Author's Note: This is a story I wrote about the Dukes and their first years at the farm. I tried to keep it with them from the point where they got to the farm, and carry on throughout a couple of years. It's a growing and learning experience for all of them. There are also notes at the end of each chapter, a credit of sorts to a father from his son.
Warning : The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen.
Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix….
Learning To Love…
Chapter 22 …….. To Protect
When Bo ran out to the hayloft he didn't care about the fact that he might mess up his church clothes, he only wanted to find his cousin. Luke had run off and his uncle didn't really say anything about it. Bo was still so little he was usually scared to climb the hayloft ladder on his own, but now he did.
"Luke," he called softly as he crawled over to his cousin where he sat in the hay, his knees pulled up and his arms wrapped around his legs, and he was crying, that really got to Bo because Luke wasn't supposed to cry, no matter how bad things were, not ever.
If Luke cried, then Bo knew just how bad things were.
"Luke," he whined loudly sitting down next to him.
"Go away Bo," Luke sobbed, then he changed his mind and wrapped his arms around his baby cousin. Their aunt Martha had told him to always protect Bo. Always and no matter what happened.
"Luke, I's scared," Bo whimpered pressing against him. "I want Aunt Martha."
Inside Luke raged, because Martha had promised that she'd always be there for him and help him, but she wasn't anymore. She was gone just the same as his parents ad baby brother was. Gone to never return, and she had broken her promise to him. He couldn't be so cruel as to tell that to Bo though. Bo needed him, and just because she had broken her promise didn't mean he was going to break his.
His uncle had told him that she hadn't wanted to go, and Luke guessed maybe that was true, but that didn't help him. Everyone he loved left him, everyone of them, and he got to be all alone again, and he didn't understand how he was supposed to be a strong boy. It was so hard for him to understand why everyone whom was a part of his family always had to go. He didn't understand how he was supposed to manage if that was going to happen all the time.
It was two weeks since it had happened now, but everything was just as hard. He and Bo had both been dressed up for church, but they had left early and as soon as he got home Luke ran out to the hayloft. They had left early because he had acted up in church. He had gotten angry about the same things he was angry about right now. He was angry about all the folks that tried to be nice, because he didn't care if they were telling him they were sorry, what was everyone sorry for anyway? His aunt had left just like his parents and it wasn't fair.
Then as they went home he had realized what a bad boy he had been acting up that way, and maybe it was because he was such a bad boy that she had left them. That was when Luke couldn't take it anymore, he ran off to the hayloft just as soon as the car stopped. Jesse didn't stop him but took Daisy and Bo inside. Daisy was holding up pretty good, she was getting a lot of attention from some of the old ladies and most of the women, and they were helping her a lot. Bo would be okay as long as he had Luke, but Luke had Jesse worried.
Luke was just in between understanding death and not, and everything seemed to be mixed up in his head. While Jesse had told him his aunt hadn't wanted to leave, Luke wasn't able to understand how she could still have been forced to. The boy was having a really hard time, and Jesse didn't have the heart to punish him for his wrong doings. None of them were from intent, it was just because he felt so lost and confused.
The main reason he had left early from church was not shame for Luke's behavior, it was because he realized Luke needed to get out of there where it wasn't so crowded. He was forced to deal with Luke though, before Luke got so lost in his own grief that he couldn't find his way back out. He had decided he was going to let him calm down, then he would go and talk to him.
He knew that Bo had gone there as well, and hoped that maybe he could reach his cousin.
Then when the lunch was simmering on the stove he headed out to the hayloft, climbing the ladder and smiling softly. Bo was sound asleep, he had dried tear tracks on his face and his head rested in Luke's lap.
"Luke, can I talk to ya?" he asked softly, and maybe if Luke hadn't just been thinking it, he wouldn't have said anything, but now he couldn't hold it back.
"Did Aunt Martha go because I was bad? Just like Jud?" he asked, and Jesse sighed. The poor boy still thought part of the reason why he had lost his little brother was because of the way he had acted.
