Chapter 13: Preparations

After the two cousins tended to the animals and reheated some leftovers for supper, Kira moved her things up to the attic. She left the guest room for Jebb and was more than willing to retreat to the small sanctuary that Luke had created for her back during Thanksgiving. Both she and Jebb decided to turn in early to get an early start the next morning in finding the missing Dukes.

Deciding to sleep and actually doing it though, are two different things. After getting tired of lying in her bed up in the attic with sleep refusing to come, Kira sat alone in front of the fire in the living room staring into the flames. As the flames licked at the logs, Kira felt an almost hypnotic effect fall over her. Sitting before the fire, Kira felt her surroundings slowly shift around her.

The air smelled stale. Musty. The smell of dirt and clay engulfed Kira. Much as it had when she and Jebb had searched some of the old Indian caves. Standing here in the darkness, Kira tried to orient herself. She was in a tunnel of some kind. A cave, maybe. Hearing voices down the corridor, Kira moved in their direction. It seemed to take forever before she reached the sources of those voices. The cave opened wider, and she stepped into the dim light put off by a small lantern. In that light, her eyes first fell upon Luke. Hands and feet bound as he sat leaning up against a dirt wall. His eyes watching a pair of heavily armed, burly men that were sitting at a makeshift table playing cards.

Luke seemed to be keeping watch as the others slept in the same awkward position that he sat in, except for Bo. He was some feet away, unconscious and unbound. Kira tried to walk closer to her family but found that for some reason, her feet would no longer respond to her desire to move. Instead, she was forced to remain where she was and try to listen for further clues as to where her family was.

The card players were murmuring in hushed tones and kept glancing at their captives. Obviously, they were the topic of the conversation that Kira could not hear from where she stood. Whatever the men were saying, it appeared that Luke could hear, even if Kira couldn't.

Luke narrowed his eyes at one of the men and was trying to look as menacing as a man could while being bound by his hands and feet. Looking closer at Luke, it was obvious that he had not allowed himself to be taken without a fight. Ugly bruises marked his face along with a split lip. His wrists were rubbed raw from where he had fought the ropes that impeded his escape.

One other tell that Kira saw while looking at Luke, was that it must have been very cold in the place where the Dukes were held. Despite the fact that he showed no outward signs of the chill, his breaths were released in small puffs that spoke of the temperature of the cave, even if Kira could not feel it herself.

"I need to check on my cousin again." Luke demanded. He may be a prisoner, but he refused to ask for anything. Being denied was not an option. Bo had been far too still for far too long. His cousin was always full of restless energy. Even in his sleep. Never able to bear sitting still for more than a few brief moments at a time. Seeing his best friend and Blood Brother lying motionless for hours at a time sent terror into his very heart and soul.

"Why? He ain't moved in hours. Finally stopped gettin' sick. 'Bout time, too."

"That's why I need to check on em."

It was true. Bo hadn't even thrown up since before lunch. That had been the water that they had allowed Jesse to give him. He couldn't even hold that down. Jesse had tried to get the men to bring him so more water so he could try to use it to cool Bo's fever or more blankets to fight off the chilled air of the underground tunnel. Instead, Jesse had been denied the chance to give his youngest nephew even that amount of comfort. Now Luke was left watching as even the fever no longer provoked his cousin into movement. Something was wrong. Even Bo's breathing had changed. It was shallower than it should be and wet sounding.

"We'll let the old man check on him when he wakes up. I don't trust you."

Luke hung his head. He would love to argue the point that he wasn't going anywhere without the others. Instead, he bit his tongue. Allowing Jesse to check on Bo was likely the best concession that he was going to get. Looking around, he still wondered why the family had all been brought here. None of their questions had been answered after they had been brought to the old mines at gunpoint.

Looking at the men before him, just like the others that had been here earlier, Luke doubted that they even knew. They were just hired guns. The type that asked no questions, they simply did as their boss told them to. These men also weren't the type of men that Hogg would have been able to get as his flunkies. No. These men answered to someone other than the pudgy commissioner. Luke was able to admit to himself that he and his family were in more danger than he'd confess to aloud. At this point, he saw no way that they could find their own way out of this situation.

From the far tunnel's mouth, Kira continued to watch and take in all that she saw and heard. Committing every detail into memory; not wanting to miss anything that might help her rescue her family.

The temperature in the house had begun to dip so Jebb got up and made his way to the living room to check on the fire. He walked half asleep to the wood box and grabbed a few logs and then threw them on the dwindling fire. Turning to leave the living room, Jebb caught sight of Kira sitting on the couch staring into the fireplace.

