by: Marty Chrisman

It took longer than Luke anticipated getting the bond posted at the courthouse. It was almost five o’clock before he made it to the Atlanta jail to get Shelby released. The jail was housed in a huge red brick building that took stood four stories high and took up over two city blocks. There was a small exercise yard with a high fence and three strands of razor wire strung across the top. The jail housed everything from petty thieves to murderers. It was a rough place where a person could easily get hurt. Luke knew. He had a scar on his chin from a fight he’d been in when he was there.

Luke walked into the small vestibule and rang the bell, waiting impatiently for the guard to unlock the door to admit him to the main lobby. When the buzzer went off, he pushed open the heavy glass door and stepped into the lobby. A middle aged heavy set guard sat at a desk to Luke’s left. “May I help you?” he asked Luke in a bored voice

“I’m here to get Shelby Lynn” he said, handing his copy of the bail papers to the guard. The guard examined the papers carefully, and then nodded “It’ll take a little while. Just have a seat.”

Luke ignored the hard plastic chairs sitting along one wall. Instead he leaned back against the wall to wait. He knew it would take anywhere from forty-five minutes to an hour to process the paperwork and release Shelby. He occupied his time by counting the squares on the wall.

Everything seemed to be running behind, it was almost an hour and half later before Luke finally saw a guard at the end of the hallway unlocking the heavy steel door that led back to the main cellblocks. The door opened and Shelby stepped into the hall. She looked scared and she looked exhausted. Luke knew that feeling. He hadn’t slept much when he was in here either. She slowly walked down the hall towards the lobby. At first she didn’t notice Luke. When she did, her eyes widened in surprise.

“Luke!” she exclaimed in a startled voice “What are you doing here?”

“Getting you out of here.” Luke told her as he gently took her arm and led her to the door.

As they stepped outside, she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Luke looked at her carefully “You okay?” he asked

“I’m fine.” She said “Just get me out of here, okay?”

Luke led her over to where he had parked the General and helped her into the car. Crossing to the other side, he climbed in and settled under the wheel. Turning on the engine, he carefully eased out into the rush hour traffic. Forced to concentrate on his driving because of the heavy traffic, it was a few minutes before he realized that Shelby had leaned her head back against the seat and fallen asleep. He decided to let her sleep. She probably needed it. She slept all the way back to Hazzard.

It was after nine o’clock at night before Luke finally pulled into the barnyard and parked the General beside Jesse’s pickup. He was exhausted from the long drive. He turned to Shelby and gently touched her arm. She jerked awake, startled, and looked around with frightened eyes.

“It’s okay.” Luke told her in a soothing voice, in the same tone of voice that he would use to talk to a frightened mare. “You’re with me.”

Slowly the fear faded from her eyes as Shelby remembered that she was with Luke. Once he was certain that she was awake and realized where she was, Luke climbed out of the car and went around to the passenger’s side to help her out of the car. He let his hands linger a little longer than necessary around her waist as she slid out of the car. Together they walked into the house.

Jesse was the only one at home. Bo was on a date and Daisy was at work at the Boar’s Nest. He had been sitting in the living room waiting for Luke to get back with Shelby. He smiled and stood up to greet them as they came in the door.

“I was starting to get worried about you two.” He said “Daisy left you some supper in the refrigerator. Are you hungry?”

“I’m starved,” Luke said with a grin

“I’m not hungry.” Shelby said quietly.

“You look like you could use some rest.” Jesse said, eyeing her closely “We can talk in the morning. Daisy made up the spare room for you.” He looked at Luke “Luke, why don’t you show her where it is so she can get some sleep?”

Luke led Shelby to the spare room just off the living room. Up until a few months ago it had been used as a combination sewing room/storage room until Daisy had suggested turning it into a spare bedroom for guests so that the boys wouldn’t have to give up their room and sleep in the barn when they had company. It was just big enough for a double bed and a dresser. Shelby smiled and shut the door.

Luke went into the kitchen and took a plate of ham and beans out of the refrigerator and poured himself a glass of milk. As he put the plate in the microwave to warm up, he tried to hide a yawn but Jesse noticed.

“You look like you need some sleep too.” Jesse told him

“I’m going to bed as soon as I eat.” Luke told him

Jesse poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table with him.

“How is she?’ he asked

“I don’t know….tired I know that. She slept all the way from Atlanta.”

“Can’t say I blame her. She’ll feel better in the morning.”

Luke got his plate out of the microwave and ate his supper. Then he climbed the stairs to his own room and went to bed. In a matter of minutes, he was sleeping soundly.