Where could Bo be now?
That was the question on Jesse's mind the following morning as Daisy drove him to Doc Appleby's office to have his ankle checked on.
He thought back to the previous night's events. He, Luke, and Daisy- they were all wet and exhausted after taking care of the tree in the raging storm, not to mention that the throbbing of his hurt ankle had certainly demanded more than its fair share of attention.
Still, he thought with guilt, he should have realized something was seriously wrong with his nephew.
"I never thought I'd say this to one of my youngin's". He had said with trembling breath after watching Bo smack Daisy to the floor. "But you git out of my house. You git out, and don't come back 'till ya straighten yerself out."
He would never forget the expressions on Bo's face. It had seemed to go instantly from anger to shock to sorrow before finally returning to nonchalant before he opened the door.
"That's all I was tryin' to do-leave." Bo added before he closed the door behind him.
He had barely had time to get off the porch when Jesse realized he had made a mistake. "Bo! Bo come back!" He yelled. But his nephew never returned. Moments later, as Luke and Daisy were getting to their feet, he heard a car pass by slowly. Surprised that anyone else was up and about at this time of night, they looked out the window and noticed that the car stopped a little way down the road for a moment before continuing on.
"This is Deputy Enos Strait callin' any of you Dukes out there." Enos said into the C.B., bringing Jesse out of his thoughts.
"Ya got Daisy here, honey."
"Hey there Daisy." Enos replied. "Listen, babes, I've been out lookin' for Bo ever since ya'll called last night but honey, I'm just worn out. My shift started at 10 last night….I'm goin' on my eleventh hour."
"That's okay, Enos, you go on home and rest. Luke and Cooter are out looking for him right now and I imagine Rosco 'ill pick up where you left off."
"Well I ain't so sure you can count on the sheriff. I told him Bo went missing and even explained that ya'll had been lookin' for him over the last couple of days, but he just said he didn't have time for stuff like that and went on about his business."
"Another words, he reacted the way he normally does whenever any of us Dukes needs him." Jesse muttered from the passenger seat.
Daisy shook her head. "Thanks for checkin' in with us, sugar. We'll give you a heads up if we hear anything."
"Ten-four. Over and out……..sweetie." Enos replied.
Well it wasn't much later when Daisy pulled the pickup truck into a parking space in front of the Hazzard Hotel which, as you probably recall, is where Doc Appleby kept his small office. But it wasn't 'till she got there that she remembered she might have a small problem.
"Oh no, Uncle Jesse! Doc Appleby's on the third floor. How am I ever gonna get you up there?" She exclaimed after she already had Jesse out of the pickup with one arm around her shoulders.
"Need some help, little lady?" She heard a voice off to her side ask.
Daisy and Jesse turned to see a military man in full uniform standing there. The man, who looked to be in his mid fifties, offered no smile to go along with his chivalry.
"I need to get my Uncle up to see Doc Appleby, on the third floor." Daisy explained.
"I'm on my way to see him myself." The military man replied. "Sampson!"
A young man also in uniform who appeared to be Bo or Luke's age came rushing forward. "Sir!" He replied with a salute.
"At ease." The Major replied. "Help me assist this gentleman inside."
"Why thank you, thank ya kindly!" Jesse replied as the military men went on either side of him and practically carried him inside.
"Mornin' Doris." Daisy offered in greeting as they passed the clerk who ran the front desk.
"Hey Daisy. Ya'll goin' up to see Doc Appleby?"
"Yep, Uncle Jesse here's hurt his ankle."
"Well I'm afraid you're in for a wait. He's over checking on one of Claiborne Reynolds' cows. Poor thing got hurt in that terrible storm last night."
"That's alright, we'll wait." Jesse replied as he directed the military men to Doc Appleby's room.
Once inside, they dropped Uncle Jesse onto a sofa in the waiting area. "Comfortable, sir?" The Major asked.
"Yes, yes thank you." Jesse replied.
As Daisy sat next to her uncle, the military men sat opposite them on the other sofa. "We sure don't see many men in uniform around these parts." Daisy announced, smiling at the younger one she had heard referred to as 'Sampson' and getting a big smile of her own in return.
"Fortunately for Hazzard, there's not much that brings us here." The Major replied, taking some photos out of his pocket and handing them to Jesse. "Since the doctor's not here, maybe you can help me. Do either of those men look familiar to you?"
Jesse examined the photos, pointing to one of them as Daisy looked on from the side. "Why that man there looks like Miss. Lulu's cousin from Atlanta."
"And that's probably the feller that was with him, fixin' his fishin' line." Daisy added, pointing to the other picture, neither realizing that Jesse held photos of Drs. Tom Dewberry and George Foster.
The Major leaned forward with a very serious expression. "You know where these men are?"
"Why sure. They're over at J.D.'s fishin' cabin out on Carter's Lake." Jesse replied.
"Can either of you tell us how to get to this cabin?" Sampson asked.
"Kinda hard, sugar. Ain't that easy explaining how to get to the lake, let alone how to find the cabin once you get there."
"Could you show us?" The Major asked.
Jesse shrugged his shoulders. "Be glad to."
Without another word, the military men went back over to Jesse, raising him from the couch and taking him out the door and back down the stairs.
"Wait a minute!" Jesse snarled as they all went down the stairs. "I meant when I's done seein' the doctor!"
"'Fraid there's no time for that, sir. Every minute we waste is a minute too many." The Major replied.
"But why?" Daisy asked as she followed the trio, climbing into the military vehicle after they had thrust Jesse inside.
"We're not at liberty to discuss it, ma'am." Sampson replied as the Major took off.
As Daisy and Jesse pointed out directions, the vehicle traveled at speeds that would rival an ambulance driver.
Soon they had turned on to Carter's Lake road. Bumping along, they soon turned onto the drive that led down to the cabin, Jesse thinking that it was ironic that this was the second trip in as many days to the cabin he rarely visited.
Before the vehicle had even come to a complete stop, the major thrust it into park and he and Sampson jumped out, guns drawn. They rushed up to the cabin and tried the locked knob. Then, without warning, they kicked in the door!
Daisy, who was never one to sit idly by, opened the door and rushed toward the cabin to find out what was going on for herself.
"Daisy! Stop!" Uncle Jesse yelled after her.
Daisy did stop, but only after she arrived at the cabin door. She looked around and noticed that some of the furniture was either turned over or pushed out of the way. The closet door was opened, only a few pieces of clothing on the rack and many hangers on the floor, showing that clothes had been ripped out hurriedly. And the pantry was open, the few cans overturned and some on the floor as if someone had hurriedly grabbed some out at random.
The military men returned from the rear room, looking around the front room once again. Finally, Sampson turned to look at his superior.
"They're gone!" He confirmed.
Yep Sampson, they're gone. But thinkin' back on that car that stopped just outside the Duke property late last night, I've got a feelin' they ain't off by themselves.
