Chapter 25: The Prank

Kira made sure that she'd left the office early. She wouldn't be late today for anything in the world. She knew that the fellas would be at The Boar's Nest soon. That's when the fun will begin. This time of day was usually pretty dead at the old Roadhouse but that was fine with her. She had arranged everything with Daisy who had only been too willing to help Kira with her set up. Now, there was only one thing left to do to set this plan into motion.

Pulling up into the parking lot, Kira spied the General as well as Cooter's tow-truck. She also saw a familiar grey sedan. That meant everyone was here.

Grabbing the CB, Kira sent out a call claiming that she was out on Pine Ridge Road and needed a tow knowing that Daisy would then tell Cooter. That was her signal to start the fun.

Shortly after Cooter headed out the door, Daisy went over to the boys with a single glass of beer.

"Here ya go, Bo. Someone sent this here drink over for ya." Daisy placed the glass down in front of her blond cousin. If there was any evidence of a little extra humor shining in her smile, well no one seemed to notice.

"By who?" Bo glanced around the room and mainly saw the usual bar flies for this time of the afternoon.

"That good lookin' brunette at the bar." Daisy turned away so as not to laugh.

Bo looked over to the bar and saw a couple of people that he had never seen before. One of which was a gorgeous brunette.

"Well, Luke. When was the last time a beautiful woman bought you a drink?" Bo smirked as Luke watched his cousin's face lit up.

"Very funny. Don't look now but it looks like your dream girl's leaving."

Sure enough, a brunette was in the process of paying her tab and left. Surprised, Bo waved Daisy back over.

"Hey, where's she goin'? Most people would wait a while after buyin' someone a drink."

"Honey, she wasn't the one who bought ya that there drink. It was the other good lookin' brunette at the bar."

Bo looked back to the bar and his jaw dropped. "Uh, Daisy, that's a man."

"I know that. Personally I think he could do a lot better than you, but to each his own." Daisy grinned as Luke busted out laughing.

"Well, Cuz. You finally one upped me. I have never had a man buy me a drink. Congratulations."

Bo gave both of his cousins a soured looked. He didn't find this the least bit funny. "Daisy, how about goin' back over there and tellin' that guy no thanks? I'll buy my own drink."

"Now, Bo, sugar. That ain't friendly."

"Well, I ain't THAT friendly with strangers, okay."

"Alright. I'll go over there." With that Daisy walked back over to the bar.

"Luke, would ya stop laughing over there? This ain't all that funny."

"Sorry, Bo. I guess you're just too pretty for your own good." Luke picked back at his vain cousin.

Over at the bar, Daisy spoke with a man at the end. They spoke for several minutes before the man stood and walked over to the table where Bo and Luke were sitting.

"Excuse me. I just wanted to come over and apologize. No hard feelings?"

Bo looked up to see that the tall dark-haired man was standing over him with an outstretched hand. Bo looked up at the hand as if it was a snake ready to strike. Instead of shaking the hand, he just nodded his head as he lifted his glass; eying Luke as he took a drink of his own beer trying to keep a straight face.

"Uh, sure. No hard feelings." Bo awkwardly sipped his beer as he wished that the stranger would leave.

"I should have known that the two of you were here together." Turning toward Luke, The man continued, "I didn't mean to horn in on your territory. Why don't I buy you both a drink to make it up to ya?"

At that point, the table got a shower as the beer that Luke had been drinking reversed directions. Bo wasn't sure if he should laugh or not. Oh sure. It was funny for Luke when the man was just trying to make a pass at him. But now, he has assumed that Luke went the wrong way down a one-way street, too. Luke wasn't over there smiling, now.

"Say what? Listen fella. I don't know just how you got the impression that we go that way, but it is the wrong impression."

"Really? I've never been wrong about these sorts of things before. I could have sworn-"

"BO! LUKE! I GOTTA WARN YA THAT-" Cooter came running back from outside and looked at his two best friends and a stranger that was currently standing over the table. "Never mind. I just got the feelin' that I'm too late."

