As the group scattered to hide themselves behind the nearest trees, another shot rang out through the air. Jesse, who was behind a tree nearest the cabin, risked a peek as he heard the gun being reloaded. Seeing the full situation, he stepped out of his hiding place to face the gunman head-on.
"Chris Ridley! If you so much as point that gun toward me one more time I'll rip a limb offa this here tree and take ya across my knee!"
Startled, the gunman looked up, squinting to see through the fog. "Uncle Jesse? Is that you?"
Feeling that the situation was safe, with the exchange of familiarities, the rest of the group emerged from their hiding places as well. Seeing Enos and Rosco in their uniforms, but unable to seeWHO they were,Chris tightened his hold on his gun.
"Uncle Jesse, you didn't call the feds on me, did you?" Chris asked, hurt evident in his voice.
"No Chris, we're out here lookin' for Bo. There a chance you mighta seen him?"
"Oh of course Uncle Jesse!" Chris relaxed. "I shoulda realized that's why you's out here. He's in the house."
Luke, his hurt leg forgotten, dashed by the others in a sprint toward the cabin. When he got there, he burst inside.
"Bo! Bo where are ya?"
He turned back to the door briefly. "Doc, you might wanna run back to your car and get your medical bag."
As Doc Appleby did just that, Luke continued to yell for Bo, opening two of the three interior doors of the cabin. When he opened the third one, his heart lept in his throat!
Bo lay inside on a bed, deathly still.
Seeing his cousin, Luke rushed inside and knelt by his bed.
"Bo! Thank God!" Luke exclaimed, feeling Bo's hand, happy to find it warm. "Don't worry, Doc Appleby's on his way here now."
To his surprise, Bo opened one eye and peered at Luke. Then groaning, he reached under his head and grabbed his pillow, hugging it against him before turning toward the wall.
"Lemme alone, Luke. I'm tired."
"He should be." Chris added, having just appeared at the door. "He didn't fall asleep 'till two. That'd only put him at about five hours rest. "
"Tired?" Luke looked at his cousin. "What about hurt? He in any pain? Havin' trouble breathin'?"
Chris shrugged his shoulders. "Right as rain."
Luke sat there for a few moments letting the facts sink in. After what he had been through the last few days, after all that had gone through his head concerning the possible outcome of the situation, accepting the fact that Bo had come through without any physical injuries took a moment to get used too.
After that moment had passed though, a large grin appeared on Luke's face. Whooping with joy, he grabbed Bo up in his arms, delivering the youngest Duke a hug that could rival that of a boa constrictor.
"Dang it Luke…." Bo began, still woozy from sleep. "I told ya I's tired!"
"Where is he? Where's Bo?" Luke heard Uncle Jesse asking from outside the door as the rest of the party entered the cabin.
He turned back to Bo. "Well tired or not cousin there ain't no way you're gonna get any sleep till that room full of people out there are satisfied to see you safe and sound!"
With that, Luke pulled Bo out of the bed. In his sleep induced haze, Bo followed, simply trusting Luke's judgment on where they were going.
"Bo!" Daisy exclaimed, covering her mouth as Luke pulled him into the room.
"Hey Daisy." Bo offered, rubbing at his eyes.
As the room erupted in cheers, Daisy gave her cousin a long hug, finally letting go at Uncle Jesse's insistence.
"Ya alright, boy?" Jesse asked, cupping Bo's face in his hands. When Bo nodded yes. Jesse grabbed him up in a hug of his own, almost afraid to let go again.
By the time everyone in the room had finished with the hugging, Bo was wide awake.
"Bo…" Jesse began. "….how'd you get here? How long ya been here?"
"'m not exactly sure, Uncle Jesse." Bo admitted. "At least a day, maybe two?" He questioned, looking at Chris."
"More like a day and a half, I'd say." Chris offered.
"Upon hearing the news, the smile quickly vanished from Jesse's face. "A day and a half." He calmly repeated, looking from Chris to Bo before his face turned blood red.
Bo and Chris jumped slightly when he began yelling. "Ya mean to tell me we've been runnin' round lookin' for ya like chickens with our heads cut off, thinkin' ya might even be dead, worryin' about it so much that we's takin' deep breaths durin' it all to keep from killin' over ourselves, and ya stand there tellin' me ya been snoozin' away in dreamland most of that time instead of contactin' us to let us know you's okay? Luke!"
"Uh, yes Uncle Jesse?" Luke asked as he stood next to Bo, not wanting to get very far away from him just yet.
"Take yer belt off so I can switch these youngin's good. Both of 'em!" He exclaimed as Doc Appleby returned with the medical bag.
"Bo! You're okay!" Doc Appleby exclaimed, giving the boy he had delivered yet another hug. He then turned to look at the group, focusing on Jesse. "Can't say the same for you though, Jesse. Looks like ya blood pressure's skyrocketing.
"I'll go down when I vent my frustrations where they're due!" Jesse announced.
"Now hang on Uncle Jesse." Bo began, holding his hands up. "I'm okay now but that wasn't the case up until last night. Why Chris here, he's been takin' care of me."
