--3--

Deputy Simon Claybourne looked at the scared kid sitting on the exam table. The boy stared back at him with frightened eyes peeping out from beneath a mop of blond curls. His own son wasn't much younger than this boy and the thought of him in this kids place froze his heart.

"Can't ya'll let me see my cousin first?" He asked.

The deputy shook his head. "I got ma orders, son."

Simon wouldn't have thought it was possible for the kid to look any more scared than he already was. He was wrong.

"Orders?"

"I gotta take ya'll in to the Chickasaw county jail fer tonight." He told him, "and tomorrow…well, you an' ya cousin were resistin' arrest. Judge'll prob'ly be wantin' to put ya in City of Atlanta jail until the trial."

"I don't know 'bout ya'll, but I got me a lump in my throat the size a Georgia."

Bo hid his face and Simon sighed. He really didn't want a howler in the back of his car all the way in to Chickasaw. But the boy didn't cry. He just sat there a while, head down, thinking it over, looking far too young to be in the kind of trouble he was in.

He raised his head after a moment. "Please?" The boy's voice wavered. "I gotta see Luke. He weren't movin' after the crash."

Simon offered him a smile. "The doc said he's gonna be fine." He assured him. "He'll be outta here in a coupla days."

Bo looked down at his feet, hanging limply over the gurney's side. "It's my fault we crashed."

Claybourne sighed. There was nothing he could say to that. He hadn't been involved in the pursuit of the Duke boys or their arrest. So he did the only thing he could and relented. "Five minutes. No more. An' if the doc says ya can't, I don't wanna hear no arguments."

Bo raised his head. "Yes, sir."

---

A nurse ushered Bo and the deputy into a small room only a stones throw away from where Bo had been treated. Another deputy was in the room, sitting in a plastic chair under the window, reading a well worn magazine.

Luke was in the bed, tucked under stiff hospital sheets. His lips were parted slightly and Bo could hear the familiar soft in-and-out of Luke's breathing when he was deeply asleep.

"He's sleeping. It's not uncommon after a concussion." The nurse said with a smile. "We're waking him every few hours to check on him, but there's nothing to worry about."

Bo looked at Simon nervously and the deputy backed away a little, giving him at least the illusion of privacy.

He leaned over his cousin. "Luke?"

The young man in the bed didn't move, even when Bo took his hand in his own.

"I'm sorry, Luke."

His cousin shifted in his sleep but didn't waken.

"I tried to swing Traveller 'round the tree, honest I did." He swallowed. "I just-" The words caught in his throat. "It's all my fault."

Luke's fingers twitched around Bo's.

"Luke?"

Nothing.

Claybourne looked at his watch. "Come on now, son."

Bo opened his mouth to object but caught the warning in Deputy Claybourne's eyes and nodded. "Yes, sir." He said quietly.

The deputy led Bo out, head bowed.

As the door shut behind them, Luke's eyes flickered open.

"Bo?"

But there was no-one there.

---

"Jesse was getting' into Tri-county a whole lot faster than most of the ambulances. Daisy had shucked 'n' jived an' sweet-talked her way into driving Andy's car, and let me tell you, that gal can drive."

Andy Roach winced as his car's suspension clunked under the stress of barrelling down the country roads at speeds it was never designed for. He closed his eyes and wished his stomach would stop churning in protest at being tossed about like a piece of flotsam in a stormy sea.

Daisy glanced in the rear view mirror and gave Andy a wide grin. "Ya'll holdin' on back there?"

Roach groaned again. He heard Jesse chuckle.

Jesse's fingers were clutching at his own seat, but he was obviously used to his kin's driving and didn't look as green as Andy felt.

It wasn't long before they were on county roads of smooth tarmac and the ride became more pleasant. Daisy was forced to slow her pace on the busier roads or be caught for speeding.

They finally approached the Tri-County Hospital. As they drove up, Daisy could see a Chickasaw County police car parked on the curb in front. A deputy was leading a blond boy in cuffs towards it.

"Uncle Jesse!" She gasped and stepped up the speed.

Her uncle had already seen. "Bo!"

They both watched helpless as the deputy loaded Bo in the back and shut the door. He walked around and got in the drivers seat.

Daisy haphazardly parked Andy's car behind the police car just as it began to drive away. Jesse jumped out and started running after it, "Bo!"

But the car carried on.

Jesse slowed to a stop and watched as his nephew was taken away. He saw the blond head turn in the seat and Bo looked right at him. Jesse would remember the look on the boy's face until the day he died.

Then the car turned a corner and Bo was gone.

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I know Luke doesn't appear in this chapter much, but I haven't forgotten about him. Thanks for the reviews everyone!