Summary: Bo and Luke's friendship is put to the test when Luke's newest girlfriend starts causing trouble. There's a big fight and Bo takes off, and to make matters worse, Luke may never get the chance to apologize to his cousin.
Friends 'Til the End
Chapter 4: Bad News
Luke hadn't realized he dozed off on the couch, until he was awaken by the phone ringing. Looking at the clock above the fireplace, he saw it was a little after 9 p.m. since Jesse was some place else in the house, and Daisy had left a little over an hour ago to go to work at the Boars Nest, Luke was left to answer the phone. Getting up, Luke walked over to the phone and answered it.
"Duke farm, Luke Duke speaking." Luke greeted.
"Luke, this is Sheriff Rosco. Is um, is yer Uncle Jesse there?" Rosco asked.
"Um, yeah, just a minute." Luke said as he sat the receiver down. He could tell right away that something was wrong because of the tone of Rosco's voice. After finding Jesse, Luke told him who it was. Jesse went into the living room and picked up the receiver.
"What do ya want Rosco? If yer lookin' for the boys, don't bother. They ain't done nothin' wrong." Jesse said.
"Now Jesse, I'm not accusin' no one of anything. I'm callin' cause I got bad news."
"Bad news? What kinda bad news?" Jesse asked, getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. While Rosco was telling Jesse what had happened, Luke had been watching his uncle. A knot of worry formed in his stomach when he saw the old man pale. After a minute, Jesse said goodbye and hung up the receiver.
"What did Rosco want?" Luke asked. Jesse didn't answer his question, instead he sat down in his favorite chair.
"Jesse? What's wrong?" Luke asked, going over to his uncle. A couple of tears slid down his face before he looked at his nephew. "Bo's gone…" He whispered.
"What about Bo?"
"He's gone…Rosco says he fell in the river and got swept away." Jesse said a little louder. Luke paled at the news.
"He…he can't be. Rosco's gotta be wrong." Luke said, not wanting to believe his baby cousin had more then likely drowned. Luke sat down heavily on the couch and put his head in his hands. A few silent tears slipped down his face. Jesse got up and headed to the door. Looking up, Luke saw Jesse leaving. Not wanting to risk him doing something foolish, even though Luke doubted he would, he got up and followed the Duke patriarch. Jesse had grabbed his red hat and truck keys and headed to his truck.
"Uncle Jesse, where're you going?" Luke asked once he caught up to him.
"Someone has to tell Daisy."
"Jesse, yer in no condition to drive, let me drive." Not in the mood to argue, Jesse handed the keys to Luke and got in the passenger's side, while Luke got in the driver's side. Luke started the truck and drove away from the farm, heading to the Boars nest to break the terrible news to Daisy.
Daisy was busy serving the costumers at the Boars Nest. Because she was so busy, she didn't notice her uncle and older cousin come in. However, someone else did notice them. Standing up, Katie made her way over to Luke, ignoring the distressed look on his face.
"Hey darlin'." Katie greeted Luke, using the biggest grin she could muster.
"Not know Katie, I'm not in the mood." Luke said the distress clear in his voice.
"Oh, what's the matter?"
"I'd rather not say. Have you seen Daisy?"
"Yeah, she's over there." Katie said pointing to the bar where Daisy was waiting for an order.
Luke nodded and made his way over to Daisy, Jesse close behind. Katie, wondering why Luke wasn't paying very much attention to her, followed the Duke men, wanting to listen in on what they had to say. She stood next to Luke, listening carefully.
"Daisy, we…we got somethin' important to tell ya." Luke said, hating to have to tell her.
"Oh hey Luke, hey Uncle Jesse. Is somethin' wrong?" Daisy asked, noticing how quiet the two men were. "Where's Bo?" She asked noticing her younger cousin wasn't with them.
"That's what we need to tell you." Luke replied.
"Luke, what happened? Where's Bo? Is he alright?"
"Listen, Rosco called and said that he was chasin' Bo in the General after Bo an' me had an argument. Anyway, Rosco said he accidentally made the General Lee go in the river and apparently it was up high after the rain. He said Bo climbed out of the General and slipped and fell into the water. He said that…that Bo was swept away." Luke explained, telling her what Jesse had told him after talking with Rosco. Daisy's eyes got wide as tears formed and started falling. While Luke was comforting her, and Jesse comforting both of them, Katie had slipped out after hearing all she knew they'd say.
'So blondie drowned. That's a shame, he was real good lookin' too.' Katie thought to herself as she got in her car. 'Oh well, that means I get Luke all to myself now.' Starting her car, Katie sped away from the Boars Nest, heading to her house.
Back inside, Boss was in his office and had noticed that it got awfully quiet in the bar. Since Rosco hadn't told Boss, he didn't know what had happened, although Rosco hardly said anything, Boss didn't pay attention to it. Getting up, Boss left his office and noticed some of the people were standing in a group around the bar. Thinking the Dukes had something to do with it, Boss walked over to the group. Taking his cigar out of his mouth, he looked over the group, which was almost silent, except for the sobbing coming from Daisy.
"What in tarnation is going on here?" Boss asked.
"It's a real tragedy, the Dukes lost a loved one." One man said quietly to Boss.
"Oh? Who did they loose?" Boss asked.
"Seems they lost the blond one, Bo." The same man said.
"Well, they should learn to keep track of their kin, and they won't be getting' lost."
"That's not the kinda lost I'm talkin' about."
"Wait, you mean, lost as in dead, lost?" The man nodded. "Oh my, that is a tragedy." Boss said. Even though he didn't care any for the Dukes, especially Bo and Luke, he never wanted to see them get hurt or killed, and from the sound of it, that had just happened. Walking past some of the other people, Boss stood next to Jesse and put a hand on his shoulder to get the grieving man's attention.
"Jesse, I want you to know, I'm deeply sorry about your loss. You know I don't particularly care for your nephews, but I never wanted to see one of them hurt or…well you know. And I wanted you to know, if there's anything that I can do for you, you just name it and it'll be done." Boss said.
"I know J.D., thank you." Jesse said in a quiet voice. Boss nodded as he left the group and headed back to his office.
Meanwhile at the river, Cooter was just pulling the General Lee out of the river. Normally he would be grinning thinking of all the times he'd gotten the boys out of the water, but not this time. He had overheard what had happened and was deeply saddened. After getting the General out of the water and away from the river bank, Cooter walked back to the edge and looked down the river, praying he'd see Bo clinging to a rock or an overhanging branch, but he didn't, not only because of the darkness settling in, but also because he wasn't there. In fact, Bo wasn't even in Hazzard anymore, he had been swept into Chickasaw County.
Bo's limp body had been washed on shore near an old cabin. The old man who lived in the cabin with his dog, Sammy, had been coming back from walking with Sammy when the old hound got a whiff of something he didn't recognize. Running ahead of his master, Timothy, Sammy ran until he found the source of the odd smell. It took Timothy a couple of minutes to find Sammy, but once he did, he shined his flashlight on what the ol' hound dog had found. Timothy was surprised to see a young blonde man covered in mud and dripping wet lying half way out of the water.
I sure hope ol' Bo is alive. Ya'll come back next time, ya hear?
Ok, there's chapter four. I hope ya'll liked it. Now ya know the drill, review and tell me what you thought of it.