– Chapter One –

"Impact"

Howdy, y'all, and welcome back to Hazzard County! If any of you were in the area 'bout eight months ago, you might remember the wild happenings that ol' Bo an' Luke got mixed up in. They got tangled up with A.J. Brock, a real nasty gambler, no thanks to Boss Hogg. But thanks to their new family member—that'd be the four-legged feller—things worked out pretty good in the end.

Right now, it looks like you picked a good time to come back for a visit. Even with all the day-to-day trouble that follows the Duke boys like a lost pup, things have been pretty quiet 'round here for a while. 'Course, y'all know what that means…it ain't gonna stay that way for too much longer.

Jesse Duke shut off his truck, carrying his keys in one hand and the mail in the other as he ambled toward the house. He was recovering from his most recent encounter with Emma Tizdale and focused on flipping through the envelopes, so he didn't hear the unusual commotion from the house until he was almost at the door. When he finally noticed the noise from inside, his bushy white eyebrows drew together in a puzzled frown, and he stepped close to the open window and peered curiously inside.

Luke was dodging around the furniture playing keep-away while Fender chased after him, barking excitedly as he jumped against the young man's legs. The dog's tail was wagging so fast it looked like a golden blur behind him. Luke darted around the couch and dropped to his hands and knees to let the dog catch him. He grabbed the furry maniac in a headlock and wrestled with him on the rug. Fender growled playfully, swatting at Luke's head with his paws. Luke just held on tighter and growled right back.

Then Jesse noticed a flicker of movement from the hallway, and he saw a hint of blond hair as Bo cautiously peeked around the corner. The old man could read his nephew's face like a book, and the mischievous gleam in the sparkling blue eyes was a dead giveaway to what was about to happen next. Jesse smiled, but rolled his eyes heavenward and prayed that nothing important would get broken.

"Yeeeehaaaaww!" Bo flung himself across the room and pounced on his cousin, grabbing Luke in a bear hug as they rolled on the floor. Fender squirmed out of Luke's arms and spun around, barking madly and bouncing around the pair of cousins. Jesse swallowed his laughter and watched in silence while he listened to the verbal sparring from his nephews as they tussled on the floor.

"Oof! Geez, Bo…!"

"Ha HA! You never saw it comin'!"

"Ain't you a little big to go tacklin' people?"

"If you can't take it, old man, just say so!"

The dig was enough to make Luke switch tactics and go on the offensive. "I'll 'old man' you! You ain't beat me at wrestling yet, and it ain't about to start now."

"Cousin, you—unh!—you are gonna eat those words!" Bo scrambled to his hands and knees and lunged forward, grabbing Luke in a headlock just as Luke had been pinning Fender to the floor a moment earlier. "All right, Luke, say 'uncle'!"

"The only man I say 'uncle' to is Uncle Jesse!" Luke shot back. He threw his body sideways and knocked Bo over, but Bo still had a firm grip on him and the two cousins fell over in a heap.

"Ain't no gettin' away from me!" Bo said with a triumphant laugh.

Luke grinned slyly. "Oh, yeah?"

Bo suddenly yelped and squirmed, scooting as far away from his cousin as he could without losing his hold. "Hey, that's playin' dirty!"

"Nope, it's called takin' advantage of your enemy's weakness! It ain't my fault you're ticklish." Luke reached out again and squeezed Bo's ribs with his fingertips. Bo held him for a moment longer, but when Luke kept at him he was forced to let go. Luke never left a battle half-finished, though, and he zeroed in on his youngest cousin. Fender jumped on top of both of them, and a moment later the couch tipped over with a whump! as the tangle of wrestlers bumped into it.

Bo and Luke rolled away from each other and sat up, disheveled and laughing as they surveyed the damage.

"Woops."

"You done it this time, Luke."

"Me? Hey, you started it!"

"Yeah, and I was about to finish it."

"Sure you were—and I ain't never got a speeding ticket!"

Fender was still wound up and ready for more, and he seized Bo's t-shirt in his teeth and started tugging.

"Whoa, now!" Bo reached behind him and grabbed hold of Fender's bright orange collar, pulling the dog forward onto his lap. "Don't rip that, boy! Daisy ain't gonna be happy if she has to fix that."

"Well, you got nobody to blame but yourself," Luke said smugly, giving Bo's shoulder a firm nudge with his fist. "You should know not to fight somebody better'n you."

"You know what they say—pride goeth right before you get your tail kicked," Bo retorted, giving Luke a little shove in return.

Jesse could see that another wrestling match was imminent. As much as he enjoyed watching his nephews horse around, he preferred that they do it somewhere outside. So he chose that moment to bang open the back door and stomp into the house.

"All right, what's all this monkeyshines?" he demanded. Both boys jumped and exchanged a sheepish look as their uncle stared down at them with his hands on his hips.

"Uh—well, we's just, um…re-arranging the furniture, Uncle Jesse," Bo said brightly.

"Yeah, we thought it was time for a change," Luke said, climbing to his feet. He reached out so Bo could grab onto his hand and stand up.

Jesse narrowed his faded blue eyes at them. "Do you boys remember how old you are?"

