Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes of Hazzard, not making any money, just cheap thrills.
Warnings: Angst
Rating: K+
Trouble On The Horizon
Chapter 3
"Uncle Jesse?"
"What is it son?" Jesse asked. Glancing over at the small figure in the passenger seat, he saw the tears sliding down the small face and immediately pulled to the side of the road.
"I'm sorry," the small forlorn boy cried, looking away from his uncle as he spoke.
"Sorry, why?"
"For letting go of Bo and Daisy," Luke explained, breaking down into sobs.
"Aw Luke, son it wasn't your fault, even a grown man couldn't have held onto your cousins," Jesse assured his nephew.
"They couldn't?" Luke asked, turning to his uncle, wanting to believe him.
"Nope, a tornado is a powerful thing Luke. Why I've even seen them pull trees up, roots and all, so ya see there weren't nothin' you could do."
"Really?"
"Really," Jesse said. "You okay now?"
"Yeah, but Uncle Jesse...what about Bo? Where is he?"
"I don't know where he is son, but we'll find him, I don't want you worrying none about that."
"Okay," Luke whispered, turning back to the window and staring out as the truck once again started moving.
Parking the truck in the parking lot of the grade school, Jesse got out and went around to the other side. Unbuckling Luke, he helped the little boy out of the truck and they walked inside. Steppng into the building, Jesse picked Luke up to keep him from being injured by the crowd of people milling about the hallways. Carrying his nephew directly to the doctor, he was relieved to see that there would be no wait. Setting his nephew down on the exam table, he stayed beside him, one hand laid supportively on his back as the doctor began his exam.
"Well now, Luke is it? Let's see how you're doing," the doctor spoke lightly, knowing this little boy was probably scared and nervous. Laying the little boy down on the exam table, he began to run experienced hands over his body, searching for any breaks or signs of internal bleeding. A short while later, the doctor had finished his exam and motioned Jesse to the side.
"Doc, how is he?"
"He's going to be fine Mr. Duke, other than scratches and bruises his worst injury is a broken left forearm. Luckily it's a simple break which I can set and cast here, after that you can take him home," the doctor replied.
"Thank the good Lord for that. Say doc, do you know where my other youngin is?"
"I believe her aunt took her to get a bite to eat down in the cafeteria. Go out these doors and turn left down the hallway, the cafeteria is at the other end of the hall."
"Thank you doc," Jesse said. "Why don't you get what you'll need, and I'll let Luke know what's going on," Jesse suggested. Deciding to let Daisy stay with Lavinia for the time being, he stepped back over to Luke and calmly explained what was happening.
By the time the doctor had finished his task forty-five minutes later, Lavinia and Daisy were just returing from the cafeteria. Lavinia carried Daisy back towards the area where the doctors had set up, knowing that's where Jesse would most likely look first. Stopping in her tracks, she took a deep breath when she saw her older brother standing next to an exam table, his back to her.
"Uncle Jesse!" Daisy cried out as soon as she saw him, barely giving Lavinia the chance to steel herself for his anger.
"Well now there ya are," Jesse called out, walking up to them and taking Daisy from Lavinia's arms. "Guess what baby?"
"What?"
"Look over there," Jesse said, turning slightly and pointing towards Luke.
"Luke!" Daisy screamed, scrambling to get down from her uncle's arms. The minute Jesse put her feet on the floor, she took off running for her older cousin.
Watching from a few feet away, Jesse smiled softly at the happy reunion between the cousins.
"Jesse, I'm so sorry that this happened," Lavinia spoke quietly, hoping he could forgive her.
"So am I Lavinia," Jesse spoke coldly, the cold anger he felt scaring him a bit with it's intensity. "I know you didn't mean for this to happen sister, but it did and I could've lost my kids because of your mistake. I still may lose my youngest, and why Lavinia? Why didn't you take them to the store with you?" Jesse asked, struggling to keep his voice calm and quiet.
"I didn't know there would be a tornado, do you think I would've left them if I'd known? I just needed a little sugar, I was only going to be gone a little while. That's the only reason I didn't take them, I knew I wouldn't be gone long and Bo was asleep. I thought it would be okay, I thought it would be safe..." Lavinia trailed off with a choked sob.
