NOTE: Thanks to Jaded and Vector for pointing out the error in the previous chapter about the push button phones. It was a mental slip. I plan to try to go back and fix it there, but have corrected it here. Enjoy!

Chapter 71

At the lake, the talk with Beverly had not went the way Cooter had hoped it would turn out. By the time they had finished talking Cooter would have gotten a better reaction from his manhood if he'd been swimming in an iced over lake. They could not get back to the Boar's Nest quick enough in his mind, though he'd tried to do and say all the right things.

Luke had drank several beers while Cooter was gone, but when he seen Cooter come in he flagged Jane down, "Looks like Cooter is back and looking a bit thirsty. Can you grab his beer?"

Jane looked at Cooter who seemed a bit pale, "Yeah, sure but he don't look like he feels good at all."

Luke played it off, "He's just late getting his beer is all." At least that's what Luke hoped it was.

Cooter stopped Jane half way to the bar, "Can you bring me a double shine over?"

Jane frowned. It was not like Cooter to drink shine in the middle of the week, "Sure Cooter, but Luke just ordered you a beer."

"Bring it to him. I'd rather have the shine." Cooter replied.

Jane watched as he headed toward Luke. "Sure Cooter, whatever you say."

Luke spent the entire evening, night and most of the next morning trying to get Cooter to tell him why he looked like he'd been kicked by a mule in the stomach.

Cooter managed to only give him useless information before Luke made sure that Cooter's father was driving him home after his third double shine.

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

The past few days had passed slowly for John Duke while he was sure that for most of his family and friends things had went on pretty much business as usual. Oh he was sure that Pauline and maybe even Karen had missed him around the house but with the twins and Daisy there he was sure they had more than gotten by without him. After all one monkey or Duke didn't stop the world.

Pauline had gotten by sure enough. In the day time it was easy to think of John David being out in the fields or somewhere on the large farm, but it was those hours after everything in the big old house got still. Those were the hard hours. When she found herself alone in her and John's bed that she couldn't push his being gone out of her mind, that is when she felt truly alone. It was those times that she even found herself being angry at a someone who was not even there, but it was because he wasn't there that she was angry.

Pauline sent the girls on out of the kitchen just after supper. She told them she would do the dishes tonight. The fact was she needed the busy work to try to keep her mind off tomorrow's court date with Karen and the fact that she was waiting for John David's phone call. She checked the clock as she gathered the dishes. It was a lot earlier than it was on Monday night when John David called her. Pauline had no idea how the phone privileges were at that place where John David was so she had no idea when he'd call. All she knew was he said he'd call tonight. The dishes were done and the counter wiped down for the third time as she checked the clock once again. Pauline picked up the receiver of the phone just to make sure she had a dial tone on it. She did. Now she worried that John David had tried to call the split second she checked the dial tone. Of course Pauline knew how ridiculous she was being, but nearly jumped out of her skin when the phone did ring. "Hello?"

Pauline heard the same recording as before, "You have a collect call from the Tri-Counties Jail from, ..." Then she heard John's voice say his name before the recording continued, "To accept charges say 'yes' to decline, say 'no' or simply hangup."

Pauline let out the breath she was holding then said, "Yes, I'll accept."

"Pauline, Honey?" John said.

Pauline tried to hide the concern in her voice, "John David are you alright?"

"I'm find Honey." John said. "I'm calling you to make sure you don't need Jesse tomorrow."

Pauline tried to sound more confident than she was, "I'll be find John David. There is no sense in Jesse having to run all the way over here to help us out with our troubles. I'm going to have Daisy watch the twins and I'll go with Karen."

John asked, "Are you sure that you don't want Grace to watch the girls so that Daisy can go with you?"

So far Pauline had avoided talking directly to any of her family except for Carl and she was good with that, besides she didn't think Daisy should be anywhere near a courthouse or a jail. "No, I'll be fine. Besides, that's not a proper place for a young lady to be. I'd not LET Karen go herself if it wouldn't mean that she'd be in far worse trouble if she failed to appear."

John rubbed the back of his neck. How could Pauline think of 'not letting Karen go' to court to face her own charges? He was just glad she realized that Karen would be in deeper trouble IF she failed to appear. "That's right, she has to go tomorrow. I'll call you about this same time tomorrow."

