Luke Who

by sparkle7311

Luke wakes up one morning and can't remember who he is, where he is. or who these people are that say they're his family. And, Oh Yeah, there's a dead body lying around too.

Luke Who?

Chapter 1

It was late, almost four A.M. , and it was dark. The young man stumbled down the road guided more by instinct than anything else. He was a handsome young man in his mid twenties with finely chiseled features, sapphire blue eyes and dark brown curly hair. Six feet tall, he had lean muscular build and was casually dressed in brown cowboy boots, blue jeans and a blue plaid shirt.

Reaching a dirt driveway, he walked around to the back of a weather beaten two story frame house with a screened in back porch. A white pickup truck and a white jeep CJ7 with the name Dixie written on both sides of the hood with a golden Eagle painted in the middle were parked in the barnyard between the house and the old barn.

The young man stumbled up the steps to the porch and entered the house through a back door that opened into the kitchen. Without bothering to turn on the lights, he made his way through the darkness to the stairway and climbed the steps to the second floor. He opened the door to the bedroom at the top of the stairs and went inside. Ignoring the single bed directly in front of him, he crossed to the second single bed in the room. He collapsed across it, face down, without bothering to get undressed.

Jesse Duke was up at five thirty just like he was every morning. The day starts early on a farm. He was a gentle bear of a man in his early sixties with snow white hair and a full beard. He quickly dressed and then went across the hall from his room to wake up his niece, Daisy, so she could start breakfast. He tapped lightly on her door and heard her answer in seconds, "I'm up, Uncle Jesse." He smiled faintly as he continued on down the hall. Daisy was the easiest of his three charges to awaken in the morning.

He opened the door to the room that his two nephews, Bo and Luke, had shared since childhood. Walking over to the window, he pulled up the blind letting the early morning sunshine into the room. "Alright, Boys." He said cheerfully "Time to get up."

Bo, who slept on the bed closest to the door, mumbled in his sleep but didn't awaken. He was usually the hardest of the three cousins to wake up. Normally, Jesse woke his oldest nephew, Luke, up first and then let him take care of waking up Bo. But this morning, he noticed that Luke wasn't waking up very easily either.

Frowning Jesse walked over to Luke's bed and looked down at his nephew who was sleeping face down and still fully clothed. Luke must have gotten in awfully late last night, something out of character for Luke he was usually the more responsible one of the two boys. Jesse reached down and shook his shoulder gently "Luke," he said firmly "It's time to get up." Jesse knew the boys played as hard as they worked but he didn't allow them to slack off their work just because they'd stayed out a little too late the night before. When Luke still didn't wake up, Jesse shook his shoulder again, harder this time. "Luke, I said it's time to get up!" he said a little louder and just as firmly.

Finally, Luke groaned and rolled over onto his back. His eyes opened and he looked up at Jesse with a startled expression on his face. Jesse stepped back and looked at his oldest nephew with a puzzled expression on his face. He could only describe the look he saw in Luke's eyes as fear, pure fear. Thinking that Luke had simply been having a nightmare and was still not quite awake, Jesse said quietly "It's time to get up, Luke."

"What?" Luke mumbled almost incoherently, as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat on the edge of the mattress. He looked at Jesse with the fear still showing clearly in his eyes. His next words sent a chill through the old man's heart "Who are you and where the hell am I?"

"Luke….what's the matter, son?" Jesse said slowly, still not sure why Luke was acting so strangely this morning.

"Don't call me that!" Luke snapped sharply "I don't know you! Where am I and how did I get here?"

Bo muttered something under his breath and opened his eyes, awakened by the voices of his Uncle and his cousin. Blinking sleepily, he yawned and sat up in bed, running his fingers through his thick blonde hair. He turned his attention to his Uncle and his cousin wondering what was going on and why Luke hadn't woke him up like he usually did the mornings.

"Luke….just calm down…" Jesse said in a soothing voice, sensing that Luke was ready to bolt at any second "It's your Uncle Jesse, son…."

"I don't know you!" Luke said angrily, his sapphire eyes flashing fire as he glared at his Uncle.

"Uncle Jesse," Bo said, wide awake now and stunned by Luke's words. "What's the matter with Luke?" He felt a sudden surge of panic but he wasn't entirely sure why.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Jesse told his youngest nephew without taking his eyes off of Luke. "Now listen to me, son…" he told Luke calmly "Your name is Luke Duke. I'm your Uncle Jesse and this here is your cousin, Bo."

Luke shook his head stubbornly "I don't know either one of you and I never heard of any Luke Duke!"

"Uncle Jesse!" Bo said, bouncing out of bed and really starting to panic when he realized that there was something wrong with Luke.

Jesse held up a hand to silence Bo. In a quiet, calm voice he told Bo over his shoulder "Go call Doc Pedicord and tell him to get out here right away."

"Yes, sir." Bo said, leaving his room dressed only in his boxers as he hurried to do as his Uncle instructed.

As Bo left the room, Jesse reached out intending to touch Luke's shoulder. Hurt filled the old man's eyes when Luke pulled away from his hand and looked at him warily, suspiciously, the distrust showing clearly in his eyes. Jesse let his hand fall to his side and looked at his nephew sadly wondering what had happened to Luke that was causing him to act this way. "Why don't you come downstairs with me?" Jesse said gently "You can have some breakfast while we try to figure this thing out."

Luke hesitated and then slowly shoved himself to his feet. He followed Jesse out of the bedroom and down the stairs to the kitchen. The smell of bacon frying and freshly brewed coffee filled the air. Daisy turned to look at her Uncle and Luke as they came into the kitchen. Jesse knew from the look on her face that Bo had filled her in on what had happened upstairs. Bo was standing by the sink, eyeing his cousin worriedly. "Doc said he'd be here as soon as he can" he told Jesse

Jesse nodded to acknowledge Bo's words and told him "You better go get dressed." As Bo left the kitchen, Jesse turned his attention back to Luke who was still standing in the archway between the kitchen and the living room, watching them all cautiously. "Why don't you sit down?" Jesse said "And Daisy can get you something to eat."

Luke hesitated again but finally sat down at the table, taking Bo's usual chair. Daisy quickly prepared a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast, sitting it on the table in front of Luke. She also poured him a cup of coffee, black the way he usually drank it.

"Well go on…." Jesse coaxed Luke gently "Eat…." The suspiciousness in Luke's eyes tore at Jesse's heart. Something was wrong, very wrong and Jesse didn't know how to fix it. He hoped to god that Doc would be able to tell them what was wrong with Luke. Still watching Jesse and Daisy warily, Luke finally began to eat but he did it slowly almost cautiously. The look in his eyes reminded Jesse of a cornered animal just looking for a chance to escape.

Bo came back into the kitchen and fixed himself a plate. Glancing at Luke and then at Jesse, he sat down beside Luke in the chair that Luke normally used. Disturbed by the morning's events, he began to eat trying to make sense of what was going on around him. The family had almost finished with their breakfast when Doc Pedicord arrived.

Jesse met Doc at the front door and in a quiet voice told him about that morning's events and Luke's strange behavior. Doc nodded and accompanied Jesse into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Luke." Doc said pleasantly "I'm Doc Pedicord. Why don't you come with me for a few minutes and we'll try to figure out what's going on here?"

He noticed the suspiciousness in Luke's eyes too and the hesitation before Luke finally shoved himself to his feet and voluntarily followed Doc out onto the front porch. The rest of the family exchanged anxious glances as they waited to hear what Doc had to say after he finished examining Luke.

"Uncle Jesse, what's wrong with Luke?" Daisy asked anxiously

"I don't know, honey." Jesse told him, reaching out to pat her hand reassuringly . "Let's hope Doc can tell us."

"Hey!" Bo said as he happened to glance out the window into the barnyard "The General Lee's not out there!"

"What do you mean The General's not out there?" Jesse said, jumping to his feet and hurrying to the window over the kitchen sink and looking outside.

"It's not out there." Bo repeated unnecessarily since Jesse could see that for himself.

"Then how did Luke get home last night?" Daisy asked in a puzzled voice.

"He must have walked." Jesse said. He looked at Bo "Where was Luke going last night?"

"He had a date with Mary Anne Cummings." Bo told him

"Well, let's wait to see what Doc has to say and then we'll try to figure out where the General is." Jesse said

A few minutes later the front screen door banged and Doc came back into the house. He walked into the kitchen where the other three Dukes looked at him anxiously.

"It looks like Luke's suffered a severe blow to the back of his head and as a result he has amnesia." Doc told them "It's probably only temporary but right now he's very confused and very frightened because he can't remember anything."

"Is he alright otherwise?" Jesse asked "You said he had a blow to the head."

"Yes but other than a concussion I'd don't think there's any other damage. Now, there are some marks on his wrists that makes it look like he's been tied up at some point."

"Tied up?" Bo exclaimed "Who'd do something like that to Luke? And why?"

"If we find that out, then we might find out what happened to Luke and where the General Lee is." Jesse said. He looked at the doctor "What can we do for Luke till he starts to remember things himself?"

"Just try to be patient with him and try not to let him get too upset or agitated. Right now, as I said he's confused and scared and he's very frustrated because he can't remember. Otherwise, just do what you'd normally do….there's no way of predicting what might start triggering his memory again." Doc said "And I wouldn't leave him alone right now. Make sure someone is with him until he feels comfortable being here."

"You don't think he'll try taking off, do ya?" Jesse said

"No, I don't think so. Right now the whole area is strange to him so I don't think he'll venture too far by himself. The most important thing is to just keep reassuring him that this is where he belongs and that he's safe here."

"If he'll let us." Bo said remembering how Luke kept denying all morning that he didn't know them or anyone named Luke Duke.

"I know it's hard for all of you too but that's all you can do right now. I already told him that he was Luke Duke and that you were his family and this was his home but I'm not sure he really understands that right now. It'll take some time but he'll come around." Doc told them "If you need anything else just give me a call."

Chapter 2

After Doc left, Jesse went out on the front porch to check on Luke who was sitting on the porch swing staring at the horizon. Jesse stayed by the door not wanting to spook Luke even though what he really wanted to do was to take his oldest nephew in his arms and give him a hug. But he remembered how Luke had shied away from his touch earlier and he sensed that Luke would do the same thing if he tried to touch him now.

"Uh…you alright, Luke?"

Luke turned to look at Jesse his eyes still full of distrust and fear "I guess…." He said quietly. His mouth turned up in a humorless smile "I don't have much choice, do I?"

"You wanna come back in the house?"

Luke shook his head. "No, I'd rather stay out here for now if you don't mind."

"No, I don't mind. If you need anything, just let me know."

Luke nodded and went back to staring off into the distance. Jesse sighed and went back into the house. Daisy and Bo looked at him questioningly as he walked back into the kitchen. "He's okay for now." Jesse said somberly "Let's just give him some space….don't try to push him." He looked at Bo "Bo, you call Mary Anne and see what time Luke dropped her off last night. Then we need to call Rosco and tell him that the General Lee's missing."

"What good is that gonna do?" Bo said sarcastically "Rosco ain't gonna care."

"He's still the only law we got in Hazzard and something bad happened to Luke last night so we need to report it." Jesse told him

Bo shrugged his shoulders and went to the phone to call Mary Anne. When she answered, he said "Hey, Mary Anne. This here's Bo Duke. I just wanted to ask ya what time Luke took you home last night."

"Took me home?" Mary Anne said in an aggravated voice "He never even showed up last night."

"He didn't?" Bo said in a surprised voice

"No and I waited for him until almost ten o'clock before I finally gave up and went to bed. Listen Bo, you tell that cousin of yours that the next time he can ask somebody else out!" With that Mary Anne hung up the phone.

