by: Sarah Stodola

Roseanne Douglas stood in her niece’s bedroom, fuming. When she had come in, the window had been open and Daisy Mae gone. Roseanne didn’t know how the girl had managed to escape from the window, but apparently she had, somehow. And there was no indication as to when, just that it had been the middle of the night. She hadn’t been discovered, hurt or otherwise, anywhere on the premises. Roseanne now had men out combing the surrounding area for any signs of a young runaway.

And she wasn’t sure what Daisy would have worn, either. She’d found her dress in a heap on the bathroom floor. All that expensive material, left in a heap! The child had no sense of respect for fine things!

“Ma’am?”

She turned at the inquiring voice, eyes snapping, to see one of the gardeners. “What is it?”

“We discovered how the child escaped, ma’am.” He held out a slender piece of rope, and Roseanne took it, studying it. It was made of semi-soft cotton, easy on the hands. “It was tied to this.” He held out a long slender arrow next. “The arrow was imbedded deeply into one of the third-story windowsills. I had quite a bit of trouble swinging hard enough on the rope to free it.” He paused. “But, ma’am, it was several rooms over. I don’t see how she and whoever helped her could have gotten to or from that rope to this room.”

“Somehow they did.” Then Roseanne looked back up, her eyes hardening suddenly. “Whoever helped her?”

The young man shifted nervously. “Yes, ma’am. The angle the arrow was at indicated it was fired from near the swimming pool. And you know that the child had no archery equipment or training, even if she could have fired from this angle. Which she couldn’t have.”

“Help…” she mused over this, her hands tightening on the piece of rope. “She had help.” Then she suddenly nodded. “I know where she is.”

“You do, ma’am?”

“Yes, I do.” She brushed past him as she stalked out the door, and heard him run up behind her as she strode down the hall. “Only the Dukes would go to the trouble of breaking her out, even if they didn’t care that they committed an illegal act by breaking in. Which they probably don’t,” her lip twisted a little, but in a ladylike way, a look of disdain. “And I’m sure that people who are so poor they have to very likely hunt for their dinner would know how to fire a bow and arrow, with enough accuracy to catch and hold into a windowsill. Besides, only a child, like one of those boys, would be small enough to fit along that ledge.”

She was down the stairs now, and slapped her hand over a buzzer on the wall. When the maid ran in, she said in a clipped, businesslike tone of voice, “Tell the chauffeur to bring the car around to the front.” She picked up her soft gloves, smiling triumphantly. “We’re going on a little hunt.”

“Beg pardon, ma’am?” the maid asked.

Roseanne turned and strode out of the room, toward the front door. “A little fox hunt, Justine.” She smiled tightly as she said, “We’re going to run some pests to earth.”

###

The Dukes had headed back to the farm for some food, then gone into town, because Jesse had wanted to talk to JD again. So, he was in Hogg’s office, and the three kids were playing tag in the street with their friends Enos, Jerry, and Gregory.

The five boys and one girl were running and laughing, shrieking as they chased each other. Here, where everything felt safe and normal again, it was almost as though the last, horrible week hadn’t even happened, that Daisy had never left the farm.

Until the long black limousine pulled up in front of the police station. Enos was the first to notice it. He pointed, frowning. “Who’d’ya think would drive that thing?”

“Hunh?” Luke turned around, slightly curious, then froze. Oh no! He spun and ran for where Daisy and Bo were standing together in the center of the town green, both clinging to the tree that had been pronounced safe. Without saying anything, he tackled both his cousins, knocking them behind a bush, then rolled down to join them.

Bo was scowling. “What’d you do that for?!”

“Shh!” the older boy warned. He pointed through the leaves to the limousine. “Guess who’d be drivin’ a car like that in Hazzard?”

Daisy paled noticeably. “Aunt Roseanne,” she whispered.

Bo put an arm around her shoulders as the three lay as still as they could beneath the bush. “She can’t take you away again,” the blond boy promised, his dark blue eyes glowing almost dangerously.

“We won’t let her,” Luke agreed. “Even if we gotta run away again.”

“Thanks,” she whispered back, laying her head against Luke’s shoulder for reassurance. He shifted position to put an arm around her, crossing over Bo’s. Surrounding and defending her, the two boys waited with held breaths as a chauffeur got out and opened the limo’s rear door. A tall, nicely-dressed woman stepped out and looked around her with narrowed eyes. Luke hoped that she hadn’t seen them.

“Is that your aunt?”

Daisy nodded in response to Bo’s question. “Yes…”

“I know you’re here somewhere,” the woman called quietly, but loud enough for the hiding cousins to hear. “I saw you as we came in. And I’ll find you.”

Luke watched as Enos ran up to the lady, squinting up. “Who’re you talking to?”

She looked down, and smiled. “Well, hello there. Tell me, who was that pretty little girl you were playing with?”

Enos frowned. “Daisy? Why?”

Roseanne’s hand shot out like a rattlesnake, gripping the dark-haired boy by the upper arm. “Where is she?”

He squirmed, trying to get free. “I can’t tell you! Why d’ya wanna know?!”

“I’m her aunt,” she told him, suddenly smiling in a friendly sort of way and releasing his arm. “And I’d like very much to talk to her.”

