---9---

Bo stood up as straight as he could. "Whatda ya'll want?" He asked.

Gator smiled. "You, boy." He stepped forward, crowding Bo.

Bo refused to take a step back. He looked at the door, only twenty or so feet away, but with the three men between him and it, it may as well have been twenty thousand.

The ratty looking man looked him up and down. "He sure is pretty."

Bo stepped back. He didn't know why, but the look of this smaller man was more frightening than Gator or the larger man.

Bo made a snap decision and threw himself forward, knocking Gator out of his way and dashed for the door. The large man grabbed Bo's arm, using his massive weight to pull Bo to a stop. Bo spun and managed to get in good blow across the man's jaw before Gator grabbed his other arm and held him firm.

"He's a regular alley cat, Marty." Gator laughed.

The ratty man pointed down. "Get him on the floor!" .

Bo struggled in their grip as they tried to push him face down onto the floor. His foot connected with Gator's belly and he grunted in pain, his hold on Bo slipped enough for the boy to get his feet down on the floor and push up against the man holding him. Gator kneed him in the stomach and Bo crumpled. They pushed him down flat and Gator put his foot on Bo's back and pressed hard. Bo felt the floor dig into each of his ribs, robbing him of the power to breathe in. He could see the ratty man that Gator had called Marty standing over him.

"Lay off, Gator." Marty yelled. "I want him awake. Ain't no fun if they ain't awake."

The laughter chilled Bo's heart. Then the sound was cut off abruptly.

"Guards is comin' boys." Another voice said. Bo recognised Ricky's voice and felt some hope break through the fear.

Gator took his foot off of Bo and went to Ricky. "Ya call 'em?" He challenged. "That ain't smart, Ricky."

"Not me." Ricky shrugged. "Just changin' ma book, Gator." And then coldness filled his voice. "An' that's the only education I want today."

The large man let Bo go but the boy remained where he was. Moving wasn't an option he felt he wanted to take right now.

Footsteps sounded and two guards came in, eyes taking in the tableau.

The first one went straight to Luke's cellmate. "Gator." He said.

Gator was the picture of innocence. "Was just 'bout ta call ya." He said, "seems little Bo here's had a bad turn."

The other guard knelt by Bo and checked him over. "He's taken a beating."

The guard looked at Gator. "Don't ask me, we just found him like that." Gator said. "Ya know, ya'll need to be careful in a place like this, its gettin' worse by the day."

"Only since the likes of you arrived."

"Careful now, officer. I just might take offence at that." Gator told him. "Ain't just us cons that's gotta be watchin' our backs in here."

The guard stared at him, unflinching. "Anyone see anythin'?"

There was chorus of 'no's and shaken heads.

"Prison blindness affects pretty much ev'ry convict since prisons was invented."

The guard looked at Bo, who was being helped to his feet. "And you, son?"

Bo caught Ricky's eye. His cellmate shook his head slightly. "Um, I…I tripped."

"Uh-huh. Ya'll see what I mean?"

The guard sighed and then gestured at Bo. "Get him to the doc."

---

Bo sat on the small medical exam table, stripped to the waist. The doc had listened to his chest and probed his ribs before deciding Bo was just bruised and an x-ray wouldn't be necessary. An orderly then came to clean Bo's cuts as the guard took the doctor aside to talk to him. Bo heard snatches of their conversation between winces at the sting of antiseptic on his tender skin.

"He's fine, Daniel." The doctor was telling the guard. "Good strong bones."

The guard looked in Bo's direction. "Boy don't look it ta me."

"Cuts and scrapes and a few bruises. Hardly reason to lock him up in here."

"Looks kinda shocked ta me." The guard commented. "Sorta squirrel-ly about the eyes."

The doctor chuckled. "I'm telling you, he's fine."

Daniel shook his head and sighed. "Marty's taken a likin' ta him, doc."

"Oh." The doctor paused a moment, thinking. Then he looked at Bo. "Martin Croft?"

"Uh-huh."

Bo had heard quite enough. "I can take care of myself." He protested and jumped as the orderly pressed hard against a particularly painful bruise. "Hey!"

The guard snorted. "Sure ya can, boy."

"Look, I can't keep him in more'n a night, Daniel." The doc finally said. "I'm bending the rules as it is. Ya'll have ta do yer jobs after that."

Daniel looked at Bo. "Better than nothin', doc." He said and the look on his face gave Bo the shivers. "Better than nothin'."

---

"Bright an' early, Cooter had returned Traveller to the farm, as good as new an' prob'ly a mite better, but there weren't no body home. Jesse had set out for Atlanta as soon as the sun was up, with Daisy ridin' shotgun, in order ta beat the traffic. But ya'll ever been ta the city? Ain't no time when there ain't traffic."

"He's been what?" Jesse demanded.

"Placed in solitary, sir." The guard repeated politely. "I'm afraid your son was causing trouble."

"Them's my nephews," Jesse corrected impatiently, "an' those boys ain't no trouble makers."

