Author's Note: This is Bo and Luke's life together, from the first year Bo was with them, until when Luke leaves for the Marines, and one year after he gets back. It is all different events, but they all are tied together by more or less the same phrase. I thought it might be fun to tell their lives together by something that keeps happening. This follows on the same line as 'It's Cold,' and some of the events are even similar with the ages. This time it is quite different though.
Big thanks to Earendil Eldar for beta work.
Warning: The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen.
Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix….
I'm Scared, Part Two
When he was seven there was that time when he was away at the summer camp. Luke wasn't there, and he was all alone, or he felt as if he was all alone. There was a bunch of other kids there, but he missed Luke.
There were older kids there, but no one younger than seven. Bo was there because everyone thought it would be good for him and Luke to be allowed to be on their own for a bit. Bo thought it was okay, they did some really fun things there.
However there was this big old oak tree in the middle of the yard, and at some time it had been struck with lightning so that it was hollow, there was bats there that came out at night.
The older boys told them about the ghost stories that concerned the tree. They said that no one dared to go near it when it was dark.
There was a big crack near the ground, and it looked like a dark cave. During the night the wind moved it and made it creaked. Bo was a bit scared, but some of the others were so scared they cried and had nightmares, one boy even wanted to go home. He was scared himself, but he knew he had to do something.
Luke and his uncle had taught him to always look out for those who needed it, so Bo made up his mind.
The next day he told the kids about how they said you had to be brave to stand inside it. He told them that if he could do that, then they didn't have to be afraid anymore, because if he could stand inside it for a few minutes, then he could protect them from it. They hesitated a bit, and he didn't want to go inside that tree, but he had too.
He squeezed his body in through the narrow crack, and swallowed as the tree creaked. He couldn't run back out though, if he did, the others would be even more scared. So no matter how scared he was, he forced himself to just be calm. He could see the others outside, so he knew nothing bad had happened.
Then when he got back out, the kids did look at the tree just a little different, and some of the older kids looked at him a little different. Because in spite of being small, he had done what they hadn't dared to, and he didn't tell them how afraid he was of the tree.
At eight there were the nightmares, a lot of them. More than there had ever been before. Not about monsters, not even snakes or anything like that. He would wake up terrified night after night. So scared he couldn't even scream.
The first few times his uncle told him it was nothing, but as Bo grew more quiet and afraid, he grew more worried. Jesse thought that it was because it was finally sinking in that they had lost Martha, and that was what had him so upset. Bo wasn't sure, he knew what dead meant, he wasn't that little.
It made him scared, very scared, but it wasn't like he didn't understand. He didn't want Jesse to think he was having nightmares because his uncle had done something wrong. It wasn't his fault.
Then thing was that he wasn't dreaming about monsters, he was dreaming about how no one wanted him. How he was all alone, and there was no Uncle Jesse or Luke to take care of him. Those dreams were worse than any monster he had ever dreamed about.
Monsters were bad, but they were just monsters. Now, being all alone without his Uncle or Luke, that was something he couldn't take. So, when those dreams continued to haunt him, he was afraid to even sleep. He wanted either Jesse or Luke with him when he fell asleep.
If they were there with him when he fell asleep, then at least he knew they wanted him. Even when he woke up and was so scared that he shivered.
Several times Luke would have to calm him down in the middle of the night, then eventually the nightmares stopped. At least they became much less rare. So rare that he didn't feel the need to wake Luke up after them. Even though no matter how old he was, it was hard to fall asleep again after them.
Sometimes what made him the most afraid was that someone would be angry at him. He wasn't afraid of his uncle, not even when he had to go to the woodshed. If he did something wrong, then he had to go there, but it never meant that his uncle loved him any less. He knew that.
When they came back from the shed, then everything was fine again. His uncle would joke with him, and tell him that he was a good boy, that he was proud of him. It was when they were just angry at him that he didn't like it. When it wasn't so bad to warrant a trip to the woodshed, but still so that his uncle were angry, then he never quite knew what was coming.
Even worse, the times when he wasn't sure whether he had done something wrong or not, but he was afraid that he had.
Like when he was nine and terrified that his uncle would be mad at him for the dent in the wall. He hadn't meant to put it there. He really hadn't.
It was Luke who lost his temper good, and had taken a swipe at him with his baseball bat. They had been in the kitchen arguing, and Luke's temper had just exploded. Luke had lashed out, and when Bo ducked he struck the wall, so hard that he put a dent in it.
Afterwards he had been afraid that Jesse would be angry at him for the dent. Because no matter what, it was he who had put it there, since it was his head.
A silly thing to be afraid of really, but he still had been, so badly it nearly made him feel sick.
He had been scared out of his mind when he became stranded in the Bear Paw Creek. He was ten, and when those older boys from school told him to cross it, well, he had thought that it was a bad idea. Yet they made him start thinking about it.
The water was moving really swift because of all the rain, but it had never been too deep, so how deep could it be now? Besides, they told him how they had talked with some adults who all said it was okay.
