A/N: Hello and welcome back, friends! If you didn't know, FFnet's alert system was not functioning from Sept-Dec 2023, so make sure you have read up through chapter 33. The last alert sent for this story would have been Chapter 30.
Chapter 34 - Stay
Once again, as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.
-Frank Sinatra
Christmas Eve, 1988
Highway 65 south to Lexington was smooth and newly repaved, and the flat fields of central Indiana gave way to rolling hills and rivers. Daisy's heart beat just a little faster when they crossed the state line from Kentucky into Tennessee. Miles passed and the hills grew into mountains and the rivers to cavernous valleys with cities nestled between them.
The black interior of the truck was warm in the bright sunlight and Daisy watched drowsily as the scenery flew past. They were far enough south that the snow had disappeared even on the highest bluffs, leaving only leafless trees to mark the season, and the road cut through walls of granite as they climbed higher into the Appalacians. Ahead, a derelict gas station sprang like a rusty tumor from the mountain beside a sign reading Rocky Top, population 2,335.
"This is Rocky Top?" She craned her head for a better look as they passed. "I thought it'd be bigger. You know...since iit's in a song."
Enos flipped his visor down to shade his eyes. "Well, the song's about moonshining, Daisy," he said. "It ain't a very glamorous occupation. You roll a rock down the mountain around here, you're libel to hit a still."
"Did your dad run moonshine up through here?"
"Maybe," he shrugged. "He never talked much about it." There was regret in his voice, and she wondered if bringing up his father had been a mistake, but then he flashed her a smile as he continued. "On nights when there was a shine moon, Luke would go up with Uncle Jesse to Knoxville or Johnston City. I remember being madder than a scalded cat 'cause he got a cut of the profits and used them on his race car. He had this souped-up Galaxie 500 with a 429, and that car could flat scoot -"
"What's a 'shine moon'?" She interrupted before he got swept off in the tangent of Luke's race car.
"Hmm? Oh, that's what my pa' called a full moon," he explained. "The Ridgerunners would make all night runs up through Tennessee and North Carolina when there was a full moon. With the extra light, they could get around the revenuers by turning off their headlights and taking the backroads."
"Oh, that's clever." Last December, on a night with a full moon, she had sat on the steps of the porch waiting. For what, she hadn't understood. "Enos? Did you come out to the farm when there was a shine moon?"
"Sure, since my dad wouldn't get back until morning, I'd stay the night unless I was grounded. It beat staying home."
Another piece of her life's puzzle slipped into place. Bless her heart, she'd been waiting for Enos. She shivered and hugged herself, wondering if he was the solution to all her unanswered questions.
He caught her movement and frowned. "Are you cold?" he asked. "You can turn up the heat if you want."
"No, I just got that creepy feeling, like someone walked over my grave."
"Well, I hope you're not buried in Campbell County, Tennessee," he snorted. "We're a long way from Hazzard."
As the sun dipped lower in the sky, the mountains broadened into flat-topped ridges and wide valleys scattered with farms and fields, and they gained an hour as they passed again into the Eastern Time Zone. It was just after 5:00pm when they crossed the state line into Georgia, and the evening sky was streaked with pink and orange.
They zipped past the state boundary sign proclaiming Georgia to be the "State of Adventure" and all the peace of mind she'd had earlier evaporated.
How was she going to explain finding Enos in the Northwoods of Michigan? What if there was bad blood between the three of them which she had forgotten and no one had told her? She wiped her sweaty palms against her jeans, shivering with nerves and feeling like she needed to have a good cry. A short time later, they were passing landmarks she recognized and a rebellious sob escaped her.
"Daisy, you alright?"
She took a deep breath and turned towards the window. "Yeah?" Her voice sounded strained.
Alarmed, Enos pulled over into the gravel at the edge of the road to give her his full attention. "Hey... What's wrong?"
