Hey, y'all! The General told me he had found some folks willing to listen to us, so I decided to put my two cents worth in. I don't get to talk to humans very much. As a matter of fact, I think this sis my first time!

Oh, sorry – guess I should introduce myself, huh? (Even though most of you probably know me already.) My name is Dixie. I tend to forget my manners sometimes, but I don't get to talk to anybody but Jackson and General Lee most of the time. Well, there is the tractor, but he don't talk too much – he spends so much time working that all he wants to do is sleep when he gets back to the barn. He's kinda old, but he keeps going because our humans depend on him so much. Tractors are like that, really loyal.

That ain't to say we cars ain't loyal, too – it's just that, around here, tractors have a more direct impact on the humans. After all, if your tractor breaks down, you better have a couple good mules and a decent plow, or you ain't gonna get your crops planted. If you don't get your crops planted, you can't harvest them later. If you can't harvest them, you can't use them for food or sell them to buy other things. (The tractor told me that hisself – it was his version of "why tractors are more important than cars and don't have time for silly things like talking or giving out their names.") As long as I've known him, I've never heard his name. I don't think Jackson even knows it, and he's been here longer than me or even General. General says the tractor is probably just embarrassed 'cause he can't remember the name he was given – too much time in the sun. Of course, Jackson says General is just jealous because the tractor can do something he can't. (General always likes to be the best at everything, that's just how he is.) Personally, I think the tractor is just a very private machine and don't want nobody getting too close. That's kinda sad if you ask me – I mean it's no way to live! If ya don't let nobody in, ain't no way for them to help ya or ask for help if something goes wrong.

Of course, some folks just figure they can fix everything themselves. Sometimes I think that's my Daisy's problem. She don't want to worry nobody, so she tries to hide her big problems. Like when she had Jessica – as soon as she got the chance after she found out she was pregnant, she took off to Greenriver. Don't make a whole lot to sense when you think about it. I mean, she didn't know a soul there, she didn't have a job or a place to stay lined up. Sure, it worked out alright in the end, but she didn't know what was gonna happen.

You know what? I think that's the story I'm gonna tell y'all – the one nobody else around here knows.

I knew something was wrong when Daisy came out and started loading suitcases in my backseat. It wasn't the first time she'd done it, but, usually, I would hear her talking to Miss Lulu on the CB, or we'd go shopping a few times before it all came out, or somebody would mention the trip she had planned or a sick relative she was going to take care of. This time, though, there hadn't been any of that – and Daisy was wiping away tears as we drove off. I kept hoping that I had just not been paying attention and had missed all of the preparations, but, I could feel it in my motor mounts, this time was different.

When we got to Greenriver, Daisy immediately started heading into all the restaurants we came to, then coming right back out again. At first, I couldn't figure out what she was doing – I mean, really, if she was hungry, why didn't she just eat already? – but I finally realized that it had nothing to do with food; she was looking for a job. We had come all that way, but that was where her plan ended – no job, no place to stay, nothing. (Daisy's not much for planning – that's Luke's specialty - she just lives in the moment and assumes it will work out.)

Well, finally, she really got lucky. She was pretty discouraged – she'd been just about every place in town – when she stopped at Miss Mary's. It was almost five o'clock and we had been driving around for hours, but she decided to try one more time before getting a hotel room and trying again in the morning. It turned out that, not only did Miss Mary desperately need a waitress, but she also owned a nearby apartment building and was looking for a new tenant! I've never seen Daisy quite as excited as she was when she came out to move me to the employee lot. (Miss Mary had her start with the supper rush that night.) It was like someone had just told her that this was where she was supposed to be now and everything would be fine.

Daisy became friends with Miss Mary and Chrissy, one of the other waitresses, almost immediately. They were always trying to help her get ready for the baby, but, y'all know that Duke pride. It took a while for them to convince her that the things they bought her were bought out of friendship and not pity. Both of them are a good bit older than Daisy – Miss Mary's kids are about the same age as Daisy and the boys and Chrissy's kids are in junior high – so I think they really enjoyed the excuse to look at and buy baby things again. Miss Mary also introduced Daisy to Miss Bishop, an older widow in the apartment building, who ended up watching Jessica while Daisy worked.

Daisy loves all three of those ladies, and they've been really good to her, but I could tell that she missed Uncle Jesse and the boys so much. To tell you the truth, I did, too. As many cars and trucks as I was always around, I really missed Jackson and General, too. I even missed them teasing me and arguing back and forth. (I wouldn't tell them that, though – I'd never hear the end of it!)

The day I saw Bo pull up in the General, I really thought I was seeing things. I was parked in the employee lot behind the building, but I was close enough to the edge to see them drive up – and General's engine sound is almost as distinctive as his paint job! I considered moving around front to talk to him, but I was afraid that Daisy might get in trouble if somebody noticed me in the wrong lot – not to mention the problems it would cause if somebody saw me driving by myself! So, you see, I wasn't nervous about talking to General and having to explain what little I knew about the situation, I was protecting Daisy. (That's my story, anyway, and I'm sticking to it!)

