A/N: Since FFnet has been messed up with the alerts/stats on my end, I decided to update this story on AO3 instead of here until it was fixed. However, I've had a request to update anyway, so I will. Thanks for your reviews, Futurewriter53! Chapter 32 will be up tomorrow. Make sure you go ahead and follow the story and turn alerts on, I think most readers are getting emails now, except me :(

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Chapter 31 -Song of the Siren Skies

"Long and wide, Eternity from side to side
Lead me through the rapids, guide me to the shore.
There's a place that's far beyond this time and space
When each of us comes face to face with something more."
~Siren Song, Alan Parsons Project

Saturday, December 3, 1988 Cont...

The trip from the front door to the truck was painful after the warm, cozy couch. The wind blew in from the lake, stinging Daisy's eyes with its bitterness, and to the east the clouds hung low and gray with the promise of new snow.

Highway 123 was deserted, and they passed no more than a handful of vehicles on their way to Paradise. Daisy watched the blur of colorless trees zoom past, and thought about the phone conversation she'd had with Bo the day before. They had set up a weekly time for her to call, and it hadn't taken long for him to trace the area code of the number to Michigan. He guessed she was somewhere in the suburbs of Detroit, and she hadn't bothered to correct him.

The Duke farm's first soybean harvest had gone as well as expected for a novice, and pride resonated in her cousin's voice as he told her of his plans for the coming spring. She was happy for him, even if the details bored her to tears. Luke had graduated from the Firefighter Academy and was working a part time internship for Central City while helping Bo with the farm the rest of the week. Both sounded terribly excited for her to come back home at Christmas, and Bo said he had something big to tell them all.

She sighed deeply, her warm breath a circle of fog against the cold window, already missing Enos and Tamarack.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Ugh. She could only imagine the response her confession would garner. "You should come to Hazzard with me for Christmas," she insisted, "surprise everyone!"

Enos chuckled uneasily. "Oh, I reckon they'd be surprised alright."

She scooted around to gaze at him, pulling her legs up under her in the passenger seat. "Why Enos," she scolded, "you sound like they wouldn't want you there! I thought you and the boys were close. Unless...it's because of that girl..."

She cringed inwardly, worried she had been insensitive. If his ex-fiance was still in Hazzard, she doubted he'd want to cross paths with her.

"No, it's not that," he assured her, "it's just with the Elcid Barrett docked for winter, the holidays might be my best time to get information. Besides, the flight I booked you only had one ticket left."

She turned back towards the window thinking dark thoughts about the boat and murders which commanded every waking moment of his thoughts, and how convenient that all the planes leaving Sault Ste Marie the week of Christmas were now full.

"Maybe I'll come down next spring."

In her heart, she knew it was an empty promise.

The salt-crusted gravel crunched under the tires as they pulled into the lot of the Paradise Ice Center and parked behind a sea of cars. Daisy, expecting something akin to Hazzard's High School gym, goggled at the enormity of the two story concrete and glass building as a group of children, dressed in bright parkas, ran past laughing.

"My stuff's in the back," Enos told her, opening his door and tossing his keys into the cup holder. "Wait on me and I'll pay for you to get in."

She climbed out and wandered slowly towards the building until he caught up with her, his equipment bag slung over his shoulder. A feeling of deja vu flickered and then washed away, lost like a grain of sand in the ocean, and she turned her attention again to the building.

"I didn't expect it to be so..."

"Big?"

"And new," she agreed. "It doesn't really fit - " she waved at their rustic surroundings. The tavern, bait shop, and hotel on the other side of the road might have been built in the 50's, or maybe longer ago than that.

Enos chuckled. "People spend money on what's important to them." He dislodged her hat attempting to ruffle her hair, and she jammed it back down over her ears and jogged to catch up to his faster pace.

Inside the double glass doors, a hallway stretched out to either side, painted in white with blue striping along the top. He greeted the middle-aged woman at the ticket table, and handed her five dollars and passed the ticket she gave him to Daisy.

"They'll have door prizes after the first and second periods," he told her. "Just hang on to your ticket cause that's your number."

Enos went left towards the locker rooms and she followed the line of spectators to the right and around a corner and past an alcove with a concession stand and through a set of double doors into the stands.