"Alright." Pauline said as she checked to see it was just after 8 o'clock. They continued to talk until the time on the phone ran out. Pauline had just hung up the phone when it rang again. She almost hoped it was John David calling back as she answered, "Hello?"

"Mrs. Duke this is Jackie can I speak to Karen?" Jackie asked politely.

"I'm sorry Dear, she is grounded, but I'll tell her that you called." Pauline replied.

"Alright. Thanks." Jackie said while hoping that once Karen heard she'd called that Karen would call her back.

With the bottles made for the girls and the kitchen cleaned with in an inch of it's life, Pauline headed upstairs to check on the twins and hopefully take a nice long hot bath. At the top of the stairs she passed Jeb's empty room, looked in on the twins which she found freshly bathed, dressed and sound asleep, before she checked on the girls in Karen's room. After Pauline was satisfied that everything was in order she headed to her room to get ready for her bath. As she came by Karen's room heading for the tub she remembered the earlier call for Karen. She knocked and stuck her head inside, "Karen you had a call a bit ago. A girl named Jackie. I told her you were grounded but I'd let you know she called."

"Thanks Mother." Karen tried not to grit her teeth, but she was more than tired of being grounded.

After they heard Pauline walk away, Daisy asked, "Who is Jackie?"

"One of the girls that was at the lake 'that' night and who I plan on calling back just as soon as the water cuts on." Karen replied.

Daisy's eyes went wide. "You're not?"

"Yes, I am." Karen paused, "I am sick and tired of being grounded!"

Daisy tried to be reasonable, "But, if your mother catches you?"

Karen shrugged and said defiantly, "Then she catches me."

Daisy shook her head as she watched Karen head for the phone downstairs.

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

Over in Hazzard Jeb was making his own phone call to Blake. When he heard Blake's voice on the other end he began, "Blake. I'm glad I caught you. You are still going to bring both bikes to Placid this weekend, right?"

Blake grinned. He had to give it to Duke he was eager. "I've already got a truck lined up to bring them. I'll see you early Saturday morning."

"We're leaving out of here just after chores and we hope to have them done by first light." Jeb replied.

Now Blake wasn't from any farm but it sounded like Duke planned to leave Hazzard before dawn which was a bit early for him. "Well, I'll be there before things get cranked up. Remember the first event doesn't even kick off until afternoon."

"Yeah, I know. I'll see you there. If things go right you may not have to worry about hauling two bikes back home." Jeb said.

Blake grinned, "As much as I'd like to have the bike money in my pocket, just remember you got to get past me to get any real money."

Jeb replied, "I got that all figured out."

"You'll just have to put your money where your mouth is." Blake replied.

Jeb grinned, "I think I already did that when I told you I'd have you the money for the bike by the end of summer."

01~~~~~~~~~01

Jackie answered the phone quickly when it rang. She hoped no one else had heard it ring as she was also still grounded. "Hello."

"Jackie this is Karen. Mother told me you called." Karen explained.

Jackie smiled, "I was hoping she would tell you so you'd call back. I see you are still grounded too."

Karen replied, "Yes, at least until tomorrow, if not for life."

Jackie hated to tell her friend what she thought was likely to happen tomorrow. "Well, I've been thinking about tomorrow and all. Frank also pointed something out that I hadn't thought about, ..."

"What's that?" Karen asked.

"What is tomorrow's date?" Jackie asked Karen.

Karen thought for a second and replied, "The third."

"Of July." Jackie reminded, then added, "Followed immediately by the Fourth of July."

"Yeah. So? What does the Fourth have to do with anything?" Karen asked.

Jackie began to explain, "Well, you know all the festivities that go on here on the Fourth and with it being on a weekend this year they are having a whole weekend of stuff planned out at the fairgrounds."

"Yes, I know they are having a bunch of races and things out there. My cousins, some of their friends and Jeb are bringing a couple of cars over to race out there. Any other time, I know I'd be out there too, but Mom hasn't let me out of her sight since I pulled that disappearing act the other night." Karen said.

Jackie finished what Frank had told her, "Anyway, Frank said with all the stuff planned and all the parties and stuff that are likely to go on this weekend, ... that it would be just like the Judge to make real sure that we ALL are NOT at any of them."

Jackie's words sent a shiver down Karen's back, "So, you mean, ..."

"I'm just saying that I think we may want to find a bra to wear tomorrow that doesn't have under-wires in it." Jackie said.

