Chapter 3: The plot thickens

Author Note: Just so ya know, in all my stories (unless listed otherwise), Bo is eighteen and Luke is twenty-one. In this story, Hank is in his early thirties, and his brothers are in their late twenties.

Thanks to everyone who reviews, it keeps me writing.

The boys had been sitting, tied up, for almost thirty minutes. They were hot, hungry, and extremely irritated.

"Can you get loose?" Bo asked, his own attempts to free himself in vain. Luke shook his head.

"Nope, tied 'em too tight. Looks like were stuck here."

"Don't you got a plan?" asked Bo in a whisper.

"A plan? Who do ya think I am, Houdini?" Luke's voice was harsher than he meant it to be, and he regretted his words instantly when he saw the fear and hurt in his cousin's blue eyes. "Look just sit tight for now, okay? I'll think of somethin'." A few minutes later, all three men congregated around a small card table a few feet away. Luke strained his ears to catch their conversation.

"…don't know why you had to go an' do that, Hank. Now we got more troubles than when we started."

"You hush up, now. If it weren't for me, y'all'd be workin' in that stupid factory still. Workin' maximum hours for minimum wage and killin' your backs."

"…didn't want no trouble with the law…"

"…can be of some use to us. When the job's done, we'll get rid of them. It's that simple." At this, Luke glanced over at Bo to see if he'd heard. He could tell by the sudden paleness in the younger man's face and the widening in his eyes that he had.

Balladeer: Them boys' just got the worst luck. Those three men there are the infamous Hank, Joe, and Wes Milton. The 'Milton boys' have been in the papers as wanted men, havin' done everything from armed robbery to grave robbery. Yup, they've even stolen from the dead. Them boys'll do anything to get rich quick, except maybe work.

"All right, boys. Since you'll probably be stuck with us for awhile, ya might as well earn your keep. Get up," Hank instructed smugly, his gun held firmly in his hand and pointed at the boys. Bo and Luke stood on their feet, heads held high in defense and pride.

"Now here's how it's gonna be. Wes here is gonna cut you loose. Then your gonna follow Joe back in the mine a ways. Then your gonna dig. If ya try anything stupid, you'll get shot. Understood?" Bo and Luke nodded as their hands were freed. They followed Joe for several yards, the mine getting darker and darker. Soon, the only light visible was from the flashlights the Milton boys held, their brightness bouncing here there about the tunnel, casting odd shadows along the walls of the mine.

"This really creeps me out," Bo whispered nervously. Luke moved closer to Bo as he walked, offering what little comfort he could to his younger cousin.

"Just do as they say and watch where you walk; this place is dangerous."

Finally, they stopped, at what looked like mudslide blocking the pathway leading further into the mine.

"Here we are. Your job is to dig through all that so we can get to the other side," said Joe.

"What's on the other side?" Luke asked boldly.

"I don't think that it's necessary for you to know that," Hank said meanly.

"Well, I think if ya want us to dig for ya, we got the right to know what we're digging for, don't you?" Luke stared straight into Hank's souless brown eyes. He lowered his tone and his voice was firm. "You're gonna kill us anyway, right? Ain't we got a right to know what we're dyin' for?" The other two Milton boys seemed very uncomfortable suddenly, as if they were having second thoughts about what they were doing. Hank just stared back at Luke, unflinching. But he answered the question.

"We're lookin' for gold. Gimble's gold." Luke blinked in disbelief. Off to his right, he heard Bo snicker.

"Gimble's gold? The Gimble's gold? Shoot, mister, you might as well be lookin' for Pandora's box, 'cuz Gimble's gold ain't nothin' but legend." Hank's face changed and he turned toward Bo slowly.

"Oh, it's real, boy. And it's somewhere on the other side of this heap of dirt."

"Yeah, we got a map!" Joe, obviously the youngest Milton brother, said proudly.

"A map?" Luke asked. "Where the heck did ya get a map?"

"From the great, great, great, great grandson of Mr. Richard Gimble, the former owner of this here coal mine."

Luke shook his head.

"I think you're mistaken, 'cuz the last blood relative of the Gimbles died back when my uncle was just a kid."

"Yeah, that gold story is just a myth, shoot, everybody in Hazzard knows that," Bo added.

"You're wrong, boys," Wes argued. "I talked to the man himself, Roscoe Gimble."

"Roscoe Gimble!" The boys cried in unison.

"Listen, there's only one man in town who could be behind this, and gauruntee you he is pullin' your leg," Luke said adamantly.

"And who's that?" Hank, who had been quiet up 'til now, spoke up.

"Boss Hogg!"

Balladeer: Yep, it's just typical day in Hazzard…

Okay, there it is! Tell me what you think, Review!