Well, now my summer's officially over, so I thought I'd end it by posting a chapter of this. Hope you enjoy. Now I'm off to school. I'll post more hopefully within a couple weeks, but now that I'll be in school, I won't have much time to write.

Chapter 4

Bo and Jude made the rest of the way to Snake's hideout without problems, albeit the former was extremely cautious. Once they made it, they hid the pickup in the bushes and carefully went to find Jesse and Daisy. Bo located his uncle and cousin in some bushes. Silently, he managed to catch their attention. The four of them met out of earshot of the small cabin.

As soon it was safe, Daisy threw her arms around her younger cousin, catching him off guard. "Oh Bo, we heard Snake threw a snake into the pickup!" she cried.

Bo breathed a shaky sigh. "Yeah, but we got it out. It was real close though."

Jude nodded in agreement. "He was real lucky he didn't git bit."

Daisy got a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "But Snake don't know that." She received three confused stares. "Luke's rubbin' off on me. I thought us up a real interestin' plan. Uncle Jesse, do we still got them crutches from when Luke was wounded in the Marines?"

So Daisy explained the plan she done thunk up. Somethin' tells me this is gonna git almost fun.

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Fer Daisy's plan ta work, the Dukes and Jude had ta wait until the next day. That didn't sit to well, with Bo, but he don't have a choice.

After much protesting, the three men let Daisy have a part in her plan. Jude and Daisy entered Snake's hideout, making their entrance known. Snake and the others, including Luke, quickly noticed they were there, and that the pair was glaring angrily at them.

Snake grinned. "Hey, Jude. I figgered we'd be seein' ya soon." He turn to look at a fuming Daisy.

I don't know 'bout ya'll, but I wouldn't mess with Daisy when she's like that.

"Did ya'll find the surprise Patch left in yer truck?" Snake asked her.

"Oh, we found it all right," Daisy answered flatly, looking angrier than before. "Bo found it earlier, a little too late if ya know what I mean."

Luke, not knowing what was going on, paled considerably. "Is he all right, Daisy?" he blurted out.

"He's okay, thanks ta Jude getting' him to the hospital on time," Daisy answered. "Lemme go find 'im." She left the building.

"Well, that didn't work," Willie noted. "Guess we'll just hafta try again, right Snake?"

Snake nodded. "Don't worry, Willie, we'll git 'em. We'll finish 'em up soon."

The door opened, and in walked Daisy. She was followed by Bo, who was sporting crutches and a wrapped-up lower leg. He looked miserably at Daisy, and she had to bite the insides of her cheeks to keep from laughing.

"Bo . . ." Luke muttered, looking sympathetically at his youngest cousin. He mentally kicked himself for allowing Bo to get bit by a rattlesnake. Of course, there was no way around it, but he couldn't shove away the feeling he should have done something.

Upon hearing his name, Bo turned to his cousin. Luke didn't have to speak for Bo to know what he was thinking. He had to look away, being filled with shame for causing his cousin to have such feelings. He wasn't even injured, it was all just a trick.

Ain't that a good shuck 'n' jive? It even fooled Luke, and he's the king o' shuckin' 'n' jivin'.

Snake smirked, pleased with himself. He pulled a chair up next to Luke. "Why don't ya take a load off, Bo?" Hesitantly, Bo hobbled over to the chair, and, looking as pained as he could, eased himself down on the chair. "Tie 'im up, Coy."

Coy tied Bo's wrists together and tied that to the chair behind him. For good measure, he took his crutches to the other side of the room.

"Snake, I'd like us ta step outside," Jude said coolly.

"Whatever Jude," Snake replied flippantly. "I'm just givin' you yer last request. Come on fellas, the Dukes ain't going nowhere."

As soon as they were all gone, Bo leaned towards his cousin and spoke softly. "I ain't hurt, Luke."

"But you—" Luke started, but Bo cut him off.

"Shh," he said. "Don't let 'em hear ya. I ain't been bit by no snake. This is all part of Daisy's plan. It's genius, actually. I'm just pretendin'. We's foolin' 'em."

Ain't that slick, ya'll?

Realization hit Luke's face, and he grinned. "That is good," he whispered. "I've taught ya'll well. But ya's got blood or somethin' soakin' through that bandage."

Bo smiled sheepishly. "We was gonna use red paint, but we couldn't find none so we had ta use ketchup instead."

