"Mr. Kane, could you excuse us a few moments?" Jesse asked, never taking his eyes off Boss.
The lawyer, sensing the growing tension in the room, gathered up all of his paperwork and hurried out.
"Now Jesse, don't take this the wrong way…." Boss began.
"You low down dirty…….rat." Jesse began. "One thing you can thank your lucky stars for is that I am a God fearin' man, because that ain't what I truly wanted to say!"
"Jesse…."
Jesse pointed out the window in the direction of the farm. "I just left a boy who was completely changed from yesterday, 'cause you see yesterday he was so upset to find out J.D. Hogg was his father that he couldn't even face us for awhile. And today he's so excited to have a father who…" Jesse put his fingers up as if he were making quotation marks. " 'loves' and 'accepts' him that he can't even see straight. And that is the same boy who, despite your wealth, you haven't even cared enough about all these years to give him two nickels to rub together!"
"Jesse…."
"And here your father had the good sense to realize all this, and took the opportunity to give Bo what he's truly deserved all these years, and you take that away from him too!"
"Jesse, you're taking this all wrong!" Boss began, finally being allowed to speak.
"Oh? Please explain to me how I've misjudged you." Jesse said, sitting down and crossing his arms.
"Look, we both know that Bo ain't the sharpest tool in the shed, if you know what I mean." Boss began, grabbing a cigar out of his box. "It never was my intention to take the money from him and leave him empty handed. I thought it would be much better for me to….invest in some things that would yield a steady profit for him in the future."
"Let me guess. Frothy brewing company?" Jesse asked.
"Well, yeah." Boss replied.
"Mr. Kane!" Jesse yelled, causing Boss to jump. Mr. Kane rushed back into the room. "I'm glad you've called me back, gentlemen. I'm due in court in Atlanta at 3:00 p.m. and really need to wrap things up." He pulled the acknowledgement from his briefcase and slapped it in front of Jesse again. "Now if you will just sign, Mr. Duke….."
"I have a problem Mr. Kane." Jesse interrupted.
"A problem with the will?"
"No." Jesse replied. "A problem with the form that Bo signed. You see, I'm certain that he didn't know what he was signing"
"Oh that." Oliver replied. "I'm afraid there's nothing that I can do about that, Mr. Duke. Any grievances you wish to file concerning the transition form will have to be done through the district judge."
"And he only comes around these parts once a month." Jesse mused.
"If you don't mind a trip, Mr. Duke, I know for a fact that Judge Wright is holding court today in Chickasaw County. Perhaps you could go over there and speak to him."
"I might just do that. I'd thank you to make copies of the will and the transition form, Mr. Kane."
"I'll do that as you sign the confirmation." Oliver replied, looking at his watch.
Jesse signed the confirmation only to have it quickly snatched away by the time-pressed lawyer. He then handed Jesse the copies he had made. "I'll be back in my office this evening Mr. Hogg. If all goes well, the money transfer should take place tomorrow morning."
"Fine, fine." Boss replied as he exited the office. On his heels was Jesse.
"Wait, Jesse, wait! Where are you going?" Boss asked.
"Where do you think I'm going J.D.? I'm going into Chickasaw County to talk to Judge Wright."
Boss became angry. "Well you go ahead, Jesse Duke. You convince the judge why he should throw out a perfectly legal document. Furthermore, go back to your ramshackle farm and tell Bo your version of everything that just happened here. If the last two days are anything like you've said, I'm sure it will be just what he needs to hear."
"J.D.!" Jesse began, coming up quick to the short, heavyset man. Boss quickly pulled Roscoe in front of him, who quickly pulled Enos in front of him. "If you do the slightest thing to prevent me and my boys from goin' into Chickasaw to talk to the judge, so help me…." He wiggled his finger at Boss before exiting the office.
Outside, Jesse muttered to himself as he made his way to the pickup truck. He climbed inside and unsuccessfully tried to start it.
As he continued to try the ignition, Cooter pulled up in his tow truck and blew the horn. "Hey Jesse. I've looked all over for Bo but haven't had any luck. You?"
Jesse slapped the steering wheel in frustration. "He was at the house the whole time. Can you believe it? I've ran out of gas."
"Well you're talkin' to the right person. I'll grab the gas can and get enough for you to pull over to the station and fill up."
Jesse waved his suggestion away. "No I don't have time for all that. You need to give me a ride back to the farm." He ended by exiting his truck and climbing into the passenger seat of Cooter's before the mechanic had a chance to argue,
Cooter shrug his shoulders and began to drive. "Since we have a little time, maybe you can let me in on what's been happening around here."
Jesse filled Cooter in on everything that had come out in the last two days. Cooter let out a low whistle. "You gonna tell Bo what you just found out?"
"Not 'till he's in the back of the General with it in high gear. I'll not have him runnin' off on me again."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I can't believe it. Everything seemed to be going so well." Bo sighed as he walked down the stairs of the Chickasaw County Courthouse. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes…."
The 'it' he was referring to was the will and transition form that Jesse had copied for him. He had read and re-read the forms as he sat in the back of the General as Luke drove them to Chickasaw County at lightning speed.