Bo hung up and looked at his Uncle. "Luke never picked Mary Anne up last night." He told him

"What time did he leave here?" Jesse asked

"Around seven o'clock I guess." Bo told him. "He said he was gonna pick up Mary Anne and go to the Boars Nest for awhile."

"So something must've happened after he left here and before he got to Mary Anne's house." Daisy said

"But what?" Jesse said in an annoyed voice "Nobody knows that but Luke and he can't very well tell us. I don't like this. I don't like it one bit! I'm calling Rosco." Jesse grabbed the phone and dialed the sheriff's office.

"Sheriff's Department. Deputy Enos Strate speaking." Enos wasn't just a Hazzard County Deputy Sheriff; he was also a close friend of the Duke family. He'd had a huge crush on Daisy ever since the third grade.

"Enos, this is Jesse Duke. Is Roscoe there?"

"No, sir. I'm sorry, Uncle Jesse, but he went with Boss Hogg over to Capital City this morning." Enos told him

"Well, we got a little bit of a problem out here at the farm. Luke had some kind of accident or something and can't remember nothing not even his name and the General Lee is missing."

"Possum on a gum bush." Enos said using one of his favorite sayings "Is Luke okay?"

"Well, Doc Pedicord was just here. He said it looks like Luke got hit on the head and it also looks like somebody had him tied up. You haven't heard nothing about no trouble in Hazzard last night have ya?"

"No, sir" Enos told him "But I'll sure ask around and I'll keep an eye out for the General Lee too."

"You do that, Enos. Much obliged." Jesse told him, hanging up the phone. He looked back at his youngest nephew and his niece. "Enos ain't heard nothing about anything unusual happening last night but he's gonna ask around and keep an eye out for the General Lee too."

"Maybe me and Daisy should take Dixie and check out some of Luke's usual spots. Maybe we can find the General." Bo suggested

"Why don't you do that?" Jesse agreed "I'll stay here with Luke."

The two cousins hurried outside and climbed into Daisy's jeep with Bo behind the wheel. The chickens in the barnyard scattered as Bo pulled out of the driveway. Bo started checking out all the spots in the county where Luke liked to go, either to make out with girls, fish or just when he wanted to be alone. It was a long shot but he hoped that maybe they'd find the General at one of them. He decided to check out Lover's rock first since it was the closest to the Duke farm but they didn't find anything there. Next he drove to Widow's Peak but came up empty there too.

So they kept looking. For the next two hours they went from one spot to another. Jenson's Holler, Hazzard Pond, the old Indian Caves , Lookout Point, Hunter's Ridge. He even checked out Jesse's old still sites. But each place they looked they didn't find any sign of Luke being there or of the General Lee. Bo was starting to run out of places to look and he was getting more worried by the minute.

"Where to now?" Daisy said, starting to get worried herself. She knew that Luke would never have left the General Lee just sitting some place voluntarily. The boys co-owned the orange stock car and they had built it themselves. It was their pride and joy. And everybody in Hazzard County knew who the General Lee belonged to so it was doubtful if anyone would try to steal it. Not unless they wanted to tangle with the Duke boys and nobody in their right mind who knew the Dukes wanted to do that.

"I don't know." Bo said trying to think. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers "Henderson Ridge." He said "That's close to Mary Anne's house and Luke takes girls up there sometimes."

"You two sure have all your hiding spots down pat, don't ya?" Daisy said with a laugh.

"Very funny." Bo teased back "As I recall you have a few favorite spots of your own that you like to go to."

Ten minutes later, Bo turned into the dirt road that curved around through the woods until it dead ended at Henderson Ridge, an isolated spot that was perfect if you were looking for a place to make out where you knew you wouldn't be disturbed. As they got closer to Henderson Ridge, Daisy yelled "Look!" and pointed her finger ahead of them. Bo saw the sunlight reflecting off the bright orange of the General Lee's paint job. He grinned happily, they may not know for sure what had happened to Luke to put him in his present condition but at least they had found the General.

Bo pulled Dixie up behind the General and the two cousins climbed out of the jeep. Bo started to check out the General to make sure nothing was wrong with the vehicle that had forced Luke to leave it where it was. Suddenly, Daisy screamed and almost scared Bo out of his skin. "Daisy, what's wr…." He said, stopping in his tracks as he ran around to the front of the General Lee and saw what had made Daisy scream.

Lying on the ground a few feet away from the car was the naked body of a young girl. Blood streaked both of her legs and a rope was tied so tightly around her neck that it had cut deeply into the skin. It was obvious that she had been viciously raped and murdered. Bo swallowed hard to keep his breakfast from coming back up and pulled Daisy into his arms protectively. She was shaking violently and crying softly. Neither one of them had expected to find anything like this.

Chapter 3

Instinctively, the first thing Bo did was grab the CB and call Uncle Jesse. "Lost sheep to Shepard. Come in." he said into the mike "Uncle Jesse, it's Bo. Let's listen to some country music" Country music was the Duke's code telling Jesse to switch to Channel 6 which was the private channel the Dukes used when they needed to talk privately without the rest of Hazzard County listening in. Bo reached in to change his CB to channel 6. "Uncle Jesse, you there?" Bo said

"This is Shepard." Jesse said over the CB "What's wrong?'

"Well….we found the General up at Henderson Ridge….but that ain't all we found. There's a dead body here too…."

"What?" Jesse yelled into the CB

"Yeah….I ain't sure who she is but it looks like she's been raped."

"Oh my god…." Jesse exclaimed in shock. "Well…I guess you better call Enos and git him out there….then git yourselves back here as soon as you can."

"Yes, sir." Bo said. He hung the mike and turned to Daisy, who had joined him on the driver's side of the car so she wouldn't have to look at the girl's body. "Guess we best call Enos like Uncle Jesse said….."

"Bo….you know that Rosco is gonna try to find a way to pin this on Luke…." Daisy said

"He'd better not try nothing like that!" Bo growled "I don't think even Rosco could hate Luke that bad….."

"But what's The General Lee doing here?" Daisy asked "Luke must have been here too…."

"Daisy, now you know Luke didn't have nothing to do with anything like this!"

"I know that, Bo Duke!" Daisy said, angry that Bo had thought even for a minute that she would even consider such a ridiculous idea. "But he might know something! Whoever killed that girl might have intended to kill him too!"

"And they might think that they already did. That could explain the bump on Luke's head." Bo said putting two and two together.

"I don't like this!" Daisy said "If they meant to kill Luke and they find out that he's still alive, they could come after him again and we don't even know who they are."

"And neither does Luke." Bo reminded her somberly "Luke doesn't even know who Luke is right now."

"You better call Enos and git him out here so we can git back home with Uncle Jesse and Luke."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Bo reached back in through the window and grabbed the CB mike, turning the channel back to channel 22. "This is Bo Duke to Enos Strate. Enos, you got your ears on?"

"This is Enos, good buddy." Enos cheerful voice came over the CB "What do ya need, Bo?"

"I need you up here at Henderson Ridge right away. It's an emergency."

"You okay, Bo?" Enos asked in a concerned voice

"I'm fine just get here as soon as you can."

"I'm on my way."

Daisy and Bo leaned against the body of the General to wait for Enos to arrive. Neither of them said much, each of them lost in their own thoughts. The last time there'd been a murder in Hazzard County had been over fifteen years ago when Charlie Martin took a shotgun and shot his cheating wife and her boyfriend. But there had never been a violent murder and rape like this appeared to be.

Enos pulled in behind Dixie fifteen minutes later. He got out of his squad car with a huge grin on his face "I see you found the General Lee." He said cheerfully as he walked towards the two cousins.

"That ain't all we found." Bo told him, leading him around to the front of the car.

"Oh my goodness!" Enos said when he saw the girl's body lying on the ground. He immediately shifted into his lawman mode and knelt down beside the body, his eyes scanning the surrounding area and committing details to memory. He noticed the pieces of rope lying on the ground nearby and made a mental note to make sure and mark it as evidence. He let his eyes sweep over the girl's body, noting her injuries and the rope that had been used to strangle her. Standing up, he walked back over to Bo and Daisy and said, "I can't be sure but I think that's little Angie Baker."

"Angie Baker?" Daisy exclaimed "Why she's only thirteen years old!"

"I'm sorry, y'all but I'm gonna have to ask you to come back to the office with me so I can get a statement from you."

"Enos, Uncle Jesse's back at the farm with Luke. We need to get back there with them." Bo told him in an anxious voice that clearly conveyed his worry to the deputy.

"Well, I guess I could come out there to get your statements. I'm gonna have to talk to Luke anyway."

"Enos, you can't talk to Luke." Bo reminded him patiently "Luke can't remember anything right now, not even his own name."

"Oh, that's right." Enos said "I forgot about that."

"So can we go now?" Bo asked impatiently

"Yeah… but you can't take the General."

"Why not?" Bo asked starting to get irritated

"Because I have to impound him as evidence at a murder scene. I'm sorry y'all." Enos said his sincerity coming through in his tone of voice.

"Alright." Bo said gruffly "Come on, Daisy. Let's get out of here."

"I'll be out to the farm later." Enos called after him as Bo and Daisy climbed into the jeep. Bo raised his hand to acknowledge that he'd heard Enos as he turned on the engine and backed up, turning Dixie around so he could head for home.

Back at the farm, the two cousins hurried into the house where they found Uncle Jesse sitting in the kitchen. As they pulled into the drive they noticed that Luke was still sitting on the front porch in the swing. That was good at least they could talk privately to Uncle Jesse about what they had found at Henderson Ridge.

"Now what in tarnation is going on?" Jesse demanded as soon as they walked in the door.

"We don't know Uncle Jesse." Bo told him "We were just checking out some of the spots where Luke likes to go looking for the General Lee and when we found him at Henderson Ridge, we found the little girl's body too."

"Enos said he thinks its little Angie Baker." Daisy told him

"Jim and Macy's young'n? Why that child's only thirteen years old!"

"It was terrible Uncle Jesse." Daisy said "You could tell she'd been raped."

"Yeah, she was lying right there on the ground in front of the General Lee." Bo told him

"Well, what the devil was the General Lee doing there?"

"I wish I knew…it'll help if Luke could tell us." Bo said grimly

"This isn't good….not good at all…." Jesse said

"Uncle Jesse….Bo and I figured that if Luke was there then whoever killed Angie probably meant to kill him too…." Daisy said slowly

"Which is how he got hurt." Jesse said somberly, glancing worried towards the front door.

"That's what we figure." Bo told him "And we also thought that maybe whoever did it thought they killed Luke too…And if they find out he's still alive….."

"They could come looking for him to finish the job." Jesse said finishing Bo's sentence "Dang it! We need to find out what happened last night!"

"But how are we gonna do that when Luke isn't able to tell us what happened?" Bo asked in a frustrated voice.

"I don't know." Jesse admitted "I just don't know. But we can't leave Luke alone right now that's for sure."

Chapter 4

The Dukes decided that there was no point in saying anything to Luke about the discovery of the girl's body. Since he couldn't remember anything, they agreed that the news would only upset him needlessly. But the discovery of the murder made the circumstances surrounding Luke's own injury more sinister. To protect one of their own, the family would close racks around Luke and do whatever they had to do to keep him from any further harm.

Since Daisy had to go to work and Jesse needed to go into town for a few things, Bo would have to stay at the farm with Luke, who had been sitting on the front porch swing ever since Doc left after examining him that morning. Grabbing a couple of glasses of lemonade, Bo went out on the porch to join his older cousin. Luke accepted the glass of lemonade without comment and took a drink, still staring off into the distance.

