Thanks for all the reviews and hits! Keep them coming. I hope ya like this one. Again, characters and situations are not meant to be anyone living or dead.

Vector 426 - Thanks for all your reviews. The founder of Chestnut Hunting Lodge in Taylorsville, NC is film and television star Jerry Rushing.

Chapter 35

Bo and Luke managed to get home shortly after leaving the lake area. It seemed they were getting better with their two person shifting by the time they made it back home.

Daisy had been home for sometime and Jesse and Jeb were not expected to nearly daylight.

The boys made their way to the kitchen for a sandwich then headed off to bed totally unaware that their Uncle John had been out to help Jesse and Jeb.

Luke stretched out on his bed and looked at the ceiling. He was waiting to see if Bo had anything to say for himself tonight.

Bo got in his own bed and replayed the earlier events from tonight in his mind.

Luke finally said, "You know it's a da- good thing we weren't loaded tonight."

"You got that right with you missing the gears and then what was that stunt about going out on the top of the car?" Bo said.

"Bo, I didn't miss the gear. You didn't have the clutch in when you told me to shift." Luke replied.

Bo got a bit louder, "OH, yes I did Luke! I don't know what you're sore at me for."

Luke got a might louder his own self, "Me sore at you? Well let's see. First you caused me to miss the gear, then you wouldn't move over so I could get us out of there..."

Bo interrupted, "I thought us getting stopped was the idea?"

Luke explained, "It was but that's beside the point. You chose to run them instead of just pulling over."

"In case you didn't notice it was you missing the gears in your own car." Bo jumped in louder. "Then you went out the window on me."

"I went out the window to come across to take the wheel." Luke said even louder.

Bo nearly yelled, "Yeah that's just what we all need you to go back to jail!"

Daisy had heard their voices getting louder and louder as she got up, put on her robe and made it to the boys room, "What on Earth?"

"He's blaming me cause he missed gears in his own car!" Bo stated.

Luke got louder, "Well, if he'd have moved over, ..."

"He'd been back in jail!" Bo added.

Daisy helped up her hands, "Hold it. Just hold it! Ya'll were supposed to get caught with Bo driving."

"And we did thanks to Luke going up on top of the car where I couldn't switch gears and leaving' me like a setting duck." Bo said.

"If you'd have moved over I could have gave them a run for their money and we could have changed again before letting them catch us." Luke said.

"Or been in the drivers seat when we got blocked off." Bo said.

Luke huffed.

Daisy said, "Now fellas. The important thing is ya'll are here safe. Luke there was no need in you getting caught in the drivers seat just on a bluff. Bo you need to just lay off too. Uncle Jesse will be here soon."

Both boys knew they were wrong, yet both knew they were right. They also knew Jesse didn't need to return to their shouting match either. They both gave Daisy a nod that meant everything was alright at least for tonight.

"Ok, I'll see ya'll at breakfast." Daisy said as she left their room.

01~~~~~~~~~~~~01

Jesse watched Jeb on the way back. He was proud of the boy for his first shine run. He'd done good and even though they were empty he still watched for signs of trouble. Jesse was nearing the farm, "You did good tonight son."

"Really? I didn't really do anything." Jeb said.

Jesse replied, "You paid attention. You listened and you learned. Your Daddy will be proud of you."

"Speaking of Dad, does he do what he done tonight often?" Jeb asked.

Jesse thought back, "I can count the times on both hands I've known him to be out like that since you've been in this world. He knew you were with me. Agent Roach shouldn't have been where he was. Your Dad had to just be out cause he knew you was with me and I can tell you I'm glad he was."

"You mean we would have gotten caught if he hadn't been out?" Jeb said with concern.

Jesse smiled just a bit, "I'm saying he sure made things a might easier being where he was. No, I'm not saying they would have caught us but he insured I didn't have to drop an expensive load of quality shine."

Jeb felt better knowing that they had not been as close to getting caught as he might have feared and also glad his father had been around.

Jesse parked Tilly in her usual place in the barn. Then, he and Jeb covered her up. As they made their way across the yard, Jesse said, "Get you some sleep. It won't be long before we have chores and breakfast before church."

"Yes, Sir." Jeb replied automatically. As he checked the sky he could see the first signs of daybreak.