Daisy came back over to the table as Kira came in from the side door to the outside. She was laughing so hard at the fellas' expressions that she had to sit down. "Cooter! This is why we didn't tell you about this before! You ruined it!"

"Bo, I think we've been had." Luke looked up as Kira walked over to the table.

"You wish," Brent smirked. Kira came over to give Brent a hug as she started laughing herself.

"Brent, you are a gem!"

"Hey, that was kind of fun. Too bad you weren't in here to see it."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that." Kira leaned in and whispered, "I'll just watch the tape later on."

"What was that?" Bo tried to hear what his devious sister was saying.

"Nothin'. Well, Brent, I may not be my brother, but how about I walk ya out to your car." Kira slipped her arm through Brent's as she gave the boys a wicked smile.

"I suppose you'll do."

With that, Kira and Brent walked out to the parking lot outside. Once outside, Brent leaned in toward Kira. "You seem to be doin' okay. You like livin' out here in the boonies?"

"Let's just say life ain't as boring here in Hazzard as you might think. It's still taking a while to get used to, I guess. And I don't think I'll ever get used to farm hours. Everyone is up and working long before I'd prefer to wake up." Kira answered even though she knew what Brent really wanted to ask her.

"But other than that? You're alright?"

Was she really doing alright? How was she moving on after her assault in January? She saw the look that Brent was giving her, as if he wasn't sure she was being wholly truthful.

"Yeh. I'm alright. I wasn't. But I am now… Most of the time, at least, I am." Brent gave a slight nod. As if that was the answer he had expected. "Well, you had better get back on the road if you're heading to Miami for your vacation. And I really do thank you for stopping on your way. You're a prince."

"No problem. It's just too bad that neither one of them guys is gay."

"Well, I'm sure that most of the women in Georgia would say the same thing about the fact that you ARE gay." Kira laughed as Brent got into his sedan.

"Hey, you let me know the next time you're in Atlanta. You hear? We'll have dinner."

"Sounds like a plan. Drive careful." With that Kira headed back inside where Bo and Luke were giving Daisy the third degree about the prank that she and Kira had just pulled on them.

"Hey, you fellas are just lucky that Kira's friend couldn't come when she wanted him to come."

"And when was that?"

"Last weekend after the race. During Happy Hour on Saturday." Daisy grinned as the boys had the thought that had they been here with dates, an uncomfortable situation would have gotten a lot more embarrassing.

"You mind tellin' us just what this was all about?" Luke asked as Kira joined them at the table.

"Well, it hit me that I never did get the two of you back for siccin' Pauline on me after New Year's. I felt that it was high time that I did." Kira sat back in her chair right proud of herself. Neither of the guys had been expecting her revenge anymore, nor had they anticipated her to seek it out quite this way.

"This is from February!" Bo glared at his sister.

"When it comes to revenge, I can be VERY patient."

"I can't believe you did this." Luke shook his head.

"Believe it. It would have been more fun if Cooter hadn't come runnin' in here the moment I explained to him what Daisy and I had planned."

"At least SOMEONE was lookin' out for us."

"Oh, you mean like when you asked Pauline to look after me?"

"Hey! Luke's the one that did the callin'!"

"But it was your idea! That's why I set it up the way I did." Kira and Daisy giggled as Bo and Luke exchanged looks. "I'll tell ya what. If ya'll agree NOT to send Pauline after me again or try to set me up with any men, then I'll agree not to set ya'll up with any either."

Daisy leaned down to put an arm across each of the guys. "I've been waitin' a long time to find a way to make ya'll back off when it comes to who I date. It looks like I'll have to take a page out of Kira's book." Grinning, Daisy gave Kira a wink. "Though next time, we'll have to make sure there's a lot more witnesses."