Enos’ eyes widened, and he stepped away. “You’ll never get Daisy!” he yelled, then turned to run for the green.

“Oh please, Enos, don’t come over here,” Luke groaned, but the smaller boy was coming anyway.

“Guys, it’s Daisy’s aunt!” he shouted in warning. People walking down the street turned heads curiously to see what was going on.

“Great!” Bo snapped, springing to his feet. “Luke, get Daisy outta here. I’ve got a score to settle!”

“Wait..!” Luke tried to stop him, but the younger boy was already up and running. He groaned again, shaking his head, and leapt up, pulling Daisy with him. “Come on!” On the other side of the slight hill, they were met by Enos. “What didja do that for?!”

“Just tryin’ to warn ya,” Enos told them, though his dark eyes widened as he realized that he’d drawn Roseanne’s attention to them. “Oh, I’m sorry!”

Luke pointed back the way they’d come. “At least help Bo!”

“Okay Luke!” Enos spun and ran back the way he’d come.

Luke and Daisy made tracks for the hills — specifically, for the ladder up the side of the general store, leading to the roof. Maybe they could hide up there.

Roseanne saw the boy and girl run, and started after them. Then suddenly a small boy stood in her way, fists on his hips, glaring up at her with a dangerous glint to his eyes that almost seemed too mature for someone so young. Those eyes were dark blue, just like Daisy’s, she thought. “What do you want my cousin for?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Your cousin? You’re one of Daisy’s cousins? Tell me, are you the intrepid archer?” she smirked. “That was quite a runaway you planned.”

“Thank you, but it was more of an escape,” the boy said calmly, now crossing his arms over his chest. “Though I didn’t actually do it.”

Roseanne looked this impudent child up and down, amazed at his sheer gall. How dare he speak to an adult this way? Any adult? And especially one of higher rank than he! He was a scruffy-looking kid, she thought, with his too-large western-style shirt that had the sleeves rolled up, and dirty jeans with a hole in one knee. His blond hair was falling down into his eyes, almost to the point of shaggy, and looked like it didn’t even know what a comb was.

“Tell me, young man,” she said just as calmly as he, but with an icy edge creeping into her tone, “are you in the habit of sassing your elders?”

He suddenly grinned, but with little mirth. “Depends. You wanna take Daisy away. We’re not gonna let you.”

“Oh really?” She reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling the lightweight boy slightly off his feet. “How do you propose to stop me?”

He just looked her in the eye, his eyes narrowing, then glanced down and kicked her in the shin. Roseanne let go instantly, gasping, tears of pain coming to her eyes. The boy just backed off a bit and stood there, then suddenly took off up the sidewalk, running fast. She started after him, but the same dark-haired boy she’d spoken to earlier suddenly jumped into her path, blocking her way. He stumbled sideways, probably trying to get out of the way, but somehow managed to get tangled up with her purse, and by the time he got himself free and ran off, the blond boy had disappeared into the police building.

Roseanne Douglas narrowed her own eyes and stalked past her chauffeur, who was standing there with a helpless expression on his face. “Much help you are,” she snapped, then climbed the steps to the police station in that young assassin’s wake, determined to get her Daisy back once and for all.

Jesse was startled when Bo burst into JD Hogg’s office, eyes wide. “Uncle Jesse!” he panted, obviously recovering from running. “Uncle Jesse, Daisy’s aunt’s here! She says she’s gonna take her away again!”

“Where’s Daisy now?” his uncle instantly asked, worried.

“She and Luke got away.”

“Okay then.” Jesse stood from his chair, pulling himself to his full height. “She wants Daisy? She’ll have to get past me first.”

“And me,” Hogg nodded, with the first inclination to put himself out for anybody else that Jesse’d ever seen. “She’ll learn that she can’t run over us country folk just because she’s rich.”

Jesse noticed that the white-suited man didn’t mention the fact that he was rich, and could help if he wanted. “Why don’t you get out from behind that desk and do something then, JD!” the farmer snapped. “You say you want to help, well then help!”

“I’m comin’, I’m comin’.” The county commissioner stood up, just as the door was flung open once again.

Roseanne Douglas stood there, as neat and proper as ever, her green eyes blazing. She stared at Bo, then looked Jesse straight in the eye. “Your boy there kicked me,” she said quietly.

He grinned. “Well, good for him!”

“Good?!” She slammed the door behind her. “You mean you encourage your children to attack strangers in the streets? Now I see I must really take Daisy away from your influence!”

“You ain’t gonna,” Bo put in.

She narrowed her eyes at him. He narrowed right back. “Leave, young man, if you know what’s good for you.”

“I ain’t afraid of you.”

Jesse held up a quieting hand. “Perhaps the lady’s right, Bo,” he said slowly, still holding Roseanne’s gaze. “Go find Luke and Daisy, and you three go to the church. I’ll meet you there later. This is an adult matter.”

For a moment, he thought Bo was going to defy him, but then the blond boy bent his head and nodded. “Okay, Uncle Jesse.” He went out the door, making as much of a detour away from Roseanne as possible.

“At least he listens to *you*,” the city-bred woman sniffed. “Why haven’t you raised him with any respect for authority?”

Jesse stared at her calmly. “I’ve raised all my children with respect for authority, Roseanne. But family comes first, and yes, he will fight to protect his cousin.”