"Ya know, cousin, the scenery don't change much." Bo said trying to lighten up the noticeable tension in the air.

"I wouldn't know." Luke told him "I don't remember ever seeing it before." There was a certain flatness in Luke's tone that set Bo's nerves on edge. He wasn't even acting like Luke. The two boys had always been so close, ever since they were kids. Luke had also been more like the big brother that Bo looked up to, admired, and wanted to grow up to be just like. But their bond went beyond that, it was almost psychic in nature sometimes. They could sense when the other one was in trouble or in pain and often finished each other's sentences or thoughts. It could be unnerving to be around when that kicked in for someone who wasn't used to it. Except last night. Last night Bo hadn't sensed any problem with Luke the way he usually could.

"Dang it, Luke…" Bo said "I don't know what I'm suppose to say or how I'm suppose to act…..I keep forgetting you can't remember nothing…"

"Why should you care? It's not your problem." Luke said in that same flat tone that was grating on Bo's nerves.

"Well, I do care!" Bo said more sharply then he intended but only because Luke's words hurt his feelings. "You're my cousin and I love you! And I'm worried and just as scared as you are."

"I doubt that." Luke said with a thin smile and a humorless laugh.

Bo frowned. This wasn't getting them anywhere. It was hard to carry on a conversation with someone who didn't remember you or the bond that you shared. Someone who treated you like a stranger. Bo had always been the type of person who got frustrated easily. He wanted to reach out and shake Luke, snap him out of this strange state he was in, but he knew that wouldn't do any good. And, unfortunately, patience had always been one of Luke's strongest traits, not Bo's. Bo was much more impulsive, acting or reacting first and then thinking about his actions or the consequences later.

"Well, how about helping with the chores since we didn't get 'em done this morning?" Bo suggested "Unless you got a problem with that. It's better than just sitting here all day."

"Sure, why not?" Luke said shoving himself to his feet. "Just tell me what you want me to do…."

"You know wh…" Bo caught himself when he remembered that Luke really didn't know what needed to be done. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Okay, let's go to the barn and I'll show ya."

The two boys walked around the corner of the house and across the barnyard to the barn. Bo paused trying to decide which chores to have Luke do. Finally he decided to just let him do the easiest one first. He had handed him a basket and said "Here, you can gather the eggs while I feel Maudine and the goats."

Luke stood there for a minute with a faint smile on his lips. Finally, he said "You wanna show me where they are?"

"Uh…yeah…sure." Bo said cursing himself for forgetting again that Luke couldn't even remember that. He led him around to the side of the barn and showed him where they kept the chickens. He left him to gather the eggs while he went to take care of the goats and the mule. As he started feeding the goats, Bo found himself wondering what it would be like one morning to wake up and not be able to remember your name, where you were or even recognize your own family. To totally lose your entire identity. He couldn't even begin to imagine what Luke must be going through. Bo knew that he would be going crazy and knowing Luke as well as he did, he figured that was probably pretty close to how Luke must be feeling about now.

By the time he finished feeding the goats and Maudine, Luke had finished gathering the eggs. Next it was time to milk the two goats and the cow. Thankfully Luke remembered how to milk them even if he didn't remember having done it a hundred times before. After finishing the milking, the boys went into the house to find something to eat for lunch. Bo rummaged through the refrigerator and found some left over ham so he made them both a couple of sandwiches and poured them each a glass of lemonade.

They ate in silence, a rarity for both of them. But neither of them seemed to know just what to say to each other. Luke because he couldn't remember anything to talk about and Bo because he was afraid of saying the wrong thing.

Bo heard a car pulling into the drive. Shoving himself to his feet, he walked over to the sink and glanced out the window. Dang. It was Enos. Bo had forgotten about him saying he was going to come by the farm for a statement from Bo and Daisy. "Uh…hey, Luke…" he said "I gotta go outside for a minute…so why don't you just go in the living room and watch TV or something?" Without waiting for an answer, he pushed open the back door and went outside just as Enos was climbing out of his squad car.

"Hey, Enos." He said

"Hey, Bo." Enos greeted him with friendly grin. Enos always seemed to have a smile on his face. He was just one of those people who seemed to be cheerful all the time.

It could get downright annoying sometimes. "I thought you should know that we identified the girl. It was little Angie Baker."

"Gee, that's too bad. I'll make sure and let Uncle Jesse know." Bo said "Did you find anything else?"

"Well, it looks like there were at least two other men there, probably three. And somebody was definitely tied up. I found the pieces of a cut rope with the knots still tied in it."

"That had to have been Luke." Bo said "Doc said he had marks on his wrists that looked like he'd been tied up."

"That's still not enough to clear Luke as a suspect." Enos said

"Oh come on, Enos!" Bo said sharply "You can't believe that Luke had anything to do with what happened to that poor little girl!"

"Of course not…." Enos said, shocked that Bo would even think that he would even consider such a thing. "But I still have to be able to prove it."

"When can I get the General back?"

"I don't know, Bo….maybe a couple days. I have to go through it yet looking for evidence."

"What kind of evidence?"

"Anything to prove that there were other men in the car besides Luke or that Angie was in the car." Enos told him "I promise, Bo….I'll find a way to prove that Luke didn't have nothing to do with it." He glanced at the house nervously "Is Luke here?"

"Yes, he is…but you ain't talking to him." Bo told him firmly "He can't remember anything anyway and you're not gonna upset him any more than he already is."

"I'm gonna have to talk to him sooner or later, Bo." Enos said. He chose his words carefully, he knew that Bo had the Duke temper and he didn't want to set him off "Well you ain't doing it right now!" Bo said sharply, his eyes flashing with more irritation than anger "And Uncle Jesse will tell ya that you need a warrant anyway."

"Well, I guess I better go. I'll talk to ya later, Bo." Enos said uneasily. Bo and Luke were his friends and he didn't like being in the position he was in either. But he took his job seriously. It was the only thing he had ever wanted to do with his life.

"Later, Enos." Bo said. He stood there and watched as the deputy climbed back into his squad car, then he turned and went back into the house. He wandered into the living room and joined Luke who was watching a movie on TV.

Chapter 5

When Uncle Jesse returned home, Bo filled him in on the visit from Enos. Jesse agreed that considering Luke's present condition, it was best to keep Enos away from him too. At least for the time being. Although Luke wasn't as skittish as he'd been that morning, there was still cautiousness in his eyes as he watched the family interacting around him. It hurt Jesse to see the mistrust in his oldest nephew's eyes but he knew that if he was in Luke's place, he'd probably feel the same way. He understood how scared and confused Luke had to be.

Since Daisy was at work, Jesse made supper that night. While he was cooking, the boys went outside to do the evening chores. Just like earlier Bo had to tell Luke which chores needed to be done. But once he knew what to do, Luke did it willingly and without complaining. He still didn't talk much to Bo or to Jesse for that matter. After the finished the chores, they went in the house to eat the good old fashioned country supper that Jesse had prepared. Luke listened to Bo and Jesse's conversation but ate his own meal in silence. His silence was unnerving to both of the other Dukes but Jesse soon discovered (Like Bo had earlier) that it was hard to carry on a conversation with someone who treated you like a stranger.

After they had eaten, Luke excused himself and went to his room. Bo started to follow him, but Jesse gestured for him to let Luke alone for now. In the bedroom, Luke paced the floor anxiously. In his mind, he didn't know these people or recognize this place. He felt a strange detachment both from himself and from his surroundings. He wished he could remember something, anything but it was like his mind was a blackboard that had been wiped clean. He sensed that something bad had happened, really bad, but he just couldn't remember what it was. He was scared, confused, and angry as hell. He just wasn't sure where to direct his anger. It wasn't fair to direct it at the people who claimed to be his family. He felt nothing but love from them even if he couldn't return that feeling. Exhausted from the days events, he stripped off his clothes and lay down on the closest bed, which happened to be the one closest to the door. Soon he was sleeping soundly.

In the dream, he kept hearing a girl's screams and could see the terror in her eyes. He could feel his own fear as he stared at the blood on his hands. Then there was nothing but silence and he was stumbling through the woods searching for something but he couldn't seem to remember what.

Luke moaned in his sleep caught up in the dream but didn't awaken. As the dream lost its grip on his mind, he rolled onto his side and relaxed still sleeping soundly. Bo frowned when he went to bed later that evening and found Luke asleep on his bed. He decided that it was no big deal he could sleep in Luke's bed for one night. It wasn't like he hadn't done it before a few times. He stripped off his clothes and crawled under the lightweight blanket. Soon he was sleeping, snoring softly. Night settled over the farm and the slumbering family. None of them realized that this was the last peaceful night's sleep they would have for awhile.

As was his habit, Jesse was the first one up the next morning. He knocked on Daisy's door to wake her up and then went down the hall to the boy's room. He was only slightly surprised to find Luke in Bo's bed and Bo in Luke's bed. Luke had obviously just gone to bed the night before in the first empty bed he saw. Jesse's heart ached for his oldest nephew. He wanted to help him but he didn't know how. Jesse was a simple man and all he had in this world was his family. He just hoped that whatever was going on wouldn't end up tearing the family apart.

Changing his normal routine, Jesse shook Bo's shoulder and woke him up first. When Bo finally opened his eyes and looked up at his Uncle sleepily, Jesse said quietly "I think we'll let Luke sleep in for a while this morning. You can wake him up later." Bo nodded and yawned as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. As Jesse let the room to head downstairs to make the morning coffee, Bo quickly pulled on his clothes and quietly left the room without disturbing Luke.

During breakfast Bo grumbled about having to do all the morning chores by himself. "Now, Bo" Jesse told him sternly "We need to give Luke some space right now…some time to figure some things out for himself without us trying to push him too hard."

"I ain't been trying to push him, Uncle Jesse." Bo said

"I know you haven't, son….but right now, Luke just needs a little extra understanding…from all of us."

"Uncle Jesse, what am I suppose to do when he can't even remember where the hen house is to gather eggs….or which bed he sleeps in at night….." Bo said, his voice breaking with emotion.

"I know it's hard….it's hard for all of us to see Luke this way." Jesse told him in a comforting voice, reaching out to touch his youngest nephew's hand. "But we just have to be patient….a little while longer….till Luke can start remembering things on his own."

"I know," Bo said apologetically "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't complain about having to do his chores too for a few days. It's just that it tears me up inside when he looks right through me like he's never seen me before."

"I know." Jesse told him "We all feel the same way you do but there ain't nothing we can do about it right now except to be there for Luke if he needs us."

The conversation stopped as the Dukes heard a car pull into the driveway. Daisy stood up and looked out the kitchen window. "Uh…oh..." she said "It's Rosco."

"Now what does that Ninny want?" Jesse blustered, shoving himself to his feet.

He went out onto the back porch, followed closely by Bo and Daisy. "What do you want, Rosco?" Jesse growled as Rosco climbed out of his car.

"Now, Jesse…I'm here after Luke…..and I don't want to argue with you none about it."

"You ain't taking my boy nowhere, Rosco." Jesse said in a quiet voice that still carried a definite warning.

"Now, Jesse….he's a material witness in a murder investigation and maybe even a suspect ….I gotta take Luke in." Rosco sputtered

"What!?" Jesse exclaimed "Rosco, you jack ass! You know Luke would never do anything like what was done to that poor little girl!"

"Ain't no never mind, Jess." Rosco said "I still gotta take 'em in until we git this here mess all cleared up."

"Daisy," Jesse said coldly "Get my gun."

"Now Jess…." Rosco said nervously "I told ya I don't want no trouble."