"No Luke, yer Aunt Martha had to go because the Lord called her home," he explained softly.
"Why, we need her here?" Luke replied. "I know I was bad, I didn't mean to, but why didn't he take me? I's the bad one. Mamma and daddy wasn't ever bad."
"Luke, yer not bad," Jesse promised him tearfully. "Yer not, yer very good, and we all love ya. Yer Aunt Martha loved ya very much."
"But I do bad things," Luke objected. "Don't we get punished when we do?"
"We do," Jesse nodded. "I take ya to the woodshed when ya do something bad, but just because ya do, it don't mean yer a bad person. Luke, I swear to ya that yer Aunt didn't want to leave ya, she didn't want to leave Bo, Daisy, me or you. It was just her time, an' there ain't nothing can change that, no matter how good ya are."
"I'm scared I'm a bad person, an' they's gonna take everyone from me," Luke admitted.
"Luke, a bad person does bad things an' like it, they want to be bad, do ya want to be bad?" Jesse asked him and he shook his head. "Ya don't, yer sorry when yer bad, an' we take care of it, do ya remember how I tell ya that when ya's taken yer punishment it don't matter no more? That then we don't let it matter no more, do ya remember that?"
Luke nodded and Jesse smiled. "See Luke, the good Lord don't hold it against ya if ya do something a little bad, he understands, and he forgives. When ya tell him that yer sorry, he knows that ya are, an' he forgives ya, just like I forgave ya fer that flower pot ya broke last month, because I know ya didn't mean it, an' he knows ya didn't mean it. But Luke, if yer gonna be so angry fer it all the time, then yer gonna be bad to yerself, because yer gonna be hurting yerself."
"I am mad," Luke admitted, a few tears trailing down his cheeks.
"I know, an' I understand, but we're gonna have to find a way fer ya to stop, because there are so many things ya have to do, Bo needs ya, see how he came here, he needs ya Luke," Jesse told him, combing his fingers through Bo's hair.
"I'm gonna protect him," Luke told him with a tone of defiance in his voice. "I ain't gonna let him leave, never."
"That's good Luke, but as long as yer sad, Bo is gonna be sad to, he needs ya to play games with him, an' laugh with him an' tell him stories."
"It's so hard," Luke mumbled.
"It is," Jesse nodded. "But it gets easier after a little while. An' Luke, I promise ya, I give ya my word, that yer a good boy, an' it ain't because of ya in anyway that either yer aunt, or yer parents or yer brother had to go, do ya trust me?"
Luke nodded, he did, his uncle would never lie.
"I know this is hard fer ya, an' I know yer gonna be needing time, so I'm gonna do my best to help ya an' give ya that," Jesse assured him. "Can ya give me something in return?"
"What?" Luke asked.
"Just give me one of them smiles ya got," Jesse grinned, ruffling his hair lightly and Luke gave him a small smile, a tiny one, but he did smile.
"That's my boy," Jesse smiled, kissing him on his forehead. "Do ya want to stay here a little?"
"Yeah," Luke nodded. "Bo's asleep, an' I'm gonna protect him."
"Luke, no one could have someone better to protect them," Jesse smiled again. It was just as hard for him to be happy, but just like when his brothers died leaving him the kids, they were the reason he got through the days. "Now, Im gonna call ya for lunch okay, I'm making you boys some pancakes."
"Bo loves that," Luke told him with another small smile. "Can ya make him a pancake car?" Sometimes when their aunt was in a good mood, she'd make a shape for them out of the batter. Daisy wanted pancake dolls, Bo wanted pancake cars, and Luke didn't usually know what he wanted, so he would either say that he wanted a car, or that he was too big and didn't care.
"Alright, I'll make him a pancake car," Jesse promised. He intended to make Luke a pancake car as well, make them plenty of pancakes cars because this was a time when Luke needed to be allowed to be a little boy as well.
