Luke began the steady trek home, holding his aching head. He couldn't tell Uncle Jesse and Daisy what had happened yet, not when he didn't know where the bug was. Besides, Jesse was getting too old to fret over stuff like this. Luke was sure to get threatened with the switch for not telling him once Jesse did find out, but he would face that later.

Luke pulled up to the farm and from what he saw, it seemed that a lecture over being late would be halted, at least temporarily.

"What in the world has Abner got himself into?" Jesse asked the young man who seemed anxious and out of breath.

"Uncle Jesse, pa's done it this time. He's really done it!"

"Done what, Chris?"

"He's done went and made the biggest batch of moonshine I ever did see. The worst part of it is, the feds got wind of it."

Jesse looked shocked. "Where is he now?"

"Back…" Chris drew a breath as he labored to breathe. "….back at the house doing his best imitation of an innocent smile. When I heard the feds were on the way I loaded up all the jugs in the back of ole' Bernice here." Chris continued, slapping the trunk of his car a couple of times." ….and just took off. Uncle Jesse, I came home to visit from school just this morning, and run in to all this. Talk about your welcome back party."

Uncle Jesse snarled. "Abner promised he was gonna quit makin' that stuff."

"I know, but with all them school bills comin' in, it seems Pa didn't think he had a choice. He did it all for me. That's why I gotta stop them revenuers from findin' this shine."

"Well why don't ya just find ye a side road somewhere and bust 'em all?"

"Pa'd kill me if I did that! He says that he's got buyers already lined up. I know it's a lot to ask, but do you think I could stash 'em here for awhile? Least till the feds leave?"

"Are you outta your mind? I know that you know Bo 'n Luke are on probation for transportin' that stuff. Now I've got a little here, left over from my last batch, but if the feds find that amount on my property, they'll think I made a new batch and my boys'll go to jail."

"I'm sorry, Jesse. I just thought maybe you could work somethin' out for us."

Jesse put his hand on Chris's shoulder. "I feel for you 'n your pa, boy. Nobody knows better than us Dukes what it's like to scrape for money ta make ends me, and you're both friends. Good friends. But this ain't somthin' I can help you with."

"You know anywhere where I could hide it?" Chris asked.

Jesse thought for a minute. "See if you'n get it up to the old Choctaw Indian Caves. Then lay low for awhile. Once the feds sweep your pa's place, there won't be much more that they can do, and they'll clear out. You got somewhere you can go?"

Chris thought for a minute. "I know just the place."

"Good."

The three of them heard sirens in the distance. Chris jumped back into his car. "Thanks for the advice, Uncle Jesse!" He called out, tearing out of the Duke driveway and out of sight before the feds arrived on the scene. They bypassed the Duke place and continued on in the direction in which Chris had just went.

"That boy's in a whole mess of trouble. When you think about what he's goin' through, it kinda makes you feel better about your own problems, don't it?"

'That's debatable.' Luke thought, but he replied with "Um, I guess so."

Uncle Jesse gave his nephew a playful slap on the head, right where Luke had been hit. Luke almost gave him that instinctive spontaneous hit in return, but managed to control it. "Whatta ya mean ya guess so? Plowin' a field beats runnin' from the feds any day, even if you are doin' it by yourself."

"Jesse…." Luke began.

"Yes?" Uncle Jesse replied.

Luke paused for a few moments. He never did that, Uncle Jesse knew, unless something he didn't want to hear followed.

"I don't think I'm gonna be able to plow today."

Jesse smiled at what seemed to be a cop out, but then noticed something.

"Ya feelin' alright? You look a little pale."

"I'm okay. It's just...somthin's come up, and I've got to go run an errand."

"Oh." Jesse nodded his head. "What kind of errand?"

"I….I can't tell you."

That did not sit well with Jesse at all. "Whaddaya mean you can't tell me? You stand there lookin' like you could fall over at any minute, like you lost your best friend, and all you can say is you've got an errand to run?"

"You deserve better than that, Jesse, I know, but I wouldn't put off the plantin' unless something real important come up. And it has." He looked at his Uncle. "Can you trust me enough to let me go do what I have to do without asking any questions?"

Uncle Jesse's worry showed on his face, but it was nothing compared to the worry that would be visible had he known what was going on with Bo.

"Alright, Luke. I can do that." Jesse nodded, patting him on the shoulder. "How long you think you'll be?"

"I'm not sure, but if I don't come home tonight, don't worry. I'll try to give you a holler on the C.B."

"Well, if that's all I can get, I'll certainly take it." Jesse nodded, trying to offer Luke a smile.

Luke grabbed his Uncle into a hug. Jesse squeezed his nephew tight, wishing he knew what was going on. They then ended the embrace and Luke got into the General Lee, headed for town.

As Jesse watched the car fade from sight, he looked up into the heavens. "Be with him, Lord."

I hope the Lord will be with Bo too, uh, instead of vice-versa.