He was going to wait until she looked over at him, and she knew he would read the worry in her face. "I'm sorry, Enos," she gushed, "I...I guess I'm just feeling nervous about seeing everyone again. Can we go somewhere else first before we go to the farm?" The man was going to think she was crazy. Maybe she was.
"Sure, Daisy, I reckon. Where'd'you want to go?"
She hadn't thought that far, so she said the first place that sprung to mind. "Hazzard Pond?"
"Oh!" He sounded relieved. "Shucks, it's still plenty light out. We can do that."
Not long after, he turned off Highway 54 and onto the dirt roads of Hazzard County, spinning the wheels of the Bronco and throwing up a cloud of dry, powdery dirt behind them.
"You're gonna get your beloved truck all dirty," she teased.
"Sorry, Daisy," he laughed. "Old habits die hard. The last time I was here, the rental company gave me a 4-cylinder Corolla. Not that I was here for joy riding, but..."
"Yeah, yeah, I know," she said, dismissively. "You drive like the boys."
It hadn't taken long for her to discover Bo and Luke had never really grown up when it came to their love of speed and racing. They had merely replaced their Hot Wheels with that ridiculous orange car with its door welded shut. She had a scar from scraping her knee on the trim after Luke tossed her in like a sack of potatoes coming back from her doctor appointment in Atlanta.
"Actually, I'm surprised Cletus ain't sitting out here with a fake school crossing sign," he said, glancing behind them in the rear view mirror. "I'm kinda disappointed. Rosco must be slipping."
"Rosco's a sweetheart," she snapped, indignantly. Regardless of what anyone else thought of the quirky older sheriff, he held a special place in her heart. "He saved my life, you know."
Enos, who had heard the story several times, looked over at her and grinned. "I'll send Flash some dog biscuits."
He turned off at the gravel path that led down to the pond. "Today's a good day to come," he told her. "Everyone's busy with their families and no one's fishing. Maybe I'll see if I can get a couple bites in the morning."
She laughed and rolled her eyes. "You and fishing."
The ripples of Hazzard Pond flashed with the last of the light, its far shore dark beneath the limbs of overhanging trees. Enos parked just above the water line and she followed him out towards the dock, resolved to forget about the inevitable meeting with her family.
On the bank, he stooped down and picked up a handful of pebbles, handing her half of them in their unspoken ritual. The setting sun lit his face, tinting his hazel eyes with golden hues of autumn. The haunting pull of deja vu stood between them as his fingers brushed hers, and she willed herself to remember this moment forever.
Then he turned towards the pond, and the world resumed its spin.
Closing her hand around the wet rocks, she followed him across the old boards. The wood was damp and smelled of earth, but she sat down beside him and hung her legs over the end of the pier. December in Georgia was far removed from the deep-freeze of Michigan, and the air above the pond held the warmth of the day. Between her oversized sweatshirt and the man beside her, she was downright cozy.
They sat in silence broken only by the occasional 'plop' of a stone and the water sloshing against the pilings beneath them. The sun slipped over the horizon and, little by little, the sky faded into drab grayness of early twilight.
"You know," she murmured, "after my accident, it felt right to be here. Part of me still remembered it."
"You spent a lot of time sitting right there when you were a kid," he said, throwing another rock. "It makes sense that you'd remember it. After I became a deputy, I was out here all the time telling the fish my problems."
"I've never seen a fish with ears," She chuckled. "What kind of problems could the deputy of Hazzard County have?"
"Keeping Mr. Hogg convinced I was an idiot so he wouldn't fire me."
"Huh?" The collection of words he'd strung together didn't make any sense to her, and he shifted nervously beside her and started picking at his nails.
"Nevermind," he murmured, flustered for some reason Daisy couldn't fathom. "I'm just running my mouth, and we ain't got enough daylight for me to explain. Just... Look Daisy, people here expect me to behave a certain way. It used to be easy, but I'm afraid I'm outta practice of being a 'dipstick'."