When Daisy came out that night, she was so happy that I figured for sure that she had talked to Bo and we were fixing to head for home. No such luck, of course, she was just excited about the huge tip "someone" had left her. (I'll give you three guesses who – and the first two don't count!) It gave her enough to finish paying for the crib she wanted, plus a little left over to start buying fabric for a baby quilt. (I wonder if Bo knows that he helped pay for his niece's first bed and blanket.)

I was so nervous when Jessica was finally born. I don't mean the actual delivery – although that was kind of nerve wracking, too. The way Chrissy was squeezing my steering wheel, I thought for sure that baby was gonna be born in my front seat! (Not that I would've minded, of course, but that kind of thing can't be good for leather seats!) No, I really got worried the first time Daisy put her in her special seat and fastened it down. I had never carried anyone that small before, and Daisy carried her like she was going to break into a million pieces any second. I was terrified of hitting any kind of bump – in fact, I danced all over the road so bad trying to avoid them that Daisy took me to have my front end realigned! It took me almost a month to get comfortable enough with Jessica to just let Daisy drive. (Although, I do still slow us down for some of those bumps – can't be too careful, after all.)

Actually, I think it took Daisy a while to get used to Jessica being along, too. For the longest time it seemed like she couldn't keep her eyes on the road when we took the baby somewhere - she kept glancing in the mirror like she was afraid Jessica would disappear if she wasn't watching.

The first time Daisy seemed completely at ease with Jessica, we were going to the grocery store. Daisy had the radio on, listening to an interview with the newest NASCAR drivers. I really don't think she was paying a whole lot of attention until they got to the last one – a country boy from Georgia with his cousin as his chief mechanic! Both of us were so surprised that I'm honestly not sure which of us pulled me over to the side of the road and stopped. I do know that Daisy let out a little squeal that woke Jessica up and started her crying. (Y'all know Daisy's never been shy about expressing her feelings.)

Daisy got Jessica out of her seat and sat there patting her back until she calmed down. Daisy really looked like she had tears in her own eyes, but she was just so proud of them boys. She kept telling Jessica, "Listen sugar! That's your Uncle Bo! And that's your Uncle Luke! They really did it – they're real NASCAR drivers, now!" Of course, I really doubt a six week old baby understood much of what she was telling her, but Jessica calmed right down and started making happy noises.

The boys sounded real good in that interview. They gave the basics of their lives – where they were from, the fact that they lived with their Uncle Jesse and, until recently, cousin Daisy. Then Luke said, "And we're looking forward to seeing her again real soon." It was almost like Daisy forgot that she wasn't listening to them on the CB. She reached out and laid a finger on the radio, then whispered, "I miss y'all, too. I love you, boys."

We sat there like that, with Daisy touching the radio like she could feel the boys through it, until the interview was over. Then she put Jessica back in her car seat, wiped her own eyes, and drove on to the store. It didn't really surprise me that, after she got groceries, she went down and bought a cheap television for her apartment.

She didn't miss a single race that season. After she told Chrissy and Miss Mary about her cousins' new careers, Miss Mary had a television installed at the restaurant. That way, if Daisy had to work on a race day, she could still see the race. I tell you, I always knew when Bo was winning – it sounded like everybody in the place was cheering! (Of course, I knew exactly what was going on, anyway. I couldn't resist turning on my radio and listening – after all, those boys are my family, too.

I know what y'all are thinking, and, yes, we had a pretty good life out there. The only thing that would've been better would've been to have the family and friends we left behind there with our new friends. Like Daisy told Uncle Jesse – it was nice, but it wasn't really home. There just ain't no place in this world like Hazzard. (Which is probably a good thing – I doubt most folks could handle Hazzard all the time!)

One of those differences was what finally caused us to move back home. (I know, ya'll think that dream of Daisy's triggered our return – but this is what triggered the dream.)

It was a little past closing one night, and I was waiting impatiently for Daisy to finish helping Miss Mary and Chrissy get everything cleaned up when I noticed a car pull up to the back door of the restaurant. I probably wouldn't have thought much about it if they had pulled up to the front door - they had just closed and most of the lights were still on – but most people looking for supper don't go to the back door. It took a while for the men inside to make their move. (So long, in fact, that I was beginning to think they were just lost or something.) When they finally got out, though, I realized that they had just been putting on their masks – and probably making sure those nasty looking guns was loaded.) I tell you, my engine went so cold, I thought I was gonna get to test my antifreeze! Yeah, I know, it ain't like we'd never been in trouble like this before, but, y'all gotta remember, every other time we've had back-up somewhere. Bo and Luke have always been nearby to help if needed – not to mention General, Jackson, and all the other Hazzard cars – this time it was just me, Daisy, and a couple of ladies who had never been on the wrong side of a gun before.