“I will never understand you country bumpkins’ sense of right and wrong!” she hissed.

Hogg stepped out from behind his desk. “Now wait just a minute! Did I just hear you call us country bumpkins?”

“That’s precisely what you are,” she told the commissioner coldly. “A pack of mountain-dwelling, poor, outlaws and moonshine runners who farm and hunt for their own food because they don’t have enough money to buy it.”

Jesse’s jaw tightened. “Those’re mighty strong words, Roseanne.”

“And I mean every one of them!” she declared. “Now where’s my niece, so I can get out of this little one-horse town for good.”

“Wait a minute!” Hogg repeated, coming up to her. “This is our home, and we’re proud of it.”

“Well, *you* can be proud of it. *I* want out of it, as soon as possible. Where’s Daisy?” she directed her speech back to Jesse.

“Why do you think I’d just go and give her back to you, especially after she and the boys went to so much trouble to get her away?” he demanded.

Her eyes flashed fire. “You probably approved that criminal scheme, as well!”

“No,” he shook his head, “I didn’t know about it, and wouldn’t have let them go if I had. But now that Daisy’s back here, where she so obviously wants to be, why would I make her leave?”

“Because I say so!”

Jesse drew himself up, eyes glowing dangerously. “Just because you have more money than folks like us don’t mean we have to obey you like we’re servants.”

“Won’t you even discipline your children for what they did?” she demanded. “It might as well have been kidnapping!”

He gazed thoughtfully at this city woman, seeing that she would stomp on anyone and everyone in her path to get to the goal she desired. “I was thinkin’ on it, but now that I see what kind of a person you really are, Roseanne Douglas, I think the boys did the right thing by rescuing their cousin.”

“So you can just get out of town,” Hogg broke in, scowling.

She smiled, coldly. “Oh, hardly. I’ve come for my niece, and I’m going to get her.”

Jesse’s eyes narrowed, just slightly. “No, you are not,” he said quietly, enunciating each word. She’s a Duke, and her father wanted her to stay with me when her mother died.”

“But I could offer her so much more. You know who would win a hearing for the child. I have more money, more resources, more connections.” Her eyes were icily confident now.

“Money ain’t everything, Roseanne,” Jesse said quietly. “A child needs love more than any amount of toys or fancy clothes. And would you give her that love? Would you hold her when she didn’t feel well, would you clean up scraped knees and fix broken toys?”

Roseanne’s mouth went down at the corners. “You can’t even speak properly! *Ain’t*, indeed! And why should I mend broken toys, when I could so easily buy her new ones? Mending is for poor people. Besides which, she wouldn’t break anything or scrape any knees under my care in the first place. She’d be completely safeguarded, kept from all harm and disaster.”

“But would she be happy that way?” Jesse pressed angrily. “Kids need some risks in life. Believe me, she’s happier climbing trees and playing softball, even if she does get hurt once in a while, than sitting indoors learning to play piano so that she can impress your snooty guests.”

Roseanne’s eyes hardened. “That is hardly the question here.”

“It should be.”

“Look, look,” Hogg interrupted, coming between the combatants. “This is a legal matter, ain’t it?”

“Yes,” Roseanne snapped.

Jesse frowned. “I suppose so, but…”

“Then why don’t we just solve it that way?” The commissioner crossed the room to the door and took down his hat from the coat stand. “The circuit judge is in town this week; why don’t we ask him what the court decision is?”

“Now you are making sense! Where is he, if you don’t have a courthouse?”

“At the church. It’s where all the town and legal meetings are held,” Hogg informed her.

Jesse looked over at his old buddy. “Well, JD,” he said reluctantly, “if it’s the only way to keep Daisy…” He picked up his hat from his friend’s desk. “Then let’s go talk to this judge.”

by: Sarah Stodola

When it got dark, and there was still no sign of Luke and Bo, Jesse got really worried. He went to the CB unit again, once more calling a message for help across the whole of the Hazzard net. Only this time, it was a real search he was calling. He got all the neighboring farmers out looking, which they did willingly, imagining one of their own children missing, and nearly all the young people in the county as well. He even woke up the whole sheriff’s department — that is, one Rosco P. Coltrane, who’d been snoozing with his feet up on his desk. Rosco grumbled and griped, but soon the patrol car was winding around the roads as well.

Jesse stood beside his pickup, staring out across the valley from Eagle Ridge. Another car pulled up behind him, and he turned to see a worried-looking young man, who wandered over to put a hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “We’ll find ’em,” he tried to reassure. “Hey, you got all Hazzard out there lookin’.”

Jesse nodded, slowly. “Yes… If they’re still alive, Cooter.”

Cooter stepped away and stared at him. “Jesse, they ain’t dead! We just gotta believe that!”

“I know.” Jesse closed his eyes. “I know.”

The teenager was still for a few moments, then slapped his friend on the back understandingly. “Hey. We’ll find ’em. Besides, they got one thing in their favor. They’re Dukes! And Dukes are just too stubborn to get hurt too bad.”

Jesse nodded again, wordlessly. Cooter shrugged and went back to his car. The engine roared into life, and he pulled away in a flurry of dust. Jesse turned and went back to his own pickup, heading down from the ridge to retrace the roads he’d already traced a hundred times.

