Chapter Seven

Bo woke up just as the pickup truck came to a halt outside of a beautiful two story house.

Looking out of the window, Bo glanced at the tall windows, the beautiful woodwork that made the house what it once was.

He looked at the grounds outside and saw his mother's garden. It was still there and growing fruits and veggie's like nothing had ever happened.

The front door opened and an old, grey haired lady in a red dress came out with a shotgun in her hands!

"Yer tresspassin on the Duke house. State yer business er yet out'a here!" She commanded.

A small smile grew on Bo's face, so he hastily threw open the truck door and climbed out.

Approaching the old lady, he timidly asked, "M..Mrs. Archer?"

The old lady looked at Bo for a second before the recognition shown in her eyes.

"Oh bless God! Bo! It's good ta see ya again, honey!" Mrs. Sarah Archer said, hugging the boy tightly to her.

"It's good ta see ya again too, ma'am." Bo replied.

They parted and Bo turned to Joseph, who was wheeling Bo's bike out to him.

"Hello Joseph." Sarah greeted the older man.

"Hello Mrs. Archer, good to see you again, ma'am." Joseph replied.

Pulling the bike to a stop, Joseph popped the kickstand up and had the bike lean on it.

"Well, here's yer bike Bo, and yer basket. Hope ta see ya again soon." Joseph said, ruffling Bo's hair.

Bo smiled and shook Joseph's hand as a thank you.

"Yes sir, hope ta see ya again soon. Oh, an' thank ya fer takin' care of me last night, an thank Mrs. Mary too." Bo said.

"I sure will. Bye now." Joseph said as he hopped back into his truck, started the engine and left.

Bo turned back to Sarah who hugged him again.

"I never thought I'd live ta see the day when you'd return home." She said as she picked up the basket and walked beside Bo as he wheeled his bike into the huge shed.

"Me neither. Sad ta say that I didn't miss this place...till recently." Bo admitted.

"What's wrong honey?" Sarah asked, seeing the hurt that was in Bo's eyes.

Bo stopped his bike and popped the kickstand back into place before turning around to face his friend and housekeeper.

"Oh Mrs. Archer!" He said, throwing himself into her loving embrace.

Sarah knelt down, till she was at Bo's height level and just let him cry.

"I..always thought that..livin' with...Uncle Jesse an' Luke...would be cool...but, they made it c..c..clear that..they...didn't want me..'round." Bo sobbed into Mrs. Archer's chest.

"Oh honey." Mrs. Archer said sympathatically as she walked the boy inside the house.

Once they were inside, Bo dried his eyes on his sleeve and looked around his house.

It was still hard to believe that this house was now his! Imagine, him, thirteen year old Bo Duke would be the owner of this beautiful house!

Quietly Bo walked to the old couch, the old couch that he had spent so much time playing on, and sat down.

"Is that why ya came home? Because they wouldn't accept ya?" Sarah asked.

Bo nodded his head and told her what had happened.

"A week ago, Luke nearly killed me! He an' I were swimmin, an' he scared me so much that I fell into the stronger current on Cripple Creek. By th' time they found me I wasn't breathin. Uncle Jesse did CPR and got ma back, but three days ago he took Luke swimmin and made me go 'long. Then, he took Luke ta the bike store, an Luke picked out a bike, I asked Uncle Jesse if I could get a bike too, but he said no, sayin' that they couldn't 'ford it. The bike Luke got, was the one I was wantin' for awhile. Ta make matter's worse, I got Luke's ole' bike, that thing ain't good fer nothin' except spare parts! That night I got sick, I tol everyone that I was sick an' they didn't do nothin'! I guess what get's ma most, is the fact that no matter what, Uncle Jesse pamper's Luke, an' leaves me ta fend fer myself." Bo said sadly.

"You made a good choice in comin home. I promise you, that I'll take care of ya. You were like a son to me!" Sarah said.

Bo smiled a little and replied, "I know Mrs. Archer, I trust you."

"Are ya hungry?" She asked.

"Jus' a little." Bo admitted.

"Come with me, I have some cookies in the oven that are about done." Sarah said as she took Bo's hand and led him into the spacious kitchen.

Once there, Bo took a seat in his old chair and watched as Sarah took the cookies out of the oven and sprinkled sugar on them, before putting all of them on a plate and placing the plate in front of Bo.

Bo looked at the sugar cookies greedily and waited as Sarah placed a tall glass of milk beside him.

"Can't have cookies without milk!" She said.

Bo nodded his agreement before reaching out and taking a cookie.

It was hot and Bo nearly dropped it, but managed to hold on to it.

"It's hot!" Sarah said, reminding Bo.

"Yeah," Bo agreed as he took a bite.

"But good." He said with a smile on his face.

The taste of Mrs. Sarah Archer's sugar cookies came back to him in a rush.

He remembered all of those times at christmas when she would sneak him an extra cookie, man those were some very good times.

Bo ate half of the plate before he yawned.

"You look like yer about dead on yer feet." Sarah observed.

Bo didn't say anything, instead he stood up and headed out of the kitchen.

Sarah moved to follow him but Bo said, "I remember ma way to ma room."

"Of course. If ya need anything during the night, ma door's alway's open." Sarah said as she watched Bo climb the stairs.

"Ok, thanks fer the cookies Mrs. Archer, they were very good." Bo said.

Sarah smiled and said, "Bo, ya used ta call me Sarah. Don't tell ma yer goin all formal again."

Bo laughed and shook his head.

"Well, G'night Sarah." He said.

"Goodnight, Bo." Sarah replied with a smile.

Two minutes later she heard Bo's bedroom door click shut.

Once she heard that, she went to the kitchen and grabbed the Georgia phonebook, intent on calling Mr. Jesse Duke.