"Ummm…old enough to pick up the couch?" Bo guessed, grabbing hold of one of the arms. Luke stepped around to the other side and the two of them righted the well-worn piece of furniture.

"Old enough to know better than to knock it over in the first place," Jesse corrected sternly. "Is this what happens when Daisy and I leave you two alone?"

Luke stifled a laugh as he glanced at his cousin. "Not all the time." Bo snickered.

Jesse wondered what went on the rest of the time when he wasn't around, but his nephews looked sufficiently apologetic (if you looked past the half-amused, half-guilty expressions on their faces) so he decided to let the matter drop and address the real reason he had hurried back from town.

"Well now, if you boys are done tearin' up the house, I got a job for you."

"What'cha need, Uncle Jesse?" Luke asked, straightening his shirt.

"I ran into Kelly Tompkins in town this afternoon and she asked me if you two wouldn't mind doin' her a favor. She really appreciated the way you boys have been helpin' over the past couple weeks, what with Phil laid up, and she wanted to know if you could fix the roof on their house. It weren't in good shape to begin with, and the storm we had last week really tore it up."

"Sure, no problem!" Bo agreed cheerfully. The Tompkinses were a couple in their fifties who had run a small but thriving soybean farm until Phil's leg had been broken when his tractor had overturned a few weeks before. He was coming along fine, but it seemed as if all the little things that could go wrong had happened at once just as soon as he was unable to do anything about it.

"Does she have shingles and everything already out there or do we need to pick it up?" Luke asked, pulling his boots on.

"She said she had everything there. All she needs is for someone to get up on the roof an' take care of it," Jesse replied. "She was just headin' home when I saw her in town, so she should be out there by now. Said since it looks like you might be helpin' her out regular until Phil's back on his feet, she's plannin' on payin' you for your work. You can drop by any time."

"Well, we ain't doin' anything now. What d'you think, Bo?"

"I think 'any time' is right now!" Bo said cheerfully. "Let's hit the road, Cuz!"

"Right behind you," Luke answered, following his cousin to the door.

Fender heard the jingle of car keys immediately and sprang to his feet, chasing eagerly after his two driving buddies. Luke was already inside the General and Bo was about to climb in when he saw the pale gold dog running across the yard toward the car.

"Whoop! Hold it!" Bo burst out. He braced himself and caught the dog in midair as he attempted to leap through the window. The impact of fifty pounds of energetic canine slamming into him knocked him back against the car, and he staggered a bit before he regained his balance. "Sorry there, Fender-bender," he said, letting the dog drop to the ground. "You're gonna have to stay home this time." He looked back toward the house, where his uncle was watching them leave. "Uncle Jesse, can you hold onto him so we can get outta here?"

"Sure thing." Jesse trudged across the yard and stooped to take hold of Fender's collar, gently guiding the disappointed dog away from the General. "How come you're not takin' him with you?"

Bo shrugged. "Well, we tried that last time, but while we was workin' he treed five of their barn cats in their big sycamore out front. He was real proud of himself, but it took almost two hours for Luke and me to get 'em down."

"The cats couldn't get down on their own?" Jesse asked skeptically.

"That's what I thought, but Miz Tompkins said the last time they was treed, they didn't come down for three days, and that was only after Phil had to go up and get 'em. She felt kinda bad about askin' us to go up after 'em, but she didn't have no other way to get 'em down." Bo rolled his eyes. "They may be good mousers, but they ain't too bright."

"They ain't too friendly, neither!" Luke piped up from inside the car. "I still got scratches on my arms where they nailed me."

"Long story short, we don't wanna have to do that again." Bo bent down and gave the half-pricked ears a consoling pat. "Don't worry, boy, me and Luke will take you for a spin next chance we get." He climbed inside the bright orange Charger with his cousin, and with a wave and blast of "Dixie" on the horn, the boys sped out of sight.

And there they go. Poor Fender's sure missin' out on a good drive. It's a bright sunny day and there ain't nobody chasin' 'em (and hopefully, they ain't gonna have to chase no cats). Nothin' quite like the peace and quiet of the country…there ain't a sound to be heard except the General. Well, if you don't count the noise comin' from inside it. It's supposed to be singin', in case you couldn't tell.

"'Oh, Lord, it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better lookin' each day!'"

"'To know me is to love me—I must be a hell of a man. Oh, Lord, it's hard to be humble but I'm doing the best that I can.' Bo, I think you're singin' a little flat."

"You ain't exactly no Mac Davis yourself, bud. Now are we gonna finish the song or not?"

"We'll finish! 'Some folks say that I'm egotistical. Hell, I don't even know what that means. I guess it has something to do with the way that I fill out my skin tight blue jeans.'"

"Don't look so smug, Luke. 'Oh, Lord, it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror 'cause I get better lookin' each day!'"

"'To know me is to love me…I must be a hell of a man…'"

"'…Oh, Lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doing the best that I can.'"

"'We're doin' the best that we can!'"

Well, they ain't gonna win no awards for their two-part harmony any time soon, but they sound pretty good for a couple of country boys, don't they?