###

Daisy woke with a feeling of being warm, comfortable, and content. She opened her eyes at about the same moment she realized that this was because she was between two other sleeping bodies. She blinked, confused for a moment, then her sleepy mind came alive enough to remember the breakout last night. She grinned to herself and snuggled deeper between her cousins, happy to be there.

The three of them had walked until they had almost no strength left, then had curled up together in the woods and fallen asleep almost instantly. They’d been too tired to be cold, even without a blanket, just using each other for warmth. Daisy remembered once when the same thing had happened and Jesse had woken them up late at the tri-county fair, when they’d gone to sleep in the hay wagon. He’d called them a “pile of puppies”.

One of the boys stirred, and she glanced over to see who it was. Bo’s dark blue eyes met hers, and he grinned. She grinned back. She was free! Free!

“G’morning,” he whispered.

“Hi,” she replied, just as quietly, then sat up. “I missed you.”

“Me too.” He grinned again, impishly. “That was one crazy getaway, huh?”

“Yeah!” She couldn’t hold back a quiet giggle.

“Oh, c’mon, you two. Stop tryin’ to be quiet, cause I’m already awake.” Luke turned over, blinking sleep out of his eyes. He pushed himself up on one elbow. “But it *was* funny!” His dark blue eyes sparkled.

Then he pushed himself to his feet and stretched. “We got a long way to go still. But we oughta be home before nightfall if we catch another ride.”

“Let’s just not get caught this time, huh?” Bo advised, getting up to join his cousin.

Daisy followed, pulling leaves out of her hair. “I just want to get home.”

“Right.” Luke bent over to pick up his backpack, which he’d used for a pillow. “We better get going then.”

“After breakfast,” Bo complained, snatching Luke’s backpack out of his hand.

Daisy’s eyes lit up. “You brought food?”

“Just sandwiches and stuff,” Luke admitted.

“Hey, anything’s okay with me! I didn’t get any dinner, and not a whole lot of lunch!”

“No dinner?” Bo stared at her disbelievingly. “Gosh, your aunt’s *mean*!”

“I was in trouble for calling you on the phone,” she informed him, then gratefully accepted the somewhat squashed peanut-butter-and-jelly held out to her. “Thanks.”

“Yeah, sure.” Luke pulled out a sandwich each for himself and Bo. He sat down cross-legged on the ground, followed by the other two. “Sorry they’re so flat. I forgot they were there when I slept on ’em last night.” The look he gave was so sheepish, yet amused, that Daisy burst out laughing, falling over backwards. “What?”

“You two!” she managed. “I missed you two crazy..!”

Bo put down his sandwich carefully, then leaped for her. Luke snatched hers away just in time so it didn’t end up in the dirt, as the other two cousins rolled around in the leaves, laughing and trying to tickle each other.

“Goin’ to getcha..! Wait! No..!” Bo burst out in uncontrollable giggles as Daisy, now sitting on him, dug her fingers into his sides. “Hey..! Stop..! Stop..! Luke, help!!”

“Give up?” Daisy grinned, placing her hands on her hips happily.

“Aw, yeah!” he gasped. “Get off!”

But the moment she did, he pounced, tickling her right back with a gleeful grin on his face.

“Hey, no fair!” she protested, squirming away and scrambling on hands and knees to the other side of Luke, using him as a shield.

“Hey!” he warned, holding the food up in the air. “Don’t squash these any worse than they’re already squashed!” But he was grinning, just as happy as the others, Daisy knew, that they were all together again.

###

Jesse woke with the dawn. He sat still on the sofa where he’d fallen asleep, thinking. Just before he’d come fully awake, he’d thought of something… What was it?

“Oh, yes,” he said to himself, getting up and moving toward the stairs. “That was it.” Bo and Luke had not been found, despite the fact that the search had lasted till almost two in the morning, but maybe he could figure out where the boys had gone by what they had taken with them.

What he found missing in their room was nothing unusual, only some clothes, and not much at that. Nothing more than what they’d take on a camping trip. But something told him to check in the closet, and when he did, he nodded, slowly. The coil of fine mountain-climbing rope was gone. The bow and arrows were missing as well. Now, why would the boys take their archery equipment on a camping trip? It would only cause trouble when they tried to climb the mountain… Climb?!

He thought of the message left on that paper, about a secret mission, and suddenly a picture flashed into his mind. The old Douglas manor.

He’d been there once. That building was four stories high, made of stone, with ledges under each row of windows, ledges just wide enough for a stubborn boy to travel along. The windowsills were wooden. Soft wood, that would hold an arrow well. Maybe even well enough for someone lightweight to hang a rope on it, and climb up…

Jesse closed his eyes, whispering a quick prayer of thanks that he’d finally figured it out. To cement his growing suspicions, he checked Daisy’s room, and found two out of her three pairs of jeans missing. Now, she’d had one on. That meant that the other had been taken. And he wasn’t sure, but he thought her drawer might be missing a shirt too.

He smiled, slowly, to himself. “The little devils!” he murmured, almost proud, though still somewhat angry at their taking off. Luke and Bo had gone to get Daisy.

But why now? She’d been gone for almost a week now, why had they only taken off yesterday? Unless they’d learned something… Like a phone call, maybe? Jesse went back downstairs, and picked up the phone.