Holding their hands up in surrender, both said, "Alright, alright. Ya'll win. Though how I ended up with such mean-spirited female cousins, I'll never know."

Kira could tell that both men were still upset about the prank. Well good. Especially Luke. Neither could exactly pull off the whole over-protective, big brother/cousin act if they were mad at her.

"You were just lucky I guess." Kira got up to get ready to leave.

"You mean UN-lucky," Bo piped up.

"Since I'm unlucky, I think I'll just head on out to the farm. I'll surprise Jesse by being home early tonight. Catch ya'll at supper."

With that, Kira left still giggling to herself. However, only after she stopped by the bar and retrieved a video tape from Steve.

Jesse shook his head as Daisy filled him in on just why the boys were acting so put off since they had gotten home. And if his nephews weren't sitting right here at the table, he probably would have joined her as she laughed. Glancing over down toward where Kira was sitting beside Daisy, he saw her doing her best to keep a straight face as she ate. It may seem strange, but he was glad that his niece was able to pull a stunt like this. It proved that she was back to herself after a long time where she was but a mere shadow. His nephews better pay attention to her. Because if this was her warning shot, he'd hate to see her go in for the kill.

Kira glanced over at Bo and Luke and figured that they'd probably have had enough for one day. She had better change the subject for now.

"Uncle Jesse? When's Jebb supposed to get here for the Motocross Saturday?"

"Tomorrow evenin' about supper time I believe."

"It sure will be good to have Jebb here for a few days. Maybe he can help us rein you in. He seemed to know you so well before the holidays."

"If I know Jebb, Bo, he'll tell ya not to bother tryin'." Kira grinned. "He'll just tell ya not to give me a reason to give ya a hard time."

After a few more minutes of some good-natured kidding, the Dukes all settled into a relaxing evening and continued to talk about the Motocross Race coming up the weekend. Kira wished that she'd be competing in it instead of just watching it, but she had already made up her mind that come the next day, she'd at least be back on her bike.

After supper, Kira headed out to the barn where her bike was stored and set about getting it ready to ride again after its long dry spell. She knew that Daisy would be heading out soon since, with it being her night off, she had a date. The new guitarist for the band that played weekends out at The Boar's Nest had caught her eye. Though in Kira's opinion, Daisy probably wouldn't have given him much of a second thought if the guys hadn't let their obvious distaste for the guy show so prevalent. Kira just assumed to stay out of the way when the fellas learn of Daisy's plans for the night.

Kira had just finished with her bike when Bo went looking for her.

"What are ya doin'?"

"Just gettin' the bike ready to ride again."

"Didn't the doc say he didn't want you racin' just yet?" Kira looked up as she put the tools that she had been using away. So much for derailing the over-protective brother routine for a while.

"Yes, he said that, though I have the feelin' that he was just parrotin' what you and Luke told him to say." Kira's suspicions were confirmed when Bo looked away. "There ain't no MEDICAL reason to not race right now. Besides, I planned to ride, not race. So, there shouldn't be a problem, no how. What cha' doing out here anyway?"

"I was goin' to ask ya somethin'. A favor." Kira raised her eyebrow at her brother. "I was actually wonderin' if I could borrow your bike, to race in the Motocross."

"Wait a minute. You get the doc to tell me I can't race, and then you decide that you want to use my bike to race in the Motocross this weekend?"

"I raced in the Motocross race a few years back; won it too."

"You beat Jebb?" Kira asked. She knew that Jebb was good. Real good. Among the best. She also knew that Bo was the best when it came to stock car racing (racing on four wheels), but racing on a motorcycle (racing on two)? It might would be interesting to see two Dukes racing one another. As long as she's stuck being a spectator at least.

"Well, actually, Jebb wasn't able to leave Placid for that particular race. But I still made sure that a Duke won."