01~~~~~~~~~~~01

In Placid County dawn found John Duke dressed and heading for the barn to take care of the animals before breakfast. All the Loftlins never understood why he took care of the animals first before breakfast. Well, John had been raised a Duke and Dukes knew that the animals took care of you so you took care of them before you ate.

Pauline was also up. She had put on coffee as she waited for the twins bottles to warm. After changing the girls she fed and rocked them. Looking down at them she didn't regret a thing about having them even when everyone she knew had kids no younger than junior high school. Memories of last night ran through here mind and though she had no regrets about the twins she prayed that she'd not be having another baby or Lord help her two more. She and John David had not tried to prevent having children after Jeb was born and after so long a time she just figured he was meant to be her last. Then, about the time Karen had started her Senior year in High School, Pauline had noticed that something wasn't right. She tried to convince herself that she was just getting old, but the more she tired the less her symptoms matched that and the more they resembled pregnancy. When she could ignore things no longer she had went to see her doctor who confirmed she was indeed pregnant. The kicker had been her early Christmas gift, finding out she was carrying twins. That surely made the Christmas get together a might more interesting than Thanksgiving had been after she'd showed up obviously pregnant. At Thanksgiving the Dukes of course were happy about that baby. She felt a bit embarrassed around them, but it hadn't been anything they had done. But, when her own family seen her walk in Christmas a pin could have been heard five miles away. Heaven help when she later explained that she wasn't just gaining more weight this time because she was careless but because she was carrying twins. She had at one point or another been lectured by ever woman there on how to prevent such things from happening especially at 'her age' they claimed she should have 'known better'. The kicker had been when most claimed that she and John were old enough that she and John shouldn't be doing such things anyway anymore.

01~~~~~~~~~~~01

The next week went by pretty much as normal if Hazzard was ever normal. Bo, Luke, and Jeb were in town early on Thursday afternoon waiting for Cooter to close before they all headed out to the Boar's Nest. Luther, Cooter's father, should be by to get the wrecker anytime so they could head out. That's when it happened. Someone showed up for gas and Bo headed out to pump the elderly lady's gas cause Cooter was up to his elbows in Rosco's patrol car.

Jeb answered the ringing phone as they heard a horn blowing out front.

Luke looked out to see a man with a steaming radiator trying to limp his car into the garage. "Crap. Wreckers in his way. I got it."

Everyone heard Luke, but no one paid any attention to him.

Luke moved out of reflex and habit as he crossed the lot to the wrecker, opened the door and stepped up on the running board. He knew the keys were in the ignition. Just as his behind hit the seat and his hand hit the key he heard, ...

Deputy Petticord who was coming to check on Rosco's car saying, "Luke Duke if you start that truck I'll have to take you in."

Just as Bo heard the Deputy he looked up to see Luke a fraction away from doing just that. "Luke!"

Jeb hung the phone up without ending the conversation. "Don't do it, Luke!"

Cooter straightened up banging his head on the hood of the car, "Sh-! I'm coming Luke. I got it!"

At the moment Luke felt about two as he let his feet hit the ground so Cooter could move the truck. He headed straight for the refrigerator and a beer.

Deputy Petticord watched Luke storm off. Luke wasn't that much younger than he was. He knew exactly what would have happened if it had been Rosco or any other Deputy that had seem him jump in the wrecker. He walked into the garage behind Luke.

Luke turned to see the Deputy, "Don't lecture me."

"I wasn't. I was only going to tell you if that would have been anyone else they would have let you turn that key and they would be booking you about now." Petticord said.

This was a moment not many folks seen in Hazzard, Luke's brain was in neutral, his mind in first and his mouth was in high gear. "If you're gonna take me in then do it."

You could have heard a pin drop all over the Hazzard Garage.

Deputy Petticord paused a long minute as he watched the younger man take a hefty drink of the beer he'd just opened. "No, Luke, I'm not gonna take you in, but the others would have."

Bo and Jeb held their breath willing Luke to stay quiet.

Cooter who was behind the Deputy was shaking his head 'no' in warning to his friend. He only hoped it worked.

01~~~~~~~~~~~~~01

Over in Placid County, Ralph Green was placing a call to his girlfriend. Robin was just finishing up tiding up the house as the phone rang. She was holding it before the first ring finished in order to keep anyone else from answering. On the second ring she answered, "Hello."