"Anything else ya want fer lunch?" Jesse asked.
"Maple syrup," Luke told him seriously. That was another favorite of Bo's, at least on pancakes. The boy would drench them in it if you gave him half a chance.
"Anything you want Luke?" Jesse asked and Luke shook his head.
"No, don't really think so," he stated quietly.
"Okay, well, I'm gonna come and get you when they're done," he told him. Daisy was staying the evening with a friend from Sunday school, so they were by themselves.
"Okay," Luke nodded, huddling down a little, shifting Bo so he was more comfortable. "I'm gonna be here to protect ya Bo," he whispered. "I'd like to see someone try to make me go."
Just barely hearing him Jesse grinned to himself. He could near believe it, Luke was awful feisty when it came to his cousin. That boy would fight teeth and nails to stay by Bo, and he wouldn't care none whom he had to fight against.
He went inside and fixed up the pancakes, setting them all on the table, a whole plateful of car shaped pancakes, and one truck, a treat for Luke, then he went out to get them. When he climbed the ladder he saw that Luke had woken Bo up, and was playing with him. He had built a cave in the hay, and Jesse could hear Bo giggle from inside it.
"Does anyone want pancakes?" Jesse asked cheerfully.
"Me!" Bo cried, peeking out from the cave with hay nestled in his hair. "Uncle Jesse, Luke built me a hay castle, an' I can go anywhere, it goes all over there," he pointed to the other side.
"That's mighty nice of Luke," Jesse smiled. "Where is he now?"
"Uh," Bo looked around thoughtfully, as if he was trying to remember where he had put his cousin.
"I's don't know Uncle Jesse," he admitted with a frown on his little face. "He's my puppy dog, an' I told him to go chase cats."
"Do ya reckon ya could call him?" Jesse asked, relieved that Luke had taken his advice about playing with Bo.
"I think so, but I's need to give him a treat if he does," Bo told him very seriously. He had just learnt about rewarding dogs from a neighbor.
"Yer puppy dog can have a cookie if he comes," Jesse allowed.
"Puppy, cookie, puppy!" Bo called. There was a rustle in the hay and Jesse chuckled as Luke poked out his head.
"There he is!" Bo squealed. "Look Uncle Jesse."
"I see, now come on boys, lunch's waiting." Jesse led them down, helping Bo down the ladder and making sure they both washed their hands. Then saying grace he started serving them, watching Luke sniff a little as Jesse put the truck pancake on his plate. Pouring the syrup for them Jesse watched both boys dig in. He wasn't quite the cook his beloved Martha had been, but he had been cooking on occasion, and he was not about to let the kids go hungry.
"Uncle Jesse, can ya tell me a story?" Bo asked with syrup all over his mouth. To Jesse's surprise Luke reached over and used his napkin to wipe it off.
"What kind of story do ya want to hear?" he asked the youngin'.
"A funny one, one makes Luke laugh," Bo pleaded. "Luke's sad Uncle Jesse, really sad," he stated with a childish lisp that made it sound so sweet.
"Do ya want to make yer cousin smile?" Jesse asked.
"Uhu," Bo nodded, stuffing his mouth full of pancake again.
"Look at him," Jesse advised and Bo turned his head, seeing Luke with that tiny smile on his face.
"Uncle Jesse, look!" Bo was so eager he wound up spitting bits of half chewed pancake as he pointed, and Jess chuckled mirthfully.
"Love ya Luke," Bo declared, near crawling on the table as he got himself close to Luke and gave him a hug, smearing syrup from his face and to Luke's.
"Bo, yer as sticky as a pancake," Luke declared.
"Uhu, got pancake, pancake car," Bo let him know as he made car noises, moving the pancake on his plate.
Jesse rested his chin in his hand as he watched them, it seemed the boys would be alright.
In credit of the man who knew the worst pancake joke in the world….
TBC
Please review, the Cricket is hungry…..