Luke chuckled quietly. He leaned forward to sniff Bo's leg. "That smell makes me want a cheeseburger with fries real bad," he commented, making Bo laugh. "I say as soon as we git outta this mess, we get some at the Boar's Nest."

Bo agreed. "I don't think I ever had so much fun getting' ready fer a plan before But that ketchup was real cold. It still feels cold now."

"Well, I'm glad ya ain't really hurt, cousin," Luke said. "You really had me fooled. But we should shut up now, cause here comes Patch.

Bo nodded and let out a moan as the door opened. Luke had to suppress a grin as he noticed how good his cousin was at conveying pain in his midnight blue eyes. He would've been worried, had he not been laughing and joking with the younger man seconds before.

"What do you want?" Luke asked with as much anger as he could muster, as Patch made his way over to Luke and began untying him.

"I want to have some fun," Patch informed him. "I thought I'd take ya fer a ride.

"Where to?" Luke wondered.

"Some place ya ain't comin back from, plowboy," Patch answered, once again.

Luke, his jaw set in grim determination, looked from Patch to Bo, winked at Bo, and looked to Patch again. His lips curled into a sneer as he said, "I ain't goin' nowheres without Bo."

I figgered ya'd say that," Snake's voice said. Luke looked over to see Snake, Willie, Coy, Daisy, and Jude inside. Daisy's and Jude's wrists were tied behind their backs. "Patch, give Bo his crutches back and untie 'im. Let 'im ride in the backseat."

"Yessir," Patch complied. He proceeded to untie the younger Duke cousin. "Come on, let's go."

Outside, Patch practically drug Luke along, but Bo lagged behind to signal to Jesse, who was hidden in bushes on a nearby rise. He motioned for him to come, then held his hand up as if to say "stop". All the while, he mouthed "follow at a distance" to his uncle. He smiled when he saw the elderly man nod. Then Bo returned to faking pain and misery.

Jesse grinned himself at his nephew's performance. This certainly was an interesting plan, he mused as he climbed into the General, leaving Dixie behind for Daisy and Jude. They had previously rid him of any and all moonshine. But Rosco didn't know that.

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Cooter sighed, frustrated that he was leading Rosco on another chase. The night before, he had disposed of all the moonshine, but he couldn't convince the sheriff of that fact. He thought about pulling a hard left turn at Jessup Road, but it was blocked by a black station wagon tearing blindly around the road. A burly man with an eye patch was behind the wheel. Riding shotgun was a nervous looking Luke Duke.

Forgetting about Rosco, Cooter whipped the truck around to chase his obviously troubled friend.

Rosco was not as lucky. He whirled around just as Jesse came through. The front end was embedded in the General Lee. He looked over to make sure Flash was okay before exiting the damaged vehicle.

"Rosco!" Jesse exclaimed from his seat. "Ya dang pea-brain! What're ya drivin' like a crazed maniac fer?"

"Sorry Jesse," Rosco apologized. "I was in hot pursuit of Cooter an' I—"

"I don't care if you were in hot pursuit of a buzzard with a rattlesnake stuck to his rear," he spat. "I's tryin' ta keep up with someone, an' now I lost 'em. Yer lucky Cooter's with 'em."

Rosco merely stood there, stunned at Jesse's outburst.

Meanwhile, up ahead, Bo looked behind to see Cooter, but he didn't say anything. It didn't matter, because Patch noticed him. He grinned maliciously, and to Luke their was no mistaking the evil twinkle in the larger man's eye.

It was now or never, and someone would get hurt if it were the latter. He reached back to pat Bo's leg. Bo nodded in understanding.

Now what're them two up to?

"Aw, Patch, could we stop?" he whined. "I'd rather not throw up all over yer car, and them antibiotics they got me on are makin' me sick."

Patch cringed, knowing Snake would make him clean it up when he returned. Although he didn't want to stop with a mysterious truck on his tail. Finally, he concluded that he could take them on, and he stopped.

Bo started to get out of the car, followed by Luke and Patch. Using the crutches, he went a ways from the car.

Patch faced Bo, holding a gun on the blonde Duke. Luke grabbed a small log, brought it over his head, and hit Patch with it, full force.

A gunshot rang through the air, and Luke heard Bo scream.

Well, ya'll, that don't sound good. Ain't it amazin' how them boys came up with a plan without even talkin' 'bout it? Ya'll stick around.