Bo was smiling with pride at the memory. Then he got serious again as he waited to see what Kira would say about the bike. He knew that it was unfair to ask to race Kira's bike when he had helped to ground her, but he had always been curious. Which was the better racer, him or Jebb? His competitive streak had to know. He and Luke had long since agreed to not find out which of them two was the better driver, but he and Jebb had never made that deal.

Kira stared hard at her brother, "Alright. But only because your head's gettin' too big for your hatband. It will be fun to watch ya get takin' down a peg or two. I'll put my money on Jebb any day." Kira grinned at Bo.

"You'd bet against your own brother?" Bo tried to look offended.

"When it comes to ridin' a bike against Jebb? You bet." Kira laughed. "Although at least this family can prepare for a victory celebration regardless of which of ya wins."

Bo went to make a reply when the sound of a car pulling into the driveway could be heard. He looked out of the barn door and saw a blue two door sedan as it pulled up right in front of the house. Daisy was practically running out of the house and jumped into the car.

"I can't believe she's still seein' that good for nothin', no 'count varmint." Bo made like he was going to head over to the car even though Daisy and the fella in the car would be long gone once he made it out there.

"Of course, she is. What with the way you and Luke have been goin' on about it. If you two would have just backed off, she probably would have lost interest in him by now."

Kira saw that Bo looked very doubtful at her explanation of Daisy's choice in dates. There wouldn't be any talking sense into Bo. He had made up his mind as to just what he should think about Daisy's dating the new band member, and there would be no changing it.

Shaking her head, "Note to self: Have any and all future dates meet me in Hatchapee. At least for the next year while the date patrol twins are still on probation."

Kira smiled as Bo turned back to her; she headed back inside laughing as she went.

Jesse looked at the clock. It was nearly supper time and all, but one expected Duke was already here ready and waiting for supper. As usual, Kira was still nowhere to be seen nor had she called to say she'd be late. Jesse figured that Kira would have come home on time today for sure. She and Jebb were close friends and since he came in for the next day's race, it was just assumed that this would be the one day that she wouldn't be late for dinner.

Heading over to the phone, he dialed that now too familiar numbers to the Hatchapee courthouse. After a few rings, Jesse heard his tardy niece pick up the phone.

"Kyle here."

"Young lady, do you have any idea what time it is?" Jesse heard Kira curse under her breath.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Jesse. I got kind of tied up. I'll probably still be at it for another hour or so. Ya'll go ahead and eat without me."

"Now what could be so all fire important that you can't stop at a decent hour to eat?"

"Jesse, you know that there are a lot of things about my work that I can't share. Okay? I'm sorry. If I saw how late I was I would have called earlier so ya wouldn't have worried." A knock could be heard on the other end of the line before Jesse heard Kira tell whoever was at the door to come in. "Listen, Uncle Jesse. I've got to go. I'll see ya later."

With that the line went dead. Jesse shook his head, wondering just how his niece ever made it on her own for so long with no one to even remind her to stop and eat. And again, he wondered just what Kira had to do today that couldn't wait instead of coming on home to greet her cousin.

The Duke Cousins all went out to The Boar's Nest after supper to hang out. Some of the other racers that Jebb was friends with had come in tonight too, so Jebb was having fun introducing them all to his cousins. The biggest surprise to the friends though was when Jebb told them that he and Kira had learned of the fact that they were family all this time and never knew it. Someone made a comment about how that must have been the reason behind why they had hit it off so well.

Jebb enjoyed the company of his friends but soon learned that his cousins' reasons to come out this evening weren't exactly to kick back. Both of them had been watching Daisy (which in and of itself was nothing unusual) and some guy that Jebb had never seen before. He seemed to be with the band and Daisy's affection for him was as obvious as Bo and Luke's distaste for him. He was about to ask what was up with this stranger when he heard some playful catcalls from the other racers. He turned to see Kira, still in her suit that she'd worn to court today, walking up to the table and lightly smacking the heads of two of the guys that had been doing the whistling.