"So basically you couldn't be bothered with waking Bo up or waiting until he was awake. Bo may be gone Lavinia, how am I supposed to tell his cousins and Martha if that happens? Even if by some miracle we find him alive, all three of them kids are going to have nightmares, maybe for years, and why? So you wouldn't be inconveinced, Lavinia you're my favorite sister, but I don't know if I can ever forgive you for this." Jesse sadly told her, stepping away and going to his two oldest kids.
Hand flying to her mouth, Lavinia muffled the sobs that threatened to break free as she turned away, fleeing her brother's anger. Running outside, she was so upset that she wasn't watching and ran into a man as he headed towards the building.
"Whoa, hold on now, are you okay miss?" The man asked, hands holding firmly to her arms until she had regained her balance.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you," Lavinia apologized, trying to move past him.
"It's alright, but you didn't answer my question," he reminded her, looking down at her with kind brown eyes.
"I'm fine, I just needed to get some air," Lavinia explained, not wanting to tell this stranger any more.
"If you're sure," the man replied. "Maybe you can help me though, I'm looking for a Jesse Duke, do you know where I could find him?"
Nodding her head, Lavinia swallowed past the lump in her throat and forced herself to speak calmly. "He's in the auditorium, with...no wait there he is the man with the red cap and the two kids," Lavinia corrected, pointing to where Jesse had just stepped outside.
"Thank you," the man said, stepping away and moving towards the small family. "Mr. Duke, could I speak with you for a moment?"
"Yes sir," Jesse replied, turning towards the other man, a curious look on his face.
"Privately," the man suggested, looking pointedly at the children.
"Oh," Jesse spoke softly, having a bad feeling he knew what this man wanted. "Let me just put them in the truck, then we can talk," Jesse said, moving towards the truck.
Putting the two children into the cab of the truck, he strapped them in and shut the door, glad the windows were up. Taking a steadying breath, he turned back to the other man, "Now what did you need to talk to me about?"
"I understand your nephew Bo is still missing?"
"Yes sir," Jesse replied, unable to ask the question uppermost in his mind.
"Three years old, blond hair and dark blue eyes?"
"You found him?"
"Maybe, that's why I was looking for you Mr. Duke. My name is Jim Travers by the way, I'm with the coroner's office. Damn, you okay Mr. Duke?" Jim asked, grabbing the other man before he could hit the ground.
"The coroner's office?" Jesse asked, fearfully.
"Yes sir, we found a young boy who fits your nephew's description. If you could come to the city morgue and identify the bod...boy," Jim quickly corrected, knowing how hard this was for the older man.
"How do I get there?"
"Why don't you just follow me?" Jim kindly suggested.
Ten minutes later, Jesse pulled into a parking space outside the city morgue. Getting the older children from the cab, he reluctantly followed Jim Travers into the building. Arriving inside, he left the kids with a secretary in the front office and slowly walked towards the identification room of the morgue.
"Dr. Adams, this is Jesse Duke, his three year old nephew is missing." Travers introduced, letting the doctor know which body they would need to see.
"I'm sorry to hear that Mr. Duke, if you'll wait here I'll be right back." Dr. Adams, left the room and walked into the viewing room. Pulling out the drawer that held the body of a young boy, the doctor made sure that everything was correct before he went to get Jesse Duke.
In only a few minutes, Jesse stood beside a metal drawer looking down at a small, sheet covered body, praying it wasn't his Bo. Finally nodding his head, he let the waiting men know he was ready to see the boy. Dr. Adams reached down and slowly pulled back the sheet, revealing a small boy with blond curls.
Steeling himself, Jesse stared at the wall behind the doctor for a moment, before finally looking down. "That's not him, thank you God," Jesse cried out, his knees buckling slightly as the sudden wave of relief hit him.
"Thank you Mr. Duke," Jim said, taking the other man's arm and gently leading him back towards the office. "I'm sorry you had to be put through that, but I appreciate you coming down. Hopefully we won't be seeing each other again," Jim spoke sincerely.
"Thank you Mr. Travers, and no offense but I hope I won't see you again either," Jesse replied. Stepping into the office, Jesse collected his kids and left the building.
"Uncle Jesse, where are we going?" Luke asked, startling Jesse as he drove towards the Duke farm.
"I'm taking you two home to your Aunt Martha," Jesse replied.
"No you can't!" Luke and Daisy protested together. "You can't leave Bo out there alone," Luke added to the first protest.
"Look kids, I don't want to, but it's dark and we can't search anymore tonight. I ain't forgetting about Bo I promise ya, I'll take y'all home to your aunt and I'll start searching again first thing in the morning."