"Hey, whatcha doing?" Ralph asked.

"Doing some cleaning for Mom. But I'm just about done." Robin said.

Ralph said, "So why don't you just hop on over here and we could do something." He knew exactly what he'd like to do to her."

Robin took a deep breath before telling him what she had to, "Mom and Dad found out about the racing and fighting, ... also about your license being revoked. I can't come over there and I can't go anywhere with you as long as your license is revoked."

"WHAT!" Ralph saw red. "So if I risk driving over there to see you, then we can't take your car to go somewhere?"

Robin replied, "No."

"Well then we can take my car and you drive it?"

Robin replied, "No. I can't. They'd know you drove it here illegally."

Ralph shook his head, "Come on can't you just say you are going to a friends and meet me somewhere?"

She did want to see him since they hadn't been able to see each other in over two weeks but she knew how well her family was know. She couldn't sneeze at school in the morning without her mom waiting to take her temperature when she got home. "Ralph, look you know as well as I do that if I do that I'll get caught. Then I won't be able to see you at all. Look Hon, summer is short. I don't want my last one here being in trouble." She thought for a minute, "Say, you said you could get a ride over. How about coming to dinner. Maybe we can work something out to go to Debbie's birthday party in Placid on Friday night."

Ralph gritted his teeth. An evening of "Life with Andy Griffith" was not his idea of spending time with his girl, but if that's what he had to do to get her out of the house. He swore as tried to sound happy about the offer, "I'd love to, but you know it would be a lot quicker if I just drove over."

Robin reminded, "Unless you got caught. Then, I might be back from college on my first break by the time you got here. Besides, if any of my family sees your car in the County Mom and Dad will know. See ya about 6."

"Yeah." Ralph replied as he hung up swearing. He only had a few weeks to convince her not to go to college and stay here. Now he had to figure out a ride into Hazzard. He was half tempted to just drive his car, but for some odd reason he decided not to.

01~~~~~~~~~~~~~~01

After getting off the phone, Robin looked in the freezer. She decided to fix her favorite dinner. She took the pack of pork chops out to thaw. Then looked around. She had finished several things her mother had asked her to do before she left to go to the store. The house was fine for family but needed a bit more for company. Looking at the clock she knew she had to get busy. By the time she heard her mother pull in, the chops were on low, the table was set with an extra plate. Robin grabbed the trash to take out on her way to help get the groceries in.

Robin's older brother Mark had been outside she thought working on his car, only now did she see that he was under her car. "Mark what are you doing under my car?"

He slide out from under her car, "Well you told me you crossed the gears in it awhile back. I just checked it. The synchronizer is really getting bad in your car."

"Meaning?" Robin asked.

Mark rolled his eyes at her and looked at his mother.

"Does that mean it's something you can do or does it need to go to the garage?" Brenda asked.

Mark sighed, "I could do it. But it would be quicker and easier to do at the garage."

Brenda nodded, "Alright. Can you get it there?"

Shrugging, "Sure. If I cross the gears I just got to get under it and knock it loose."

Robin had already grabbed some groceries and headed back in the house to check supper.

"Get gone. Radio your father or David to pick up so you won't be late for supper." She advised.

"Alright, if I can't get them I'm sure I can have someone at the garage run me home." Mark said as he headed in to get the keys to the car. "Hey I'm just taking you key off your keyring so you'll have the others."

"Thanks. Don't be late for supper." Robin said surprised that her brother had done something nice for her without being asked. What she didn't know was that Luke had asked him to check it and let her parents know it needed changed.

As Brenda walked into the kitchen she smelled dinner cooking. It was not unusual for her daughter to cook. Strangely enough she would rather her daughter cook and she do the clean up behind her. "What smells good?"

"Pork chops and mashed potatoes right now." Robin said.

Her mother spotted the extra plate on the already set table, "Are we having company?"

Robin shrugged, "Ralph called. He wanted us to go do something." She saw her mother begin to say something. "I told him that I couldn't meet him in my car and that if he showed up here in his car I couldn't drive it. So I asked him to get a ride over and have dinner with us. I hope that is alright?"

Brenda replied, "It's fine."