So, when they said that even the adults had given them permission for it, and it was older kids that Bo kind of wanted to like him, he agreed. It seemed like a fun thing to do. He had been there before, and at that place it had never reached above his waist.
Then he found out just how bad an idea it was. The water went to his chest before he had time to go back, and he was swept of his feet an instant later. It was all he could do to keep above water. It was pure luck that he came upon the sandbank. Usually it was so big it was hard to miss, but now it was smaller, and a nest of snagged branches and other things swept away. So Bo clung on there for dear life.
The other boys all took off, and seeing them leave was really bad. He hung on though, too scared to do anything else. He didn't even notice when Luke came swimming out to him, he was just suddenly there, telling him it was okay and that he would get him to safety.
Bo trusted him, always, no matter how scared he was. So he did what Luke told him, and Luke did get him back to the shore. He wasn't even angry, saying it was the older boys fault. They should have known better. They shouldn't have told him they had permission either, because they didn't.
It was odd to think that someone could say something like that when it wasn't true. Bo had thought that all older kids where like Luke, who would never do that.
Then there was the rattlesnake when he was eleven. That one had really gotten the better of him. He and Luke had been out with Cooter, and Bo had walked away a bit to check something.
Suddenly he just heard an odd sound and looked down. When he saw the rattlesnake curled up just beside his foot he felt as if his heart stopped. It looked kind of mean, and it really wasn't very far away.
Lying there, curled up and ready to act. Now he could hear the rattle. It was so loud it seemed to be ringing in his ears. Bo gave a small whimper, and swallowed as he thought the sound would make the snake strike.
He looked at it, and it really looked angry, he wished he had never walked away from Luke and Cooter.
He stood frozen for so long that the two of them started to get worried, and then he heard them come over.
"Bo?" Luke asked.
"Snake." Bo managed to whimper.
Cooter and Luke stopped where they were, not wanting to scare it into striking. Luke kept talking with him to keep him calm though, and eventually the snake seemed to settle down as well. That was when Luke told him to inch away backwards as slowly as he could, and it worked.
He moved away from it so slowly it almost felt as if he wasn't moving, but then he was so far away that he knew it couldn't reach him, and he flung himself at Luke. He had his arms around his cousin's neck and just refused to let go. Both Luke and Cooter told him he had been brave, even though he had been so very scared.
He didn't want to let go of Luke, even when they walked back. Cooter walked in front of them, and he kept a sharp lookout where they walked. Bo was grateful for it, he was still terrified.
The first time he was ever in jail was when he was twelve, that had been just as bad. It was Rosco, and he wasn't a bad lawman back then. Not really.
Luke and Bo had been fooling around with a football out on the street, and had accidentally broken the window to the police station. Rosco wasn't bad, and he knew the two boys had not done it intentionally. Yet the law was the law, and he had to make sure it was followed.
The fact that it was county property made it a serious crime, even if it was by accident. Jesse just didn't have the money for the fine at that time. So it was one night in jail. Rosco had been remorseful about Bo being so young. So even though he shouldn't he had offered to ignore the fact that it had been Bo as much as Luke, and let him get away with a warning.
It was tempting, and both Luke and his uncle had urged him to do it. He could sleep at the farm instead of in jail. The thought of having to spend the night behind those bars had him terrified.
They wouldn't blame him for taking the offer, he knew that. Luke had looked relieved when Rosco made it, but Bo couldn't. He was a Duke, and Jesse had always told them how Duke's didn't run away from their problems, they faced them.
So he swallowed and hoped that no one could tell how scared he was, and said that it was as much his fault as it was Luke's. If Luke was staying there, so was he. Then he shuddered at the thought of those bars.
When the door closed, he tried to swallow down a lump in his throat that was so big it threatened to choke him. Luke draped his arm around his shoulders and told him it would be okay. They were in the same cell, he would look after him. So Bo nodded, and tried to be as brave as Luke always seemed to be.
There were times it was just so hard to be brave. When the sky cracked up with thunder and lightning. Normally not so bad, but he was alone at the farm. Luke was supposed to be there with him, since Jesse didn't want the thirteen year old boy all alone.
It was just that Luke was with a girl, and when the thunderstorm hit, and Luke wasn't home. Then Bo was scared.
Going over the yard to see to the animals had him frightened, and it was more than the cold rain that made him shiver.
He screamed out in shock when a lighting flash struck somewhere near. Not caring that he was standing in the middle of the yard in a pouring rain. Soaked to the skin. He was staring over to where it had struck, and screamed. That was when he found himself cradled against Luke who hurriedly ushered him back inside.
Luke had gotten home in time to see Bo freeze up at the lightning strike. So he had moved. At first Bo was so afraid he didn't think about it, but then he became embarrassed about being scared. He didn't have to when it came to Luke though. Luke understood too much for Bo to mind Luke knowing he was scared.
TBC
Thank you all for reading, I'll do my very best to reply to all signed reviews, Elenhin