Below a dozen rows of sloped stadium seats, a plexiglass divider atop a short concrete wall separated the spectators from the ice. The opposing team, the Escanaba Beavers, were already warming up; their skate blades gleaming under the bright lights.

Joy waved at her from the first row of seats and Daisy squeezed past the group in front of her to make her way down. The twins appeared out of the crowd to grab her hands and lead her the rest of the way jabbering excitedly, yet indecipherably, over the 'clickety-clack' echo of sticks on the ice and other conversations around her.

She slid into the vacant seat next to Joy as Ruby and Rilla returned to the gaggle of kids watching with their faces pressed to the glass.

"Hey, I've got a bag of clothes for you," said Joy, "so don't run off after the game. If you don't want them, call St. Joseph's and have them pick them up for their giveaway in the spring cause I don't want them back. I've been clearing out the garage."

Daisy grinned and shook her head. "I don't know where you find your energy."

"It's nesting," she explained. "It was either clean the garage or eat a tub of ice cream and watch The Golden Girls and Hunter."

"I like Hunter."

Joy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know. Enos looks nothing like Fred Dryer."

"I never say he looked like -

"Speaking of which..." She motioned towards the ice as the doors on the far end opened and the Flames skated out to warm up.

Daisy smiled as Enos came out, realizing this was the first time she'd seen him wearing his uniform since he practiced using an old jersey. He didn't stand out; neither the tallest nor the shortest and, after watching several drills, nor was he the fastest or the slowest. She had worried his clumsiness would be evident - that a man who walked into walls and tripped over invisible rocks might struggle on a team, yet as the warm-up ended and the game began, she saw her fears had been unfounded. If not for his name and the #44 on his back, she would not have known it was him.

She was so caught up in watching Enos, it was halfway through the first period before she realized she knew other players on the team. She leaned over to Joy, "What number is Bruce?"

Joy pointed towards the ice. "Number 26. He usually plays left defenseman across from Enos, but Sam couldn't make it tonight, so he's playing the left wingman spot. He wanted to find time to practice since it's more shooting than he's used to, but he's been dealing with poachers in the National Forest this week and didn't get a chance. Pete's the right wingman, number 17."

The game continued with rapid back and forth possessions, and Enos managed a few good saves on defense. Pete had been responsible for their only score; an early slapshot that skittered through his defender's legs and hit the inside post of the goal with a resounding 'bang'. Daisy watched as he handled the puck with the confidence borne of skill and long practice. "Hey, Pete's really good!"

Joy nodded. "He could probably play semi-professionally if he tried out. Don't tell him I said that, though. The Sheriff's Department needs him more than the Kalamazoo Wings, doncha know...Oh, hey, a fight! About time!"

On the far side of the ice, two players were shoving and throwing gloved punches at each other, their pads and helmets preventing anything more serious than bruised egos. (The kids had explained that fights were an important part of every hockey game and most of the time it was just for fun.)

More players piled on until it looked like a football game instead of a hockey match. Daisy joined the kids down by the glass for a better view as one of the tussling Escanaba teammates was smashed against the wall by a Flames player. The kids cheered and chanted, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" until the referees blew their whistles to break it up. It was only when the player turned towards them that Daisy realized it had been Enos doing the smashing.

He passed their spot, grinning hugely, and pounded the glass where the kids stood and cheered him on. Daisy laughed at their interaction, thrilled to see Enos having so much fun.

The game ended on a high note with Pete managing one last goal at the end of the third period to break the 1-1 tie and give the Flames a win. The NHL had nothing over small town pride. Going by the crowd's reaction, you would have thought they'd won the Stanley Cup.

The Flames skated to their box and Daisy followed the kids around to the glass above it.

"Come on kids," called Joy, "we'll wait for Bruce in the hall."

The twins waved as he looked up at them and smiled. Rilla ran off towards Joy, but Ruby tugged on Daisy's jersey.

"You coming, too, Daisy?"

She grinned down at her. "Yep, I'll be there in a minute, sweetie."

"Mom!" yelled Ruby, "Can I stay with Daisy? She says she'll be there in a minute."

Joy nodded and Daisy picked up Ruby and sat her on her hip so she could see better.

