Bo climbed into the General Lee as Luke jumped in on the other side. He took a deep breath, with both hands on the steering wheel. Luke waited, Bo could take all the time he needed, Luke wouldn't push him. He studied Bo's face as Bo reached to turn the key in the ignition. Bo was uncertain, Luke could tell and it was disconcerting to see. Bo was the most confident person behind the wheel. He turned the ignition and the effect was almost immediate. Luke let out a breath of relief when all the tension left Bo's body. He took in Bo's smile, one he hadn't seen since Bo got his memory back. "He sounds real good." Bo had heard the engine before, but that was when he had amnesia. This was different. It sounded perfect. The carburettor was doing it's job.
"What are you waiting for?" Luke grinned at him. Bo nodded, putting the General into gear and skidding out of the farm. It was dark, but it didn't matter. Bo and Luke knew Hazzard like the back of their hands. They could drive through Hazzard blindfolded if they wanted to.
"He handles great." Bo cheered, for the first time in a long time, Bo felt like himself. "Have you jumped the creek yet?"
Luke shook his head, feeling a little nervous. Maybe he should've suggest this in the morning, when there is light. "I'm not sure we should. It's a little hard to see."
Bo turned to his cousin, frowning. "Luke, I jump that creek every day. I don't need to see."
If Bo didn't sound so excited, Luke would've argued, but this was the Bo he knew and loved and he wasn't about to rain on his parade. "Alright, let's do it!" Bo grinned and turned off the road. His grin got even wider, if that were even possible. The creek was coming up. They may have not known it at the time, but this was what the General was built for; flying! The freedom Bo felt as the General launched over the creek was breathtaking. He had completely forgotten about everything that has happened. Right now, he just wanted this feeling to never end.
"Wow!" Luke said, breathlessly once the General Lee landed and Bo pulled it to a stop. "I can't say for sure, but I think we cleared the creek by maybe 15 feet!"
Bo ran his hand over the steer wheel and dashboard, "That carburettor really is top of the line, ain't it?"
Luke smiled, "Yeah, it is. Thanks, Bo."
Bo returned the smile, "You really like it?"
"Are you kidding me? It's the best present you've ever got me." Luke frowned when Bo headed off again, "Where are you going? Uncle Jesse's probably worrying about us right now."
"I want to go somewhere." Bo said simply. Luke nodded. This was something Bo needed to do and Luke wasn't going to be the one to stop him. After a minute of driving, Luke recognised the route. They were headed to the fishing hole.
Bo got out as soon as he stopped the car. "How long we gonna be here? Think we should call Uncle Jesse." Luke called out from his seat.
Bo duck down and leaned his forearms on the door. "Don't know how long we'll be, but we should call in, just in case." He got back up and headed towards the fishing hole without waiting for Luke. Luke quickly picked up the CB. "This here's Lost Sheep calling Shepherd, you gotcha ears on? Come back."
"This is Shepherd. When're you boys comin' back?"
"We might be a while, don't know how long though. Don't wait up for us and don't worry, we're fine. Bo's fine. Come back."
"You wanna tell me where you are?"
"We're at our fishing hole. Listen, Bo's gone on ahead. I want to catch up. Just don't worry. I'm gone." Luke put down the CB and ran to catch up with Bo. "You wanna tell me why we're here?" Luke asked when he caught up to his cousin.
Bo looked over his shoulder and smiled, "I'm not sure. I just felt the need to come here."
Luke was a little worried but Bo looked relaxed enough, so he just followed Bo to the fishing hole. The sight of the fishing hole at night had always amazed Bo and Luke. Especially on a night like tonight, when the sky was clear and the moon was full. Bo stood there and looked out into the water. "Last time I was here, I was so messed up, I don't think it helped me any to be here."
"I don't know what else I can say. I know I messed up real bad this time." Luke rubbed his face. He didn't know how to show Bo how sorry he was.
"I didn't come here to make you feel bad. You already helped me heaps. I'm fine." He sat down on a dry area and pulled Luke down with him. "That drive was exactly what I needed. I've been avoiding the General Lee all week. Only you could've known that it was the answer to my problem."
"You've been avoiding him because you thought he was the cause of all this." It wasn't a question.
Bo looked at Luke with curiosity in his eyes, "You seem to always know what I'm feeling, even when I don't."
"You're my brother, Bo. Of course I know what you're thinking and feeling. Like I said when you had amnesia. You're not hard to read. You may think you're hiding it from us, but I will always know what you're feeling."
"That's why you knew where to find me after I ran away." Bo didn't need Luke to tell him this. He sat there with his elbows resting on his knees, playing with a twig he picked up. "Thanks, Luke."
"What for?" Luke frowned, a 'thank you' was the last words he had expected from Bo.
"For knowing how to help me. You knew I needed to get my anger out and you knew I needed to get back into the General Lee. You always know." Bo answered with a little pride in his voice.
"It's only right that I fix this, seeing that I caused it. You don't need to thank me."