"I don't have the details, sir. He'll be released at the end of today. You'll be able to visit with him tomorrow."

"I didn't come all this way ta come back tomorrow ta see my own kin."

"I'm sorry, sir. But that's the rules. I don't have the authority to break them."

Daisy took his arm. "Uncle Jesse."

Jesse patted her hand. "What about Bo?"

The guard checked his list. "Bob here'll escort you." He pointed to another guard. "He's in the hospital wing."

"Is he alright?" Daisy asked.

"He's fine, ma'am. Just a few bruises."

They followed Bob through the main security gates. Jesse complained all the way about not seeing Luke. Daisy tried to hush him, afraid the guards might refuse to let them in to see Bo if they caused too much of a scene.

They finally got to a large dull looking room with rows of beds against the walls. It didn't look very much like the wards in Tri-county, with the bars on the windows and the lack of cheery decoration, but the hospital smell was the same. Several of the beds were occupied and Daisy shuddered at some of the injuries she saw. Hardly any of the patients seemed to be there for genuine illness.

Bo's bed was at the far end, tucked into a corner. His face broke into a relieved grin at the sight of his family. His face was marked by scrapes and there was strain in his clear blue eyes, but the smile was still his and still as wide as ever.

Jesse pulled him into a bear hug and Daisy saw the flinch of pain on Bo's face, like his ribs where hurting him, but he held on to his uncle fiercely like he didn't want to let go.

---

"Now ya'll are prob'ly wondering where ol' Boss Hogg is an' what he's been a-doin' since the boys were thrown in the chokey. Well, he's been a-celebratin' with raw pig's liver an' pickled hogs feet… an' grits an' a bushel of corn dogs an'…ya'll get the idea, don't ya?"

Sammy Davies' stomach turned as she watched Boss cut the pigs liver and shovel it into his face. It wasn't just sight that was disgusting. She could smell the uncooked offal too and it reminded her of a slaughterhouse, or a very bloody crime scene.

"I sure wish I could help ya, Ms Davies." Hogg was saying between mouthfuls. "Ma heart just bleeds fer them boys an' their uncle. But there ain't nothin' that can be done, least of all by me. Those boys was caught on Chickasaw roads an' that's outta ma jurisdiction."

"Actually, Mr Hogg, there is a way for you to help."

Boss gave her a harsh look, and then turned it into a smile. "Well naturally, I'd be delighted, anythin' ta help them boys, only I'm a mite busy right now."

Sammy frowned. "Your bar keep said you were free all day."

Boss gave a look full of daggers at the connecting door between his office and the rest of the Boar's Nest. "Well, I wouldn't be listenin' ta him now. He's just a bar keep, an' a bad one at that. Fact, I'm thinkin' of gettin' a new one."

Boss returned to his raw liver and began cutting again. She could hear the man chewing through the tough organ. Sammy swallowed down her disgust but she stayed put.

Boss looked up at her. "What is it ya want, anyways?"

"A letter of recommendation, Mr Hogg."

Hogg laughed nastily. "Fer them two boys?" He got up. "Now listen here, missy. It was fine day fer the good citizens of Hazzard when them boys was put behind bars. A fine day."

His sudden change of heart didn't shock her. "Everyone I've spoken to speaks very highly of them."

"Well them's had their brains rot by all that bad Duke moonshine. Those boys have been a menace since Jesse took 'em in, like a load o' stray dogs – an' rabid ones at that!"

She met his eyes. "They don't belong in jail, Mr Hogg."

"Well I aim ta see they stay that way."

"And I aim to see them back where they belong!" Sammy said and turned to leave. She knew she was wasting her time. "And I'll do everything in my power to make that happen."

Sammy slammed the door behind her.

Hogg glared after her. "We'll see about that now, won't we?"

---

"Twenty-four hours ain't so long if ya spend 'em sleepin' an' that's what Luke did locked up in solitary. The guards woke him when his time was up, an' he was let back into the main prison. An' ya'll can bet Gator'd be sure happy ta see him."

Luke rubbed sleep from his eyes as he walked. He'd fallen into a doze after a few hours alone with his thoughts and he slept right through the night and pretty much all through the day. His head was woolly from the sleep, but it wasn't hurting anymore. He felt more like himself than he had since the crash.

Luke followed the guard back to his cell block, keeping his eye out for Bo along the way. He hoped his cousin was OK. As he walked he noticed that the noise from the prison was still roaring and ever present, but it didn't bother his head so much now.

When they got to his cell, the guard let Luke in before closing the door behind him. Gator was sprawled on his bed, with a nasty smile on his face.

"Now how would ya'll like ta wake up and find yerself in a nightmare?"

"Duke." Gator's eyes narrowed. "I missed ya, boy. Ain't been no fun without ya."

Luke snorted, unimpressed. "Can't say the feeling was mutual."

"That cousin o' yourn's been causing me a peck o' trouble." Gator told him. "An' I aim ta collect."

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