"Are you waiting for Enos?" she asked, then pointed to the line of players. "Look, there he is! Can we go now?"

"Just a sec."

She lingered until he came into the box. He took off his helmet and grinned up at her, running a hand through his sweaty hair. Her heart beat wildly in her chest. There was something about seeing him a disheveled mess that turned her insides to goo. She imagined running her fingers through his hair.

"Can we go now?"

Daisy set Ruby back down. "Yep, let's go find your sister."

She followed the little girl up the steps and down the opposite hallway where the families of players waited outside the door to the mens locker room. To one side of the hall was a row of plastic chairs and Daisy slid into an empty one. Bits of conversations flowed around her as she watched a toddler push a dump truck around the base of a potted ficus fig tree near the door. The building was warm and the drone of voices made her eyes grow heavy. She might have dozed off for a moment before she heard the door open and one of the players exited, dressed in coat and jeans.

Several more followed, including Pete, leaving alone or with their families, until only a handful of stragglers remained. Finally, Bruce came out and let her know that Enos wouldn't be long.

"He lets everyone else have the showers first," explained Rilla. "So he's always last. That's really nice, isn't it Daisy?"

Bruce kissed Joy on the cheek. "I'll go warm up the truck."

"I need to go to the bathroom!" announced Ruby.

Joy took her hand, "Let's go do that first. Rill, you too. There's no place to stop between here and home."

The girls followed her down the hall and around the corner, leaving Daisy alone. A sudden impulse seized her to hide behind the plant. Why not? There was no one to see her except Enos when he came out, and he already thought she was crazy. Scooting the fig tree away from the wall, she ducked behind it just as the door swung open and Enos emerged. For a second he stood motionless in the seemingly empty hall before shrugging to himself and letting the door shut behind him.

He walked away and she ran up behind him, grabbing his arm. "Boo!"

"I should've seen that coming."

"Did I scare you?" She asked, giving his appearance a once over and trying not to seem disappointed. Twenty minutes of waiting and Enos looked steamed and pressed with nary a hair out of place.

"No, maybe next time."

"So, what'd you think? About the game?"

The wind had died and the stars shone brilliant in the cold sky as they traveled the lonesome roads back to Tamarack. The ambient glow of the moonlight on snow turned the treeline into ghostly shadows. Inside the cab, the lights of the police scanner and switches washed across them.

"It was fun!" she told him, and it was the truth. "Y'all did great! Watching it felt really familiar. Did Bo and Luke play any sports?"

"Bo played basketball his junior year of high school. Luke was too busy racing or running shine every weekend."

Her cousins' lives seemed vague and disconnected, more like characters in a book. "I suppose that's what it reminded me of, then. What about you? Did you play basketball?"

"It's hard enough not to trip over my own feet," he laughed, "can you imagine me trying to dribble a ball at the same time? I played baseball, though. In 7th and 8th grade."

"Did I go to your games?"

His body shifted uncomfortably in the seat, like fidgeting without his hands. "Sure you did." He fell silent, and she thought no more of it.

The highway ended and they turned onto Whitefish Point Road north of Shelldrake. Every few minutes, Enos would glance up at the sky outside his window. The moon had been high and bright when they left Paradise, but the clouds had rolled in behind them and the world had darkened. Somewhere in front of them lay the Lake. A couple miles past Shelldrake, Enos slowed and turned off to park in a wayside lot.

"What's wrong?" she asked him, wondering if there was a problem with the truck. Knowing nothing else that would cause him to pull off in the middle of nowhere.

He unbuckled his seatbelt. "Nothing's wrong. Come on out here for a minute."

Unlatching her own belt, she pulled her hat on and climbed out of the truck. The rush of damp air and sound of water told her they were at a beach off Whitefish Bay. Her boots sunk into the wet sand as she picked her way through the darkness guided by the side of the truck to where Enos stood.

"Why'd we stop? What's going on?"

"Look up."

She looked up and gasped. "Oh, wow..."

The Northern Lights were a common occurrence in the UP, and already she had seen them several times since the temperatures had grown colder. She had been disappointed, to be honest, because they were nothing like the pictures in library books; being dim or low on the lake horizon, barely visible at the best of times. But now, the sky above her blazed with wide, bright ribbons of green and blue. They danced and shimmered, their colors wheeling and shifting and changing from blue and violet to green and white.

