CHAPTER 20
The rain was pelting outside the little cabin while Enos looked at the lake, gray surface rippled by the rain and surrounded by high pines.
Daisy caressed Lucy's hair and smiled, "She's sleeping."
Enos' head turned to them and then again to the window, "She woke up early in the morning and she walked from the orphanage to the lake."
"Just 4 year old but really stubborn and somehow wild," Daisy had a brief laugh, "she looks like me when I was a little girl."
"She could be your daughter," Enos turned round and stared at her, "your same temper."
Daisy looked down at the child in her arms and blushed, "I really like her. But..." she looked at Enos, lowering her voice in order not to wake Lucy up, "that couple from Atlanta came to the orphanage to adopt her. If everything has been already decided, how…"
Enos shook his head, "Don't worry about it. Nothing has been already decided: that couple is planning to adopt a child of the orphanage, they like Lucy but they like Emily too. They met not just Lucy but also Emily and all the children; they haven't decided, yet, though Lucy is their first choice. Lucy heard Miss Smith and Clara talking about her possible adoption and she ran away: she's just a little child but she's always lived at the orphanage, so she knows what an adoption is, and she's already seen other children leaving the orphanage."
Daisy stared at him, "You know a lot about it, Enos."
He looked at the floor, "I talked 'bout it with Miss Smith, some days ago. I was happy Lucy was going to have a family, but at the same time I was sad, and now I've understood why I was sad," he shook his head and moved from the window to the little stove, "do you want a cup of tea?"
"Yeah, a cup of tea would be great. Thanks sugar." Staring at him opening the cupboard and preparing tea, his gestures calm and slow, Daisy waited for his words, perfectly knowing Enos wanted to talk to her about what lay on his heart.
He didn't look at her when he kept on talking, his eyes on the boiling water, "She was just a small child, in that basket in front of the Police Department. I was shocked, really. She was sleeping peacefully, but when I took the basket she simply opened her eyes and looked at me," he poured the hot water in two cups, "I can't forget that look. So, I've always had a strong affection for her. When I was in L.A., from time to time Miss Smith sent me pictures of the orphanage's children, and of Lucy," he turned to the table and he rested the cups of tea on it, "I didn't think of adopting her," he had a deed sigh and he sipped some tea, "at that time we weren't engaged, and, sincerely, I didn't think we were ever goin' to get married: it was just a dream."
Daisy silently sipped her cup of tea, pushing away a sudden sense of guilty and shame.
"But when, some days ago, Miss Smith talked to me 'bout Lucy being adopted by that couple, a strange sadness hit me, as if I was losing something. Probably the idea of adopting her, some day or another, was already inside my heart, maybe since the day she looked at me for the first time. At that time I couldn't adopt her, so I hid that idea to myself 'til now."
Daisy's right hand reached his left one at the other side of the table, "You're a fantastic man, Enos. We're goin' to talk to Miss Smith about our decision, and for sure she'll be by our side."
Enos nodded, "Yeah. But there's just a problem."
Daisy opened her eyes wide, "What problem?"
Enos grinned, "We aren't married, yet, so we can't ask to adopt Lucy. I know we planned to get married next month, when our farm will be ready, but now we should hurry up."
Daisy laughed, "It isn't a real problem. We're goin' to get married as soon as possible… tomorrow, if you want to… and for a while we're going to live at the Boarding House or at the farm with uncle Jesse and the boys, before to move to our farm with Lucy."
Enos scratched his nape, smiling, "Folks will be surprised 'bout this quick wedding."
"Oh Enos, I think folks in Hazzard are used to quick and strange weddings, and also to a lot of other strange things. Do you remember Emery Potter's wedding?"
Enos had a brief laugh, his usual and funny laugh, "I hope our wedding is goin' to be a bit more normal and calm."
They burst out laughing while outside it was stopping raining.
Bo got out The General Lee, "Enos' patrol car."
Luke followed his younger cousin while uncle Jesse's truck stopped near the patrol car; after trying to call Enos and after having no answer from him, they were covering the road Enos and Daisy were checking in their search of Lucy.
"Why is the car here?" Miss Smith glanced at the car and then at the Dukes. She folded her arms trying to protect herself from the wind and she looked at the sky, "At least it stopped raining, but the storm was really violent, and I'm so worried for Lucy," she held back a sob and looked worried at uncle Jesse.
Luke walked around the patrol car, pointing at a small path entering the wood, "This is the way to reach Lake Chickamahony, isn't it?
Bo knelt down, "And I guess this is Lucy's hat, or some child's hat." He took a pink and small hat from the ground and he showed it to Miss Smith.
Miss Smith walked near Bo and took the hat from his hands, "It's Lucy's hat!"