"Git off my land, Rosco or you're gonna have more trouble than you can handle." Jesse told him.

"Alright, Jess…if that's the way you want it. I'll be back with Enos and Cletus. Then Luke will have to go with us one or the other."

As the sheriff climbed back into his car, Jesse hurriedly ushered Daisy and Bo back into the house. "Bo, go git Luke up and get some stuff together. I want you to git him out of here until we figure out what to do."

"I'll pack y'all some food." Daisy said

"Where do you want me to take him?"

"Take my truck and go to still site number 7." Jesse told him "Wait there till ya hear from me."

"Yes, sir." Bo said hurrying to do what Jesse told him to do before Rosco came back with reinforcements and tried to take Luke from the house by force.

Chapter 6

Luke didn't understand why he was leaving with Bo but thankfully he didn't argue about it. Jesse didn't think that even J.D. Hogg would go so far as to try and frame Luke for Angie's murder. But Jesse wanted to make sure that Luke was safely hidden away until things got sorted out a bit.

Bo threw the suitcase with a few changes of clothes for both boys and some toiletries in it into the back of the pickup truck along with their sleeping bags and camping gear. Daisy brought out a cooler with food and drinks in it and handed to him to put in the truck with the other items Bo was taking with them. He didn't know how long they would have to hide out but he knew if they needed anything else Jesse or Daisy would bring it to them.

The boys often hid out at Jesse's old still sites when they didn't want to be found. Jesse had always chosen his hiding spots well for his stills and nobody had ever found them during the whole time Jesse had made his living making shine. The sites were skillfully hidden throughout the hills that surrounded the Duke farm. There were 8 sites in all. Still site number seven was hidden away deep in a hollow. You had to almost be half mountain goat to even get to it unless you knew where the hidden dirt road was that led to it. (Which of course Bo did)

Nothing was left of the old still that had once sat on the spot except for the fire pit and the drainage ditch. The still itself had been dismantled and destroyed when the boys were put on probation after having been caught running shine. Bo parked Jesse's truck next to the old site and the two boys began setting up camp. They worked in silence most of the time. Bo started a fire in the old fire pit, while Luke pitched the tent. When they had finished, they sat down on some rocks near the fire pit to rest.

"What used to be here anyway?" Luke asked, looking around the surrounding area with a faint frown on his face.

"One of Jesse's stills." Bo reminded him

"A still?" Luke said in a mildly surprised voice "Jesse made moonshine?"

"Yes, he did…." Bo said "And so did we….till you and me got busted running a load one night."

"We were ridge runners." Luke said with a smirk "You and me?"

"Yeah, we were ridge runners." Bo said letting a hint of sarcasm creep into his voice. He was getting really frustrated with Luke not remembering anything. "And we were good at it too."

"If we were so good then how did we get caught?"

"We blew out a tire going about ninety miles an hour. We went off the road and rolled the car about four times." Bo told him "You really don't remember any of this stuff, do ya?"

"No," Luke said with a trace of irritation creeping into his voice "If I did I wouldn't be asking all these stupid questions."

"I'm sorry, Luke….it's just I don't what to say to ya….ya know?"

"Yeah, I know. I don't know what to say to you either…." Luke told him with a deep sigh. "I wanna remember but no matter how hard I try…..I can't….."

"But you ain't forgot everything…I mean ….ya still know what you like and don't like….right?"

"I guess….but what good is it gonna do me to know that I like my coffee black and I don't like buttermilk ….if I can't remember my name, where I live or who the hell you are?" Luke said with a sharp edge to his voice

"Okay….I get your point." Bo said "I'm sorry…"

"So am I." Luke said with another sigh. He looked at his younger cousin with slightly narrowed eyes "You wanna tell me why we're hiding out up here?"

"Cause Uncle Jesse told us to." Bo said trying to evade the question. He didn't want to tell Luke about the girl's body or the investigation that seemed to trying to make Luke a suspect in her murder.

"Come on," Luke said in an annoyed tone "I know there's more to it than that. Now are you gonna tell me or not?" Even if he couldn't remember anything, Luke still had the Duke stubbornness and Bo knew he wouldn't back down. But Bo was still reluctant to tell him what he knew. So he tried to find a way to pacify him with revealing too much.

"Because Jesse thinks you'll be better off up here until he figures out what's going on."

"You expect me to buy that?" Luke asked stubbornly He looked at Bo closely "Is somebody after me?"

"I don't know." Bo told him at least that much was true. "We don't know how you got hit on the head….but those marks on your wrists prove that somebody had you tied up."

Startled, Luke looked at the red marks around both wrists where the skin was raw and scraped away as if noticing them for the first time. "I don't remember being tied up…" he said quietly

"That's why Jesse figured you'd be better off hiding out here ….if somebody is after ya then the farm is the first place they'd look." Bo told him. That much was true too. Bo hoped that Luke would let it drop for now. "Hey, you wanna go fishing? The poles are in the back of the truck."

"Yeah….sure." Luke said with a shrug of his shoulders. Bo shoved himself to his feet and walked over to the truck to get the fishing poles from the bed of the truck. He grabbed some sandwiches out of the cooler and a couple of cokes. He figured they could use some of the bread from the sandwiches for bait. He handed Luke his pole and the two boys walked to the mountain stream nearby. They found a comfortable place to sit on the bank and cast their lines into the water. Fishing was one of their favorite pastimes and they often spent hours doing it. At least there wasn't much need to talk while they were fishing so the silence between them wasn't so uncomfortable.

Luke stretched out, visibly relaxing for the first time in the past two days as he did something that he enjoyed. He grinned when he caught the first fish, a 3 pound trout. By the time the boys decided to quit for the day, they had caught enough fish to cook up a good meal that night. Carrying their catch back to camp, they started cleaning and filleting the fish. For a few hours anyway, it was easy to overlook the fact that Luke couldn't remember anything and act normally as they worked together doing something they had done since they were children. Bo let Luke fry up the fish for supper since he'd always been better at that sort of thing than Bo had. There was nothing quite as delicious as fresh fish cooked over an open camp fire. As darkness fell, the boys laid out their sleeping bags inside the tent and got ready to turn in. It wasn't long before they were both sleeping soundly.

Sometime during the early morning hours, Bo was awakened by Luke mumbling and tossing restlessly beside him. Leaning up on one arm, Bo glanced at his older cousin worriedly. Luke seemed to be dreaming and it didn't seem like it was a very pleasant dream. Gently, Bo reached out to shake his shoulder to awaken him. "Luke? Hey, Luke…" he said quietly "Come on, Luke….wake up." With a start, Luke opened his eyes and looked at Bo with fear showing clearly in the depths of those sapphire eyes. "It's okay, cousin…" Bo told him quietly "You were having a bad dream….that's all."

"A dream?" Luke repeated in a confused voice, still not quite awake. He sat up and shook his head to try and clear away the cobwebs in his mind.

"You okay?"

"Yeah…..I guess so….just one hell of a headache that's all." Luke told him

"Do you remember what you were dreaming about?"

"Something about a girl….a young girl." Luke told him trying to remember the fragments of the dream "She was in some kind of trouble….."

"Do you remember anything else?" Bo asked anxiously, thinking that the girl Luke was referring to might be Angie Baker. Maybe Luke's dream meant that he was starting to remember what happened.

"No…." Luke told him, shaking his head. He lay back on the ground and threw his arm up over his eyes. Bo looked at him for a moment in exasperation, then lay back down himself and tried to go back to sleep. Maybe Luke would remember something in the morning.

Chapter 7

Roscoe patrolled the back roads around the Duke farm. He knew that Bo and Luke were hiding out somewhere and he was determined to find them. He knew about Luke's alleged amnesia but he still needed to talk to the older Duke Cousin. The autopsy report on Angie Baker showed that she had indeed been raped by at least two different men. And a search of the General Lee had uncovered evidence that she had been raped at least once in the back seat of the car.

Roscoe had known Bo and Luke since they were children and even though they got into trouble now and then and liked to raise hell, Roscoe knew that Luke wasn't capable of the kind of violence that had taken Angie Baker's life. But he had been there so he had to know something. Roscoe felt certain that Luke could identify the real killers and that alone could put the entire Duke family at risk. He believed that the killers had intended to kill Luke too but had screwed up and hadn't finished him off by hitting him in the head. So far, Roscoe had managed to keep it quiet about Luke's connection to the murder and about the General Lee having been found at the scene. But his instincts told him that the real killers were out there somewhere and they were probably looking for Luke too so they could finish him off.

Roscoe might be involved with Boss in his crooked schemes to bilk folks out of their hard earned money but at one time he had been an honest lawman. And at times like this he tended to shift back into that role and remember what it meant to be a sworn officer of the law. Even though he worked with Boss to try and frame the Dukes and get them thrown into jail, he didn't want to see Luke get hurt or killed. And he wouldn't even think about trying to frame Luke for anything as serious as murder. That was a capital offense and carried the death penalty.

He wondered if he could convince Jesse that he was on their side this time so that he could talk to Luke. Somehow he doubted it. Being in Boss Hogg's pocket meant not being trusted by most of the county. And he couldn't really blame any of the Dukes for not trusting him after all the times he'd arrested Bo and Luke on trumped up charges or tried to frame them for something. But right now, Rosco had a job to do and he was going to do it and do it the right way.

He wanted to find the men who had so viciously killed that innocent child and see them put away before they could hurt anyone else. This was still his county and he was responsible for the people who lived here. He had Enos and Cletus looking for Bo and Luke too but he doubted if they would have any better luck at it then he was. Those boys knew the county like the back of their hand and they knew how to disappear into the hills and hollers so that they'd never be found unless they wanted to be.

Meanwhile, at their hidden campsite, the boys were starting to get a little bored with their forced confinement. Jesse had been there the night before with Daisy to bring them some more supplies and Jesse had taken the truck, so they were stuck without any wheels until Jesse or Daisy came back and got them. They had a portable CB to keep in touch in case of an emergency and if they needed to reach Daisy or Jesse, they were all on the alternate channel that they used when they wanted to talk privately with each other.

Jesse had finally told Luke about finding the General Lee at the scene of Angie Baker's murder but Luke still couldn't remember anything about what had happened to him that night. Bo had told Jesse about Luke's dream and how the only thing Luke could remember about it was that it had something to do with a young girl in some kind of trouble. Jesse took that as an encouraging sign that Luke was trying to remember the events of that night, at least subconsciously.

As for Luke, even though he couldn't remember anything, he seemed to be more relaxed and comfortable with Bo. That unique bond between them was still holding them together in spite of the present circumstances. They could talk and laugh again without feeling so awkward with each other, except when Luke had to ask Bo to clarify something he said because Luke couldn't remember the inside joke between them that led to Bo saying it. Bo was just relieved to have that much of Luke back again. And Jesse knew that if anyone could help Luke remember it would be Bo. And the sooner the better. Jesse's big toe had been hurting like crazy and that always meant trouble.

Bo and Luke had their bow and arrows with them so to pass time, they decided to go hunting. They walked through the woods using the skills they had learned from Uncle Jesse as children to track and to follow the trails. Before heading back to camp, they managed to shoot a couple of rabbits that they would fix that night for supper. As they sat around the campfire after eating, Bo noticed that Luke seemed preoccupied, lost in his own thoughts. Bo was used to Luke's moods and periods of silence so he didn't try to push him into talking. Luke had always been that way, only sharing his thoughts or feelings when he wanted to not because someone else wanted him to.

Bo had almost dozed off lying there on his back looking up at the stars so when Luke spoke, it startled him for a moment. "What?" Bo said with a sheepish smile, realizing that he hadn't heard what Luke had said.

