As the jagged rock came down toward Luke, his Marine instincts kicked in and he threw his arm up and caught Horace's in mid air. He then twisted his body, forcing Horace to fall down and the rock to fall away from his hand.
As Cooter ran toward the scuffle he was stopped by Charlie, who popped up from behind a tombstone like a jack-in-the-box pointing a gun at him. In a brief glance of the drive that surrounded the graveyard, Cooter spotted their car in the rear and mentally kicked himself for not noticing it before.
Charlie quickly turned his head back and forth between Cooter and the duo who wrestled on the ground.
"Horace! The idea was to get 'em both at gunpoint!" Charlie couldn't help but reprimand his brother even as he fought. "Turn 'im over so I can get a shot!"
Charlie quickly turned to check on Cooter once again as Horace attempted to wrestle Luke around to the top. After a moment, he then turned back to check on Horace once again.
That's when Cooter sent his shovel flying in Charlie's direction!
The shovel met it's target, catching him on the arm. As Charlie's arm was thrown off balance, the gun went off with a deafening shot. Before he had a chance to recover, Cooter had cleared a couple of tombstones and was on top of him.
Charlie held on to the gun and attempted to point it at the mechanic as they rolled around on the ground. Realizing what was going on, Cooter caught hold of his arm and bit him hard on the wrist.
Charlie cried out as his fingers opened up and he let go of the gun. Cooter found his footing and stood up, pulling Charlie along with him.
"Funny how you city boys turn into a bunch of sissies when ya ain't got nothin' but yer fists to rely on." Cooter commented as he delivered a right punch to Charlie. Charlie would have fell back but was held upright by Cooter who had a firm grasp on his shirt, ready to deliver yet another punch.
Meanwhile, Luke and Horace continued to wrestle on the ground. Luke managed to grab a handful of Horace's hair, pulling his head back as he pulled a few strands out. Getting him into position, Luke quickly forced his head back toward him, delivering a firm and powerful head bunt. As Luke saw stars, he faintly decided that may not have been the best idea to follow through on.
But he changed his mind when Horace, a bit dizzy himself, rolled to the side and lay on the ground. Feeling victorious, Luke looked over at him, breathing heavily from the struggle.
But Horace had called his bluff. When Luke moved in for a closer look, Horace threw into his face the grave dirt he had curled into his hand. Crying out, Luke grabbed his eyes as Horace jumped up, bringing down the heel of his boot on Luke's open wound. A pain shot through Luke's body that brought on an instant wave of nausea, and his stomach gave up the crackers he had forced himself to swallow for supper.
As Luke hunched over dealing with the sickness, Horace jumped up and grabbed onto the gun that Charlie had dropped. Firing a shot in the air, the fight between Cooter and Charlie quickly came to an end.
"Good……good job, Horace." Charlie managed, breathing heavily. "Ya finally got somethin' right."
As Luke sat back against the tombstone once again, groaning in pain and in frustration, Charlie grabbed Cooter's shirt, and dealt him a couple of right crosses in revenge before throwing him down in a sitting position next to Luke."
As the four nursed their wounds and dabbed their sweat for a few moments, nothing could be heard except the huff-puffing of their breath as they formed small clouds against the still-cool nighttime spring air.
Finally, Charlie managed a laugh. "Well Horace…" He began, slapping his brother's back. "Least you didn't waste any effort diggin' that grave there yesterday."
"What are you talking about?" Luke asked as his heavy breathing finally began to slow somewhat.
"Why that's for you hayseed." Charlie stated. "You don't honestly think we had any plans to let you go, being able to identify us and all."
Cooter and Luke sat in silence. Luke, tired of fighting and worrying, wanted to give up, the idea of death sounding almost tempting.
Charlie brightened with an idea. "Say Horace, you know what would be fun?"
"What's that?"
"I think it'd be real fun…." Charlie continued. "To watch our hero here get buried by someone who actually cares about him."
"Ain't no way!" Cooter protested. "You'd have to kill me too."