Luke stared at the path entering the wood, "OK, Enos and Daisy found Lucy's hat and they're probably looking for her at Lake Chickamahony. Come on!"
Enos closed the door of Boss' fishing cabin and turned round, "Be careful, the ground is slippery," he stretched his arms to Daisy and he took Lucy, holding her tight and resting her head on his shoulder.
They passed through the glade and headed to the path in the wood.
"She's still sleeping, it seems nothing and nobody can wake her up," Daisy smiled and gently touched Enos' arm, "she looks like you. You could be her father."
"Oh please, Dais! Don't talk again 'bout how Bo and Luke tied and hung me on the wall and how I fell asleep, sleeping there for several hours. It happened years ago and people still laugh at this. It's… embarrassing," he pretended to be offended but he smiled.
Daisy laughed, "You're right. I was thinking of it, and you can't deny it's really funny."
He mumbled, "Funny for everybody but not for me… though it's been one of my best naps ever."
She pinched his cheek, "Oh Enos!"
"Enos! Daisy!" Uncle Jesse quickened his steps and reached Enos and Daisy, smiling "You have found Lucy!"
"Oh thanks! I was so scared!" Miss Smith had a deep sigh, showing her relief.
Daisy circled Miss Smith's shoulders with her right arm, "Don't worry Miss Smith. She's OK. She was at the lake and when it started raining we took refuge in Boss' fishing cabin."
Enos grinned like an amused child, "And we had also a snack thanks to Lucy."
Daisy had a brief laugh and raised her left arm, Lucy's knapsack in her hand.
Miss Smith took the knapsack from Daisy's hand and opened it, her eyes opening wide when she grabbed the strawberry jam's pot and then her mouth opening in shock when she took the knife, "Little brat!"
"Don't worry, Miss Smith, I scolded Lucy because of the knife, and she promised me she won't use it. So, we had a snack with bread and jam Lucy took from the orphanage."
Miss Smith stared at Enos, "There's no bread, here, Enos."
"There's no bread 'cause we ate it all, Miss Smith. But I'm goin' to repay the orphanage of what I ate."
Everybody burst out laughing after Enos' candid smile and answer, while Lucy kept on sleeping, exhausted after her long walk from the orphanage to the lake, sated after the snack at Boss' fishing cabin and wrapped in Enos' caring arms.
When The General Lee, uncle Jesse's truck and Enos' patrol car stopped in front of the orphanage, Clara came out and walked to the cars, "Did you find Lucy?" Her worrisome faded and her tight features melted into a bright smile when she saw Daisy coming out Enos' patrol car, Lucy in her arms.
"She was at Lake Chickamahony, with knife, bread and strawberry jam in her knapsack, beside some clothes. Fortunately Daisy and Enos found her and took refuge in Boss' fishing cabin while it was raining," Miss Smith rested her hands on her hips and stared at the little girl who was rubbing her eyes and yawning, "what a rascal."
"Bread and jam… it's what we usually bring with us when we have a picnic at Lake Chickamahony," Clara smiled, "and now I know why I didn't find the strawberry jam's pot, this morning."
Miss Smith shook her head and walked to the orphanage's door, entering the living room where all the children surrounded her asking of Lucy, and then they surrounded Daisy with Lucy in her arms, the little girl beckoning and smiling to everyone.
"Children, please, stay quiet," Miss Smith's voice dominated the children high voices, "Clara, please, bring Lucy to the bathroom and dress her with some dry and clean clothes or she'll catch a cold," perfect move in order to bring Lucy away from children's curiosity and excitement.
"OK children, what do you think 'bout singing?" Bo walked in the middle of the living room, clapping his hands and so attracting children's attention while the object of their previous excitement passed from Daisy to Clara's arms and, in Clara's arms, left the living room.
Luke helped Bo in his diversion (the Dukes were masters of diversions), taking a guitar from a box, sitting on the couch and starting to pluck its strings, "What song do you prefer?"
The children sat on the floor in front of the couch, asking the same song.
Uncle Jesse smiled when his nephews tuned up an old song, the song aunt Lavinia and he usually sang to them when they were children, and the room filled with children's voices. Sitting on the armchair, he caught Enos' serious voice asking Miss Smith to talk to her and then he glanced at Enos, Daisy and Miss Smith walking to the kitchen.
During the children's third song, Enos, Daisy and Miss Smith came out the kitchen, and uncle Jesse recognized the spark in Miss Smith's eyes and the soft red on her cheeks. He caressed his beard, he closed his eyes and he giggled: the circle was closing.
I bet you caught the references to two episodes of the TV-show ;-)
And now, stay tuned for the wedding (next chapter will be the final chapter) plus the epilogue.