“Trudy?” he said when the operator answered. “Yes, yes, I’m okay. Did we get any phone calls yesterday, before lunchtime, say?”

He listened for a few moments, then nodded. “Okay, thank you, Trudy. No, it’s okay that you didn’t know about the search, you don’t have a CB. No, don’t call Rosco. I know where they went, I’ll go pick them up. Right.” He smiled at her worry over his kids. “Right. Thanks. Bye.”

The moment he put down the phone, he headed out the door to his pickup, gunning the engine and pulling out of the farmyard toward the road. The kids tended to do things the simple way, most of the time. Which meant they’d probably take the most direct route to Atlanta and back. Which meant Highway 69.

###

Bo, Luke, and Daisy were walking down the side of the road. They’d managed to sneak a ride in another truck, but they’d been discovered, thanks to the driver’s deciding to check on his cargo of hens, and promptly tossed out with a barrage of words that Bo had never heard and wasn’t sure he wanted to again. They’d sounded mean.

Which meant that now they were on foot. At least they were in their own country. They were on the Hazzard side of Capitol City, even. But on foot, an hour’s drive took a long time. The kids were talking, taking advantage of the extra time to catch up on events, when Bo noticed the cloud of dust coming from a familiar white pickup. “Look,” he pointed.

Luke groaned, softly. “I bet we’re in trouble.”

“I didn’t want you guys to get in trouble,” Daisy told them, worriedly.

“Aw, s’okay,” Luke replied. The three stood still on the side of the road as the pickup pulled to a halt in front of them. Their uncle sat there for a moment, stony-faced, then reached over and opened the passenger side door.

Bo swallowed, hard, but climbed in, followed by Daisy, then Luke, who shut the door.

Jesse turned the truck around and headed back the way he’d come, still not saying anything. His silence was making Bo more nervous than him shouting would have. It gave him time to think about all the ways Jesse might punish them.

Finally Daisy ventured, a little nervously, “We’re sorry, Uncle Jesse, but…” She trailed off, gripping Bo’s hand. He was gripping back.

There was stony silence for a few more seconds, then slowly, Jesse smiled, just a little, and glanced over at them. The look in his eyes was almost one of admiration. “What are you doing back here?” he said simply, but there was no anger in his voice. “I thought we were rid of you.”

Daisy relaxed visibly. Smiling, she leaned over past Bo to hug her uncle. “Thanks for not being mad.”

“I was pretty mad yesterday,” he said. “Taking off like that..!” He shot the two boys a quick glare. “I was scared sick! We had search parties out all night looking for you, did you know that?”

Bo tried to shrink into his seat, risking a glance over at Luke. The older boy was staring out the windshield as if not daring to look at Jesse.

“I… I’m sorry,” Luke finally whispered. “I guess I knew we’d get in trouble, but…”

Bo looked up at his uncle, eyes wide. “Uncle Jesse, her aunt wants to adopt her! We’d never see her again, never…”

“Yeah,” Luke took it up, eyes now shifting to look at their uncle almost pleadingly. “We couldn’t let that happen… and she’s so mean to Daisy.”

“She even made her have no lunch!” Bo said angrily. “And no dinner, just cause she called us!”

“What?” Jesse turned to look at the kids briefly. “Why?”

“She didn’t want me to have anything to do with you,” Daisy whispered, looking down at the floor. “She said I couldn’t even talk to you guys, and I couldn’t stand that! I called to ask for their help.”

“So you were the one behind this?”

“Yessir,” she whispered even more quietly.

Bo didn’t want her to get in all the trouble. “But I had the idea for breaking her out.”

“And I came up with the plan for how to do it,” Luke admitted.

“So you’re all at fault here.”

“Yessir,” the three cousins said quietly, together.

The kids sat silently, nervously, while the pickup bounced its way along the dirt road, waiting for their judgment. Finally Jesse looked back at them. “I understand how you feel. And that was pretty smart, using the arrows and rope to get up the building. That is what you did, isn’t it?”

“…Yeah,” Luke admitted.

“And I privately agree with your decision,” Jesse went on. “But did you think that just because you got Daisy back in Hazzard, that her aunt wouldn’t come to get her all over again?”

Bo and Luke looked at each other. No, they hadn’t thought that far.

“She’ll come,” their uncle warned. “That’s a guarantee. Of course, there might be a chance…”

“What, Uncle Jesse?” Daisy asked. “I just want to come back to live at the farm.”

“I know, honey.” He smiled and patted her knee. The tension in the air was lifting. “The chance we might just have is that JD Hogg and me had ourselves a little conversation a few days back, and he was gonna bring in some big-city lawyer to help, and the circuit judge is in town. Now if you can only convince the judge how much you want to stay in Hazzard, and not with your aunt in Atlanta, and if we all can prove that you have a good home here, and expose your aunt’s true colors, then the judge just might let you stay here.”

“We couldn’t afford a lawyer, Uncle Jesse!” Luke exclaimed.

“I know. And if we can convince the judge ourselves, then we might not need him after all. Especially with Daisy here. She can say exactly what *she* wants.” He smiled, glancing over at them and raising his eyebrows. “You all ready for a little Duke shuck-and-jive?”

Bo grinned. “Yeah!” His answer was echoed by Luke.

