Author's Note: This is a rather short chapter, but it is a rare look at the female Dukes. They are normally extremely hard for me to write, but in the past day or so Daisy and Karen have been screaming to be heard. So this chapter is dedicated to them.

Chapter 60

The girls continued to walk around the Duke farm while they caught up and talked girl talk. Karen told Daisy, "I'm sorry that I didn't come over with Mother when she brought Jeb over for the summer, but I stayed at home with the girls since she came over and right back home."

"Sugar, be glad you didn't come over then." Daisy said.

"Why?" Karen asked.

Daisy started to explain, "Well, that is right after Luke had gotten into that fight and then had been sentenced to ten days in jail."

Karen grimaced, "I heard some of the side winds of that. What really happened?" Then as an after thought she remembered her father was going to court on the same charge the next day, "He really got ten days for a fight?"

Daisy nodded 'yes', then replied, "He sure did, but from the way Luke told it and what I've heard he was out at the lake and you remember his ex-girlfriend Robin?"

Karen replied, "Well, I remember her, is she still his Ex-girlfriend or have they been back together fifteen times since?"

Daisy shrugged, "As far as I know she has been pretty much his ex-girlfriend since around Easter break. But, anyway, ... they were all out at the lake racing. Robin's new fella wanted to race Luke. Now he just had his car ready to paint, mind you it still isn't painted, but he raced the guy. From the what I know he thought they were playing bumper tag instead of drag racing. He ended up in the dirt after he lost control of his car so Luke, Cooter and the guys went to help get him unstuck. He must have really gotten stuck from how they told it, so while they were working to free the car Luke had gotten into the cooler for a beer or two. They finally get the car out of the ditch when the guy called Luke a CHEAT!"

"Oh brother! I take it that didn't go over real well?" Karen asked. She knew the family's pride and that tempers could run pretty high in her family.

"In a word, 'No.'" Daisy said, then added, "That seems to be about the time the fight broken out AND the Sheriff showed up."

Karen remembered that feeling, "Oh, no."

"Oh, yes." Daisy replied.

"Was Uncle Jesse real mad?" Karen asked.

Daisy just whistled at how mad their uncle had been, "I'll tell you I don't think I've seen him that mad in a long time and hope not to see him that mad for a long while, but what made matters worse is when he went to get Luke from the jail, he told Bo and me to stay home. Well, Bo being Bo, and we know how he gets when anything goes on with Luke was determined to go to town. I had wanted to go also but I didn't want to cross Uncle Jesse."

"I don't blame you there." Karen added.

"Well the thing is Bo was bound and determined to go to town, SOOOooo, if he was going I decided to go too." Daisy said.

Karen replied a bit shocked, "Oh no, ya'll didn't?"

Daisy painfully admitted, "Yeah, Sugar we did, but I don't think it is anything we'll repeat real soon after THAT trip to the woodshed."

It had been a long time since Karen had been whipped and even longer since she had been whipped by her Uncle Jesse, but she still remembered it. "Ouch."

"Yeah." Daisy replied.

As they continued to walk, Karen's mind had returned to the part of Daisy's conversation where she was telling her about Luke getting ten days for fighting. She had to admit if only to herself that she was beginning to get concerned about seeing the Judge on Friday. "Did you go see Luke? What was it like?"

"Go see Luke?" Daisy asked as her mine had already moved away from the earlier conversation.

Karen replied, "Yeah, you know. When he was in jail."

"Oh, ok. Yeah, of course I went to see him." Daisy replied, then continued after considering how to describe it, "It was horrible. I mean there is no way I wouldn't have gone to see Luke, but for starters, it was so hot down there."

Daisy continued, "You know, Luke has always been the rough and tumble kind of guy. I guess he's always been, ... well I guess it's silly now, but as a kid I always thought of him as my own personal 'Superman', but to see him behind those steel bars dressed in that horrible bright orange jumpsuit, ... he just looked a lot different. It's hard to explain, but I just wanted to cry, but I knew that I couldn't because he didn't need that, too. As much as Luke tried to hide his feelings, you could tell us being there was hard on him."

"So if you all knew it was hard on Luke that you all went, then why did you go?" Karen asked.

Daisy gave a weak half smile, "Because we figured that thinking we were too busy or didn't care enough to be there would have been far worse on us all. Besides, the guy he was fighting with was in the cell beside him most of the time and he's a real creep. Other than him, us, when we were able to be there, and the officers that's all Luke had to talk to for a whole twelve days."

"I thought you said he got ten days for the fight?" Karen asked.

Daisy shrugged her shoulders, "He did, but then something happened and the Judge held them longer."

Karen frowned unhappily, "I didn't know they could do that."

"Evidently they can or Uncle Jesse wouldn't have let it happen." Daisy said confidently.

Karen nodded in agreement.

Daisy continued to tell her about the Ralph, "The whole time we were there that creep, Green, seemed to be undressing me with his eyes. I could just feel my skin crawl, so I started wearing a lot more clothes and looser ones when I was going to Luke. It got so bad that a couple times I found reasons not to go see Luke, which broke my heart, but I knew if he found out what that jerk was doing to me, it would have been really bad. There was only a set of bars between them and frankly I don't that would enough to save the guy from Luke, which would have made matters worse for Luke."

"Green?" Karen asked.

"Yeah, Ralph Green. Hey I think he is from Placid County. Do you know him?" Daisy asked.

Karen frown, "Well, what I know about him isn't anything good."

Daisy asked, "So why all the questions about Luke?"

"Hey he's my cousin too you know." Karen defended.

"Yeah, I know." Daisy replied, then remembered that Karen was likely worried about her father's court date tomorrow, "Don't worry things will be better for Uncle John tomorrow. Like I said, Luke had more stuff against him. Besides, it's everyone here's idea that the Judge was trying to teach Luke a lesson.

Karen asked, "Did it work?"

Daisy replied, "I don't know. I guess we just got to wait and see or you could ask Luke and see what he tells you."

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Take a second a let me know what you think. Also, thanks to all those out there for reading and reviewing Chapter 59.