The news in Chickasaw wasn't much of an improvement over that which they had already heard that day. District Judge Wright asked Bo if he had signed the form, which he had to admit. The Judge then explained that while he felt for Bo, the law would rule in favor of the transfer and Bo's argument that he hadn't read the form wouldn't stand.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do now." Bo agonized once they were back in the General and on the way home. "He's still my father but…but he framed me."
The trio rode in silent thought for a few moments when they were nearly sideswiped by a speeding motorcycle. Luke slammed on the breaks as did the motorcycle driver, who somehow managed to remain upright despite the near collision.
As the dust settled, Luke got out of the car and walked over to the motorcycle driver. "Look fella, you need to be more careful on these roads."
The driver removed 'his' helmet and Luke was surprised to find himself staring at Emma Tisdale. "Sorry Luke. I'd never do anything to endanger you, and especially not your Uncle Jesse." She finished by winking at Jesse, who simply offered her a slight smile and wave.
"No harm done, I suppose." Luke continued. "But why are you in Chickasaw County anyway? I thought you's delivering mail over in Hazzard today."
"Well, I was coming to look for you, actually." Ms. Tizdale replied.
"What did you want with us?" Jesse asked.
"Well, Cooter told me this morning that Bo was missing, and since no one could find him I thought I'd check with his Aunt Bea. Well, you know how Bea is. She's powerful worried about Bo and wanted me to come fetch you so she could find out what was goin' on. She'd come herself if she weren't bedridden."
"Well, Bo's just fine, as you can see, so please slow down." Luke encouraged her.
"I can't, Luke. I'm REALLY behind on my deliveries now! If you don't mind, I might make your house my last delivery. I might be there around 9:00, 9:30, you know, just when the fireflies come out and the porch is cool enough to set out on a comfortable swing and talk." She finished by winking at Jesse and kicking her motorcycle into gear. The Dukes stared as she sped off in the distance.
"Well, while we're here we might as well put Bea's mind at ease." Jesse said as Luke climbed back in.
"Can't we just call her on the C.B., Uncle Jesse?" Luke asked.
Jesse shook his head. "Bea never has and never will have a C.B. in her house. She thinks they're too modern."
The boys managed a laugh as Luke backed up and took the route to Bea's house.
Jesse and Luke were the first to enter Bea's house. "Jesse! Luke! I'm so glad to see you. I heard Bo was missing and…"
She stopped short when Bo walked through the door. "Bo! Thank goodness! You tried to scare your Aunt Bea into an early grave. Come over here and give me a hug."
Bo went over and received a tight squeeze from his Aunt. After, her expression changed from sentimental to stern. "I'd expect at your age you'd understand you're too old to run away and give everyone the fit that you did. Do you mind explaining to me what is going on?"
Bo struggled to explain the events of the past two days to his Aunt, wiping away the occasional tear.
"J.D. Hogg your father? That's nonsense Bo, pure nonsense."
"I don't think so, Aunt Bea. Not according to the letter my mother wrote."
"What letter? I'd like to know what this letter says." Bea replied.
"Well that's simple enough. I still have it here in my shirt pocket." Luke announced, pulling out the letter."
"You'll have to read it to me, Luke. My eyesight isn't so good anymore." Bea revealed.
"No problem." Luke replied. Dear Family:
As you know, Matthew and I have ran into some trouble keeping up with our mortgage payments this year. The crops are not doing as well as we have expected and as you can imagine with Matthew having just returned from the service less than a year ago, it takes some time to get things up and going the way they used to be. Add a new mouth to feed to the above situation and it gets even worse.
Jefferson is really bearing down on us for the payments. It's gotten so bad that if we don't have the payment in by noon on the due date, he threatens foreclosure. I know this is all because he is upset about what happened, and he is taking it out on me any way he can. I also know that we are not going to have the payment in on time this month..
As bad as I hate to, I'm going to have to tell Jefferson that Bo is his child. I feel it is our only way out as even Jefferson wouldn't be cruel enough to cast out his own son.
I am asking all of you for your understanding. Matthew and I love the baby so much and only hope that this doesn't backfire and cause Jefferson to fight for Bo. I feel the fact that he is running for county commissioner this year will cause him to keep quiet about this situation, as news such as this have cost many men an election.
Bea remained silent for a few minutes. "That sounds just like the letter I got all those years ago, Luke."
"You mean you knew about this?" Bo asked, hurt even further.
"At least I'm pretty sure it's the same letter. Finish it, Luke." Bea ordered.
Luke looked at the back of the letter as if words would appear. "I can't, Bea, that's it."
Be paused for a moment, "Jesse, could you hand me that Bible?" Bea asked, pointing to an oversized family Bible on a bureau near the bed.
Jesse handed her the Bible which she thumbed through until she ran across a yellowed envelope. "I think this is it." She said, handing the envelope to Jesse.
Jesse examined the envelope which bore Olivia's return address. He opened it up and pulled out the yellowed paper. The writing matched what Luke had just read.
"Wait a minute!" Jesse exclaimed in surprise. "There's another page here!"
"Well read it Jesse." Bo exclaimed as the boys stood to look over his shoulder.
Jesse cleared his throat and began to read aloud:
I also ask that you keep this as quiet as possible. Matthew is so proud of his son, and it's killing him that I'm having to make up this lie about Bo's paternity just to keep a roof over our heads. The less people that know about this, the better. As you can imagine, he's afraid some will believe the lie, as Bo was born premature.
With Love,
Olivia