Karen knew that like the bra she had on right now that most if not all her bras had the under-wires in them. She also remembered not being able to keep her bra because of the under-wires the last time. "Ummm, ... yeah. Do you really think we'll, ... go back to, ... jail tomorrow?"

Jackie heard that Karen had a hard time even talking about the possibility of going to jail. "Well, ... both charges do carry a sentence of a fine and / or jail time. So I think we need to be prepared for that possibility." Jackie heard footsteps getting closer to the living room, "I got to go."

Karen looked at the now silent phone for a long moment before she too hung up. As she went back to her room she thought about what Jackie had said. She went to her dresser and opened her underwear drawer and began to look through it.

Daisy was sitting on the bed looking at a picture album where she had been when Karen had left to use the phone. Seeing her cousin obviously looking for something she asked, "What are you doing?"

Karen looked up to try to keep the tears in her eyes from falling, "Looking for a bra without under-wires."

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

Friday afternoon took for ever to get there but was there all together too soon for Karen. She was more than ready for all this to be over and done with, but after talking to Jackie the night before she more worried than she had been before.

Pauline was for the hundredth time telling Daisy where everything for the twins was at and what their schedule was while Karen was fighting hard against the urge to either scream or start pacing. She knew that her cousin, Luke, had already been to jail for ten days for fighting and her father was currently in jail right now thanks to this judge that she was going to go before, surely he was getting tired of seeing the name Duke. Karen hoped by some sort of luck that she'd just get a fine. It was actually the best that she could hope for under the circumstances. Karen was sort of relieved when she was actually in the car and moving toward town.

Pauline looked over as she drove, "Once this is over we need to get Jeb's room ready for him and your cousins to get here tomorrow."

Karen took a deep breath and sighed, "Do you really think I'll be there to help?"

Pauline replied, "Well of course you will Darling. Just look at you girls. You all were never in any trouble in school, made good grades, ..."

"Mother, I really don't think the judge is going to care about all that. Besides, after Luke and Daddy, he just may be tired of seeing us Dukes." Karen said.

"Now, Karen, don't think like that. I know of most of the kids with you and you are all good kids." Pauline said as she parked outside the courthouse.

Karen couldn't keep from rolling her eyes at her mother's logic.

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

Once inside Karen was directed to a small room where a couple of the others were already waiting. The Deputy who was the bailiff told Pauline was told she could go on into the courtroom and wait.

Pauline asked, "Where is she going?"

"Ma'am the pubic defender will be in to talk with the defendants before they go into court." The Deputy explained.

Pauline replied, "She is my daughter. Can't I go in with her?"

The Deputy asked, "She is over eighteen?"

"Well, yes she is, but she is still my daughter." Pauline explained.

"I understand that Ma'am, but as far as the court is concerned she is an adult. The public defender only talks to the defendants then if he needs you he will call you." The Deputy explained.

Pauline wasn't happy but went in the courtroom and took a seat on one of the empty benches to wait for court to start.

Karen was talking to Jackie when Danny came in with Frank. This would be the first time the group had been together since the night that Karen slipped out of the house to go to the lake with them. Danny and Frank had joined Karen and Jackie but before they could say anything at all they were joined by a man not much older than any of them.

"Ladies, gentlemen. My name is Randy Reed. I work for the public defenders office. I have your files here with me. Let me see now, it looks like you were all charged each with one count of Underage Drinking and Indecent Exposure. The judge would like to see all of you together if you are all in agreement." Mr. Reed explained.

Roy looked at all his friends who was looking at him to be their voice of reason. "Well, yeah I guess that is fine with us all, but what do you suggest we do?"

Mr. Reed was baffled by the question for a moment, "Do? Well, the statements from the Troopers say that you were found in a state of undress and that you had all been drinking and are all under twenty-one. Is that correct?"

Again Roy looked at the others before answering, "Well, yes it is."

"Then there isn't much choice in what to do but to plead guilty to the charges." Mr. Reed explained.

"Whoa, wait a second! I thought you was here to try to help us." Larry said just a bit louder than necessary.

Mr. Reed sighed, "That's what I'm trying to do. If you go in there and plead not guilty, then the Troopers will then have to go over in detail the state of undress that you were each in and then the breathalyzer tests results will be introduced as well as each of your birth dates. I'll be truthful with you, this is Friday afternoon on a holiday weekend. The longer this proceeding lasts to come to the same outcome as if you all just plead guilty the worse it will be for you in the long run. My advice is to go in there together plead guilty and hope for the best. You have no defense. You can't prove you were not drinking or that you are over twenty-one or that you were not undressed. Plead guilty, I can explain that this was all just a one time poor judgment call."