Daisy frowned. “What’s shuck-and-jive mean?”

Bo thought for a second, frowning as he tried to figure out how to put it into normal words. “It’s… it’s kinda like gettin’ ourselves out of trouble by talking fast and bein’ a little bit sneaky. Kinda.”

“It means pulling some fast moves on somebody,” Luke spoke up, grinning mischievously. “Just wait. You’ll see.”

“Okay,” Daisy shrugged, then laughed a little. “You really think we have a chance of letting me stay in Hazzard, Uncle Jesse?”

“Well,” Jesse said slowly, looking at them, “it all depends, kids.”

“Sure there’s a chance,” Luke tried to lighten the mood, squeezing Daisy’s hand reassuringly and grinning. “We’re Dukes, ain’t we?”

“Yeah!” Bo half-shouted, and the pickup’s cab filled with slightly nervous, but happy, laughter.

by: Sarah Stodola

When Jesse Duke came home for lunch, he was surprised not to hear the boys. He checked the barn and called up into their treehouse, but received no answer.

He pushed down the rising feeling of worry. If one of the boys had gotten hurt, the other would have gone for help, and Jesse would have heard something about it, thanks to all the open CB channels in Hazzard County. If anyone wanted to have a private conversation, they had to switch to certain, mostly secret, channels. Which would not have been what the boys would have used to call for help.

So, no one was hurt. But where were they? *Maybe they went down to the creek.* Heartened by this idea, Jesse went into the house and looked around for a note. He nodded when he saw the slip of paper on the counter, and fetched the supplies for sandwiches, putting them on the table, without bothering to read it. Yes, surely that was where they had gone. They’d be home for lunch. He knew his boys. They wouldn’t miss a meal if the world was going to end in two hours.

But when noon came and gone, and there was no sign of Luke and Bo, he was starting to get worried again. Maybe they hadn’t gone fishing. Maybe they’d gone over to someone’s house. Jesse let another twenty minutes go past, then rose and walked over to the counter.

When he read what was penciled on that sheet of notebook paper, he leaned back heavily against the counter, bracing himself with his free hand. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself not to panic. He knew they hadn’t run away. But, what “secret mission” could the two be on?

He shivered, reaching for the telephone, then changed his mind and went for the CB set instead, keying into the public channel. “Breaker, breaker,” he called, “Jesse Duke here. Anybody listenin’?”

“I gotcha,” the voice of Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane came to his ears. “What now, Jesse Duke?”

“Right here,” came a more friendly voice, that of Thaddeus Mennen from down the road.

“What’s up?” another voice answered, followed by similar responses from what felt like half the population of Hazzard County.

“Luke and Bo are missing, I don’t know where they are. They left a note about some sort of secret mission. Anybody seen ’em, in town or anyplace?”

One by one, the negatives came in. Jesse forced himself to breathe deeply, not to get any more worried than he already was.

“Okay. Could everybody keep their eyes open? It’s probably nothing, but with Bo and Luke, nothing can turn into a big something mighty fast.”

“Read you there, Jesse,” came the reply of a teenage voice, a young friend of the family named Cooter Davenport. “I’m on the road right now, I’ll keep my eyes peeled.”

“Same here,” Neil Adams reassured him. “I know what you feel like; my boys get into trouble too.”

“Sounds like a reg’lar search party!” Rosco sang gleefully into his mike. “I’m gone! Hee hee!”

When he finally hung up the CB, Jesse leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. “Protect them, Lord,” was all he could say. He stood a chance of losing Daisy, forever, he couldn’t bear to think of losing one or both of the boys too.

###

“Daisy?”

“Huh?” She turned from staring out the window to see the maid peeking in the door, smiling. “Oh. Hi.”

“Hello.” The maid slipped in, smiling a little. “I know your aunt said no lunch for you, but I couldn’t bear to see a little girl go hungry.” She held up a small plate with a sandwich on it. It smelled like grilled cheese, and Daisy’s eyes widened a little. She looked up at the lady.

“I don’t want to get you in trouble…”

“Oh, nevermind. No trouble at all. Just don’t tell your aunt.” The young lady smiled.

Daisy smiled back, moving away from the window. “Thanks.”

The maid set the plate down on the school desk, wiping her hands on her apron. “I know it’s not fancy food like your aunt gets, but…”

“S’okay!” Daisy broke in, somewhat excitedly. “I love grilled cheese! I had it at the farm all the time!”

The maid smiled gently down at her. “You really loved it there, didn’t you?”

“Yes. Very much.” She sighed and came over, her stomach growling. “I wanted to stay there.”

“I hope you get the chance… I think it matters more that a child be happy than whether or not they have a whole lot of money. Gosh, my family didn’t, and there were ten of us!”

Daisy’s eyes got huge. “Ten kids! You’re kidding!”

“No!” The lady laughed quietly. “We never had much money, but we were happy.”

“That’s kind of how it is at the farm,” the girl admitted. “But we always had a whole lot of fun! The boys and I have a treehouse, and they had a No Girls Allowed’ club in the barn, but now I’m in it anyway.” She grinned a little. “I’m the only girl allowed, and only because I’m Luke and Bo’s cousin and it’s our barn, or so Luke says.” She leaned closer a little, as though divulging a secret. “But he and Bo wanted me in the club, even if I am a girl, because they say I can swim and climb just as good as they do. And that’s true,” she said proudly.

