This chapter I respectfully dedicate to my "cousins" Ani and Elen…glomps…

The drive into Hazzard was quiet. Daisy and Jesse talked to the boys and asked questions but they replied with short answers, if with any at all. By the time, they pulled up to the farmhouse, the tension was as thick as molasses. Without a word to anyone, Bo got out of Enos' car that had been borrowed for the trip, and walked quickly into the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

Luke followed him with his eyes and sighed as he helped Daisy and Jesse bring in the bags. Bo hadn't spoken to him since Luke had given his answer on the plane… and it wasn't what Bo had wanted to hear.

Uh oh. Don't look good for the General Lee.

"He's family, Luke…"

Luke shook his head. "It ain't happenin' Bo. Ya can hardly move as it is…. ya know how Boss arranged for the plane? Ya couldn't handle the drive is why… ya tellin' me ya wanna go all over creation to hunt for a car that probably has been parted out by now, not to mention take the risk of runnin' into them fellas…. I'm sorry Bo, but it ain't happenin'. I ain't gonna lose ya…. not when I just got ya back."

The look on Bo's face was heartbreaking… and it was the last image of his cousin that Luke had in mind. Bo wouldn't face him after that moment, and he certainly didn't speak to him.

"Ya wanna tell me what's goin' on?" asked Jesse, sitting down in his favorite chair, once they got inside.

Daisy put her ear to the boys' door and returned to the living room. "He's cryin' again, Uncle Jesse." It wasn't anything new… the boy had been fighting back tears all the way home.

The old man sighed and motioned for both Daisy and Luke to sit.

"What set all this off, Luke?"

Luke took a deep breath and sighed. "On the plane he told me he wants to go get the General."

The old Ridge-Runner nodded in understanding. That car meant the world to Bo. "And…?"

"I told'm no," answered Luke. "He ain't well enough…. It's too far… them fellas might still be out there…"

Jesse nodded. "Well, now I see yer point. All the cards point to not going. Odds are ya prolly shouldn't…."

"But?"

"But ya can't hang ont' something' that wants to go. This ain't 'bout the General… heck, ya'd never let a couple fellas an' a long trip stop ya before. This is about Bo."

Luke said nothing.

"Luke, none of us wants anything to happen to him, but ya gotta weigh the scales. If ya go, ya might get hurt, but ya can say ya tried. If ya don't well, you'll always wonder… and Bo… well, that car is a part of him… I hate to see what'll happen if yaw don't go after it…. we're already getting' a taste of Bo without the General. I don't know 'bout you, but I don't like it… I don't like it one bit."

Luke swallowed the lump in his throat. "Uncle Jesse…. We… we almost…"

Jesse nodded. "I know," he said slowly. "I know. And I ain't in no hurry to go through that again… but there's a boy in there with a broken heart. I don't wanna see him get hurt any more than you do, but I don't figure he can hurt any more than he hurts now…"

Luke sighed. This was not going at all like he planned.

"I ain't gonna tell ya what t' do… Bo ain't goin' nowhere's yet…"

Luke nodded. He didn't know what to do. The logical thing would be to start over. The General wasn't as young as he used to be anyway. They were always havin' to replace parts. Besides all that, they had no idea where he was or how hard it would be t' get him back. Yup, the logical thing to do would be to forget it. But right now, Luke wasn't thinking logically.

"Maybe Cooter could check with his buddies around Michigan… see if any Charger's are bein' parted out," thought Luke. Maybe they could even go back to where it all started… in the forest. There might be a clue that they just didn't see, both having been so hurt at the time.

He remembered the look on Bo's face when he told him that two letter word. It was the look that someone would give you after stabbing them through the heart. It was awful. And now, right now, Bo was in their room, sad and hurt and crying his heart out.

It was more than Luke could take. He crossed over to their room and quietly knocked before entering, not wanting Bo to be embarrassed if Luke saw him crying. There was no answer. Luke knocked again.

"Bo, can I come in? Need t' talk with ya."

Still no answer.

Unable to stand the thought of his cousin crying himself sick, Luke opened the door and made his way into the room.

The first things he saw were the empty bed and the open window.


Bo walked as quickly as he could. He wasn't sure how he would get to Michigan, but he knew he had to go and if Luke wouldn't help, he'd just have t' go himself…. and he wasn't gonna wait for permission.

He plodded on, through the wet Georgia clay. It had rained earlier and from the way the clouds were hanging, it looked like it would do it again.

Bo kicked himself for not waiting at least a day before he went. Now he had no coat, no food and the little bit of money he took from the shoebox under his bed. Worst of all, he had left in such an angered hurry, he had forgotten his medicine as well, and from the pounding in his chest and the dizziness threatening to overtake him, he knew that he needed it.

He had just begun to cross Thompson's Field when he suddenly felt his knees buckle beneath him.


Jesse, Daisy and Luke had split up in their search for Bo. There were so many places he could be, but they were convinced he was still near Hazzard.

"Bo? Bo? Where are ya?" called Luke against the clap of thunder that sounded. "Why didn't I stay with him?" he asked himself. "Bo! Bo!"

It was growing colder and the rain was getting heavier. "Bo wouldn't have come this way," thought Luke. He knows Mr. Thompson hates trespassers. He was about to turn back when a low sound caught his ear causing him to look.

Bo lay shivering in the field: cold, wet, and near unconscious.

Things ain't lookin' too good. Y'all stick around.