That was familiar. "Oh! So that's why Rosco filed your name under 'D'," she recalled. "He said it was under 'D' for dipstick. But I still don't understand what you're getting at."
"Cletus."
She shook her head. "What about Cletus?"
"I had to act like Cletus."
If a fish had crawled out of the water and slapped her in the face, she wouldn't have been so surprised. "You...had to act like...Cletus?" she repeated, doubtfully. "Enos Strate, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
"It's true," he sighed. "Although after a while of acting, it kind of stuck."
Wasn't Enos the one always telling her to be herself? "Enos! Why, Cletus is so dumb, he believed me when I told him I couldn't remember stuff because I was an alien from an alternate universe. Why would you do something like that?"
He shrugged. "I had a duty to protect and serve the people of Hazzard, Daisy," he explained, "and if Mr. Hogg knew I was sending fingerprints of all his business associates to the FBI, or burning his counterfeit money on purpose, or wrecking Rosco's car when he was chasing your cousins, he'd of had my badge in a heartbeat. He did fire me a couple of times, but y'all Dukes managed to get my job back."
"Oh, Enos, that's awful! But, I can't believe nobody saw through it. Why, I've only known you for three months, and you might run into the wall when you're distracted, but you're a great cop."
His wince was the only indication he caught her mistake. "I've always been clumsy. It was easy to convince them that it was just bad luck and slow wits."
"Wow." The more she learned about Hazzard, the stranger it seemed.
"Eventually, everyone forgot it was an act."
There was a weight to his words, and she realized that 'everyone' would include herself and her cousins. Surely, she could not have been so blind! She turned towards him, but he was looking out across the pond.
"Even me?"
"Sometimes even me, Daisy."
The first stars were shining above them by the time they left Hazzard Pond, and it was only a matter of minutes before they pulled onto the gravel drive of the Duke farm. Enos' hands were sweaty on the steering wheel. Though he'd been here only six months ago, a lifetime of changes had happened in that short interval. He'd left refusing to speak to Daisy and come back having to explain why she'd been living with him. Eighteen hours and he'd be the top gossip of the HazzardNet. He wasn't looking forward to it.
Daisy seemed frozen - a dark, silent silhouette framed by the warm light of the porch behind her. Enos wondered, as he had a dozen times, what life had been like for her these past two years. How would it feel to lose himself and find 20 years had passed in the blink of an eye? If he knew she would never remember the past...
No, this is the best place for her, he reminded himself. She loved her life in Hazzard and, in time, she'll love it again. He was a shiny object, nothing more.
"It'll be alright," he told her, softly. "They love you, you know."
"I know." Her whisper sounded unconvinced. "You'll stay, won't you?" she pleaded. "Until Monday?"
They hadn't talked about it, but Highway 123 wouldn't be plowed until early the next week. "I reckon I couldn't get back before then, even if I wanted."
"You promise?"
Her words, so innocently spoken, hung in the silence between them. She couldn't know what a loaded question she'd given him. If someone told her why he REALLY left, which someone was bound to do, how long he could endure the tension between them? Still...he'd gone and gotten himself into this situation of his own free will.
"I promise."
Satisfied, she opened the truck's door and climbed out, clutching her backpack to her chest like a ragged teddy bear. Luke, Bo, and Jill Dobson from the orphanage, came out to greet her as she went up the steps. Enos hung back, watching their reunion and facing his own trepidation. At last, with a whispered prayer that God would give him the words to make the boys understand, he crossed the dark yard.
He stopped at the bottom of the steps just inside the circle of light, still unseen by the others.
"Where's this boyfriend of yours?" Bo teased. "You know, Luke just about had a coronary when I told him you were riding all that way with some feller we ain't met."
Daisy swatted Bo on the arm. "He ain't my boyfriend, Bo, and I'm sure once you've had the details fleshed out, you'll be happy you asked him to stay."
Luke, always the more observant of the two, was staring at Enos. "I think we found him, Bo."
