GUESSING IT RIGHT

SOMEWHERE, IN THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS

"I am ready!" Daisy came out the cabin, her previous overalls replaced by a pink shirt, a pair of blue jeans and brown boots; her curly and brown hair flowed down her back. She walked to Enos and grabbed his hand, "Having lunch in town will be great!"

Enos held her hand and walked to the path heading to town.

She smiled, "I like this place."

He nodded, "It's a great place, you are right. But I can't enjoy my staying here."

Daisy squeezed his hand, "I know, Enos. You feel guilty because of uncle Jesse, Bo and Luke doin' your job and because of people believing you are dead. Stop feeling guilty, Enos. Please."

He shook his head, "It isn't so easy, Daisy. I have learnt to feel guilty for everything since when I was a child, at the age of 8."

Daisy stopped and turned to him, "When we'll go back to Hazzard, promise me to talk to uncle Jesse 'bout it. Uncle Jesse knew your aunt Iris and your uncle James, and I think he could help you to face your past sense of guilty."

Enos looked down at the ground and had a big sigh, "I promise you I'm goin' to talk to uncle Jesse. Yeah."

Daisy hugged him, "Thanks."

HAZZARD

Rosco pointed his right forefinger at uncle Jesse, Bo, Luke and Cooter entering the Police Department, "You! Dukes! You have a lot of things to explain me, now." He moved his finger to Jo and Ellen, sitting in front of his desk, "Mrs Russell and Mrs… ehm… sorry… Miss March are telling me about Enos and Daisy at the Atlanta Medical Center with Gus and Sarah McCormick, one week ago. Can you explain it? Your dirty tricks, as usual." He clenched and raised his fist, shaking it in the air, "You! I should arrest you for – "

"OK Rosco, stop it, now." Luke walked to Rosco's desk and stood in front of the Sheriff, his hands on his hips, "OK. Enos and Daisy are alive; it's impossible to deny it, now. We have decided to send them to Gus' place while we try to understand who wants Enos dead."

Uncle Jesse nodded, "We are sorry 'bout our lie and 'bout your grief. We are really sorry, Rosco. We can't protect Enos if we don't know who is attacking him, and it's why we have decided to keep him away from Hazzard. I am sorry for hurting you, Rosco."

Rosco stared at uncle Jesse, his fist now motionless because of the surprise. He slowly lowered his fist and opened his hand, "Ok. I accept your apologies, Jesse, but you should have warned me 'bout your plan. I am the Sheriff, here, and I have everything in hand."

Bo rolled his eyes and then shook his head, having a big sigh. He folded his arms, "You have nothing in hand. WE have nothing in hand; otherwise that man wouldn't have burnt our barn. What waiting for, after the fire? We have to protect Enos; the threat is inside Hazzard, we know it but we haven't identified it, yet."

Uncle Jesse nodded, "We haven't identified it, yet, and it's why we have to find a way to stop the rumor about Enos and Daisy with Gus and Sarah." He looked at Jo, "Mrs Russell, I am sorry to ask it to you, but you should – "

Jo stood up, "I know who is threatening Enos. It's why I am here. I am here in order to report the man who nearly killed Enos."

"WHAT?" The room resounded of men's voices, their eyes on Jo.

Jo blushed, "I was trying to talk about it, Sheriff, but you kept on asking me about Enos and Daisy being alive or not!" She had a deep breath and let it go, "I want to report my husband Nick Russell for trying to kill Enos Strate."

FLASHBACK

"Are you OK, Mrs Russell?"

Jo wiped her tears away and smiled, "Sorry. The last picture of my mother is in my wallet. It's why I am so sad of losing it." She bit her lower lip, ashamed of her lie. She looked at Enos, his worried eyes on her.

He smiled shyly, "I'll do my best in order to find it. Do you remember the last time you used your wallet?"

Jo shook her head, "I don't remember." Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why was she so stupid? Why wasn't she able to talk to him about the real reason of her being there? She wrapped her arms around her waist; in her hugging herself, she briefly and accidentally showed her forearms.

Enos frowned.

Jo caught his eyes on her forearms and covered her bruises with her shirt's sleeves, "It's because I lifted some heavy pots up."

He remained silent for a while, "I guess your job can be really hard." He looked into her eyes, "Is it just because of your job?"

Jo's heart was beating furiously in her chest. Talk! Talk! Talk! Talk about what Nick is doing to you! Her heart was shouting at her mind, but she made it be quiet, "Yeah, it's just because of my job. Thanks Enos. Hope you are going to find my wallet, or maybe I am going to find it by myself, if I recall the last time I used it." She turned round and she walked away, leaving the Police Department.

After her nearly confession, day by day, she noticed Enos looking at her and Nick with attention, studying them. Did he understand what's going on between her and Nick away from the public eye?

Bo scratched his head, "Do you recall, Luke? Time ago Enos talked to us about something really private, police business. He looked worried."

Luke nodded, "He was probably trying to understand what's going on between Mr and Mrs Russell. I am surprised about Enos being suspicious of Jo's bruises, anyway." He stared at Jo, "Are you sure that Enos was looking at you in a different way, studying you and Mr Russell?"

