REPORTS

Enos entered the Police Department and grinned, ""Hi Cletus."

Cletus turned to Enos, "Enos! You are finally back! When will you come back to work?"

Enos looked around, "As soon as possible. I have missed everything of it." His eyes lingered on everything in the room, as someone who spent a long time far away.

Daisy stared at Enos, catching his nostalgia; she walked by his side and she grabbed his hand, looking at Cletus, "Enos won't come back to work so soon, Cletus. He needs some rest in order to recover; you know, he left the Hospital only yesterday." When Enos had a brief stiffening by her side, she regretted her words: she hurt his pride talking of his weakness in front of everybody, but she couldn't help but being over-protective on him.

Cletus nodded and smiled, "Take your time to recover, Enos. I'm goin' to wait 'til you'll feel better."

The door of Boss' office slammed open, "Rosco! Cletus!" Boss' eyes moved from Rosco and Cletus to Enos and the Dukes, no surprise in his eyes but his usual frown, "Oh, Enos. You are back home."

Enos nodded, smiling, "Yeah sir, Mr. Hogg. I'm eager to be again a deputy."

Boss took his cigar out of his mouth and gave Enos a sarcastic smile, "I can't say the same. I don't know who is the worst idiot among you, Cletus and Rosco!"

Daisy opened her eyes and mouth wide, then she let her anger go, "BOSS! How can you say something like that? You are… You are such a…"

Boss didn't answer her and walked inside his office, followed by Rosco and Cletus, and the door slammed closed.

Daisy folded her arms, "Boss is such a…"

Enos kept on smiling, "Stop, please. I have a strong respect for Boss, Daisy. I don't agree with a lot of things he does, but I respect him. He is my superior officer, and I'm grateful he hired me as deputy after the Police Academy."

Daisy shook her head and looked at Enos with a mix of anger and sadness, "Oh Enos. You deserved the job, and Boss knew it. Boss didn't give you any gift, and you shouldn't let him treat you like that!"

Enos looked at the floor and shrugged, "I'm used of Boss' words, and I know he isn't so insensitive, after all. Just greedy but not so evil."

Daisy had a deep sigh and smiled sweetly, "Oh sugar. You are so kind."

"Don't forget why we are here," Luke walked to the filing cabinet near Cletus' desk and opened a drawer; he took some files from it and he turned to Enos, "Have a look at your reports, Enos." He rested the files on Cletus' desk and folded his arms, waiting for Enos.

Enos nodded and walked to his desk (now Cletus' desk), he sat down and he glanced at the files on it and then at the Dukes, "OK."

The Dukes stared at Enos reading his reports, silently, file after file; he finally moved his eyes from his reports to the Dukes and he had a deep sigh.

Sitting on Rosco's desk, Bo stood up, walking impatiently to Enos, "Have you found something interesting?"

Enos shook his head, "No," he skimmed through his reports and smiled, "just Hazzard's routine," he had a brief laugh, his style, "Mr Nelson trying again to steal Mr Sawyer's chickens, cows blocking the railroad, Silas' drunk driving again, various brawls at the Boar's Nest," he glanced at the Dukes with a mix of amusement and reproach, "Mrs Russell reporting the loss of her wallet, Mr Simpson complaining 'bout a car destroying his farm's fence…" he had another brief laugh, "… a patrol car. And so on. Nothing out Hazzard's ordinary," he turned serious, his look got lost and his voice turned a whisper, "nothing explaining why someone nearly killed me. Nothing I can remember."

Daisy held her breath and glanced at Bo and Luke, their features tight.

Bo's worried look melted into a sweet and amused smile while he patted Enos' shoulder, "Hazzard's ordinary is extraordinary for any other County," he took a report and laughed, "I can't believe Mr Nelson tried again to steal Mr Sawyer's chickens. That man is really stubborn."

Bo's attempt to distract Enos from his painful thoughts worked; Enos' eyes focused again on the reports and then on Bo, he smiled and stood up, taking the files and placing them at their place inside the filing cabinet, "You are right. Nothing in Hazzard is normal."

Bo glanced at Luke and Daisy, he had a relieved sigh and he folded his arms, smiling, "OK, it's time to leave or Boss and Rosco are goin' to find a new excuse in order to arrest us," he turned to the door of Boss' office, "I wonder what they are plotting, now."

Luke nodded, "OK. Go."