"I said I think I remember something…." Luke told him

"What?" Bo asked, instantly giving Luke all of his attention

"There was a girl in the road…..she flagged me down…."

"Angie?"

"I don't know….But I remember stopping to help her."

"At least that's a start." Bo said encouragingly

Luke covered his face with his hands, holding his head as if it hurt. But the truth was he was trying to make sense of the images that suddenly started flashing through his mind. He hunched forward with his elbows on his knees and took several long slow breathes and then looked up at his cousin.

"They'll be looking for me because they thought I was dead that's why they left me there…." He said quietly

"Who?" Bo asked anxiously, staring at his cousin and not wanting to break the spell if he was actually starting to remember.

"I don't know." Luke said in a frustrated voice. He groaned and buried his head in his hands again "God, my head hurts…."

"Don't try to force it." Bo said "Why don't you just try to get some rest? Maybe you'll remember more in the morning."

"Yeah…." Luke said "Maybe you're right." He stood up, swaying unsteadily on his feet for a moment. Concerned, Bo jumped to his feet and took his arm, gently leading him over to the tent and helping him inside. Once he was settled comfortably in his sleeping bag, Bo went back out by the fire, taking the portable CB with him.

Hitting the transmit button, he said "Lost sheep to Shepard. Lost Sheep to Shepard. You got your ears on Shepard?"

"This is Shepard. Go ahead, Bo." Jesse's voice said over the CB

"Yeah, Uncle Jesse….I think Luke's starting to remember things. He said a girl flagged him down and he stopped to help her. He also said they thought he was dead so that's why they left him there…."

"Does he remember who they are?"

"No, that's one thing he doesn't remember yet."

"That's a good start…..stay with him. Is he alright?"

"He's lying down….he said his head hurt…." Bo told him

"Keep an eye on him and don't try to force him to remember. We don't want him doing himself more harm than good…." Jesse told him

"Yes, sir."

"I'll get hold of Enos and tell him what Luke said. Maybe it'll help."

"Okay, Shepard. This lost Sheep. I'm gone."

Chapter 8

Daisy pasted a smile on her face as she waited on her customers. Business was busy as usual at the Boars Nest. The main topic on everyone's mind was the murder of Angie Baker. Everyone had their own opinion about what had happened. Most folks seem to think she was murdered by a drifter just passing through, no one wanted to consider the fact that it could have been a local who had done the killing. Parents were keeping their children close to home, especially the young girls, and more shotguns were showing up on the gun racks in the back of pickups.

There was a noticeable tension in the air that hadn't been there before the murder. Things like this just didn't happen in Hazzard. So far nobody knew that Luke had been there and may actually know something about the murder. When any of her customers asked about the boys and wanted to know why they hadn't been around, Daisy simply told them that they were on a hunting trip for a few days.

Rusty Harrison, a local roughneck with a bad reputation, grabbed her wrist as she sat a beer down on the table in front of him. "Hey, Daisy…." He said "How about joining me and Jamie for a little drink?"

"Let go of me, Rusty…" Daisy said with a smile but a definite warning tone in her voice. She tried to pull her hand away but Rusty just tightened his grip and grinned at her suggestively. When he reached out with his other hand and tried to fondle her breast, she stomped her high heel down on his foot as hard as she could. With a howl of pain, he let her go, shoving her backwards. She hit her hip on the edge of the table behind her and would have lost her balance if Cooter hadn't seen what happened and jumped up to come to her aide.

Grabbing her arm to help her regain her balance, he glared at Rusty and his brother, Jamie and said in a cold, threatening voice "I think you two best get out of here while you can still walk out on your own."

Rusty looked at Cooter with a smirk on his face and slowly shoved himself to his feet. His brother Jamie did the same. For a moment, he seemed to be considering challenging Cooter, then he merely shrugged and threw some money on the table for their beers. Turning to his brother, he said "Come on, Jamie…let's git out of this dump." As he walked away, he muttered loudly enough for Daisy and Cooter to hear him "She's probably not that good a piece anyway…."

Cooter's eyes flashed with anger and he took a step towards the Harrison brothers, but Daisy put her hand on his arm stopping him "It's okay, Coot." She said quietly "Let 'em go…"

"He had no right to talk about you like that, Daisy!" Cooter said angrily, still debating about going after Rusty and punching him out to teach him some manners.

"Just let 'em go…..they don't come in here that often…they won't be back…."

"Somebody needs to teach them some manners." Cooter growled, still angry but deciding to let the Harrisons leave without going after them.

"Come on" Daisy said with a smile "I'll buy you a beer for defending my honor."

Cooter walked over to the bar with Daisy and stood there while she poured him a mug of beer and sat it down in front of him. "Thanks, Daisy." He said, taking a long swallow "Say, where's Bo and Luke been keeping themselves lately? I ain't seen 'em for the last couple of days."

"Oh, they went hunting up in the mountains." Daisy told him, giving him the same cover story she and Jesse had agreed on to explain the boys absence.

"Well, I hope they catch something."

"So do I, Cooter. So do I."

"Too bad about the little Baker girl, huh?" Cooter said, not noticing the flash of pain that flickered in Daisy's eyes.

"Yeah…..real bad…." Daisy said

"Makes ya wonder what kind of animal could do something like that to a little girl." Cooter said grimly "Rosco better find whoever's responsible before some of the daddies around here do...or there's gonna be some old fashioned justice carried out mountain style."

Daisy lowered her eyes uneasily. Cooter was a close friend of the family and she hated not being able to tell him the truth about what she knew concerning the whole incident. But a slip of the tongue to anyone could put Luke and Bo both in danger. Anyone who was capable of murdering a 13 year old girl like that wouldn't have any second thoughts about killing Luke if they found him, especially if Luke could identify them once he regained his memory. So Daisy knew that she had to keep silent, even to Cooter. She finished her shift without any further problems and then went home. Jesse was cooking supper when she arrived back at the farm.

"Figured we take supper with us and go see the boys." Jesse told her as she came into the kitchen. "Make sure they don't need nothing and see if Luke remembers anything else."

"Did you tell Enos what Luke said about Angie flagging him down for help?"

"Yeah…..and Enos said he figures something like that must have happened and that's how Luke got caught up in this whole mess. He said it looked like there'd been some kind of struggle down by the main road. He found a necklace in the ditch that Angie's daddy identified as belonging to her."

"So it sounds like somebody must have grabbed her and she got loose from them somehow." Daisy said trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

"And Luke just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." Jesse said "And tried to help her."

Daisy got down a picnic basket from the shelf in the storage closet and started helping Jesse pack up the supper for themselves and the boys. Fifteen minutes, they climbed into Jesse's truck and headed for the hideout where the boys were camping. Neither of them noticed the two men standing on the ridge behind the house watching them with a pair of binoculars.

"There goes the old man and Daisy." One of the men said "Are we gonna follow 'em?"

"Naw, we'll never catch up with 'em…but if we keep watching 'em, sooner or later they lead us to Luke and then we can get rid of him before he identifies us."

"What about Bo?"

"Wherever Luke is Bo is gonna be with him. You can count on it. So we'll have to get rid of him too."

"I don't like this….of all the people to show up at the wrong time, why'd it have to be one the Duke boys?"

"Yeah, well if you hadn't been stupid enough to let that little bitch get loose, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Hey, how was I suppose to know she'd make it to the road and that Luke would be driving by right then and decide to stop."

"We should've put a bullet in his head like I wanted to instead of just hitting him in the head with that rock." The older man glanced at his partner "Come on, let's get out of here."

Chapter 9

Bo and Luke were both pleased to see Jesse and Daisy. Daisy spread a tablecloth out on the ground and unpacked the home cooked meal they had brought with them. When she'd finished setting everything up, they all sat down to eat. Jesse slapped Bo's hand when he started to reach for a roll before Jesse had said grace. Sheepishly, Bo withdrew his hand and bowed his head, as Luke and Daisy did the same. After grace, they began to eat the mashed potatoes, meatloaf, rolls, and salad that Jesse had prepared.

As they ate they tried to figure out what to do next. Luke's memory seemed to be coming back but he still couldn't remember anymore than what he had already told Bo. With his memory returning, Luke was in better spirits. Even though things were still cloudy in his mind he could feel the bond with the rest of his family again, especially with Bo.

"Well," Jesse said "According to Enos it looks like somebody grabbed Angie and she got away from 'em and tried to flag somebody down for help…"

"And Luke just happened to be coming along and stopped…." Bo said "And got caught right in the middle of things…"

"Looks that way." Jesse said "You remember anything like that happening, Luke?"

"Yeah…..kinda…" Luke said with a frown as he tried to force his contrary memories to the surface. He rubbed his fingers against his left temple in a slow circular motion. His head had been hurting all morning. He wasn't sure if it was because he'd been hit in the head with something or if it was because he was trying to so hard to make his memories resurface. Bits and pieces kept slipping in and out of his mind but nothing he could grab hold of long enough to make sense out of it.

"Well, I'm sure it'll come to you." Jesse told him. Unable to do anything more until Luke remembered a little bit more, Jesse and Daisy prepared to leave. They said their goodbyes to the boys and headed back to the farm. When they arrived, they were surprised to see Rosco's car parked in the barnyard, apparently waiting for them to return.

As Jesse climbed out of the pickup, Rosco climbed out of his car and walked over to the Duke patriarch. "Now Jesse, I need to talk to Luke." He said firmly "You're gonna have to tell me where he is."

"I ain't telling you nothing, Rosco." Jesse said gruffly "And you ain't talking to that boy until he can remember what happened."

"Then I'm gonna have to arrest you, Jesse Duke." Rosco blustered

"Rosco!" Daisy exclaimed in an alarmed voice "You can't arrest Uncle Jesse!"

"Oh yes I can." Rosco said with trademark giggle "He's interfering with an official investigation."

"You ain't taking Uncle Jesse anywhere!" Daisy cried, grabbing Jessie's arm anxiously.

"Now, Daisy…" Jesse said calmly, gently patting her hand. "Just settle down. I'll go with the pea brain. He ain't got nothing to hold me on anyhow."

"Uncle Jesse…." Daisy said, looking at her Uncle in alarm. She looked at Rosco beseechingly and pleaded "Rosco…."

"I'm sorry, Daisy." Rosco said taking Jesse by the arm "Jesse's gonna have to come with me until he decides to cooperate.."

"You're just trying to find a way to railroad us Dukes for something!" Daisy cried angrily, watching with tears in her eyes as Rosco led Uncle Jesse to the patrol car and put him in the back seat. As the patrol car pulled out of the drive, Daisy reached into the truck and grabbed the CB "Bo Peep to lost sheep. You boys got your ears on?" she said into the mike.

"You got the lost sheep, Bo Peep." Bo's voice said over the radio "What's up?"

"Rosco just arrested Uncle Jesse."

"What! What for?" Bo said sharply with a trace of anger creeping into his voice.

"Because Uncle Jesse won't let him talk to Luke." Daisy told him. She could hear Luke saying something in the background and then her older cousin's voice came over the radio "Daisy, this is Luke. Come back out here and get me and Bo. I ain't gonna let Rosco railroad Uncle Jesse. If he wants to talk to me, I'll talk to him."

"Uncle Jesse don't want you talking to him until you can remember what happened!" Daisy said

"I don't care!" Luke said in a determined voice "I'm gonna talk to him but not until he lets Uncle Jesse go. Now come on back and get us."