Too late to run away now. "Hey, Luke." Enos climbed the steps and pasted a big, cheerful grin on his face.
Bo's paralysis broke and he blinked. "Enos!?" he laughed in confusion. "What in the heck are you doin' here? Not that it ain't good to see you."
"Sorry, I should've called to let you know I's coming, but it was a last minute decision. I'm afraid the rest of it's a long and convoluted tale," he admitted, giving Daisy a sidelong look. She sweetly at him, but made no move to speak, and he realized she was going to make him explain the whole thing. "Which I reckon I'll tell you as soon as I grab Daisy's stuff outta my truck."
"We'll help you," offered Luke, dryly. "I knew things were goin too smoothly around here."
"It's good to see you again, Enos," Jill called to him, before turning to Daisy.
Daisy followed her into the house and Enos sighed and shook his head. He started towards the truck with Bo and Luke at his heels, unlocked the rear gate and pulled out the suitcases and her duffel bag. Shutting the tailgate, he leaned back against it and waited for the questions, but they just stared at him in confusion.
"I don't even know what to ask," Luke admitted. "Maybe you oughta just tell us what the hell's going on in your own words."
Bo nodded. "Yeah, all me and Luke knew was she needed to get away from Hazzard to figure some stuff out...and now she comes back with you. After that day you showed up at the hospital, I was sure she didn't remember who you were."
"She didn't," Enos told them. "And she still doesn't. Anyhow, this mess is all you two's fault. If you'd've burnt all her journals instead of leaving one in her box springs, she wouldn't've come to Tamarack looking for me."
Bo rounded on Luke. "You said you'd gotten them all!"
"Hey! I got all I could find," said Luke, throwing up his hands in defense.
"It wasn't a new one," Enos told them, "so she didn't learn anything recent. It was one from back when we were kids. After reading it, she got it into her head that I was pretty much just another cousin."
"Well Enos," chided Bo, "you know Daisy - once she's set her mind on something, good luck changing it."
"Tamarack?" Luke shook his head. "Where's that at?"
"Michigan," Enos explained, then realized they didn't know much about him anymore. "I'm the Sheriff of Whitefish County, Michigan. It's on the coast of Lake Superior near Sault Saint Marie."
Bo glanced towards the house where the two women had disappeared. "So that's why she didn't want to tell us where she was going," he guessed. "I swear, Enos, we never gave her your address. Heck, we didn't know it ourselves to give."
"Yeah, I know. She snookered Rosco into giving it to her," Enos told them. He explained how she had shown up at the Sheriff's Department in September, and that there was no where for her to stay except with him. "Listen fellas...she doesn't know anything about why I went to California, and I'd thank you to keep it that way until I leave."
He frowned at Luke's knowing smirk. "So, let me get this straight, Enos... Daisy, without knowing you from Adam, shows up on your doorstep one day. So you take her in, but keep her in the dark about your past, and now you're hoping to get outta Hazzard before she figures out the truth."
Enos stared back at him, embarrassed that he'd been so quickly deciphered. Luke burst out laughing and clapped him on the back. "Good luck with that, Enos."
"Don't worry," soothed Bo. "Me and Jill won't say nothing."
"I haven't talked to Jill Dobson since I's in high school."
Luke smiled. "Bo's sweet on her."
They both turned to the blond haired cousin who blushed and laughed boyishly. "Yeah, I am," he admitted. "She's gonna make Christmas dinner! Ain't she great?"
"Christmas dinner?" asked Enos. "That sounds awful serious."
Daisy followed Jill into the house, through a kitchen that felt distinctively different that the one she had left three months earlier. Little changes stood out like flashing neon signs. Jill followed her gaze to the windows.
"Oh! I hope you didn't mind," she apologized, "I had some extra fabric from the curtains I made for the orphanage, and I hated to see it go to waste. I still have the old ones though...if you wanted to hold onto them."