"Well as tempting as that is, I wasn't talking about you." Charlie clarified. "Horace, give me the gun."
Horace handed him the gun then listened as Charlie gave his next instructions.
"Now git that shovel over there and go dig up blondie. After bein' down there for near three days, I'm sure he'd do ANYTHING to get out of that box."
"Ain't no need in that Charlie." Horace replied, laughing a mad, nervous laugh.
"What's that supposed to mean?" His brother asked.
"You're gonna love this, Charlie!" Horace replied in excitement. "Them Dukes are really gonna get there's this time, 'cause yesterday, I disconnected that hose!"
"You did what?" Charlie asked.
Horace laughed again as he looked at Luke and Cooter. "Bo Duke ain't had no air for near 18 hours now. He's as dead as anyone in this graveyard!"
Charlie grinned. "Why Horace, I underestimated you. That's brillia-"
Charlie was cut off abruptly as he and Horace were simultaneously attacked once again by Cooter and Luke!
The good ole' boys attacked with a lack of self-control, a fierceness fueled by grief. This time, the Mantooths could do nothing to defend themselves and only got relief when Rosco stood above them, firing his gun in the air as Enos and a pajama-clad Cletus pulled Luke and Cooter off of them.
"Is that them? Is that them?" Boss Hogg asked as he looked at the unrecognizable, battered and broken Mantooths who lay on the ground.
"That's them, Mr. Hogg. The Mantooth gang." Enos confirmed as he released Cooter and reached down to handcuff Charlie. "Get the other one, Cletus." He instructed.
Boss laughed a greedy laugh as Jesse and Daisy rushed to check on Luke and Cooter . "Ya done good abandoning' Luke Duke to go chasing' after these guys, Rosco. When I's getting' ready to call my chauffer, I heard an all points bulletin from the GBI saying' there was a big reward for the capture of these two. That's why I got Cletus here out of bed. And it's already payin' off!" Boss concluded in glee, patting the gym bag he had extracted from Doc Appleby's car.
Luke brushed off Jesse's fussing and, ignoring Boss, grabbed a shovel from the open grave and began limping away. As Daisy, Jesse, and Cooter grabbed shovels of their own, Cletus and Enos loaded the Mantooths in the back of Cletus' car.
"Hang on, Luke. I'll show ya!" Enos exclaimed,rushing through the graveyard, leaving Cletus to secure the criminals in the backseat.
"What are they doin'?" Boss asked, frowning as the first hints of daylight began to appear.
"They're huntin' Bo." Rosco offered.
"Huntin' Bo?"
"Yeah." Rosco replied, on the verge of tears. "Them Mantooths, they done buried him alive. That's why Luke done what he done, to get up the money to get him back."
"There it is, over there!" Enos exclaimed, spying the freshly dug grave not far from where his grandparents were buried.
Forgetting his injury, Luke hobbled quickly toward the grave. Dropping down beside it, he tore the flowers away.
Just as Horace had said, the oxygen tank sat there, the hose disconnected.
The fact had escaped none of those in attendance. Still, Luke stood up and plunged his shovel deep into the ground, heaving mounds of dirt over his shoulder.
The rest of the group followed suit, digging in their own area, not a dry eye to be had.
"Maybe he's alright, ya know. Bo….he's tough." Daisy offered, not seeing the sad, shaking head of Doc Appleby who stood watching in the background before he dashed back to his car.
Luke and Cooter dug like madmen, but fatigue quickly took it's toll on both of them. Just as Luke thought he would collapse, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Luke turned and glanced at Boss Hogg, who's hand reached for his shovel. Not in any shape to argue, Luke allowed him to take it. He stumbled back and sat on the ground, joined by Cooter who had surrendered his shovel to Rosco. Had the situation not been so dire, they would have been smiling and joking about the irony of it all. Instead, they focused against the dawn at the open grave, at which nearby sat a forgotten black gym bag.
