Luke came around enough to start running toward the fire again. He almost felt as if he were sitting on the sidelines watching his own actions rather than performing them.
"Ready, LUKE?" Bo said, as they were standing in Uncle Jesse's back yard. Bo had on his full green and white high school football uniform, ready to pounce on his cousin.
Luke had always heard that just before death, your life flashes before your eyes. In this case, Bo's life was playing out in volumes inside his head as he continued to run.
"Check it out, LUKE!" Bo grinned madly when he spotted the charger in the junkyard, the one that would eventually become the General Lee.
"What are we gonna do, LUKE?" Bo asked with a worried expression on his face. They were sitting in the back of a police car, having just been arrested for transporting moonshine. That was the end of Jesse's ridge runner days.
"You're like the brother I never had, LUKE." Bo had said in a rare moment of seriousness, when Luke had found out his best friend in the Marines had been killed in an accident.
And now, it appeared, Bo had been killed, or at least badly hurt, in an accident of his own.
As Luke drew closer he could feel the heat from the flames. Nearing the edge of the Speedway parking lot, a chain linked fence topped with barb-wire and a big ditch separated him from his destination.
Without regard to anyone's personal property, Luke jumped up on top of a car that was parked next to the fence and attempted to climb over the top. Chances are he would get pretty scratched up as well as wet when he jumped into the ditch on the other side, but none of those facts entered his mind as the life of Bo continued to play out in his mind.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Back at the farm, everybody was getting ready to watch the race. Cooter and Betty Jean fixed popcorn and sodas in the kitchen while Daisy helped Uncle Jesse settle into his favorite easy chair.
"Uncle Jesse, it's about time for the race, you want me to turn it on?" Daisy asked as she stood by the television set.
"I'm afraid to, Daisy. My big toe's been hurtin'. And you know what that means."
"Don't worry, Jesse. I'm sure Bo'll be fine. Cooter feels pretty confident that they'll check out the car before they let Bo drive."
"Even so, there's still Luke to consider. I'm not sure he even knows how to handle heavy traffic. Ya can't go drivin' in Atlanta the way you can here in Hazzard County. Ya got people to consider down there. It'd almost take a miracle for everything to turn out just right."
"Well Jesse, if the Lord's handing out miracles today, I'm sure you'll be the first person to be on the receiving end."
"I hope you're right, girl." Jesse replied, patting her hand before letting out a big sigh. "Well, I guess there's no reason for us to sit around here like ostriches with out heads buried in the sand, might as well turn on the TV and find out what's goin' on."
Daisy got up and turned on the T.V.
"Hey wait on us!" Cooter exclaimed as he carried a couple of big bowls into the living room. He dropped one onto Jesse's lap, a few pieces of popcorn spilling over the side. He never saw Jesse's glare as he settled on the floor near the TV while Daisy and Betty Jean sat on the sofa.
"Oh, looks like we're a little early." Betty Jean commented as a news broadcast was showing.
"News Channel 2 has received word that a mysterious car fire has erupted in a parking lot adjacent to the Atlanta Motor Speedway. While the details are sketchy at this time, we have been told that this fire has something to do with the race itself and that the race will be delayed by at least 30 minutes."
The scene on television switched from the reporter to a helicopter view of the speedway. Flames were clearly visible in the parking lot. A close up of the car in question showed that it was fully engulfed in flames but gave the viewer no clue as to what it had looked like previously. A figure lay on the ground nearby surrounded by several people.
"From what you can see here, it appears that the driver has escaped the burning car, although we don't know if that was accomplished through his own power or by the assistance of bystanders. So far, we have not witnessed any movement from the victim and his condition is unclear. Paramedics, we are told, are en-route to the scene."
Everyone in the Duke living room had a look of shock on their faces. The dead silence was finally broken when Daisy began to sob.
"Now just hang on, ya'll." Cooter said, getting up. "Now there's no guarantee that it's Bo. Don't cross your bridges yet."
"It's all my fault." Jesse said, barely above a whisper. "If I had paid off that old hospital bill last year instead of using the money to go to that ridge runner's reunion up in Nashville, this wouldn't even be happening."
"Now Uncle Jesse, don't go beating yourself up, now like I said, there ain't no guarantee that's Bo. Let's not jump to conclusions." Cooter reminded him.
"If you're so convinced..." Jesse began with a tear in his eye. "Then why were you the one who brought up the idea that it could or couldn't be Bo in the first place?"
Cooter's only response was to bow his head slightly as channel 2 took a commercial break.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Bloody and wet with a torn shirt, Luke pulled himself out of the ditch and continued to race toward the inferno, the heat intensifying.
"LUKE!"
"LUKE!"
Memories of Bo continued as he ran up and forced his way between the onlookers. What he saw next made him gasp.
He found himself staring at a motionless form laying face down on the ground, his helmet still on and his clothes charred from the flames.
"Bo." Luke whispered, as he dropped to the ground. He reached for him but one of the pit crew grabbed his hand.
"Ambulance is on the way. We don't know what his injuries are. Might not be a good idea to move him."
Luke forcefully pulled his arm from the crewman's grasp. Again he reached for his cousin to turn him over. He had to see for himself how bad it was.
There's an old sayin' in the hills that says 'As afraid as I am of the dark, I'm more afraid of the light.' Well friends, right now we're in the dark, and I think that old sayin' fits right in.