Daisy pulled her eyes away from the yellow, floral chintz. "No, they look great!"' she said, forcing a smile to her face. "I just wasn't expecting it."
They did look nice...nicer that the threadbare ones that had been hanging since she had come to live at the farm. She reminded herself that things were always bound to change.
Jill gave her an understanding smile. "I haven't touched your room, though," she said, then nervously added, "I hope you don't mind if I bunk with you, I promised Bo that I'd help make Christmas dinner tomorrow, and I'd like to get an early start."
She shook her head. "No, I don't mind at all. It'll be nice to have another girl around. Making Christmas dinner, eh?" It sounded as though Bo and Jill had grown closer since that day at the orphanage. "That sure is awful nice of you. Goodness knows what would happen if we left it up to the boys."
The other woman grinned. "Right? The first time Bo invited me over for dinner, he forgot to tell me we'd have to catch it first!"
They shared a laugh and Daisy shook her head. "That sounds like Enos," she said. "Although, according to him I'd starve if I had to rely on fishing to eat."
Jill opened the door to the bedroom. True to her word, it was exactly how Daisy had left it: sterile and impersonal. She swallowed back the pain over the loss of her personal effects, and sighed as Jill shut the door behind them.
"So...I sure am surprised to see Enos!" she said. "Didn't expect to see the two of you within 500 miles of each other."
What an odd thing to say, thought Daisy. "What? Why?"
"Uh-" Jill studied her face, her brow knitting in confusion. "Well, you know...I mean... he's been gone for so long, and so far away. Honestly, I didn't expect him to find time to come back to Hazzard."
Daisy nodded and filed Jill's quirky behavior away to think on later. "He works way too hard," she agreed. "Tamarack has two unsolved murders, which for a tiny town up in the UP of Michigan is absolutely unheard of. He spends every waking hour worrying about them. I'm glad he got to come."
"I guess it never came up when I was talking to Bo. How exactly did you end up - " She gestured at the door.
"In Tamarack?"
She nodded. "With Enos."
"Oh, well. That's a long story," warned Daisy, "but the short version is that I kept hearing everyone in Hazzard mention him, and when I found out he'd practically been adopted by us Dukes growing up, I decided to go visit him." She paused, recalling their first meeting that day. "He was pretty surprised when I showed up outta the blue."
Jill's eyes were as big as saucers. "I'll bet."
"He was angry with me, at first. Mostly cause I had been rude to him when he came to the hospital after my accident."
"What!? I didn't know he'd visited you in the hospital!"
Daisy chuckled. "Well, I didn't either," she admitted. "Imagine my surprise to find out this elusive Enos Strate character was the same one I thought was the nosy State Trooper who had questioned me at the hospital. I'd told him to get outta my personal business and go ask Rosco about the accident. Thank goodness he's got a forgiving spirit."
"Oh, he's one in a million," Jill agreed. "So, you've been living in Michigan...with him, all this time?"
"Well, there wasn't any place else to go," she explained, worried that Jill was questioning his moral fiber, "and with winter coming, the Bed and Breakfast was already closed. Since we were practically family growing up, he insisted I stay with him. He works long hours, though, so we didn't see a lot of each other."
"He didn't happen to tell you why he left Hazzard, did he?"
Now Daisy understood Jill's surprise over Enos coming to Hazzard. "Oh," she said, lowering her voice. "So...you know about him almost getting married?"
"Uh..."
Thinking about it just made Daisy mad all over again. "I can't believe any woman would run off and marry someone else when they could have had Enos!" she grumbled. "You don't know her name, do you? I promise I won't tell him you told me."
Jill suddenly dissolved into a fit of choked coughing that doubled her over until she was red in the face. "Sorry" *cough* "I've gotta" *cough**cough* "get some" *cough* "water." She flew out the door and ran towards the bathroom.