Moments later an unmistakable THUNK vibrated against the handle of Enos' shovel. He jumped down on top of the wooden box and began to brush the remaining mounds of dirt away.
"Whaddaya doin', Enos? Get him outta there!" Jesse commanded, anxious but afraid at the same time.
"Here's some rope, Enos!" Doc Appleby announced, handing Enos the material he had returned to his car to get.
Enos reached up for the rope and took it, flossing one end under thetop end of the coffin before turning to do the same to the bottom end. He then picked up the slack and reached for Rosco, who quickly assisted him from the grave. With a new surge of adrenaline, Cooter and Luke stood to join the group.
"Okay everybody. On the count of three." Cletus instructed as each person grabbed one of the four support ropes. "One, two, three……."
At the appointed number, everyone began to pull on the rope, praying it wouldn't break. Slowly but surely, the wooden box was raised to the top of the ground, broken bits of pvc pipe falling to the wayside.
"Okay hold it!" Cletus instructed. "Sheriff, you and Cooter go get him."
As the group held the ropes, Boss and Doc Appleby on one, Enos on one, Luke and Cletus on one, and Jesse and Daisy on the final one, Cooter and Rosco rushed to either end of the grave. Counting to three again, they hoisted the coffin up, moving it a few feet over and placing it on firm ground.
As soon as the coffin was in place, the group tossed the ropes and rushed over. Luke tugged on the lid and quickly examined it. "It's nailed shut!" He exclaimed in disbelief.
"I've got a hammer in the patrol car." Cletus announced, rushing to fetch it.
"Bo, if you can here us, just hang on, son. Doc Appleby's here, he can fix ya up." Jesse saidto the dirty box, not getting the response he had hoped for.
"Here's the hammer!" Cletus yelled, rushing back. He handed it off to Enos who began to do what he could to pry the nails away.
"Uh, careful now Enos, you don't wanna hurt him." Boss offered.
After a few agonizing moments, Enos had loosened the lid. Looking up at Bo's family, he backed away.
"Now hang on, Jesse." Doc Appleby commanded, laying one hand on Jesse's arm and putting up his other to stop Daisy and Luke as they all rushed forward.
"Git out of our way, Homer, we gotta get the boy some help!" Jesse ordered.
"No Jesse." Doc Appleby replied calmly, trying to comfort him. "Bo was without air down there. For how long, I don't know. But I do know that if it was more than just a few minutes, well…..I just want you to be prepared for what you are about to see."
"Bo ain't dead!" Jesse exclaimed defiantly.
"I wish he weren't." Doc Appleby replied. "But right now, before we open him, it's time to face facts. Our Lord, he delivers many miracles our way. But for him to be able to do his job, the resources to perform those miracles have to be in place. And Jesse…." Doc Appleby continued. "The resources….they just weren't there. If they had been, then Bo'd be climbin' outta that box right now. He is able, after all."
Uncle Jesse glanced at the coffin once again, seeing absolutely no sign of movement coming from within. As Daisy put one hand to her mouth and slipped her other arm around Jesse's waist, he allowed lines of tears to slip down his cheeks.
Look looked around at the solemn group, those who wore hats having removed them. Swallowing hard, he nodded his head. "I'll do it."
Luke hobbled over and went down to his knees beside the coffin. All attendees held their breaths, wanting the moment of truth to be over but afraid to see it at the same time.
Luke ran his hand along the wood, then, taking a deep breath, lifted the lid.
"Oh Uncle Jesse!" Daisy sobbed, looking into the coffin then turning to bury her face in his worn overalls.
Speaking of Daisy, she's been whoopin' up on a lil' ole gal over in Hazzard Square for a few days now. Our author friend feels it's high time we took a break from this and looked in on that situation once again. How do ya'll feel about that?
(A/N: Huh? What's the balladeer sayin'? He's sayin' that the evil H.G. Stewart is gonna leave ya'll sweatin' for awhile while she goes and gets in another chapter of the other story she's got goin' here "The Mysterious Goldie Matthews." She's just evil that way.)