The maid laughed softly. “You are quite the tomboy down there, aren’t you?”

“Sure am.” Daisy sat in the chair and crossed her arms. She would have crossed her legs too, if she hadn’t been wearing a dress. Aunt Roseanne had taken away her jeans.

“And proud of it.” The maid shook her head a little, smiling, then turned to leave. “I have to get back to work before the missus notices I’m gone. I hope you get back to your farm.” She waved slightly and went out the door.

Daisy grinned and reached forward for the sandwich hungrily, feeling really cheerful for the first time since leaving Hazzard. If Bo’s plan, whatever it was, worked, she would be going home. Very soon.

###

It was after dark by the time Luke and Bo managed to find the manor that Daisy’s aunt lived in. They’d had some trouble, what with getting caught halfway down the road and having to find another ride, and then trying to find their way out of Atlanta proper to the Douglas manor. They’d managed to get lost several times on the way, too, even with the map book.

But they were there now. Bo went up to the gate and whistled, low, in admiration. “We’ll never get in there,” he whispered. “Look at the guards!” Just as he said that, one of the men guarding the gate strolled by, and Luke yanked his younger cousin down into a bush. Both boys held their breaths until he’d passed.

Bo turned to his cousin, eyes questioning. “How do we get in?”

Luke put a finger to his mouth, signaling to be quiet, then rose from his crouch and ran as silently as he could along the wall, away from the gate. When he stopped, Bo ran into him. “Careful!” he complained in a whisper.

“Sorry. How’re we gonna get in there?”

Luke looked up, gauging the height of the stone wall. Then he pointed. “Up ‘n’ over. C’mon, stand on my shoulders and see if you can jump to the top.”

“‘Kay.” The smaller boy dropped the bow he was carrying and clambered up, somewhat ungracefully, making Luke wince a couple of times. He slowly straightened, until he was standing, and balanced for a couple of seconds.

“Ow! C’mon, hurry up! You’re gettin’ heavy!”

Then Bo’s weight lifted away, and Luke looked up just in time to see him turn around and glance back down. “Hey, Luke, it’s really wide!” Then he scowled. “But, how’re you gonna get up?”

“You’re gonna have to help me.” Luke tossed up the bow and his backpack. “Here, put these up there.”

“Okay. Now what?”

He thought for a moment. “There’s a rope in my pack. Get it out and tie it to somethin’.”

Bo looked around him. “I don’t see… oh, okay. Here’s a little metal thing stickin’ up.” He worked for a few seconds, then the rest of the rope coil fell, hitting Luke on the head.

He grimaced, but gripped the rope. “Tied tight?”

“Yeah, tight as I can.”

Luke jumped, then wrapped his legs around the rope and climbed right up, a trick he’d learned a long time ago for getting into the hayloft before Jesse had bought a new ladder. When he reached the top, he reached up with one hand and Bo grabbed it, helping him the rest of the way. “Okay,” he whispered after getting his breath back, “now we go down.” He untied the granny knot that the other boy had made out of the rope from around a short piece of metal bar set in the top of the wall, then, gripping the rope, jumped down inside the wall. He landed lightly and turned to look back up. “Come on, Bo.”

Bo looked a bit nervous, but he tossed down Luke’s backpack and bow, then jumped, landing beside his cousin. He pointed to the big manor house across the lawn. “We gotta get over there. Daisy’s on the third floor, and over near the pool.”

Luke squinted through the darkness. “I see the water. That means she’s gotta be up there somewhere.” He pointed to a row of windows along one side of the house.

“Right.” Bo sounded nervous. Luke looked down at him.

“What?”

“I just don’t wanna get caught.”

“If we’re quiet, we won’t.” Luke started to run across the green, from bush to bush, and Bo followed closely. Finally they stood underneath the row of windows, looking up.

“Okay,” Luke said slowly, “here we go.” He slid out of his backpack, and exchanged it with Bo for the bow and arrows. He tugged at the bowstring, testing it, and looked up again. “Wish me luck.”

“Yeah,” Bo said fervently. “Be careful!”

Luke stepped back a little ways, several good paces from the side of the mansion, and pulled an arrow out of the quiver, tying one end of the rope to it, up near the tip. Fitting it to the string, he sighted, squinting in the darkness, and with a breathed prayer let fly.

The sharp twang of the bowstring was followed by a quick zip as the slender projectile flew through the air, then a quiet, but solid, thunk as the arrow lodged itself in a wooden windowsill. Luke tugged hard on the rope to make sure it was secure, then walked back up to the side of the house and handed his cousin the bow, reclaiming his backpack and tightening it around his shoulders. “Be careful,” Bo repeated as he dug his feet into the side of the building, then started up.

It was a slow climb, and not a particularly easy one either, but Luke finally made it up and over the stone ledge on the third story. He crouched on the ledge panting for several seconds, then looked back down. And wished he hadn’t. Swallowing hard, he forced his eyes to follow the path the ledge made outside the row of windows.

“Okay,” he told himself quietly. “You’ve come this far. No going back now.” Then he carefully stood and starting making his way along the ledge toward the only two lighted windows.