"But Uncle Jesse Bo's afraid of the dark, ya can't just leave him out there. You have to keep looking, please Uncle Jesse, please don't leave him," Luke begged.
"I ain't got no choice Luke, there ain't nothin' I can do in the dark," Jesse explained, hating to disappoint the kids.
"Uncle Jesse?"
"Yes Luke?"
"That place we was at, I heard somebody talking about there being dead people in there. Is that true?"
Sighing heavily, Jesse confirmed that it was where they kept dead bodies.
"That's what I thought," Luke sadly said, putting his arm around Daisy and drawing her close as if to protect her.
"Luke what's wrong?" Daisy asked, confused by the change she felt in her older cousin.
"Uncle Jesse ain't looking for Bo cause he's in that place," Luke softly explained, tears beginning to fall.
"No...no," Daisy protested, whispering brokenly.
Jerking the steering wheel, Jesse pulled to the side of the road. Slamming the truck into park, he turned to the kids. "Luke you're wrong, Bo ain't in that place," he tried to explain.
"Then why ain't you looking for him? And why was we in that place?" Luke yelled his questions, tears quickly turning to sobs for his lost cousin.
"Luke," Jesse whispered, quickly climbing out of the truck and around to the other side. Pulling open the door, he grabbed both children in a tight hug. "Shhh, calm down now..." Jesse soothed, speaking softly while patting small backs until their sobs began to quiet. "Now have I ever lied to either one of you?"
"No sir," came the answers.
"Bo is not in that place, now wait a minute and I'll explain. I didn't want you to know because I didn't want to upset you. We were there because they found another little boy and they needed me to see if it was Bo. But it wasn't Bo, I promise you, Duke's honor," Jesse assured them.
"I'm sory Uncle Jesse, I shouldn't have thought you lied," Luke apologized.
"It's okay this time Luke, I know you're just upset and worried about your cousin," Jesse replied, patting him on the back. "Now what do you say we get on home?" Jesse suggested, putting the kids back in the truck. The rest of the drive home was made in silence.
Before Jesse could even get his door open, Martha was at the passenger door and helping the children from the truck. Getting the kids inside, they fed them a light supper. Afterwards, for the first time in years they held them in their laps, slowly rocking them to sleep. Moving the kids to their bedrooms, they silently tucked them under the covers, before meeting back in the hall and heading to their own room.
Kneeling beside their bed, Jesse led them in prayer. "Dear Lord, we thank you for the safe return of Luke and Daisy to us. Thank you for keeping them safe in your hands Father, I don't have the words to say how grateful we are. You've already given us so much Lord, but please keep our youngest safe too. Please allow Bo to return safely to our care, thank you Lord. Amen." Jesse finished the prayer and climbed to his feet, pulling Martha up with him.
Lying in the darkness of their room, Jesse gave Martha's hand a gentle squeeze. "It'll be alright Martha, you'll see," Jesse tried to comfort his wife, while hiding his own fear.
"I hope you're right Jesse," Martha replied, returning the gentle pressure as she closed her eyes and drifted into an uneasy sleep.
Early the next morning, after a night filled with nightmares for all of them, Jesse again headed towards Cedar City. Arriving back at the grade school, Jesse met up with Robert Schnell and the other volunteers. Going over the maps, they crossed out several areas that had been searched the previous day, before handing out assignments. Holding up a hand for silence, Robert Schnell began to address the group. "If you will bow your heads," he requested. "Our Father in heaven, we ask you to guide us this day as we continue the search for our friends and loved ones who are still missing. Please keep both the searchers and the missing safe as we go through another long day. Thank you Lord. Amen." Looking up, Robert gave a smile of encouragement to the volunteers as they began to file out of the room.
Driving down the road three hours later, Jesse suddenly slammed on his brakes. Bringing the truck to a shuddering halt, Jesse looked out across the field towards a small creek. Forgetting about the teenaged volunteer with him, Jesse climbed out of the truck.
"Mr. Duke, why are we stopping? What did you see?" Jerry Dawson asked, getting out of the truck and moving towards the older man.
Ignoring the boy's questions, Jesse ran towards the thing he'd seen in the distance. Moving closer, he saw that it was a baby's crib, just as he'd thought. Stopping suddenly, he didn't even feel the impact of Jerry running into his back. For several minutes he stood there, staring at the crib which was turned upside down. Afraid to move forward, not sure what he would find, and unable to turn back, Jesse finally took a step towards the crib.