While those guys slipped over to jimmy the lock on the back door, I started trying to get their car's attention. Unfortunately, as the General has pointed out before, cars tend to take on their human's personalities – especially if they ain't never had other humans before. Well, obviously, I don't know this ol' boy's story, but I do know he took his job of guarding that door real serious. Even after his people got in and we could hear all the yelling going on inside – you know the kind "Give us all your money, now! Nobody try to be a hero and nobody gets hurt!" – I couldn't get a response out of him. He just kept muttering, "Nobody in or out, that's your job. Gotta do it right, make 'em proud."

I tell ya'll, I tried everything I knew – sidling up to him, telling him how handsome he was – everything Daisy has used so well on human males before. Well, nothing worked on him, he just kept glancing my way every once in a while. I could hear Daisy trying to get control of the situation inside in some of the same ways – unfortunately, with about the same results.

I know the whole thing couldn't have taken more than a few minutes, but it seemed like we sat like that for hours before I heard an engine almost as welcome as the General would have been.

Betty, the patrol car that works the evening shift most nights was making her first rounds of the road in front of the restaurant. I could hear her calling greetings to the other cars on the street, making sure there wasn't anything going on that her humans needed to know about. Keeping an eye on the car guarding the back door, I slid towards the side of the building to make sure Betty could hear me, then started blowing SOS on my horn.

Betty slowed down almost immediately, and yelled at me, "Dixie, is that you? Girl, you better quit making all that noise before you get Daisy in trouble!"

"Too late!" I yelled back, keeping up my SOS to get the human officer's attention, and ignoring the other car's orders to shut up or his humans would hurt mine. Daisy's already in troub…" Before I could finish the thought, Betty slipped around the building, her humans flashing spotlights over me. I quit blowing my horn as soon as I saw her nose come into view – no sense in letting her humans see me empty, blowing my own horn. (Humans are good at rationalizing stuff they don't understand, but a definite rhythm coming from an empty car is kinda hard to explain!)

"What's wrong, hon?" Betty asked me, inching closer to the other car so her humans could get a look at his license plate, "Where's Daisy?"

I explained the whole thing to Betty as quick as I could, still ignoring the other car's threats, as the humans got out and started towards the back door. Greenriver may be a little bigger than Hazzard, but it is small enough that the police tend to know all the vehicles that belong in the area. A strange car parked behind a closed restaurant was enough to make them worry – especially combined with the "unexplained" signal from me.

Well, things moved pretty quick after that. I guess them crooks weren't real experienced, or maybe somebody just panicked. Just as the cops reached the door, it flew open and the crooks came out – both pointing guns – one at Miss Mary and Chrissy, the other at Daisy's head. I reckon they had decided to use her as a hostage. The one with Daisy came out first, noticed the cops with their own guns drawn, and decided to backtrack into the restaurant. That might have worked out better for him if he had shared the plan with his partner. Instead, he was trying to go in, his friend was trying to come out, and both policemen were yelling for them to drop their weapons.

Daisy took advantage of the confusion to "faint" and trip the guys in the doorway up even more. The guy facing into the building tripped over her leg, knocking his buddy down, too, and causing a gun to go off. Everybody froze for an instant with that gunshot – I just knew Daisy had been shot! – then the police got everything under control. Once the bad guys were in handcuffs and I could see for myself that Daisy and the other ladies were okay, I finally relaxed.

Miss Mary and Chrissy came running out to grab Daisy in hugs, probably checking for themselves to be sure she was okay. That was when I noticed something odd – Daisy was shaking like a leaf and her face was snow white. Yeah, I realize that the other ladies were, too, and that most people would be, all things considered. What y'all seem to be forgetting, though, is that Daisy is from Hazzard – she's used to guns and robberies and such. Then, I followed her eyes and saw what she had already noticed – that bullet had missed where her head had been by less than an inch! For a minute there, I thought she was gonna faint on us for real, but she just shook it off and put on a smile for her friends, keeping her head turned slightly to keep them from noticing the small cut on her forehead where a small chunk of asphalt had hit her.

After the police got their statements from the ladies, we all headed to the apartments. Daisy's hands were still shaking a little when she started me up, but I made sure that nobody else would notice by keeping myself straight between the lines on the road for her. Not that I think Chrissy or Miss Mary would have thought less of her for being nervous, of course, but I know my Daisy. She has that Duke pride in her, and she would have thought less of herself if she could not pretend everything was perfectly normal.

I don't know exactly what happened after she went upstairs, of course, but I do know that the next day we were on our way back to Hazzard. I also know that I am glad to be back where I belong. Travel is nice - I'm a car, what else am I made for if not to go? – but, no matter where you go or how many friends you make along the way, there just ain't no substitute for being home with the ones you love.