"I heard this was supposed to be a good night, but they don't show up real well with the moon so bright. They'd be right pretty over the lake, but I'm too tired to go up there tonight. Maybe another time."

"No..." she breathed. "This is perfect."

And it was. Standing in the dark with Enos, looking up at the jewel-streaked sky.

Instead of dissipating, the green overtook the other colors, spreading like curtains of fire until in a matter of minutes they stretched from one horizon to the other and the entire sky glowed alien and ethereal. The darkness softened to emerald hues bright enough to see Enos and the truck and the placid water of the bay.

Was this the Siren song that had kept him away from Hazzard?

Maybe... Maybe it wasn't what was in Georgia, but what wasn't there. If there was magic in the world, it was here. Here with the green fire and the ghosts that walked the sands, lost on a dark and lonely planet spinning through the cosmos.

The wind was still and even the lake seemed hushed (or maybe it was just her hat over her ears). A stray snowflake touched her eyelash and melted.

"You tried to scare me every day after baseball practice."

She turned towards his voice, the words said so softly that she wasn't sure he knew he had spoken them aloud. Her throat suddenly tight upon hearing his memory of her past, not knowing what to say. She'd waited for him every day? Again, she wondered what had happened to drive between them so deep a wedge.

"I did?"

Perhaps he nodded; she couldn't tell. The green light was fading now, shrinking back towards the lake.

"It's starting to snow again, we'd better get back."

She sighed. The magic was gone, slipped over the dark horizon into the lake of time.

Monday, December 19, 1988

The weeks leading up to Christmas were a flurry of activity in Tamarack. Decorations and lights on every business turned Main Street into a picture postcard of holiday spirit and each Saturday night groups met outside the Courthouse to go caroling. For Daisy, it was a bittersweet time, knowing that on December 23rd, she would be leaving Michigan, maybe forever.

Starting over.

The thought made her soul ache.

She felt like screaming every time someone wished her well and told her how wonderful it had been to meet her, like she was already one of the town's damned ghosts. In their minds, she should be happy she was going home to be with family. They couldn't understand; not even Enos understood. Possibly Joy did, after all she had been witness to Daisy's tearful rants. Her suggestion had been easy and practical: Stay. Yet, that answer in reality was neither easy nor practical.

Enos, who had been so gracious and accommodating was no doubt counting the days until his home was his own again. She had grown far too fond of him, and the longer she stayed the harder it would be to ever leave him.

"So, find a place of your own up here," Joy had told her. "I guarantee I could find you a good job in less than a week."

Daisy wasn't sure what she was qualified for, other than writing puff pieces for the local news rag. Her old job hadn't paid enough to live anywhere but the farm, and her short term memory wasn't sharp enough to work at the Boar's nest again. Not that she wanted to, anyway.

Then there was Enos' mess at work over what to do with Jake, the greenhorn from the Elcid Barrett who could probably solve the murders right now if he wasn't scared to death of someone coming after his family. Enos and Joy were sure he knew more, and Enos had been forced to charge him with resisting arrest to keep him incarcerated for his own protection.

'Just kicking the can down the road' was Enos' less than optimistic viewpoint. "I let him out and somebody's gonna kill him and maybe his family, too," he told her, "and there ain't a ding-dang thing I can do about it unless he tells me who's after him."

Three months in jail was all the judge could give him for a first misdemeanor with no priors. Daisy hated to think about the poor kid spending Christmas in jail. Joy had assured her that they would try to make it as comfortable as they could for him, but reminded her that this was his own decision.

Hoping to take her mind off of things, she hopped on the snowmobile and went to the park, only to realize when she got there that she had forgotten her skates. Being a Monday evening, only a few couples were there. Even the kids were missing, and Enos was working the night shift. With nothing better to do, she wandered over to the fire barrel to warm herself and grovel in her misery.

"You're too young to look that worried, miss."

Daisy looked up from the fire and into the bespectacled blue eyes of an older gentleman, tall but slightly overweight, his kind face sporting a full beard of white whiskers to rival even the best street corner Santa Claus.