"Alright. I'll be there in a few minutes." Daisy said, climbing into the cab of the truck and starting the engine. She knew better than to argue with Luke when he had his mind made up about something. Fifteen minutes later, she pulled back up at the camp site. The boys already had the camp broken down and everything packed. It didn't take them long to throw everything in the back of the truck. The boys climbed into the cab with Bo behind the wheel and Luke riding shotgun.

When he reached the main road, he turned north towards town instead of heading back to the farm. They were about five miles outside of Hazzard when Bo saw a blue late model sedan coming up behind the truck at a high rate of speed. He didn't pay much attention because that was just how everybody in Hazzard drove. At least, he didn't pay attention until whoever was in the car started shooting at them.

Chapter 10

"Bo, I get the feeling this guy ain't very friendly!" Luke said unnecessarily, as Bo tried to take evasive action to avoid getting hit by a stray bullet.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Bo said anxiously, as he tried to keep the truck on the road, keep from getting shot, and keep the other car in sight all at the same time. He twisted the wheel sharply to the left just as the car pulled up behind them and rammed the back of the truck.

"Bo! Do something!" Luke yelled, glancing over his shoulder at the other car which seemed determined to either shot them or run them off the road, or maybe both.

"Dang it, I'm trying!" Bo said sharply, as he kept twisting the wheel to right and then to the left, keeping the truck swerving from side to side in the road to try and keep the other car from hitting them again. Suddenly, without warning, the other car backed off and turned off onto a side road, disappearing in a cloud of dust.

The three Duke cousins let out a collective breath and looked at each other anxiously. "You think those were the guys that killed Angie?" Daisy asked breathlessly

"I'd bet on it….." Bo said angrily "And I think we were right….they're after Luke now."

"What are we gonna do?" Daisy said trying to keep her nervousness from showing in her voice.

"I'm still gonna talk to Rosco." Luke said in a determined voice "At least now we can give him a description of that car."

"But we still couldn't see who was driving it." Bo reminded him in a frustrated voice.

"No, but there was two of 'em." Luke said his own voice sounding frustrated "It's not much to go on but it's all we've got right now."

"Dang it, Luke…I wish that memory of yours would kick in so we at least knew who we should be worrying about." Bo said glumly

"Alright, you two." Daisy said "Let's just get to town and tell Rosco what happened."

Ten minutes later, they pulled up in front of the Hazzard County Court House. The three cousins climbed out of the truck and hurried into the building. Roscoe looked up as they burst into the Sheriff's office.

"What do you Dukes want?" he demanded

"We wanna report somebody taking shots at us just outside of town." Bo told him "Two men in a late model Blue Sedan."

"And if you wanna talk to me so bad, I'll talk to you." Luke said "But not until you let Uncle Jesse go."

"Now hold on, you Dukes…." Rosco spluttered "One thing at a time…how do you know these guys in this car was shooting at you?"

"Oh, come on, Rosco!" Bo said in an annoyed voice "You wanna go look at the bullet holes in Uncle Jesse's truck?"

"They were shooting at us, Rosco!" Daisy said "And we figure they have to be the same guys that killed Angie and now they're after Luke."

"Now why would they be after Luke?"

"To keep him from remembering who they are and identifying them you idiot!" Bo said starting to lose patience with Rosco and his incompetence.

"Well does Luke remember who they are?" Rosco asked

"No…." Luke said starting to lose patience with Rosco himself "But I don't think they care much about that right now." He took a deep breath to calm down "Look, Rosco….I can't tell you anything because I don't remember anything. Now would you please let Uncle Jesse out of jail? He was just trying to protect me because I can't remember anything."

"Well, if somebody's taking shots at you, then I'm arresting you for your own protection." Rosco said, taking a step towards Luke and reaching out as if he were going to take his arm.

"Rosco, that's not gonna solve anything!" Daisy exclaimed, suddenly stepping sideways between Rosco and Luke "Go for it, boys!" she yelled, blocking Rosco and giving the boys time to turn and run out the door. The boys ran back outside and jumped into the truck speeding away.

"Dang it!" Bo said as he sped out of town "What are we gonna do now?"

"Head back to the farm." Luke told him

"What for? That's the first place anybody is gonna look for you."

"That's what I'm counting on."

"Now, why don't I like the sound of that?"

"Look…we have to get these guys out in the open….either that or I have to remember who they are so we know who we're fighting…..and the easiest way to do that is make it easy for them to find me."

"I still don't like that idea." Bo said "Uncle Jesse will kill me if anything goes wrong and you get hurt."

"Then I guess you'll have to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Thanks a lot, cuz…"

"Hey, I got faith in ya." Luke told him with a crooked smile "Even if I can't remember why…."

Bo shot his cousin a dirty look as he pulled the truck into the driveway to the Duke farm. Parking the truck close to the back door, they climbed out and went into the house.

"Now what?" Bo asked as they sat down at the kitchen table

"We wait for them to make their next move." Luke said. He leaned his elbow on the table and rubbed his fingers across his forehead with a slight grimace.

"Another headache?" Bo asked

"Yeah….." Luke admitted "I'm gonna get some aspirin." He shoved himself to his feet and headed for the stairs to go to the bathroom. Bo poured himself a cup of coffee and stood by the sink drinking it. He glanced out the window when he heard a vehicle pulling up out back. He grinned when he saw Cooter's tow truck. His grin grew even wider when he saw Daisy and Uncle Jesse climbing out of the cab along with Cooter.

"Hey," Bo said greeting his Uncle enthusiastically as they came into the kitchen "Rosco let you out after all."

"Oh, that ninny knew he didn't have nothing to hold me on." Jesse said dismissing his short time in jail curtly. "Where's Luke?"

"He had another headache. He went upstairs to get some aspirin." Bo told him

"Uncle Jesse, Luke's been getting a lot of them headaches." Daisy said in a concerned voice

"I know, Daisy girl…" Jesse said "But don't forget he got hit pretty hard on the head and he's trying awful hard to remember…it ain't no wonder he's been getting headaches." He looked at Bo "What did you two come back here for?"

"It was Luke's idea." Bo told him "He figured the only way to catch them guys was to draw 'em out in the open…"

"And to make it easy for 'em by coming back to the farm." Jesse growled "I'm not sure I like that idea."

"You got a better one?" Luke asked coming through the archway into the kitchen

"No, I guess not." Jesse said gruffly "But I want you boys to be careful." He looked at his oldest nephew sternly "Especially you Luke."

"Yes, sir." The boys said in unison.

Chapter 11

The rest of the night passed without incident. Jesse quickly noticed that Luke was joining into their conversations more and referring to some incidents in the past without even realizing that he was doing it. It was good sign and gave him hope that Luke's memory was returning even if he didn't realize it. Doc Applebee had already told Jesse that Luke's past memories would return first and then his memories of more recent events including what had happened that night. But Jesse wished those dang memories would hurry up a little bit, they really needed to know what had happened that night. Finally, they turned in for the night.

The next morning Jesse woke the boys as usual and they went about their normal morning routine. They were feeding the livestock when Luke suddenly got a strange look on his face and collapsed on a bale of straw as of someone had punched him in the stomach. "Luke?" Bo said anxiously, kneeling beside his older cousin who looked pale and distraught. "Luke, what's the matter?" When Luke didn't answer but just sat there with a stunned expression on his face, Bo jumped to his feet and ran towards the house yelling Uncle Jesse's name. Jesse and Daisy both came running out of the house when they heard Bo yelling.

"What's the matter?" Jesse demanded. He had his shotgun cradled in his arms and ready for trouble.

"It's Luke…something's wrong with Luke!" Bo said turning and running back to the barn with Daisy and Jesse right behind him. In barn, Luke was still sitting on the bale of straw with a stricken look on his face, hunched forward as if he were in pain and holding his stomach.

"Luke, what's wrong?" Jesse said in a gentle voice, kneeling in front of his oldest nephew and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Come on, son…" he coaxed "Look at me and tell me what's wrong…"

Finally, Luke raised his head to look into his Uncle's eyes. His eyes were filled with pain and wet with unshed tears. Concerned about Luke and not knowing exactly what was causing his strange reaction, Jesse instinctively reached out to pull his nephew into his arms. Luke fell to his knees and buried his face against his Uncle's shoulder as if he were a child. Gently, Jesse stroked Luke's hair and made soft soothing sounds to calm him so he could find out what was wrong. "Come on, Luke…" he said gently "Let's go into the house and you can tell me what's wrong…." Jesse helped Luke to his feet and put his arm around the young man's shoulders, slowly guiding him into the house.

Luke walked as if he were in trance, following Jesse through instinct. Inside the house, Jesse helped Luke to sit down at the table and ordered Daisy to give him a cup of coffee. Luke's hands were shaking visibly when he took the coffee from her and took a swallow. He seemed to be calmer than he had been in the barn but still obviously upset about something.

"Alright, son…" Jesse said quietly "Now tell me what's wrong…."

"I was there, Jesse…." Luke said in a barely audible voice "I was there when they raped and killed that little girl….I had to watch them do it…and I couldn't do anything to stop 'em…." He closed his eyes for a minute and then added in a tightly controlled voice "I can still hear her screaming in my head…."

"Oh, my god…" Daisy said quietly, covering her mouth to keep from crying out in pain herself. Jesse struggled to hold onto his own rage as he listened to the pain and torment in his nephew's voice as Luke remembered the traumatic experience of being forced to watch a thirteen year old girl raped and murdered. In a carefully controlled voice, he said "Do you remember who the men were that did it…."

"No…I still can't remember that….." Luke told him "Everything's starting to come back but its all in bits and pieces…."

"Alright," Jesse said calmly, gently rubbing Luke's back to comfort and soothe him. "Why don't you tell us what you do remember so far….."

Luke took a deep shuddering breath to calm his ragged nerves and looked at his Uncle for courage and support. Slowly, he started to tell him what he could remember about that night "I was on my way to pick up Mary Anne….and I saw Angie come running out of the woods…she was crying and I stopped because I knew she needed help…next thing I can remember…..I was tied up and I couldn't get loose…the ropes were too tight….and two men were raping her…over and over again….and I couldn't do anything but sit there and watch….." Luke buried his face in his hands unable to go on.

Jesse glanced at Bo and mouthed silently "Call Doc" Bo nodded and went into the living room to call Doc Applebee. Jesse glanced at Daisy, who looked as pale as Luke and almost as upset. He nodded his head at her to sit down which she did without speaking. Jesse sensed that to ask Luke to deal with anything else he might remember right now could do more harm than good. So he wisely kept silent and just kept rubbing Luke's back gently.

Doc Applebee arrived a short time later. Jesse stepped into the other room long enough to fill Doc in on what had happened with Luke and his memory of the night Angie Baker was murdered. Doc nodded and agreed that Luke had suffered a severe trauma and that he shouldn't be questioned any farther at the moment. Doc told Jesse that he would give Luke a mild sedative to make him sleep for awhile so his mind and body could rest and recover from the emotional trauma he had experienced from remembering what he had so far.

Luke barely looked up as Doc came into the kitchen. He made no objection as Doc rolled up his shirt sleeve and gave him a shot in his upper arm. Jesse instructed Bo to help Luke back upstairs to their room so that he could rest for awhile. Bo nodded and helped Luke to his feet. Emotionally drained, Luke followed Bo docilely. When they got upstairs, Luke collapsed across his bed and closed his eyes and the sedative took effect.

Bo went back downstairs to join his Uncle and Doc in the kitchen. As he entered the kitchen, he heard Doc telling Jesse "He'll probably sleep most of the day…but that's the best thing for him right now. His body and his mind needs to rest."

