Ch. 2
Three days later he drove into Hazzard, his jeep was on its last leg, and he prayed he would make it to Cooter's garage. Just thinking about Cooter made a smile come onto his face. As he turned the corner he spotted the garage just as his jeep starting sputtering. A grateful prayer was sent upwards as he managed to get the jeep in front of the garage just as it dead once again.
Cooter had his head under the hood working on one of the town folks work truck when he heard the sound of a dying engine, and couldn't help but cringe. Once he heard it die he yelled, "I'll be out in a minute!"
Straightening up he made his way outside and stopped mid-step. He recognized the old jeep, but the driver was facing a way from him and Cooter wondered could he have come back. He finished what litttle distance between himself amd the jeep and asked, "What can I do?"
Turning around the stranger looked at Cooter and said, "You can give me a gun so I can put my jeep out of it's misery."
Cooter couldn't believe it. HE had come back though Cooter could barely recognize him. "Holy Cow! I didn't think I would be seeing your face again. What happened?" pointing to the scar that went across his face.
"A man didn't want to be brought in and decided to fight back. I didn't know he had a knife until he pulled it out from under his shirt. It's been a couple years since that happened."
"How long are you going to be in town?"
"Not sure." Sighing he looked around. "I'm not even sure I'll be welcome after leaving like I did."
Cooter gave the man a real good look and saw how tired and warn out he was. Hoping Daisy wouldn't be to upset at him. He spoke up, "She hasn't been the same since you left. She hides it well, but Luke has told me when it gets too much for him to hold it in. Oh, Enos keeps trying to date her, but she keeps saying no. Oh, there were a few times in the beginning she went on dates, but it quickly came to an end. If you have any plans on leaving again, YOU better leave and don't brother seeing her."
"I know, I keep telling myself that I should leave her be; that me showing up will do more harm then good. I tried to; I REALLY tried to forget her. I took on jobs that I didn't have to, kept on the move. Buried myself in my work. Heck, I even came close to proposing to a lady that i liked just to get away from her memory. I promise you with an inch of my life, I won't go near her until I know for sure either I am staying in town."
"Okay." Cooter reached in his pocket and handed a set of keys over to him, "Take the gray truck over there, go up to the cabin where Snake was. Stop and get some food. I'll come by later and check on you, though I might bring Luke with me. He needs to see you."
"Okay." He got into the truck looked back at Cooter and spoke, "Again I am sorry." then took off.
Cooter watched as he left and wonder what was going to happen next. That man helped out a few different families getting out of Boss Hogg's greedy little paws. As he moved the jeep with the aid of his truck he decided to wait a few more hours before closing up shop and going to get Luke.
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Luke was sitting on the steps of the farm house working on his bow, though Bo and he were no longer on probation, which they were all happy about except boss who could no longer try to get them for crossing county lines, though he keeps trying to get them other ways. He never really got comfortable with using a gun again. Hearing a vehicle coming up the driveway he looked up surprised to see that it was Cooter's truck. Putting down the bow he stood up and waited for Cooter to arrive the whole time wondering what he needed.
"Aren't you suppose to be going to a wedding with your friend to keep her mother off her back?"
Cooter stopped the truck and got out. "Yea, I call and told her I would be alittle bit late picking her up. You are not going to believe who I saw."
"Who?" Luke asked feeling a little weary about the answer.
"You better come with me." Cooter said looking around. He knew he should answer his friend's question, but this was someone Luke needed to see first. "Please, Luke just come with me. I promise it will all make sense."
Luke still seemed a bit leery, but he knew Cooter and knew he would get answers soon. "Okay. I'll come but I want answers."
"I promise you will get them." Cooter answered as they got in the truck and drove off.
Uncle Jesse watched, heard the entire thing, and prayed that everything would be okay. He'd just have to wait until they returned to get his own questions answered. Like, who was the stranger that had Cooter on edge? Going outside he picked up Luke's bow and brought it back inside. Besides he had things that needed to be done before picking up Daisy from work, hopefully Bo would get back from his trip soon.