Chapter Five

As the sun dipped low under the horizon, Bo woke up and stretched his stiff muscles as much as he could.

Carefully he crawled out of the tree and found the picnic basket.

Opening it up he chose a peach and quickly ate that.

Sighing, Bo walked back to the small cave and grabbed his bike.

After securing the basket to the bike, Bo hopped back on and continued riding, in about twenty minutes he would be out of Hazzard, and in another two hours he'd be out of Georgia all together!

While he rode, he began to formulate a plan. The house that he spent the first eleven years of his life in was still standing and the house keeper, Mrs. Archer still lived there, keeping the house in order.

By all rights the house belonged to Bo, since it stated in his father's will that if something happened to either Bo's father or mother, that Bo would inherit everything. The house, the money, the cars...everything.

Bo knew this, but had chosen to leave everything as it was. He never laid claim to anything, not wishing to stir up all of those memories, but now he would return home to live there with Mrs. Archer.

By all accounts, Bo was one of the richest kid's in the US, but the money didn't appeal to Bo that much.

If he had a choice between money and his parents being with him, he would choose his parents each time.

Bo barely noticed as he passed the county line and exited Hazzard.

He turned his bike on to the open road and pedaled faster. He needed to be far away from Hazzard before sunup, because he knew that if Uncle Jesse found him, he would be so dead.

After one solid hour of riding, Bo's aching muscles and burning head forced him to stop.

Bo pulled off the road and stashed his bike in some tall reeds, before he walked half a mile to a farmhouse.

The lights were still on inside the house so Bo decided to take this oppertunity to check his tempature.

Taking the thermometer out of his pocket, Bo stuck it in his mouth, waited the required five minutes before checking the reading.

'103.5, no wonder I feel so sick.' Bo thought as he stuck the thermometer back into his pocket.

He was about to turn away when the farmhouse's front door opened and a man carrying a bucket could be seen.

The man and Bo stared at each other for a second, only the sounds of the night could be heard.

Finally, the man said, "What'cha doin' out here, son?"

"I.." Bo said stiffly as he tried to think of what to say.

After several seconds Bo gulped and asked quietly, "Please sir, could I have a glass of water?"

The man approached Bo and in the light coming from the farmhouse, the kindly man could see that Bo was sick, to sick to be out of doors.

Wrapping an arm around Bo's shoulder's the man helped Bo to the door.

"Come inside, son." The man said as he opened the door and helped Bo into the house.

"Mary! Come out here, we've got a sick boy who need's help!" The man yelled as Bo stumbled over to the couch and sank down into it.

Seconds went by before a short lady came out of the bedroom and went over to her husband.

"Yes Joseph, what is it?" The lady asked.

The man pointed at Bo, who by this time was shivering because his fever was still rising.

"Oh my!" Mary said as she rushed over to him and placed a hand on his forehead.

"He's burning up Joseph. Get me so cold water and tylenol, also prepare a cold bath, we need to get his fever down!" Mary ordered.

Her husband quickly got the water and medicine before rushing to the bathroom to prepare the water.

After several minutes, Joseph came back out, picked Bo up and carried him into the bathroom.

He stripped the small boy before placing him in the water, and for the boy's sake, Joseph turned away, just in case the boy got embarresed easily.

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The feeling of ice cold water hitting his overheated skin caused Bo to open his eyes.

He was sitting in a tub full of clear, cold water, while a strange man sat on the floor beside the tub, reading a book, thankfully keeping his eyes off of Bo, but Bo still used his hands to cover himself up.

The man, noticing that Bo was awake, said, "It's ok son, I'm not going to hurt you. What's yer name?"

Bo was unsure if he could trust that man, but something about him reminded Bo of his father, so he decided to give it a chance.

Clearing his throat, Bo answered, "My name's Bo...Bo Duke."

"Ok Bo, you can stay here tonigh...Did you jus' saw Bo Duke?" Joseph asked, still staring down at his book, still not wanting to frighten Bo.

Bo nodded his head slowly at Joseph's question as he said, "Yes, sir."

The man reached over and handed Bo and towel.

He waited until Bo stood up and wrapped the towel around himself before raising his eyes and studying the blonde haired boy infront of him.

"You are young Bo Duke. Adam and Laura's child, right?" Joseph asked.

Bo, again nodded his head.

Joseph broke into a huge grin as he hugged the small boy tightly.

Bo was unsure of this, but he welcomed the man's hug and didn't push him away.

"You knew my daddy?" Bo asked softly.

"I knew him, he was my best friend. I met you and yer mom two years ago at her ole' house." Joseph said happily as he handed Bo a small, blue robe that belonged to Joseph's own child, Greg.

As Bo put the robe on, he thought about all of his father's friends.

Finally one memory rose up in his mind.

A man with brown hair, followed closely by a nine year old boy.

Both men and the boy had gone outside to talk about something, shortly after arriving at the house.

A small smile crept over Bo's features as he looked at Joseph again.

"I think I remember you." Bo said hopefully.

Laughing, Joseph opened the door and ushered Bo out.

Bo walked out and entered the living room where Mary had the dining room table set full of good, wholesome food.

"Eat up honey, ya need yer strength." Mary said as she seated Bo at the table.

While Bo was eating, Joseph filled his wife in on who Bo was.

At first Mary had been suprised, but then her suprise turned to worry as she took in the boy who was chowing down on the food infront of him.

Pulling out another chair, Mary sank into it before she said, "Bo honey, what were you doing out here, so far away from home anyway?"

Bo gulped down the mouthful of turkey before he turned to face these nice people.

Slowly and haltingly he told them about what had happened to him, beginning with that time in the creek where Luke had nearly caused him to drown.

Throughout the whole story Joseph's fists kept clenching and unclenching, and by the time Bo was finished, Joseph had wanted to go out to the Duke Farm and give Jesse a piece of his mind, but Bo and Mary stopped him.

"Doesn't he know how to take care of children! He's acting like a selfish old man!" Joseph said angerly.

"That's why I left. I'm goin' back home to Flordia." Bo said.

"To th' ole' house?" Joseph asked.

Bo nodded his head and told them that the 'old house' belonged to him, along with everything else.

"Mrs. Archer still lives there an' takes care of the place, an' I know that she'd want me back." Bo said.

Joseph smiled and ruffled Bo's hair for a second.

"Bo if ya want, I'd be happy ta give ya a lift back home." Joseph suggested.

Bo smiled and nodded his head.

"Yes, thank you sir." He said.

Mary, seeing how tired Bo was becoming, suggested that he go to bed for the rest of the night.

Bo nodded his head and stiffled a yawn as Mary led him down the hall and to Greg's old room, where Bo curled up in the spare bed and quickly fell asleep.