"Hey, I thought we were waiting for the Phoenix of the racetrack to join us. Instead, we got the Ice Queen of the courtroom. What gives?" Charlie, a mediocre driver with muddy brown hair piped up from across the table. Noticeably out of striking range.

"Well, some of us do have other responsibilities. Not all of us are complete slackers, Charlie." Kira gave her answer in her usual brisk manner though everyone at the table knew that she was only kidding Charlie.

"Hey we heard you ain't racin' tomorrow. How come?" This time it was Blake. He wasn't quite as good of a racer as Kira or Jebb, but he could still put on a good show.

Jebb could have kicked himself for not warning the others not to ask too many questions about her not racing. He should have come up with an excuse before Kira showed up.

"I had a bit of an accident earlier in the year. Doc hasn't released me yet. But don't worry. Ya'll get to try to beat my brother across the finish line instead." Now that shocked Jebb a bit. He hadn't been told that Bo was entering the race. "Jebb, you think you can show em that just because he's hot stuff on four wheels, that don't mean he's the best on two?"

"No problem. He'll be eating humble pie by this time tomorrow. You up for the challenge, Cuz?"

Bo of course had been too preoccupied to hear Jebb and his sister trying to bait him. Both he and Luke were busy watching the other side of the room. Jebb raised an eyebrow as if to ask Kira if he should be worried about their female cousin as well.

Kira gave her head a slight shake. The last thing Daisy needed was for the entire Duke Army to go charging in on her and her new boyfriend. She seemed to be getting riled easily when anyone spoke to her about her budding relationship. If Jebb wanted a peaceful stay in Hazzard, he'd better stay out of it.

"Well Jebb, how are ya enjoying your summer of freedom so far? Done anything that might put ya back on probation?" Kira grinned as she diverted Jebb's attention away from the other two Dukes at the table. In fact, they might as well as not even been at the table.

"Lovin' it. Not havin' to get permission every time I leave Placid is great. I'm even thinking of hittin' some of the races up in the Carolinas in a couple of weeks. Makin' a road trip of it. Think ya might want to come along? I'm sure you've been goin' crazy with these two around all the time." Jebb motioned toward Bo and Luke though they still seemed oblivious to being the topic of conversation.

Across the room, the guitarist grabbed Daisy around the waist and pulled her over to him, and Daisy didn't seem to mind at all. The fellas, however, did. Both men stood up and got ready to head over when they were stopped in their tracks.

"Lukas and Beauregard Duke. SIT DOWN!" Kira could see that this could easily get ugly.

"What do you mean SIT DOWN, Kira? That guy just grabbed Daisy!" Bo glared at his sister as if having asked them to back off was a betrayal.

"And she didn't seem to mind it."

Luke was still standing, looking across the room. Trying to decide if he'd do what he really wanted to do; go knock a few teeth in. Preferably those of that so-called musician. Heck, he could take that guy on blind folded and with one arm tied behind his back. Which might be the equivalent of it, too. If he tried since Daisy would gouge his eyes out for trying and hang onto him to keep him from getting much leverage.

"The only thing ya'll will accomplish by goin' over there is to get Daisy mad at ya. She already knows how ya'll feel about him. If ya don't back off, you're goin' to end up with a new in-law. Nothin' makes a guy more attractive and irresistible to a gal than knowin' your family can't stand him."

"That makes no sense." Luke seemed to reluctantly acknowledge that he and Bo weren't going to show the man in question just what Duke Men can do, by sitting down. Bo followed his lead though he wasn't happy about it.

"It doesn't have to make sense. That is just the way it is. Just chalk it up to the difference in the way men and women think. So, unless you're goin' to sit there and tell me that you think more like a woman than I do, just trust me."

Kira had just planned to stop in really quick before heading on out to the farm. It now looked like that she might want to stay. Jebb might need help wrangling these two in if they decide to run to Daisy's rescue from an imagined danger.