"Urm…ah…uh…Boss?"
Boss Hogg looked up from his money piles on his desk, frowning at the intrusion, and stood up as he saw the extremely worried look on Rosco's face.
"Rosco, I told you not to disturb me when I'm countin' my profits!"
"But Boss….there is two men out front to see you and they…they don't look too happy."
"Well I don't care if they come in with pitchforks, I want them out of here so I can count my money then go home to bed. I gotta rest before I collect my land of them Dukes."
"But…they real mean lookin' and they got guns..."
"Rosco, you got a gun! When I say git rid of them I mean git!"
Rosco shot out of the door, stuttering incoherent words as he went. Boss sat back down, shaking his head and puffing on his cigar. Having Rosco on the force was useful to him because it allowed him to bend the law to his will, and it was another person he could push around, which he enjoyed nearly as much as counting money. But sometimes, he wondered whether it was worth having such a dimwit work for him.
He settled back and gleefully rubbed his hands together as he resumed his counting of his money piles and thinking about the look on the Duke's faces when he came and gave them the property seizure for failure of mortgage payment. He knew they'd have no choice, seeing as they wouldn't have any money to rebuild their livelihood and continue to pay the mortgage.
Suddenly, the door to the small office of the Boar's Nest burst open and Rosco fell through it as Boss jumped out of his skins, nearly toppling backwards over his chair. Boss was about to yell at him when two men stepped in and made him cower further into his seat.
"Nigel…Ronny…now what are y'all doin' here? I...I thought you said you'd skip town after doin' that job."
"We did, but we don't take kindly to havin' to do more than we was paid for."
"Namely havin' to deal with some punk who tried to mess with our plans."
"Now you listen! I ain't payin' you no more money. I set the farm up perfect for you, I can't help it if you let someone follow ya and you got caught."
"Well y'all didn't set it up too perfect Boss. The guy was already there. He said his name was Bo Duke."
Boss froze as the name pounded in his ears, and he looked down at Rosco who sat worriedly on the floor, as heremembered the orders he had given earlier.
"B...B...Bo Duke you say?"
"Yeah, but you got no need to worry, he's been hushed a gooden like you wanted. We done forced him to jump that bridge over Mill River. He landed straight in the roadworks. There ain't no way he survived."
Boss turned a nasty shade of white, before an angry red flared up in his cheeks. He slowly rose to his feet, biting hard on his cigar.
"You…you...blundering…idiots! Bo Duke is one of the people who own that Farm! You may have just blown the whole plan!"
"Now you listen here Boss, you said…"
"I don't care what I said! I gave you strict orders to hurt none of them Dukes should one arrive back earlier!"
"You said you didn't care who it was we was tryin' to hush, so long as we stopped 'em talkin' which we did!"
"You ain't getting no more money. You'll be lucky if you get away with this! I suggest you high-tail it outta my county before the Dukes come lookin' for you, cause I sure ain't takin' the blame for killin' him."
Nigeland Ronny exchanged worried glances, fingering the butts of their guns, tempted to add another name to their hit list. That was until they saw the Sheriff get back to his feet and point his own gun at them. He had enough evidence to lock them both up there and then at Boss Hogg's order. After a couple of tense minutes, they scowled at Boss and left the Boar's Nest, promising themselves they would get that money one way or another.
Boss relaxed, the color starting to come back in his cheeks. He looked over to Rosco as he heard a loud sniff, and found that the man's bottom lip was quivering and he was fidgeting with his hat nervously. All thoughts of yelling at Rosco left him when he saw the sight, because he instantly knew what he was concerned about.
"Uh…Boss…you don't think that…uh…well…that Bo is really…dead…"
"I don't know Rosco…with them two anythin' is possible…we just gotta pray that he'll be alright…or it'll be us goin' down for murder."
"Us Boss?"
"Well you was the one who was meant to make sure that them Dukes were all outta the way. If I go down, then I ain't goin' alone."
"Y…y...yes Boss."
"So y'all better come up with somethin' quick to get us outta the picture for anythin'."
Rosco stumbled out the door, leaving Boss behind with his not so cheerful thoughts.
"Alright Cooter, we's all set."
Bo flinched as he heard the chainsaw start up, and moved more into Luke's gentle hold as far as his injuries would allow.
Now y'all probably wonderin' what's goin' on. Well, while y'all been sittin' cozy,glarin' at Boss, Luke and the rest of the clan have been workin' on a way of gettin' Bo out the General. Jesse has gone and pulled the General clear of the tree, freein' up the drivers side. Cooter's got the chainsaw to saw through the driver side chassis, while Luke has gone and slipped inside to keep Bo steady. The driver's seat's been lowered so Luke could slip in behind so when the time came to get Bo out, it wont be too much of a struggle. And besides, right now I think Bo could do with a bit of support and comfort, don't you?
Luke held his baby cousin close, pulling the blankets tighter round the shaking limbs, in an effort to draw some warmth back into them.
"Y'all alright Bo?"
But his reply was drowned out by the screeching of metal on metal as the chainsaw ate through the chassis of the General Lee. He felt Bo jerk in his arms and was quick to put a reassuring hand on Bo's arm.
Within minutes, Cooter had the side of the General cut off, and Bo's left arm and leg were free. Luke directed Bo's gaze away from the freed limbs and onto him, not wishing for Bo to be distressed at the severelydistorted angles at which they stuck out. As the light swung round more to the front of the car so Cooter could cut away the dash that had been crushing Bo's chest, Luke saw blood seeping steadily through Bo's Jean's.
As Jesse rounded the General with the make-shift back brace (the hefty board of wood y'all remember Luke asked for earlier), Luke shifted Bo carefully into a lying position, working with Cooter as he slowly freed the young man from the dash, always ensuring that his back and neck were supported and that any movements were slow and smooth. As soon as Cooter finished, he rushed to Jesse's side and helped slip the board underneath Bo while Luke dealt with the broken lower half of the body.
Daisy breathed a sigh of relief as Bo was lifted from the wreckage, which was quickly turned into a suppressed gasp of horror as the headlights of numerous vehicles illuminated the blood on Bo's face and his deformed limbs underneath the blankets. She was quick to rush forward as she saw him look fearfully around for Luke, who was still getting out of the General, obviously trying to compose himself. She took up his right hand and spoke to him soothingly as he was quickly loaded into the back of the pickup truck that stood waiting.
She was about to call Luke to come over when she saw Bo's face pale further behind the blood that caked it, but as soon as a cry of pain rang out from the weakened young man, Luke was over like a shot and took his place right beside him, stroking his hair like Daisy remembered him doing when Bo was just a little kid and had woken up from a terrible nightmare.
"Hey Cooter, tow the General back to your place would ya, then head on up to the farm and see if y'all cant find out who did this. Chances are they might show up again with us lookin' after Bo."
Cooter, who had been staring heart-brokenly at the sight of one of his best friends so badly hurt, instantly leapt into action at Luke's words.
"That's a ten-four Luke. You make sure you keep me updated ya hear."
"Will do Cooter, and thanks."
Cooter quickly shut the back flap to the truck as Uncle Jesse leapt into the driver's seat and started up the engine. Cooter watched as his best friends disappeared into the night, then turned to the mangled wreckage that lay before him, knowing that to Bo, more than one Duke had been hurt that night.
Now don't y'all think Bo's outta the woods yet...they's still gotta get him to Tri County...I sure wish I had as much confidence in Luke as Bo seems to have right now...