Weird, thought Daisy, shaking her head. Hearing the boys enter the kitchen, she tossed her backpack onto the bed and went to see if Enos had brought her things in from the truck. He was gonna be grumpy about her making him explain everything to Bo and Luke, but luckily he didn't hold a grudge.
They were pouring coffee when she came in and looked chummy enough, although Enos graced her with an annoyed look which she answered with an impish smile.
"Thanks for bringing my stuff in," she told him, taking the duffel bag from him. She reached for her suitcase, but he shook his head and followed her back to her bedroom where he sat it against the wall.
He glanced around the room and sighed.
"I miss my stuff," she whispered, sadly.
"I know."
It felt out of place, to be standing with Enos here in the middle of her bare room. "Did you explain it to them?"
He shrugged. "As well as I could," he told her. "I think they're just happy that you were safe. They're gonna want your side of the story, though, and why you didn't tell them where you were. You can't avoid it forever."
"I'm good at distraction. Speaking of which, I think something's going on between Bo and Jill."
He smiled at that. "She's helping with Christmas dinner," he mused. "Aunt Lavinia'd already be making wedding plans and sewing dresses."
She laughed, thinking how Enos always said just the right thing to make her forget her sadness. "We should probably keep an eye on them," she suggested. "Just in case."
"Speaking of dinner, you've gotta be hungry. There's some ham and beans still warm and apple pie. I reckon it ain't gonna be as good as your cooking, but I'm too starved to care right now."
"Food sounds good," she shooed him through the door. "After you."
The rest of that evening was spent catching up, and Daisy found herself the center of attention as she regaled them with tales of Tamarack and the Northwoods, of learning to play hockey, and of the endless magic of the Northern Lights and Lake Superior.
"Gee wiz, Daisy," exclaimed Bo. "It sounds like you had an awful big adventure!"
Luke's face was serious. "Sounds like you already miss it."
She swore, if Luke made her cry before the end of the day... "I do miss it," she admitted. "I made a lot of good friends there, too."
"Not the least of which is our favorite deputy," added Bo. "Ain't that right, Enos?" Had Daisy been looking at the right place, she might have seen the warning glance Enos shot at Bo, but all she caught was the bright smile Bo gave him in return.
"Oh" she continued, "and you fellas should see Enos play hockey!" She turned to look at him. "Pete said you were good enough to play second tier defenseman in semi-pro."
Enos laughed. "Pete's just butterin me up to get extra vacation time."
"Enos plays hockey?" Luke sputtered. "That'd be a sight to see. He can't walk to the mailbox without stepping in a hole."
Daisy folded her arms and glared at him. "He's really good."
Enos stood up and nudged her shoulder. "Say, Daisy, I thought you came in here to decorate this tree?" He walked over to give it a closer examination. "Where'd you get it, Luke? This part's about as scrawny as a starved tomcat."
"See there, Luke!" chastened Bo, "I told you we should have come with you to pick it."
"It's fine, Bo. Enos, just turn it around." Enos dutifully turned the tree 90 degrees until the bare section was hidden against the wall.
Daisy, realizing that Enos had manufactured the distraction to keep her from arguing with Luke, sighed and picked up the box of ornaments from the coffee table. "Now fellas, don't just put them all in one place, alright? Spread them out so it looks right."
"Yes, ma'am." Bo winked at her as he took a rocking horse from the box.
An hour later, the tree was finished except for the lights which Enos had somehow managed to tangle even more. Wordlessly, she took them from him, wondering how someone deft enough to make trout flies couldn't unwind a 20 foot string of Christmas lights. Five minutes later, she had them on the tree.
One by one, the others shuffled off to bed until only she was left. She sat for a long time on the couch, staring at the lights of the tree and wishing Enos was there to sit with her. Asking him hadn't crossed her mind. He'd been running on little sleep for far too long. She turned her attention to the spare bedroom down the hall and listened, worried that he would have a nightmare and there would be no one there to wake him.
What he dreamed, he wouldn't say.