A/N This will be a short chapter, but don't y'all worry, cause it is the start of the action, drama an' all the other fun yur expectin! I'll just keep my mouth shut now, an' let ya git on to the story!
Ow, and a BIG thanks to all the wonderful people who reviewed my story. You guys are great, and it's what keeps me writin! Enjoy...

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After five minutes of carefully driving down the sandy road, Jesse spotted a darkened figure in the final light of that day. Darkness was already settling in and the figure was nothing more then a dark shape, not moving, just sitting on the edge of Devils Cliff. But Jesse recognized the slumped shoulders and dark complexion immediately. Parking the car on the edge of the road, a few meters from the person, he got out and slowly made his way towards his nephew.

He sat there, legs dangling into the ravine below him, looking over the beautiful landscape in front of him. Jesse wondered if he really saw the actual landscape, or if he was just staring. Concern marred his features as he carefully made his way to the cliff, known as Devils Cliff. It was a steep ravine, formerly a favourite jumping place for the boys, but after the river dried out and storms had roughened the area, the ravine got to dangerous and deep to jump. Now it was a place for lovers to park their car and do the things that lovers do when they are alone in a car surveying a beautiful landscape.

Sitting down besides his nephew, Jesse sighed and silently sat there, his legs however were not dangling over the edge, he went for safety and sat down Indian style. He heard the squeak his bones made when he did that, but ignored it.

"You sober up a little yet?" he gruffly started asking the silent young man.

The slight nod of Luke's lowered head was the only sign he gave his uncle. The nice haze he had spent his time in this afternoon was wearing off, and he didn't like it. It left him feeling dizzy, dark and also ashamed of what he had done. Thinking of how he had left Bo before, he knew he had some apologizing to do.

"Sorry I missed dinner," he started softly.

Jesse chuckled, "Boy, I'm jus glad you's fine, it's a shame of that crawdad soup though," he added, his anger at his eldest nephew dissipating a little, seeing how ashamed he was of his actions.

"Sorry I punched Cooter," Luke went on, causing Jesse to grin a little.

"Well, I'm a guessin you'd better say that ta Cooter. I'm also guessin, he'll forgive ya."

When Luke kept glancing at the darkening sky and a deep sigh escaped his lungs, Jesse decided to just jump in.

"This whole thing, gettin drunk twice in a row an' badmouthin yur kin. Does it have anythin ta do with Sarah Ray makin some bad decisions?"

Luke's head flew up in a flash, looking Jesse straight in the eyes. Jesse was surprised to see a fiery anger burning in those blue orbs. The intensity of that look almost made him want to turn away, but he couldn't. It was too familiar. And he knew why. He had seen that look before, he had seen it almost twenty years ago, right before everything went wrong…

"Bad decisions? Uncle Jesse, I loved that girl, an' she double-crossed me with that Learson guy right in front a my nose. And she has the nerve ta tell me she did it because she loved me while she thought I didn't love her!" his voice had risen at the end of the sentence, but lowered when he continued.

"I really loved her uncle Jesse, I actually… This may sound real dumb, but I really thought she was the one. She kinda reminded me of my mom, I mean, at least what I remember of her…" he trailed off, thoughts taking over his words while he ran one hand through his dark hair.

"I mean… It felt so," he seemed to search for the right word for a minute, "right. But thanks to my great ability, or disability," he snorted again, "ta show someone what they mean to me, I drove her away."

Luke fell silent for a minute, while Jesse just sat there, watching the boy berating himself for the mistakes Sarah had made.

"I just want ta forget everytin for now, an' I guess drinkin myself under the table made me forget. Well, for a while…"

"Now ya listen ta me boy, don't ever think it's your fault she did what she did. I know you's a closed off boy, but I saw you with that girl, and if she didn't see what she meant ta you, she's a darn fool," he grunted, earning himself the smallest of smiles from his nephew.

"But don't ever go an' drink yourself into oblivion again boy. I ain't against havin a beer or two for good clean fun, or even a glass of the finest shine when ya ain't feelin well. But don't ya use liquor ta drown yur sorrows, it's too darn dangerous," Jesse ended, his voice holding a great amount of pain, and even Luke, in his slightly drunken haze, could hear the grief behind those words. A frown appeared on his tanned face, and it deepened with every second as he tried to think of the reason of his uncle's obvious resentment towards Luke's drinking-behaviour of the past few days.

A sudden flash of his mother holding a bottle of dark liquor filled his mind and the urge to ask Jesse about that weird image was overwhelming. Maybe it was his own clouded mind making things up. But maybe it was some hidden memory of a time long forgotten.

"Uncle Jesse? Does this… ehh, I mean, does it have anythin ta do with my mom bein hit by a drunk driver?" Mentioning it he felt a pang of grief, something he always felt when he thought about his parents. He was so young when they died and he was happy with the family he had, but sometimes he missed having a mother or father. He remembered little things from his mother, her singing him to sleep when he had a nightmare. Her crying while holding him tightly in her arms after his father died. Her voice, her smile… Her drunken rages. 'Where did that come from?' Confusion wrote itself on his face as he looked up at his uncle.

Jesse sighed, he knew this day would come eventually. He had withheld for too long, and he could see there was something in the back of Luke's mind. Begging its release. And he made a decision. It could be one he would regret, but it was one Luke had the right of knowing. So he started his tale, he started it sitting in the same place where everything had started almost twenty-five years ago.

"Luke, there's somethin ya need ta know. I'm not sure if ya'll want ta talk ta me though when I'm done, but promise me ya will talk to someone, Bo or Daisy 'll always listen. Promise?"

Friends, I'm gettin real confused here. But I'll bet ya this has somethin ta do with a little Duke history. Somethin else tells me that history ain't gonna be pretty…

Luke felt more confused every second that passed. What could be so bad that would made him mad at uncle Jesse? Deciding that he would only get the answer if he complied, he answered yes.

So Jesse started his tale…

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