Both cousins started laughing when they finished the chorus. A plume of dust floated behind the bright orange car as it cruised easily along the red dirt road. When the road started curving off to the left, Bo went straight, taking the General off-road in the shortcut they usually took to the Tompkins farm.

"I don't know why we always take this way. Ain't this ravine just a little rough on the shocks?" Luke asked as he was jostled against the door.

"Luke, why did we buy these shocks from Cooter if we ain't gonna use 'em?" Bo rolled his eyes. "I think you are gettin' old. First I beat you at wrestling, and now you're—"

"Hey, hey, who beat who?" Luke broke in with a laugh. "I had you right where I wanted you!" He reached over and poked his cousin in the side.

"Luke!" Bo twisted in his seat, fighting back a smile as he swatted his cousin's hand away. "I'm drivin'! Danged if you ain't gettin' to be as bad as Daisy." He put both hands on the wheel and looked ahead, focusing on the narrow concrete bridge they were about to pass under.

Luke chuckled and shook his head. "Nobody's as bad as Daisy. I ain't even ticklish and she can still make me squirm. You remember that one time when she—"

BAM!

Bo yelped in surprise, swerving sharply as something slammed into the front end of the car just as they passed under the bridge. He dimly saw a dark shape go tumbling by his window. It took him only a few seconds to recover and slam on the brakes, bringing the General to a screeching halt in a cloud of dust.

"Luke, you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine," his startled cousin replied. "What the heck happened?"

"I don't know. I hit somethin', but I don't know what it was. I didn't see a thing."

"We better go check."

"Way ahead of you, Cuz." Bo crawled out of the window and landed lightly on the ground. He took a few steps back the way he had come—then stopped dead in his tracks as the blood drained from his face. "Holy smoke—!" He bolted back to the bridge at a dead run.

Alarmed, Luke hurried to haul himself out of the car. He felt his body grow cold as he saw his cousin bending over a long, dark shape on the ground. He raced back to join Bo, but no sooner had he arrived than Bo stumbled back, blue eyes wide with horror.

"He's dead!" he choked out. "Luke, he's dead!"

"What?" Luke skidded to a stop beside his cousin, looking down in disbelief at the twisted shape of a man lying in the brush by the side of the road. "Oh, my Lord..."

Bo started to shake. "Luke, I killed him!" he gasped. "I—I didn't even see him!" His breath came in ragged bursts, harsh and loud in the quiet of the back country.

Luke was just as frightened as his cousin, but Bo's panic was filling the air like a choking fog and he knew he needed to bring the situation under control—and fast. He reached back into long-buried memories and pulled up the flat feeling of detachment that he had learned when he'd been in the Marines, wrapping it around his mind like armor. He forced himself to look away from the body and put his hands on Bo's shoulders, giving him a sharp shake. "Bo…Bo, snap out of it! I know you're scared, but you gotta calm down. Bo, look at me!"

The firm command got Bo's attention and he swallowed hard, looking down into Luke's face. He looked lost and terrified, but that just gave Luke more determination to push his own feelings aside and bring things into focus. He took hold of Bo's arm and gently tugged him away, close to the car. "Come on. Sit down before you fall down. You're white as a sheet."

Bo let Luke guide him down, dropping cross-legged in the dust with his head in his hands. "What am I gonna do?" he panted. "Luke…I killed someone!"

The high, unnatural tremor in Bo's voice cut Luke like a knife. He sat down next to him, wrapping his arm tightly around his shoulders. He could feel Bo's heart pounding like mad inside his chest.

"Quit sayin' that," he said, trying hard to keep his voice from shaking and praying that Bo couldn't hear it. "Just—just calm down. It ain't your fault…he came outta nowhere. I didn't see him either. He stepped right out from behind the bridge."

"What am I gonna do?" Bo asked again.

"I'll tell ya," Luke answered. "You ain't gonna do anything. I'm gonna call Enos and have him come out here. We'll have him sort things out."

Bo squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed convulsively. "I feel sick."

Luke patted him on the back. "Quit breathin' so hard. Take it easy, all right? I'm gonna get up and call Enos on the CB. It's gonna be okay, Bo. You hear me? It'll be okay." Luke hastily stood and grabbed the mike from the car, trying to shake the ugly feeling that he had just lied to his cousin.

"This is Luke Duke callin' Hazzard Two. Enos, you got your ears on? Come back, it's an emergency."

The short pause of radio silence seemed like an eternity before Luke heard Enos' concerned voice coming over the airwaves. "I read you, Luke. What's the trouble?"

"Enos, I need you to come out to the bridge over Cottonwood Road. We've had an accident."

"An accident? Y'all okay?"

"We're fine, but…" Luke took an unsteady breath. "We hit somebody."

"Possum on a gumbush!" the deputy exclaimed. "Are they hurt bad?"

"He's—he's dead, Enos."

"Possum on…" Enos' stunned voice died away. Over the CB, Luke could hear Enos flip on his siren. "Just sit tight, Luke. I'm comin' fast as I can."

Friends and neighbors, I don't know how it looks from where you're sittin', but from where I'm at, this looks bad. A lotta crazy things happen when a Duke is behind the wheel…but never somethin' like this.