"Wow, would you look at that?" Jerry breathed out in amazement at the sight in front of him. The crib mattress was gone, but the springs were still in place. Somehow, in spite of having been through a twister, the crib was still intact, the rails were even in the up position. Sitting in the center of the crib, kept safe by the bed turned cage was a little boy.
"Bo," Jesse whispered, blinking rapidly as the tears of relief threatened to fall. "Give me a hand Jerry," Jesse ordered as he moved to the crib, and with Jerry's help, was able to lift it off of Bo. Falling to his knees in the dirt, Jesse gathered the small boy into his arms and began to rock him. After several minutes, he realized that he hadn't heard a sound from his nephew. "Bo?" Jesse called, moving the boy away from him, he waited for a response.
Bo looked at his uncle, tears streaming down his small face but he never made a sound.
Looking the boy over, Jesse couldn't see anything wrong except for a few scratches and bruises, nothing that would explain the boy's silence. "Bo, please say something honey," Jesse tried again, praying for a response. He was destined to be disappointed, as Bo simply continued to stare at him as though he didn't even see him. Hoping that Bo's silence was simply due to the trauma of being caught up in a tornado and not something more serious, Jesse got to his feet and carried Bo back to the truck.
Following behind the older man, Jerry didn't tell him what he had seen around the area of the crib and on the rails of the bed. "Mr. Duke?" Jerry called out as they neared the truck.
"Yeah Jerry?"
"If you want I could drive, that way you can hold Bo," Jerry offered.
"Thank you Jerry, that sounds like a real good idea," Jesse agreed. Putting Bo into the truck, Jesse climbed in beside him and pulled the small boy onto his lap.
"Well Mr. Duke, I don't know how, but Bo here is fine except for the scratches and bruises, physically anyway. I am concerned about his obvious shock, but I'm sure that he'll be fine after some time at home with his family," the doctor told Jesse a short time later.
"What do we do if he doesn't snap out of this state he's in?" Jesse asked, picking Bo up from the table. He was relieved that Bo's physical injuries weren't bad, but was still concerned for his nephew.
"I'm sure he will, but if he hasn't snapped out of it in a few days you should contact your family doctor."
"Uh, doctor you said the kid has scratches, they ain't none of them from a wolf are they?" Jerry asked, startling both men into momentary silence.
"No son, why do you ask?"
"Oh good, I was worried cause I saw some wolf tracks around the crib and claw marks on the rails. I'm sorry I didn't say anything Mr. Duke, but I didn't want to worry you until a doctor could look at him," Jerry explained.
"Are you sure they were wolf tracks you saw?" Jesse questioned.
"Yes sir, my dad's a real good woodsman, he taught me all the different tracks. It was definitely a wolf, but it was a small one, that's probably why it couldn't tip the crib over."
"That's strange, wonder why it didn't dig under the crib?" Dr. Lewis wondered.
"Well the soil where we found him was mostly rock and from the size of the tracks it was either a young wolf, or a sick one," Jerry explained.
"Well youngin, looks like the Lord was really looking after you," Jesse softly said, tightening his hold on his nephew. "Thank you doctor," Jesse said turning away and heading towards the doors. On his way out of the building, he made his first stop.
"Mr. Schnell?"
"Yes...well hello there young man," Robert greeted Bo, smiling at the little boy nestled in his uncle's arms. "I heard you had found him, has the doctor seen him yet?"
"Yes he has and Bo's going to be fine," Jesse replied, not explaining about the shocked state the boy was in. "I just wanted to thank you for all the help with finding my kids. I'm sure without your help it would've taken a lot longer to find them," Jesse sincerely offered, holding out a hand in friendship.
"You're more than welcome Mr. Duke, I just wish all the searches ended so happily," Robert replied, taking the offered hand and shaking it. "Now if you'll excuse me, I still have some work to do," Robert said, turning away and getting back to the ongoing searches.
"Of course," Jesse replied. After one more stop to call Martha and let her know the good news, Jesse finally made it outside. Strapping Bo into the passenger seat, Jesse climbed into the truck and pulled out of the parking lot. Driving home, Jesse kept glancing over at his youngest, reaching over to touch the small shoulder, he reassured himself again that Bo was truly here, alive and safe.
TBC
Well looks like a lot of y'all were right, please don't forget to review. Thank you.