"Is it that obvious?" she sighed. "I reckon it's more thinking about the future than worrying. Nothing time won't take care of, I guess."

He nodded with understanding. "You're the Sheriff's friend from down south, aren't you? Daisy Duke? Probably looking forward to getting away from this cold weather, eh?"

"No, not really," she admitted. "I think I'll miss the snow. And...well, to be honest, I think I'll miss all of it." She took a deep breath and cleared her throat, finding herself on the verge of tears thinking of all she would have to leave behind.

"Tamarack's a special place," he agreed, as if reading her thoughts. "I'm from further north myself, but I always seem to find myself drawn here this time of the year. You know, it's funny," he said, softly, "people have a way of ending up where they were meant to be." His eyes met hers and he smiled. "And who they were meant to be with."

Although she was sure he meant the two of them talking at the fire barrel, her first thought had been of finding Enos on her own journey to the north.

"In any case," he continued, "you might just get your wish if you're planning on flying out this weekend. There's a big snowfall coming Thursday."

"That can't be right." Maybe the man wasn't a shrewd as he seemed. "The weatherman said it would be clear all week. Did you mean next Thursday?"

"Oh no," he laughed. "Definitely this Thursday. I can already smell it." He tapped his nose before fishing a silver watch from his breast pocket to check the time. "7:30 on the dot. I'd best get on home; the wife likes to know where I am this time of year." He held his hand out and she took it as he covered it with his other one. "Good luck to you, Daisy, it was so nice to talk with you. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year."

"You too, sir."

He stepped away from the fire and disappeared outside the circle of light. By the time she realized she hadn't asked his name, he was gone.

Daisy pushed the lasagna around her plate, deep in thought over the stranger she'd met at the park the day before. You're being ridiculous, she told herself, he was just a kind old man with a funny sense of humor.

"You alright, Daisy?" asked Enos, putting his fork down. "I ain't heard you say more than a couple words today, and if you mash your food up anymore you'd might as well drink it."

She looked down. "Oh, I guess you're right."

"What's got you so quiet?"

I think I met Santa at the park. Yeah, what an ice breaker. "It's the old guy at the park yesterday," she told him, instead. "He seemed certain it was gonna snow Thursday, and I wouldn't be able to leave."

"I just saw the forecast in the paper. It's not supposed to snow the rest of the week, no more than flurries." He gave her a funny look. "He wasn't sipping out of a brown paper bag, was he?"

She laughed. "No, he seemed very sober. Said he was from up north and he could smell a big snowstorm coming."

He shrugged. "I'm sure it'll be fine, Daisy. We should probably get an early start Friday morning, though, in case the traffic's slow going into Soo and the airport being Christmas weekend. They keep the airport plowed all day long if there's any lake-effect snow, and the truck's got 4-wheel drive if that's what you're worried about."

-.-.-.-.

Wednesday dawned as clear as crystal, the sky light blue with no trace of clouds on the horizon. That evening, Enos brought her the paper with the updated forecast for the next day from the National Weather Service. Highs in the mid-20's, Lows around 5. Snow accumulation less than .02".

Later than night, in the laundry which had served as her makeshift bedroom, she laid out everything she owned, not sure how to feel that it all fit into a suitcase and a backpack. Her boarding pass and ticket were already in Enos' truck after misplacing them twice already.

She'd said most of her good-byes already, and the hardest had been the kids - her little group that had taught her how to play hockey and ignored the fact that she was an adult and not actually nine anymore. They had been her oasis from the adulthood into which she had been thrust after the accident.

Enos was already asleep upstairs when she wrapped herself in a blanket and sat down at the living room window. All was still and peaceful, and with the lights off, she could see the faint trace of the aurora above the trees. She tried to etch the moment into her mind to carry her through the long days ahead. Would she be alone forever, or would the pain of losing him in time fade enough to find another to share her life with? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, at least she would have her cousins.

It was the memory of Uncle Jesse that brought the tears, at last. And of all the vacant spaces of her Christmas's past and the hazy memories of those long, long ago. Now he was gone. How could her world be any more unfair?

It was there Enos found her sleeping the next morning, huddled in her blanket, her head against the window.

Outside, the snow had begun to fall.