"But he'll be alright, right Doc?" Bo asked anxiously

"He'll be fine" Doc assured him "As a matter of fact, he'll probably start remembering things pretty quick once he wakes up. That's usually the way it works in cases like this…"

"Thanks, Doc." Jesse said "Is there anything else we should do for him?"

"No, just let him sleep." Doc said "He needs that more than anything else right now." Doc smiled at the Duke family "I'll see myself out. If you need anything else, just give me a call."

As Doc left the house, Daisy looked at her uncle and said "Poor Luke….I can't believe he had to watch them rape and kill that poor girl…."

"Whoever did it has to get rid of Luke before he remembers enough to identify them…." Jesse said solemnly "They've already tried twice….we better make damn sure they don't get a chance to try again."

Chapter 12

Luke struggled against the ropes around his hands but it was useless, he was tired too tightly. His wrists were already rubbed raw from trying to get loose. Angie was lying on the ground a few feet away, staring at Luke with dead eyes as if accusing him of not helping her. Luke knew they'd kill him next, they had to. He could identify them. One of the men, the one with the gun, stepped out of the shadows and Luke felt the barrel of the gun pressing against his temple. "Time to die, Luke…" the man said in a cold voice as his finger slowly pulled the trigger. There was a sharp click but the gun didn't fire. It took Luke a minute to realize that he was still alive. The gun had misfired. But there was no time to feel any relief. The man growled and threw the gun to the ground, bending down to pick up a large rock. Luke turned his head just as the man brought the rock down, slamming it into the back of Luke's skull. There was flash of incredible pain and then nothing as the blackness surrounded Luke.

Luke awoke from the dream with a start. He was trembling and face was covered with a cold sweat. He lay there trying to slow down the frantic pounding of his heart as he remembered the details of the dream. He could vaguely make out a face on the man but it still wasn't clear enough for his patchy memory to put a name to it. With a groan, he shoved himself to the side of the bed and sat up, still trying to calm his ragged nerves. He still felt groggy and slightly disoriented from the sedative Doc had given him.

Finally, he shoved himself to his feet and made his way to the bathroom where he relieved himself and then splashed some cold water on his face. As he straightened up, he found himself remembering more about the night Angie had been murdered. He leaned his arms against the sink and lowered his head as the memories flooded through his mind.

He had been on his way to pick Mary Anne up for a date. He was driving along old Ridge Road when he suddenly a girl running out of the woods from the corner of his eye. He recognized her as a local girl, Angie Baker. She was crying and waving her arms, obviously, needing help. So Luke had pulled over and stopped, climbing out of the General Lee to find out what was wrong. She was screaming something but he couldn't understand her. He started to go to her when two men came out of the woods, one holding a gun in his hand and the other one holding a rifle. Luke recognized them too. They were two local roughnecks and troublemakers named Rusty Harrsion and his brother, Jamie.

Rusty, who was holding the rifle, cursed when he saw Luke and pointed the rifle at him. "You try anything, Duke and you're dead!" he snarled, as his brother, Jamie, grabbed Angie by the arm. Rusty motioned with the rifle for Luke to come with them. Knowing that he didn't have much choice, Luke slowly followed them into the woods.

Rusty stepped up behind Luke and stuck the barrel of the rifle in the small of his back. "I can't miss at this range, so unless you want cut in two by this here rifle, you'll do exactly what I tell you too and don't try nothing funny." Luke walked with them deeper into the woods towards Henderson Ridge. Luke tried desperately to think of a way to get out of the mess he'd suddenly found himself in. Luke was confident that he could take Rusty or Jamie either one in a fair fight. But as long as they had guns, they had the upper hand. Angie was screaming and crying as Jamie roughly pulled her along.

When they reached the small clearing at Henderson Ridge, Rusty had slammed the butt of the rifle into the small of Luke's back, stunning him momentarily and knocking him to his knees. Before he could catch his breath, he felt Rusty grabbing his hands and jerking his arms behind his back. Luke felt the rope being tired tightly around his wrists, so tightly that the rope cut into his skin. Once his hands were secured, Rusty tied his ankles just as tightly. Satisfied that Luke couldn't interfere in their plans for the girl, he grinned and walked over to where Jamie had Angie pinned to the ground, fondling her.

For the next three hours, Luke had laid there helplessly unable to do anything but watch as they raped Angie repeatedly. Her pitiful screams filled the air and echoed in Luke's head until finally she couldn't scream anymore and still, the Harrison boys continued to abuse her mercilessly. Luke tried to shut out the sound of her screams but it was hopeless, he knew he'd hear them echoing in his mind forever.

When they got tired of gang raping Angie, they sat hunched on the ground debating what they were going to do next. Luke knew in his mind that they would probably kill him. He could identify them and they couldn't leave a living witness who could put them in jail for a long time. Luke wasn't afraid of death, he'd faced death before in the Marines, but he didn't want to die like this, defenseless and unable to protect himself.

When Rusty came over to where he was lying with the gun clutched tightly in his hand, Luke knew he was about to die. He prayed that his family wouldn't grieve too badly and that someday the Harrison boys would pay for their crimes. He felt the cold hard steel of the gun barrel pressing against his temple and closed his eyes waiting for the shot that would end his life. He heard the loud click as the hammer slammed into the chamber but the gun didn't fire. It took Luke a minute to realize that for some reason the gun hadn't gone off. He opened his eyes in time to see Rusty throw the gun to the ground and pick up a large rock. Luke instinctively turned his head just as Rusty slammed the rock down onto the back of his skull. There was a moment of incredible pain, then nothing but darkness.

Luke would never know how long he lay before he finally forced his eyes to open. His head hurt so bad that he couldn't even think straight. He lay there for several minutes before he realized that Rusty and Jamie were gone but his mind still screamed with an irrational terror. Somehow, and he would never remember quite how he did it, he managed to get his knife out of the case he wore on his belt. He cut through the ropes around his wrists and ankles, then slowly crawled across the ground to Angie's crumbled ravaged body. He saw the rope embedded deeply in the soft flesh of her throat and her wide staring eyes, eyes that seemed to stare at him accusingly, blaming him for not helping her and saving her from her fate.

With a trembling hand, he reached out to touch her, jerking back his hand almost instantly when he felt how cold her skin was. Then he saw the blood smearing his hand. Staggering to his feet, he turned and stumbled into the woods. He didn't even notice that someone had moved The General Lee from down on the road and that it was now parked in front of Angie's body.

Guided more by instinct then any sense of direction, Luke had found his way back to the farm and collapsed in his bed just as unconsciousness claimed him again. The next morning when he woke up, his memory was gone until now. And now, he remembered everything and remembered it much too clearly.

A strangled cry that was a combination of pain and rage tore from Luke's throat as his memory finally returned. His eyes flashed with a cold dangerous anger, as he lifted his head. It was time to go hunting. He had a score to settle with the Harrison boys.

Chapter 13

Jesse and Bo were in the barn doing chores and Daisy had left for work. When they finished in the barn and headed back to the house, Jesse told Bo "Why don't you go check on Luke and wake him up while I start supper. He's been sleeping most of the day."

"Yes, sir." Bo said as they went into the house. Bo climbed the stairs to his room and opened the door, surprised to find the room empty. Thinking that Luke was probably in the bathroom, he walked down the hall and knocked on the bathroom door. When he didn't get any answer, he opened the door and looked inside but Luke wasn't there either. Quickly, he checked Uncle Jesse's room and Daisy's too but still no sign of Luke. Hurrying back down the steps, he went into the kitchen where Jesse was gathering the ingredients to make supper.

"Uncle Jesse," He said anxiously trying to keep the worried tone out of his voice "Luke's gone. He's no where in the house."

"What?" Jesse said in a startled voice "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure…I looked everywhere."

"Dang it! Now where in tarnation did that boy take off to?" Supper forgotten, he barked "Come on, we have to find him! It's too dangerous for him to be wandering around somewhere by himself." The two men hurried out of the house and climbed into the cab of Jesse's truck.

Bo immediately got on the CB "Breaker, breaker….This is Bo Duke calling everybody on the Hazzard net…listen up…Luke's missing and we need help finding him. If anyone sees him…..give me a shout." He tried to keep the fear and concern out of his voice but was only partially successful.

Cooter's voice immediately came back over the radio "This is Crazy Cooter coming at ya, Bo. Tell me what you want me to do…"

"Jesse and me are out by the farm; we'll check the roads out here." Bo told him "Can you check around in town and see if you can find Luke anywhere?"

"You got it, buddyroo….I'm down and gone…"

As soon as Cooter got off the air, Enos Strate's voice said "Bo, this is Enos. I'm out here by Hazzard creek….I'll check the roads out here."

Other calls started coming over the air from more friends and soon most of the county was covered with people trying to find Luke. Daisy called in from the Boars Nest wanting to leave work and help look for Luke but Jesse ordered her to stay put in case Luke showed up there. Systematically, a search began for the missing Duke boy. Unknown to anyone, the Harrison brothers had also been monitoring the CB and had heard the calls about Luke. And cowards that they were, they armed themselves heavily and decided to go and look for Luke themselves because they had a hunch that he was looking for them.

But nobody realized that Luke wasn't anywhere near the main roads or any of the roads for that matter. He was cutting cross country, keeping hidden from sight, as he began his own search for the Harrison brothers. Relying on his Marine training, Luke had let his mind slip back into combat mode and he was the perfect killing machine once more hunting through the jungles of Viet Nam looking for the enemy. At the moment, Luke was more dangerous then he had ever been before to anyone who might accidentally cross his path.

Luke had no idea that most of Hazzard County was looking for him and it wouldn't have really mattered if he had. Luke only had one thing on his mind. Finding the Harrison Brothers and settling the score with them for killing little Angie Barker and trying to kill him. Taking his time and staying out of sight, he returned to the scene of the murder. Somehow, instinctively, he knew that eventually the Harrison Brothers would return here looking for him and he would be waiting for them when they did.

Luke found a place to hide behind some rocks and made himself comfortable. Then he waited. Patience was an admirable trait in any hunter no matter what kind of game they were hunting. He leaned his head back against the rock behind him. Although he seemed to be staring at the horizon, he was actually highly attuned to everything around him. Watching and listening, ready to spring into action at any second.

Chapter 14

Rusty pulled his battered blue sedan onto an old dirt road not far from Henderson Ridge. As he and Jamie got out of the car, Jamie looked at his brother and said "What makes you think Luke will go back up on the ridge?'

"Just a feeling, that's all…." Rusty said, as he opened the car trunk. Both boys took out high powered rifles with long distance scopes. Rusty also took out a wicked looking hunting knife that he stuck in the case attached to his belt. "We're gonna split up. You go in from the west and I'll go in from the east. If he's watching for us, he won't be able to take us both out at the same time if we come at him from different directions."

"What if he ain't here?"

"Then we keep looking till we find him. We need him dead unless you wanna spend the rest of your life in prison for killing that little girl…."

"Yeah…I know that….but you're asking for trouble messing with a Duke." Jamie declared in a nervous voice "The rest of them Dukes will after us once they find his body…."

"One…they ain't gonna find his body…we'll make sure of that. And two…we're gitting as far away from this jerk water town as we can once we get rid of him…." Rusty said firmly "Now let's go…and for god's sake be careful….that Duke is an ex-Marine….that means he could kill ya with his bare hands if he wanted to. He'll take you out in heartbeat if he gets the chance." Jamie nodded solemnly. He never questioned what Rusty told him to do, he just did it. The two brothers spilt up, each one going in a different direction. They were almost two miles from the ridge so it took them awhile to work their way through the brush and overgrown weeds before they reached the trail to that led to the clearing at Henderson Ridge.

