As the Mantooth gang escaped into the far distance, Rosco offered them nothing more than a fleeting glance as he reached over into the glove department to dig out the small flashlight that he kept there. Finding it, he flicked the switch for a quick test before dashing out of the car and down the riverbank.

"Enos!" Rosco yelled as he dipped his feet in the icy cold water. He trudged out to the disabled patrol car and shone his light on Enos face.

"Open yer eyes, Enos!" Uncle Jesse was saying, shaking the deputy by the arm as Enos's hands remained tightly wound around the steering wheel.

"I'm afraid to, Uncle Jesse. I can see that white light shinin' out to me from the other side."

"That ain't a light from the other side, Enos. That's Rosco's flashlight!" Daisy explained.

Enos cracked open his eyes and looked around. "I'm alive!" He exclaimed with a big grin and that funny laugh that was his trademark.

"But my boys might not be if we don't quit soakin' our feet and high tail it over to the Oldfield Cemetery!" Jesse reminded him.

"Oh yeah, right!" Enos exclaimed, getting serious again. "Help me with the door, sheriff!" He commanded as he tried his door and it refused to open.

Rosco stuck the end of the flashlight in his mouth and tugged on Enos' door while Enos pushed. Finally, buckling under the weight of the combined effort, the door released itself and swung open rapidly, poor Enos landing face first in the water.

Getting up, he turned to assist Rosco in getting Jesse and Daisy out of the vehicle. Aside from nasty bruises brought on by the effects of the seatbelts, none of the occupants were hurt.

"Rosco! Rosco you alright?" A voice shouted from the bridge.

"That's Doc Appleby!" Daisy exclaimed as the four of them trudged out of the river and up the bank.

"Oh, there you are Rosco!" Doc Appleby exclaimed with a tired smile. "When I saw your patrol car here in the middle of the road and you gone, I's afraid ya might've been hurt. Why, what's goin' on?" He asked when he spied Enos, Daisy, and Jesse with him.

"We's in a wreck but we're alright." Jesse quickly explained as he rushed over and pulled on Doc Appleby's arm. "Come on Homer! Ya gotta give us a ride!"

"Hang on, Jesse." Doc Appleby replied as he was being dragged toward his own vehicle. "I can't drive ya anywhere, I'm plumb wore out. Been over at the Winkler farm deliverin' Sarah's twins and it was an eighteen hour labor!"

"Then Rosco'll drive!" Jesse replied, opening the back door. He pushed Doc Appleby inside to the middle and got in next to him. Daisy sat in the back on the other side while Enos climbed in front to sit next to Rosco. Before all the doors were closed, Rosco took off.

"I'm actually glad you happened along, Homer. There's a good chance we might need you tonight." Jesse announced.

"Why, where we goin'?" Doc Appleby asked.

"We're headin' over to the Oldfield Cemetery." Daisy replied.

Doc Appleby looked back and forth from Daisy to Jesse in disbelief. "I'm afraid you Dukes might be even more tired than I am. Them folks at Oldfield, there ain't nothin' I can do for them."

Uncle Jesse gritted his teeth at the statement. "That's where I hope you're wrong."

XXXXXXXXXX

"We don't have time to mess with this anymore. Let's go."

That statement was uttered by Luke as Cooter grabbed a shovel from his vehicle and the pair rushed to the General Lee. A quick inspection of the tow truck showed that the rear tires were stuck in the mud, not that an inspection had been necessary. Cooter had sat there spinning for a few moments.

"What does the tow truck driver do when the tow truck is stuck?" Cooter muttered as he tossed the shovel in the back seat and Luke floored it away from there.

"That was my fault, I suppose." Luke replied. "I's in such a hurry to get to Bo I's flyin' over all the creeks. I didn't think about the fact you'd have ta wade 'em."

"Well that ain't important right now. Let's just get to Bo."

The two rode in silence as Luke continued to jump creeks and streams, straining to find the usual ramps in the dark. Cooter looked at his friend who drove with determination.

"He's gonna be alright, ya know." Cooter announced, hoping he was right.

"However he is…..." Luke muttered. "…………it's gonna be a whole lot better than them Mantooths end up after I get ahold of them."

"Well who says you get to have all the fun?" Cooter asked as he formed fists and knocked them together.

Soon the weathered sign that pointed out the Oldfield Cemetery loomed ahead. Luke jerked the wheel to the right, achieving an unintentional 150 degree turn before straightening out and entering the cemetery drive.

He drove the short quarter mile route before seeing the headlights of the General reflecting back toward him as they shone off of some of the newer tombstones that had been erected there. He pulled in a bit and skidded to a halt before he and Cooter jumped from the General.

"Grab the shovel Cooter!" Luke demanded as he quickly began searching the cemetery. He ran amongst the stones, the faraway headlights of the General and faint moonlight offering him his only source of light.

"Bo! Bo where are ya?" Luke yelled, straining to hear against the breeze and creaking pine trees, offering as much effort to his sight as he concentrated his gaze in the darkened conditions. He didn't know if Bo would even be able to hear him or yell loud enough to respond from underground, but if he could, Luke certainly wanted the help as well as the reassurance that he was still alive.

"Try the newer section, burying him in the old one would've looked suspicious to anyone who come out." Cooter suggested as he dodged stones in the graveyard, carrying the shovel along.

"Right!" Luke threw back as he raced to the more modern section of the cemetery. As he ran along in the dark, he hoped over tombstones on the way. As he neared the newer section of the cemetery, he hurdled over the last old tombstone, giving a yelp of surprise when his foot didn't touch the ground!

Luke fell six feet, down into a pit. When he landed there, he heard something fall from above. He shielded himself as a few shovels and some bits of dirt came to rest on top of him.

"Luke!" He heard Cooter yell, listening as dry leaves crunched under his feet as he ran across the cemetery. He finally reached the opening of the new grave and peered inside.

"Luke, you alright buddy?"

"Yeah. Just give me a hand." Luke groaned, reaching for Cooter's assistance.

Cooter dropped the shovel and braced himself to assist Luke out of the ditch. Grabbing Luke's outstretched hands, he gave a swift tug upwards as Luke walked up the side.

"Ow!" Luke cried out when he finally stood at the side, almost collapsing again. He would have had Cooter not caught him on his way down.

"What is it?" Cooter asked, his brow creased with worry.

Luke felt down onto the calf of his leg. He felt a rip in his jeans and a gash from which warm liquid seeped. "I think one of those dang shovels got me on the way down." He grimaced.

"You just stay put. I'll go hunt Bo." Cooter suggested as he quickly lowered Luke into a sitting position near a tombstone.

"Go hunt him, but I ain't stayin' put." Luke yelled in reply after Cooter had already sprinted across the graveyard once again, searching.

Luke got to his feet as quickly as he could. He tried to put some weight on the bad leg, but it rejected the effort, refusing to work despite the situation at hand.

"Dang it!" Luke muttered to himself as he looked at his leg again. "First chance I get to really help Bo and……"

"Luke! Look out!" Cooter yelled from across the cemetery.

Luke jerked his head up and was immediately knocked down by a sucker punch, unable to see who delivered it.

As he shook his head, he finally got his vision into focus and looked again.

He saw a jagged rock- the edge of an old tombstone- rushing down to meet his head.

And it was in Horace's hand!

I hope ole' Doc Appleby has a tent in the truck of his car. If things keep up the way they have, it looks like he might have to set up a field hospital.