"You know, you could have done that since you were already in here. Couldn't sleep?" Jebb was halfway out the room when he realized that Kira hadn't answered him. "Kira?" Walking back over to Kira, Jebb saw the vacant look in her eyes. Taking her by the shoulders, he tried to get her attention. "Kira? Can ya hear me?"

After a few moments, Kira blinked her eyes, and she looked around the room trying to figure out where she was.

"Jebb?"

She looked at her cousin, not sure of what had just happened. It felt so strange. She could still smell the musk of the cave even now.

"Ya alright? I came in to check the fire and found ya completely zoned out."

Biting her lip, Kira was unsure if she had just experienced a waking dream or had really seen where the others were, though just how was an unknown. "Jebb, other than the caves we searched today, are there any others in the area?"

Jebb was taken back by the question; unsure of what had triggered it. Jebb sat next to his cousin as she proceeded to describe the scene that had seemed so real to her only moments before. All the while, the thoughts of how life sure had gotten complicated since Thanksgiving ran through his mind as he tried to wrap his head around what Kira was telling him.

"Kira, that don't sound like no cave, more like a mine shaft." Kira gave Jebb a questioning look as he spoke. "Like the old silver mines. Some of them are actually under Duke land."

"Well, where better to hide a family than on their own land?" Kira stood and started for the door as Jebb grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Hold on, aren't ya forgettin' something. It's barely two o'clock in the morning. It's pitch dark outside. We ain't gonna be able to see nothin' if we go out there right now. You clearly ain't slept yet. Not to mention that there are dozens of shafts that we'll need to search and if what you saw is right, we'll be going up against armed men. For that, we'll both need to be well rested to be sure we have our wits about us."

Kira opened her mouth to argue back, to say that she couldn't just sit at the house while doing nothing, but she saw that Jebb was right. As much as she hated it, there wasn't anything to be done tonight. "You're right. We'll wait."

"You want ta put that in writing? You don't admit that someone else is right all too often." Jebb was just as worried as Kira about the others, but he couldn't fight the urge to tease.

"Go to sleep, Jebb." Kira pushed at him for his small joke. "I'll see ya in the morning." Kira said as she shook her head at her grinning cousin.

The next morning Jebb found Kira asleep still in the living room where he had left her during the night. Instead of waking her, he headed on out to take care of the morning chores and gather various supplies that he figured that they would need if they were going to comb the mine shafts today for the missing Dukes. He hadn't been to the mines since he was little playing with his cousins. During that time, each of the young Dukes practically memorized the layout of the silver mines. They had become one of their favorite places to play since it was a forbidden playground; especially for himself and Bo. They seemed to be the more daring of the Dukes. And that was saying something. None of the Dukes ever shied from a little bit of danger. It usually would entice them instead. Now, years later, here he was, preparing to search for his family who were in real danger. Not the kind of danger that he would go in search of as a child.

Inside, Kira woke with a start. She had hoped that she would wake up to find that everything so far had just been a bad dream. No such luck. She got up and got ready for the day. Kira had just secured a strap around her ankle and grabbed her small knife that she had once kept in her boot on a regular basis back when she had lived on the streets. She rarely carried it now as an adult, though she would at least keep it handy in her truck. She may usually fight her battles in a court of law now-a-days, but it hadn't been too long ago that everyday had been a fight just to survive. There are some things that you never really forget. No matter how hard you try. Now it was time to take the knowledge that she had learned to good use.

Heading back down to the kitchen, Kira put together some food for breakfast as Jebb finished up and came inside. Over the morning meal, the two discussed various plans of what they might be able to do once they found the others. One thing was for sure. They were going to have to find a way that the others would be able to help in their own rescue. First though, they had to find them. Just before heading out, Jebb stopped and scrawled a note and put it on the table. Ignoring Kira's questioning gaze, he then headed over to the CB.

"Racin' Fiend to Deputy Strate, ya got your ears on?"

"Deputy Strate here. Jebb! I didn't know you were in Hazzard. What cha' need good buddy?"

"This was a bit of an unplanned visit. Could you do me a favor? Could you come out after you're off duty this evening?"

"Sure thing. I can come out now if you want."

"No, this evening will be fine. Just come on in the back door when you get here. I'll explain when you get out here."

"Will do. Catch ya later."

Answering Kira's unspoken question, Jebb said, "This way, if something happens, someone'll know where we're at. At least in the general area and why?"

Kira nodded her understanding and wondered why she hadn't thought of it herself. Usually she was always so methodical, but it seemed that lately, she had begun to act on impulse and emotion. Kira guessed that her brother was beginning to rub off on her.