Luke had been waiting for hours but he knew that his patience had been rewarded when he heard the faint snapping sound of someone stepping on a twig off to his left. Silently, he rose to his feet and disappeared into the trees. He doubled around so he could come out behind whoever was coming up the trail towards the ridge. Moving silently, he soon saw a man just a few feet away and immediately recognized Jamie Harrison. Luke frowned when he saw that he was alone. Rusty must be approaching from another direction which meant he had to take Jamie out as quickly as possible.

"Hey…" Luke said in a loud whisper, stepping out onto the path behind Jamie. The other man jumped at the sound of Luke's voice and spun around, bringing his rifle up to shoot. Since he fired without taking aim, the bullet missed Luke ricocheting off a nearby tree. Luke spun and kicked out with his left leg, slamming his foot into the side of Jamie's knee, breaking it. Jamie screamed in pain and fell to the ground, curling up into a ball and clutching his injured leg.

Unfortunately, while Luke was distracted by Jamie, he didn't realize that Rusty had managed to sneak up behind him. Unknown to Jamie that had been Rusty's plan all along. He had used his own brother to bring Luke out into the open. Luke screamed in pain and surprise when he felt a sharp burning pain in his left side. As Luke fell to his knees clutching a hand to his side where his shirt was rapidly soaking through with blood, Rusty smiled maliciously and swung his hunting knife at Luke again, this time ripping a deep gash in his left shoulder and disabling that arm. Grinning triumphantly, Rusty advanced towards Luke intent on finishing him off. But Rusty had underestimated Luke's courage and his fighting skills.

In a move that caught Rusty completely off guard, Luke swept out his leg, knocking Rusty off his feet, He fell heavily to the ground and lay there stunned. It gave Luke the few precious minutes he needed to slip away into the woods. Suddenly the tables had turned and the hunter had become the hunted.

Chapter 15

Luke knew he had to get help. He was bleeding heavily from the wound in his left side and the shoulder wound as well. He didn't have anything with him to make a field dressing but he knew that if he could just make it to the nearby stream he could use an old Indian remedy to help control the bleeding. But he had to stay far enough ahead of Rusty to give himself time to take care of his wounds when he got to the stream. And to do that, he would need to go in a different direction to throw Rusty off his trail and then double back to the stream.

Luke had a distinct advantage over Rusty. One he knew these woods better than Rusty did and two as a well trained hunter (trained both by Uncle Jesse and the Marine Corps) Luke knew how to hide and stay hidden, even if he was hurt. With darkness falling, he knew that it would be difficult for Rusty to follow any blood trail he might leave behind.

Luke made his way through the woods, going almost 5 miles in the opposite direction. He could hear Rusty in the distance shouting and yelling and Luke knew that he was following his trail. That was what Luke wanted and he was making the trail easy for even someone like Rusty to follow. Finally, he shifted directions and disappeared back into the woods, slowly and carefully backtracking to the stream which was where he really wanted to go. He knew that even after he lost the trail, Rusty could keep going in the same general direction at least for awhile, hopefully long enough for Luke to take care of his injuries.

When he reached the stream, Luke carefully stripped off his shirt and threw it to the ground. Using his right hand since his left was temporarily disabled he scooped up some mud from the river bank. Wincing and clenching his teeth against the pain that just touching the wounds caused, Luke used the mud to cover both wounds. He knew that the mud would help slow down the bleeding, hopefully long enough for him to get help. He was already weakened from losing so much blood. Leaving his discarded shirt behind, he used a low tree branch to help pull himself to his feet and started walking south towards the Duke farm.

With darkness falling, he had to move slower and more carefully. The last thing he needed to do right now was catch his foot in a twisted tree root or slip on some rocks and fall. He listened intently but so far didn't hear any sounds that indicated that Rusty had picked up his trail again. He cursed himself for allowing Rusty to get the drop on him to begin with. But he had never expected Rusty to use his own brother to bring Luke out into the open where Rusty could attack him. Rusty didn't seem that smart, although he was considerably smarter than Jamie.

Luke suspected that if Rusty couldn't pick up his trail again, he'd just hightail it out of here and try to disappear before Luke could report this latest attempt on his life. Especially since now Luke could identify the two brothers. And Rusty was enough of a coward that he would simply leave Jamie behind to take the fall for everything. People like Rusty only cared about themselves. His brother's welfare wouldn't matter that much to him. Suddenly somewhere in the distance, Luke could hear someone coming and they were closing in on his location rapidly. He had to get out of sight he was too vulnerable out here in the open.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Duke family and most of Hazzard County was out searching for Luke without much luck. And Uncle Jesse was fit to be tied worrying about his oldest nephew. Finally, Bo suggested heading up to Henderson Ridge.

"Do you think he'd go back there?" Jesse asked

"He might…if he thought it'd help him remember something…" Bo said

"Well, he ain't no place else to be found so it's worth a try." Jesse said gruffly as he turned the truck towards Henderson Ridge. A few minutes later, he turned onto the rutted dirt road that led through the woods and up to the ridge. Pulling into the clearing where Angie's body had been found a few days before he parked the truck and the two Duke men climbed out of the cab. Jesse grabbed two lanterns from the back of the truck and lit them, handing one to Bo, so they could see in the rapidly falling darkness.

"Luke?" Bo yelled "Hey, Luke! Are you here?"
Jesse walked over towards the woods that bordered the clearing, stopping to listen

intently. "Bo!" He yelled to his youngest nephew "Over here. I think I hear something. It sounds like somebody could be hurt." When Bo had joined him, they went into the woods. Pausing to listen again, Bo heard the soft moaning sound coming a short distance away from where they were standing.

"Luke?" he cried, hurrying towards the sound. He was startled when he found the man lying on the ground, curled up in a fetal position and moaning softly. As Jesse came up behind him, he looked at the young man on the ground and said "That ain't Luke."

"No, it's Jamie Harrison." Bo said, recognizing the younger man. He frowned "What's he doing here?"

"I don't know…..but somebody's hurt…." Jesse said, kneeling down and reaching out to touch the blood on the ground near Jamie's body. "And hurt bad from the looks of it."

"Luke?" Bo asked anxiously

"Maybe," Jesse said letting his eyes scan the surround area carefully, the experienced eyes of a master tracker. "There were at least two other men and they went off in that direction." He nodded towards the east. "I'll call Rosco and Enos to get them up here to watch this one here until we know what's going on." Jesse said "You try following that trail and see if you can find anybody else. But be careful….we don't know who's out there."

"Yes, sir." Bo said, turning to move deeper into the woods. He soon picked up the trail following it easily, almost too easily. Then it hit him, if Luke was the one who was hurt, he would try and lead the other man on false trail and then double back so he could lose him. Bo paused then remembered about the mountain stream that ran through the woods. If Luke was hurt, he'd head there. Bo was sure of it. Ignoring the trail he'd been following, Bo turned in the direction of the stream.

When he reached the riverbank, he started walking slowly along the water's edge, shining his light on the ground and looking for any sign that Luke had been there. His heart caught in his throat when he saw the blue plaid shirt lying on the ground. As he knelt down to examine it, he saw the blood, too much blood. It was Luke that was hurt and he was hurt badly from the looks of it. Hearing a sound approaching in the distance, He yelled "Uncle Jesse! Over here!"

A few minutes later, he was joined by Uncle Jesse and Cooter, both of them carrying lanterns. "It's Luke's shirt…" Bo said with a catch in his voice, as he showed them the shirt he had found on the ground "And he's hurt …."

"We gotta find him." Jesse said grimly "Spread out…we need to pick up his trail. Let's find my boy…"

Chapter 16

Luke moved out of the clearing and back into the relative safety of the trees. It was dark enough that he knew it would be hard to see him in the heavily shadowed woods. He was exhausted but he couldn't take any time to rest. He had to either think of a plan or stay ahead of whoever was following him. But he also knew that he couldn't go much further.

Farther back on the trail, Rusty had finally figured that Luke must have doubled back on him. And he also figured that he might have tried to head back to the Duke farm, so Rusty had started searching in that direction. He was furious and determined to find Luke and finish him off once and for all.

A thin smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he came into a small clearing and saw Luke's body lying face down on the ground. Drawing his knife, he slowly walked towards the fallen Duke. Although he still carried his gun, he wanted to finish Luke off with the knife, he wanted to see his eyes as he plunged the knife into his heart. When he reached Luke's body, he kicked him in his injured side with the toe of his boot but didn't get any response. To on the safe side, he kicked him again, harder this time. When Luke still didn't move, Rusty laid his gun down on the ground and reached for Luke's shoulder to roll him over onto his back.

Suddenly, without any warning, Luke rolled over on his own and shoved Rusty to the ground, straddling him and punching him several times in the face with his fist. Caught off guard, Rusty was too surprised to fight back at first, but then he swung the knife at Luke again this time slicing a gash in his right arm. Luke ignored the new injury and kept punching him fueled by adrenaline and his own rage.

Luke pressed his forearm down across Rusty's throat putting his full weight against the other man's throat. Realizing that he was suddenly fighting for his life, Rusty punched Luke as hard as he could in his injured side but Luke still didn't let up. Unnoticed by either man, Bo and Jesse followed by Cooter had come out of the woods behind them.

"Come on, Luke!" Bo yelled, grabbing Luke's arm again "Let up! You're gonna kill him!"

By that time, Jesse and Cooter had reached them. Cooter and Jesse both grabbed Luke from behind and pulled him backwards. It took both of them to finally pull Luke off of Rusty, who immediately started coughing as he struggled to regain his breath. Bo grabbed his arm and roughly pulled him to his feet, glancing anxiously at his older cousin who had collapsed in Uncle Jesse's arms. Luke was breathing heavily and his eyes were closed but at least he was alive. Cooter pulled his portable CB out of his jacket pocket and quickly called for Rosco and an ambulance.

Enos arrived at the same time as the ambulance and took custody of Rusty. Luke opened his eyes as the paramedics lifted him out of Uncle Jesse's arms and put him on the stretcher. As they loaded him into the back of the ambulance, Bo climbed in beside him and held his hand on the way to the Tri-County Hospital . Jesse told Bo that he would meet them at the hospital.

At the hospital, Bo had to wait in the waiting room while a doctor looked at Luke. He was soon joined by Cooter, Jesse, Daisy, and some other friends who had been helping in the search for Luke. It wasn't long before Doc Applebee came out to find them.

"How's Luke?" Jesse asked anxiously

"He'll be fine. It took 12 stitches to close the gash in his shoulder, sixteen to close the one in his side and 6 in his forearm, but luckily the knife missed all the vital parts." Doc told them "He did lose a lot of blood and I gave him 2 pints to build his blood volume back up. I wanna keep him here for a couple of days just as a precaution to make sure those wounds don't get infected. But, he should be good as new in a week or so."

"Thanks Doc." Jesse said gratefully "Can we see him?"

"Of course. He's in room 216, third door on the left just down the hall." Doc told them "He might be a little groggy….I gave him something for the pain."

The rest of the Duke family along with Cooter went down the hall to Luke's room. He was propped up in bed with two pillows behind his back and dressed in a hospital gown. He grinned when he saw his family. "Hey…" he said softly

"Doc says you can go home in a couple of days." Jesse told him "And you'll be good as new in a week or so."

"I know. He told me."

"Rosco said to tell ya that they got Jamie and Rusty both in jail and that Jamie confessed to everything." Cooter told him. He grinned and dug a set of keys out of his pocket, tossing them to Bo "By the way, the keys to The General. He's ready to come home. He misses ya…."

They all laughed. It looked like things were finally back to normal in Hazzard County . At least for now.

THE END