Jo nodded, "Yeah. I am pretty sure he guessed about Nick…" she blushed, her mouth dry, "… abusing me. I am sure of it because of something he told me. On Daisy's birthday, Enos bought a bouquet of white roses; when he entered the Shop, that evening, I was crying, again," venom in her mouth. "Nick wasn't there. I perfectly remember Enos' words. It happened few days before I left Hazzard. I think I decided to leave thanks to those words. He opened my eyes."

"Mrs Russell, everybody deserves to be loved and honored. Everybody deserves to be valued and cherished. Your feelings are valid; you have the right to your own opinions and beliefs, to not have to make excuses to anyone else."

After repeating Enos' words, Jo shook her head, "I don't understand, yet, how he guessed about what's going on between me and Nick, but I am grateful he guessed it right. Though I hadn't the nerve to be honest to him."

Uncle Jesse gently caressed his beard, "I reckon why Enos guessed it right and why he was so upset and touched."

SOMEWHERE, IN THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS

His right arm around her shoulders, Daisy walked by Enos' side; she rested her head against his chest and wrapped her left arm around his waist, while resting her right hand on his belly.

She liked to walk that way, the left side of her body pressed against him.

He gently placed his left hand on her right forearm, caressing it.

She turned her face to his chest and inhaled his scent.

He suddenly stopped and parted from her, his right hand on his face.

"Enos? What's wrong?" She grabbed his shirt.

Headache. Pulsing headache, like strong knocking at his mind.

He moved his right hand away and circled again her shoulders with his right arm, "Headache, don't worry. Sometimes it happens."

Daisy nodded, remembering his past words about his headache and how he had to live with it after leaving the Hospital, "Do you want to go back to the cabin?"

He shook his head, "No. I think that having a walk can help me. The air is fresh and pure, here. I am feeling better, now, don't worry."

Forearms, bruises, his aunt Iris: turmoil in his head. He closed his eyes and washed away his past nightmare about his aunt Iris, inhaling the pure air and holding Daisy tight.

HAZZARD

"After all, it was really a matter of jealousy, though we missed the source of this jealousy," Bo glanced at Luke, then he stared at Jo, his eyebrows raised in surprise, "So, your husband Nick was jealous about you and Enos."

Jo nodded, "He thought I had a love affair with Enos. It wasn't true, of course, but he blamed me for having a crush on Enos." She stood up and walked to the window, looking outside, unable to stand everybody's eyes on her, "Nick blamed me for being jealous of him and flirting with Enos in order get even with him. It wasn't true. I wasn't jealous, and I wasn't flirting with Enos. When I stayed with Nick everything was confused: I didn't understand anymore what I was feeling and what I was thinking. At some point, he really managed to make me think I was jealous of him and I was flirting with Enos; he managed to make me think I really felt something for Enos. I was like under a evil spell." She wrapped her arms around her waist, "It's difficult to explain, but Nick was able to instill venom in me, weakening my sense of reality and self worth. I have realized it after walking away from him." She turned around, staring at the men in front of her, "Nick has a mask on, he isn't the kind and caring man everybody thinks. I don't know if he is really able to kill, and I can't be sure he is really involved in what happened to Enos, but I know that Nick held a grudge on Enos, he blamed me for having a love affair with Enos and he talked really bad of Enos; Enos was injured some days after my leaving, and I think it isn't a coincidence. I was away from Hazzard, no contact with Nick or everybody else, so I didn't know about Enos 'til yesterday. This is the reason why I have decided to come back to Hazzard."

Uncle Jesse walked to Jo and rested his hands on her shoulders, "I understand what you are talking 'bout, Josephine. Many years ago, before you moved to Hazzard with Nick, something similar happened, here. Sometimes devils mask themselves as sheep. They are the crazy ones but they make people around them feel crazy, or they go around shaming others; I have learnt that healthy people don't go around shaming others, and I am sorry I didn't realize what was going on when Nick talked of you like a weak and over-sensitive person because of your mother's problems."

Jo blushed and looked down at the floor, "I am not surprised about Nick talking of me that way. He can be so convincing, and for sure people believed him; I knew it, and it's why I couldn't talk with anybody, 'cause nobody would have believed me, thinking instead I was crazy. Nick could use every word of mine to show everybody I was crazy. I was trapped, and, to be honest, I was really starting to think I was crazy. But now things have changed: I have moved away, I am free and I have realized what was going on. He was abusing me, both physically and psychologically, and I accepted it 'cause he managed to make me feel wrong in everything I said and felt."

Uncle Jesse squeezed Jo's shoulders, "I am glad you are safe, Josephine. Iris, Enos' aunt, faced a different fate, and I still regret I wasn't enough mature and wise to understand what's going on, saving her."

"Iris? Enos' aunt?"

Uncle Jesse nodded at Jo's surprised question, "I am goin' to talk to you 'bout it, but not now. It is a long story and we have no time." He parted from Jo and turned round, staring at his nephews, Cooter, Cletus and Rosco, "I think we should have a talk with Nick Russell."