant danger of collapse overhead kept several men jumping at each flutter of dust.
Outside, it was drawing late, well after midnight. Many of the women and some of the lumber-deliverymen went home, planning to return early in the morning. Others stayed, spreading out blankets to sleep under the stars and wait for news. Campfires were built here and there, by those who didn't intend to sleep - at first Rosco tried ticketing several people for starting a fire without a permit, until the county fire chief stood up at one campfire and declared all the fires permitted. Some of the men on the digging crews came down from the mines on their rest shift and traded places with fresh men. Tired of sitting around, some women came up as well, taking the place of flashlight holders or bucket-haulers and running water to each of the workers. It heartened every one of the Dukes to see how so many people cared and how much they were willing to help.
A hour passed before the third pipe was cleared, and part of the fourth. When Howell changed the crews this time, he refused to let Luke stay on. The dark-haired Duke argued, but Howell would have none of it. The young man was soaked with sweat and pale with exhaustion, and if it weren't for the shovel holding him upright his trembling limbs might not have held.
"That's your cousin in there, but this is my work out here, son, and you're done until I say so. You listen to me or these fellows will drag you out," Howell told him gruffly. When the elder Duke cousin's fiercely stubborn expressed didn't change, he went on. "You think you'll do your cousin a bit of good if you work yourself to death trying to reach him? He's gonna need you," he emphasized, jabbing a finger at Luke's chest, "To be strong, to be here, when he's free." Luke looked past Howell's shoulder at Uncle Jesse, who was picking up a pickaxe, for help.
"Don't look at me, Luke, he's the man in charge!" Jesse shrugged. He knew Howell was right, and he wouldn't supercede the man's authority.
With a sigh, Luke relented, and handed his shovel off to another man. He walked off a few steps and started to sit down against the wall, but Howell stopped him.
"No - outside," he ordered, pointing.
With another vain, pleading look at Jesse, Luke did as he was told, followed by the rest of the third digging crew.
Outside the main entrance, he slumped against the rock, watching the other men disperse to family and friends. His family and best friend were still inside, and he felt alone watching the faces around the bright firelight. The stars shone bright and plentiful in the velvety night sky, only a sliver of a moon showing. The Thumbnail of God, Uncle Jesse had called it when he was little. He closed his eyes, feeling the cool breeze that swept the sweat and heat from his body, and thought what an awful thing it would be to die in those black caves, without the sun, the moon, or the stars.
Luke didn't know if he had dozed off or simply lost track of time. A dim rumbling sound met his ears, and he was on his feet and sprinting into the cave before he heard the shouts.