01~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~01

As Mark pulled into the garage, he could tell something was up by the way Cooter was shaking his head at someone inside the garage. He also saw Deputy Petticord's tensed stance. No longer worried about the car he had to see what was going on. Mark quickly exited the car and wisely went to the office door instead of the bay door where what ever was going on was happening. As he stepped to the office door he seen Bo and Jeb apparently holding there breath for some reason, Deputy Petticord and Cooter, then he noticed all were looking at Luke.

Luke had just took a drink from his beer.

Marked hoped he could defuse this situation, "Can't a man get any service around here?" It was obvious that no one had heard him pull in.

From the CB's base station, Rosco called, "Deputy Petticord I need you to get out to Route Eleven immediately, if not sooner. I got a report of speeders out there."

Deputy Petticord looked at the radio then his and Luke eyes meet for a full minute before Petticord said, "I got to go." He turned, picked up the bases mic and radioed the Sheriff, "On my way!" Then he turned and left.

No one moved in the garage until he was gone.

Cooter was the first to speak, "Do you really think that was the smartest thing you ever done, Buddy Row?"

Luke sighed, "Likely not."

Mark asked, "What did I miss?"

They began to tell Mark what had gone on over a beer.

01~~~~~~~~01

Ralph managed to get a ride to the Boar's Nest and after a cold one he went out to try to get a ride on into town or to Robins. As luck would have it Ralph saw Robin's younger brother's truck coming up the road.

David stopped and asked, "So why are you walking? Where's your car?"

"At home, thanks to your sister." Ralph huffed.

"Yeah, I caught part of them talkin' to her. So your license are really revoked?" David asked.

Ralph replied, "Yeah, until next Friday."

"Luke's too?" David asked. It could be fun to catch him driving.

Ralph scowled at the mention of the Duke, "Yeah, as far as I know. Why? You ain't seen him drivin' have you?"

David said, "Nah, but I'll make a point to notice from now on though." They were just entering Town Square, when David saw his sisters car at the garage and it was parked next to the Luke Duke's Torino. "Ralph don't look now, but there is Robin's car."

Ralph knew Robin was expecting him but he was in town earlier than she'd likely expect. He saw her car parked at the local garage right beside the Dukes car. "We need to make a stop here."

David was all for it as he parked on the street before getting to the garage...

01~~~~~~~~01

Inside the garage, Luke's temper had backed off quite a bit by the time that he and the guys managed to get well in to the case of beer. Luke had started on case of beer after he came very close to getting caught driving. Luke might just have even drank a couple of Jeb's beers. Luke had in fact took a chair back in the shadows right beside the refrigerator that way he didn't have far to go for a refill. The other fellas including Mark, had found seats on stools, tires, tool boxes and Rosco's front fender.

Mark just happened to be setting on the tool box next to Luke behind the barrel that held the used motor oil.

Ralph may have agreed to a truce with Luke but so help him if he caught his girl here with Luke there was going to be war in the camp.

01~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~01

Please take the time to review so I know if you like it or stopped reading after you clicked on to it! Hits can be misleading, reviews can't be. Thanks again.

NOTE: Somethings were pointed out in a review that I wanted to be able to answer but the person doesn't have a PM option.

Vector 426 - Thanks for the review of this chapter and thanks for the catching the mistake.

Vector 426 wrote: I'm a bit confused at the moment, it's mentioned the General Lee's parked in front of Cooter's, I was under the impression that it wasn't built until much later. You are very right and thanks for pointing it out. I have made the correction. It is just so hard to picture them without the General Lee and I was into the scene as to where the people were I just 'seen' the General Lee there.

Vector 426 wrote: I recently reread your story from the beginning, there's a few things I wanted to ask about. For example, was Luke's Torino the car Cooter used to run Roscoe off the road in "One Armed Bandits"? Yes that is the car in my mind.

Vector 426 wrote: I also seem to remember a gal working as one of Miss Mona's gals being named Ruby commenting to Luke about after going out with him, this was a step up. Was that the same Ruby that visited Luke in Jail? As for Ruby, yes it is the same girl (basically) from Daisy's Song played by Terry Browing. As for Mona she was the madamm, Dolly Pardon's character in "Best Little Whore House in Texas". The local traveling madamm in Hazzard was Mabel, played by Ginny Parker. Thanks again for the review and paying such close attention to detail.