"Okay, you can stop feeling guilty now and I'm not thanking you for just this time. I'm saying thank you for all the times you've been there for me." Bo threw his arm around Luke's shoulder, feeling like the weight of the past weeks have lifted. "It's like that song you sang to me when I was sick."
Luke's eyes widened, "You remember that?"
Bo shook his head, "I got the gist of it. Something about two brothers, they might fight but in the end they would always look out for each other. Just like us."
"It's called 'Brotherly Love'. Heard it on the radio, not that long ago. Really liked it, reminded me of us. You ready to go home yet?" Luke asked him.
Bo thought about that for a while before nodding. "Okay."
Jesse jumped at the sound to the General Lee coming down the driveway. He ran out to the porch and waited for his boys to climb out of the General. Bo looked over to him and smiled. Jesse knew straight away that Bo was back. Bo jogged up to the door and threw his arm around his uncle. Luke leaned against the General Lee to give Bo some private time with their uncle. "I didn't mean it when I said I'll never forgive you." Bo whispered to his uncle. Jesse, who had tears in his eyes, nodded. He didn't trust himself to say anything. "I'm sorry I worried you." Jesse pulled him back, framing Bo's face with both his hands.
"I will always worry about you boys." Jesse said through his tears. "I missed you." Bo nodded, pulling his uncle back into a hug. It was his turn to not trust his voice. Life at the Duke farm was finally back to normal. The past few weeks are finally behind them. They finally felt as if they could celebrate and celebrate they did. They used a part of the five hundred dollar reward to cook up a feast for the family and close friends. Cooter, L.B and B.B and Enos were invited. Bo took the opportunity to thank him for believing in him. Enos replied in his usually, bashful way, "Aw, it ain't nothing, Bo. I knew you wouldn't do nothin' like that."
Bo pat him on the shoulder, "We're lucky to have you as a friend, Enos." Which just caused Enos to blush further, so Bo thought he better let him off, "You know, you should go over and help Daisy out. She always did like the gentlemanly type." Enos's face brightened at that and headed over to the prettiest girl in three counties. A car could be heard coming down the driveway. "Weird," Bo said, "I thought everybody arrived already." Luke put down his tongs, he was using at the barbecue and walked over to Bo.
"They're our surprise guests." Luke told him. Bo frowned at him and then grinned when he turned back to the tanned Sudan and saw Jimmy and his family come out.
"Jimmy! You're back!" Bo and Luke walked up to them. "How're you doing, ma'am?" Bo asked Jimmy's wife.
"I'm doing just great, thanks to you and your family. We've finally moved back to Choctaw and reopened the garage." She told him.
"That's great to hear."
"I'm so sorry for all the trouble we cause you and your family, but I can see everything is back to normal." Jimmy said as he put his arm around his wife's waist. Luke had lead Jimmy's two sons over to the picnic table.
"yeah, everything is perfect." Bo smiled as he watched his family and friends talk and laugh. "Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone." The day was turning out to be a great day for Bo until Luke let out a secret he wasn't suppose to know, while they were eating.
"You know, a little birdie told me something." Luke looked at Jimmy, whose eyes widened, shaking his head vigorously.
"What's that, Luke?" Cooter asked, curious at Jimmy's reaction.
"Something about me being someone's hero since he came to live on the farm." Bo choked on the food he was. He turned his head to cough out the food that had gone down the wrong side. He heard Luke laughing and Jimmy groaning. Everyone else knew it was true, just surprised that Bo had admitted it to anyone.
"Jimmy," Bo choked out, taking a drink of water his uncle had handed him. "I told you that in confidence."
"I'm sorry, Bo. I only told Luke because I didn't want him to give up on you."
"Jimmy, after everything I've told you about my family, you should've known Luke would never give up. It ain't in his vocabulary!" Bo finally managed to clear his throat, "Dang it, I'll never hear the end of it now." Bo glared at Luke's smug face. He picked up and roll of bread and threw it at his cousin. Luke caught it, enjoying the moment before he said what he wanted Bo to know. Normally, he would wait until Bo and he was alone, but he wanted Bo to know he meant it and he wasn't embarrassed to let everyone know how soppy he could be, not today anyway.
"Well, I've always been proud of you. If I could've chosen my brother, I don't think I could do better than you." The table went quiet to allow Bo to take in what his cousin had just told everyone. "So, now you have that on me. We're even." Bo smiled at his cousin, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. Cooter couldn't stand it any longer.
"How come you two never say that about me?" Cooter asked his cousins sitting opposite him.
"Cooter, if we could choose our brother..." L.B started. Cooter folded his arm and waited for it, smiling smugly. "We wouldn't choose a guy who's crazy enough to steal Limo One!" B.B finished. Everyone burst out laughing. Leave it to the Davenports to bring them out of uncomfortable moments.
The rest of the day went by with laughter, jokes and stories about Jesse and Jimmy's Ridge Runner days.
The End.
Hope y'all liked it.