They left the Police Department and they walked to Cooter's Garage.

They knew what their next move was and they didn't like it, but it was necessary.

Yellow Creek.

Standing in the middle of the road, the Dukes and Enos looked at each other.

"Your car was here, in the middle of the road. Where do you usually park your car when you come here to watch the sky?"

Enos answered Luke's question pointing at a small glade nearby.

"So, something or someone stopped you before you reached the glade." Bo walked along the dusty road and then stopped, turning to Enos, "and here there were tires' marks, and blood's drops between your car and the tires' marks."

Daisy recalled the stain on Enos' car, a rounded dark red stain with some smears parting from it; she thought of his bloody hand as he tried to stand up before to fall down, and her heart raced in her chest.

"Blood…" Enos looked at the road as if he could see his blood still there. He scratched his right eyebrow, "I think it was because of a cut on my eyebrow. I had five stitches because of it." His hand moved from his eyebrow to his nape, "When I woke up in Hospital I had also a bump here, on my nape. I suppose someone hit my head and I fell down, maybe hitting my face against the car and getting the cut on my eyebrow. Someone hit my head, here, and shot me in Rockdale County."

Daisy had a deep breath, pushing away her nausea, she folded her arms around her chest and she looked at the ground.

Luke glanced at Bo and Bo at Luke.

Enos had a deep sigh and kept on talking, "Rockdale County's Sheriff came to the Hospital. We talked, and… I read his reports. When they found me, in Rockdale County, I was unconscious…" his voice turned into a whisper, "… in a large pool of blood. Doc Hunt told me I was bleeding to death because of the gunshot's wound when I was brought in the E.R., and I needed several blood transfusions. Just small drops of blood here and a pool of blood in Rockdale County: it means I bled a lot in Rockdale County; someone get me unconscious here in Hazzard, hitting my head, then I was brought to Rockdale County and shot there."

Daisy covered her face with her right hand and shook her head, walking away from Enos and her cousins.

She reached the river's bank and she sat down. She couldn't stand that talk.

In Hazzard's square, the surprise and happiness for Enos' coming back wasn't fading, yet, and a small crowd was forming again in front of Cooter's Garage after the Dukes and Enos left.

"I'm happy Enos is fine. He has always been our best deputy," Mr Rhuebottom smiled and hugged his wife, "don't you think?"

Mrs Rhuebottom smiled and nodded, "Enos isn't only our best deputy but also a great guy. He is always so kind when he comes to our store."

"I'm goin' to announce Enos' coming back by radio," Elton looked at the square, "a lot of people already know 'bout it and the good news is goin' to spread very quickly, but I want to take my part in it."

Cooter patted Elton's shoulder, "I think Lulu Hogg and her gossips can spread the news more quickly than your radio."

The men around Cooter laughed.

Mrs Jones rolled her eyes and stopped the men's laughing, "Some men can be more gossiping than women. Anyway… I don't want to ruin your laughing, but Enos doesn't look so fine at all. Trust me, I'm used to sick people who come to my Pharmacy for several reasons, and that guy doesn't look fine. At all."

"Of course he isn't fine. He is lucky to be still alive. Daisy told me 'bout him when he stayed at the Hospital," Darcy shook his head and folded his arms, "poor Enos. But I bet he'll recover very soon with Daisy Duke taking care of him. That woman knows how to cheer a man up, especially Enos Strate."

The men laughed loudly again whereas the women giggled.

"Hey Darcy, if your fiancée hears you talking 'bout Daisy Duke this way, she is goin' to kill you," Clyde blushed; everybody knew he had a crush on Daisy Duke, though he never had the chance of dating her like Enos and Darcy (... and many others).

"Not just Daisy but also Bo, Luke and uncle Jesse. The Dukes are taking care of Enos," Cooter stopped the men's talking about Daisy, being protective on her as an older cousin, as usual.

"And for sure they're goin' to find out what happened to Enos, catching the culprit," Mr O'Connor turned serious and stared at Cooter, "do you know if they have already found something useful?"

Cooter shook his head, "No, but…" he looked at the men and women around him, "keep your eyes open and warn me or the Dukes if you see something suspicious, for example some stranger coming to the town."

"We'll keep our eyes open 'bout any stranger coming here," Mr Russel agreed.

Everybody nodded, and, among them, the culprit nodded too.

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