"That's right, Uncle Jesse." Chris confirmed. "Bo's real feverish and a bit delusional there for a few hours. He wasn't in any shape to contact anybody."
"Well what about you, Chris? Why couldn't you have called?" Daisy asked.
"Well gosh Daisy, I's hidin' out from the feds. You knew that, Uncle Jesse." Chris replied as Jesse recalled their conversation that now seemed like weeks ago. "When I's back at your place askin' if you knew anywhere I could stash that shine, you told me to try the Indian Caves then find a place to hide. Well, I knew exactly where I could hide- Pa's old shack here.And the lot of ya, even ole' Boss there, knows that when ya hidin' from the feds you usually don't do it in a place that has phones or CB access or anything else."
Luke nodded. "Well that explain why no one contacted us, but what I still don't understand is how you found Bo in the first place."
"Well…." Chirs continued."... when I got to thinkin' about it, I realized that with no roads leadin' up to the shack and It bein' out here in the woods with nothin' around but that Oldfield Cemetery,it would be just as good a place to hide the shine as any.'Course, just cause I decided to keep the shine with me didn't mean I was gonna make it easy for the feds ta throw me in jail if they did catch up to me. So I took the jugs out in the woods to bury 'em. I had 'em all lined up and I'd been diggin' awhile when I heard a car come up to the cemetery. Well since you could kinda see back in the woods from there, I hid real quick. And while I hid, I saw this man get outta the car. He's all by himself and actin' real crazy. He went over to a grave and started yellin' at it like he's talkin' to somebody. I heard him say 'Bo Duke' and watched him reach down and do somethin' fore' he drove off. Well, hearin' Bo's name sparked my curiosity, and when I went to see who that grave belonged to, I didn't see nothing but an oxygen tank and a broken hose goin' down in the ground. It wasn't too hard to figure out what had happened, so I found a shovel layin' nearby and started diggin' and….well….I didn't want that feller to come back and figure out what'd happened, so I hid pa's jugs in there instead and put it all back like it was."
"Wellllll……" Jesse drawled out with a smile, turning to Doc Appleby. "How's that for miracle resources, Homer?"
Bo reached over and patted Chris on the back. "I don't think I's ever happier to see sunshine than when Chris tore off that lid and pulled me outta there."
Everyone laughed. But Uncle Jesse, pulling Bo to the side, wore a serious expression.
"It does my heart good to know you're alright on the outside." Jesse told him. "But I know what ya went through, and I need to know you're alright up here, too." He finished by gently tapping the side of Bo's head.
"Well Uncle Jesse, I don't think I'll go deep cave exploring anytime soon, but all in all, I think I'm okay……I really do."
Jesse then hugged him again, a sigh of relief escaping him as he looked heavenward and mouthed 'Thank you, Lord.'.
After losing most of my hair and nails frettin' over the whole thang, danged if nobody even ended up at the hospital.
On top of the previous bank robbery charge, the Mantooths found themselves charged with attempted murder. But they did get their wish on goin' where nobody could find 'em- least for two weeks. Ya gotta know them prisons pretty well to know where the hole is.
As for Boss, well, he had to assure the citizens of Hazzard that the bank robber had been caught and sentenced. But even he has a heart somewhere around that fat stomach. Happy to have his money back, he sentenced Luke for robbery right there in the cabin. The punishment? Luke had to wash Boss's car.
"And I want the inside vacuumed out real good too." He told Luke as Daisy kissed Jesse in relief.
'Course ya'll know the only name that'll ever makethe newspaper or the gossip circles 'ill have Mantooth right behind it. But don't count on Boss not to hold it over ole' Luke's head if a situation ever presents itself.
But if there is news ya do want to travel fast in Hazzard, there ain't a thang that'll stop it. By the time Doc Appleby had cleaned and taped up Luke's leg and sent 'em all home, the Dukes arrived back at the farm to find an impromptu welcome home party in full swing. Their friends and neighbors had even arranged to have the pickup truck pulled out of the ditch and sittin' near the barn, good as ever. Even 'Dixie' was on her way back in from Tennessee.
"Would ya look at that." Bo commented climbing out of the General. The entire yard and barn were full of people and food. Even the Capitol City cloggers had shown up and were beating out a routine on a makeshift stage- some plywood boards that had been placed on the ground.
"He's back!" One of the cloggers squealed. The routine immediately stopped and the dancers and several other ladies ran in his direction, fighting over who was going to hug him first.
"Dance with me, Bo!" One of them said.
"No Bo, dance with me!" Another asked.
Bo grinned a nervous grin and looked at his family. "Uh, looks like we're gonna be busy this afternoon."
"Whaddaya mean 'we'?' Luke asked, patting Bo on the shoulder. "You's the only one who got any sleep last night." With that, Luke walked into the house.
"Night Bo." Daisy added, yawning as she went in behind Luke.
"Make sure they leave us some sandwiches for when we wake up later." Jesse added with a laugh as he ran in behind Daisy.
"Uh, ya'll? Ya'll?" Bo pleaded toward his family as the screen door slammed closed behind Jesse He then turned to the ladies who jumped around him in excitement, offering them another nervous grin.
'Ole Bo just thought he's tired before. Wait till them girls get done with him.
THE END