The eight young adults were letting the advice sink in as the Bailiff knocked and said, "Two minutes."

Mr. Reed asked, "So what will it be?"

None of the young adults liked what they had heard but the facts were they couldn't deny that the charges were wrong. Roy asked them all, "Do we go with guilty?"

The other's responses varied from, "What choice do we have?" to "What the he-."

Roy turned to Mr. Reed. "I guess we go with guilty."

"You'll see it will be fine." Mr. Reed assured them. "Shall we?" He motioned for them to take their seats in the courtroom.

Once everyone was seated the bailiff called for everyone to rise until Hardcastle took his place on the bench and the court called to order. Judge Hardcastle signaled that they could be seated. "This trial is the State vs the following defendants: Peggy Brown, Karen Ann Duke, Larry Green, Roy Hughes, Daniel McCoy, Jacqueline Miller, Charlene Murphy, Frank White. Let the record show that the defendants are being represented by Mr. William Reed from the Pubic Defenders Office. Mr. Reed do you clients wish to proceed as one in this matter?"

"They do Your Honor." Mr. Reed replied.

"At this time would do they wish to enter a plea in these matters?" Judge Hardcastle asked.

Mr. Reed looked to each of his clients who didn't seem really happy about it but all nodded, 'yes'. "Yes, Sir Your Honor, they wish to plead guilty to the charges. From talking with the defendants they assure me that this was an error in judgment on their parts and wish to apologize for their actions."

Hardcastle nodded and with a slight grin said as he looked at the defendants before him, "I know you all may find this hard to believe but I was your age once. I know what it is like to be your age and that errors in judgment do happen from time to time. However, you all are over the age of eighteen which makes you all adults and as adults when we make an error in judgment we are liable for the outcome of those errors."

Hardcastle paused, "As I read the Troopers reports I compared the breathalyzer tests of the females to the males that they were with, ... now I hope that I'm wrong about what I saw, but I want to bring something to the attention of you young ladies, the parents that are here and to let you young men know that I see something here. I admit it could be a coincidence, but I'm putting you young men on notice, I'm watching you. It looks to me like at least some of you young men may have been trying to get your dates intoxicated to take advantage of them. I sincerely hope that I am wrong, but I'm not the only one who noticed the pattern. The Troopers also saw a pattern and mentioned it to me. So if we are right I highly suggest that I not see you young men in my court room again under the same circumstances. And, to you young ladies, I might suggest that you pick your dates just a bit more carefully in the future."

Letting that information sink in, Hardcastle paused a long minute, "Are there any objections to proceeding to the sentencing?"

Mr. Reed didn't even check with his clients before responding, "No objections, Your Honor."

Hardcastle began, "The defendants please rise."

Karen wasn't sure that her legs would hold her at the moment as she got to her feet. She was still trying to decide is Danny had tried to get her drunk just to take advantage of her. She decided to push that out of her mind for now and just get through the rest of the court proceedings.

Karen heard the Judge continuing with his speech, "You all have entered a plea of guilty to the charges of Underage Drinking and Indecent Exposure. The penalty for Underage Drinking is a fine of up to five hundred dollars and / or up to seventy-two hours in jail and for Indecent Exposure a fine of up to five hundred dollars and / or up to twelve months in jail. I hear-by sentence each of you to seventy-two hours in the Tri-Counties Jail due to the limited space here at the County jail for Underage Drinking. I am also going to fine each of you two hundred and fifty dollars and sentence you to twelve months in jail for the Indecent Exposure, ..."

The court room broke out into a mix of mumbles.

Hardcastle tapped his gavel, then continued, "Which I am suspending the twelve months and placing each of you on six months probation. I strongly advise against getting in any more trouble for the next six months or I will impose the full twelve month sentence. Is that clear?"

As soon as the eight young adults began to breath again, they replied, "Yes, Sir."

"Good. Real good. Bailiff they are all yours. Tri-Counties should have a van here in the next few minutes. Being as this is a holiday weekend with so many parties planned I figured this would be the best way to avoid another lapse in judgment. Have a nice weekend." Judge Hardcastle said. "Court adjourned."