Daisy was sprawled out on the floor glancing through a not particularly interesting book when she heard the soft tap. She glanced up, her eyes flying to the window, and jumped to her feet, running to open the glass. She fought the window for a second, then it slid up, and her cousin Luke scrambled in.

“Luke!” The moment he was up, she threw her arms around him. “How’d you get up here?!”

He hugged her back briefly, then pulled his backpack off, zipping it open. “The same way we’re gettin’ out. Here.” He handed her a pair of jeans and a warm shirt. “Get out of that thing,” he pointed to her dress, “and we’ll go. Hurry!”

Nodding, Daisy ran to the bathroom with the armful, and hurriedly changed. She stood in front of the mirror and grinned at her reflection, feeling more like herself than she had in a while. Leaving the dress on the floor, she ran back out into the main area. Luke was glancing around, looking distinctly uncomfortable in the pink surroundings. “I know,” she told him. “I don’t like it either.”

His dark blue eyes met hers, and he smiled a little. “That looks much better.”

“I know.” Daisy glanced out the window while she pulled on the white jogging sneakers she’d been allowed for exercising. She leaped to her feet the moment she’d finished tying the laces. “How are we going to get out by the window?”

“That ledge.”

She frowned, then her eyes widened, and she swallowed. “*That* ledge? You gotta be kidding.”

“You do want out.”

“Of course.” She stalked to the window as Luke slipped out.

“Just don’t look down,” her cousin told her as she followed him, “and you’ll be fine.” Daisy decided to obey the advice. She didn’t really want to know how far down three stories was.

The two children made their way along the stone ledge carefully and slowly. Just as she was about to ask how they were going to get down, Luke crouched down and took firm hold of a rope attached to an arrow, imbedded deeply in one of the windowsills. “Whoa,” she whispered. “Down *that*?”

“Yep.” He let go with his feet, swinging in midair until he braced his feet against the side of the building. “Kinda like mountain climbing. Come on.”

She bit her lip, not at all sure she wanted to try this, but she gripped the rope, and squeezing her eyes shut, swung out and down until her own feet met the stone wall.

Down they went, slowly, hand-over-hand. She didn’t know how long it took, but it seemed forever until Luke whispered, “Okay, you can jump down now.” She shifted her gaze down to see the lawn only three feet below her, and jumped, her landing not totally graceful.

“Daisy!” a happy voice came, and Bo helped her up, then hugged her hard. He pulled back and she could see his happy grin. “You’re out!”

“We ain’t home free yet,” Luke reminded the other two. “Come on, we still gotta get back over that wall.”

The run across the green was uneventful, as was their climb up a tree and over the stone wall to the outside, to freedom. Once they stood on the other side, the three took off running, straight away from the wall, staying well away from the gate where any guards might see them.

Daisy and the boys came to the road, and ran a ways down it before stopping to catch their breaths. Then they stood in the center of the road, laughing, hugging, and generally celebrating.

“Thanks, you guys,” Daisy told them, eyes shining. “Really.”

“Aw, of course. You’re fam’ly,” Luke defended, sounding a bit embarrassed at having to admit he liked his little cousin.

Bo just slung a happy arm over her shoulders. “Jailbreak!” he laughed. “Wait’ll your aunt comes in tomorrow mornin’ to yell at you for somethin’!”

All three kids had to laugh at that, then Luke took the lead, starting down the road. “Come on. We ain’t free yet. We’ve got to get away from the city before then.”

Three young Dukes ran down the road. They left only an arrow with a rope tied to it, dangling down the side of the manor, as any indication that they’d even been there.

by: Sarah Stodola

“Good morning,” Roseanne greeted her young niece as she came into the living room. “Nice to see you already up, we can have breakfast together.”

Daisy looked up from her book and shrugged. Roseanne was pleased to see that she was in a dress. Of course, she had been there for almost a week now, it was Saturday and she’d arrived on Monday. Of course the child was becoming more ladylike. “I’m used to getting up early. On the farm, we had to get up to milk and collect the eggs, then have breakfast too before we went to school.”

She sighed. “Please, Daisy, must you speak of that farm in nearly every sentence?”

“Why not?” The dark blue eyes flashed in defiance. “It’s my home.”

“No, it is not.” Roseanne sat down beside the girl on the couch. “Actually, it would be best if you just forget all about it.”

“What?!”

“Well, I plan on keeping you here for the rest of your childhood. You see, I’d like to adopt you.” She smiled. Surely the child would understand that she was trying to do what was best for her. “Then, when you’re older, you can go off to a wonderful school, where you will truly belong!”

“But…” She was surprised to see tears shimmer in the girl’s eyes, “I… I already have somewhere that I belong.”

“Yes. You belong here.”

“No!” Daisy suddenly jumped up, stepping back. She tossed her head. “I belong at the farm!”

“No, you don’t,” Roseanne told her icily. “Daisy Mae, I don’t know what has gotten into you! This has been your home all your life, you have always been a sweet, obedient little girl. Then you go away for two months and come back a little troublemaker!”

“I ain’t a troublemaker!” Her aunt’s eyes narrowed at the deliberate jab of bad grammar. “I just wanna go back to live with my uncle and cousins. I wanna go back to Hazzard!”

“You will do as I say, young lady.” Roseanne stood, angry now. “Go to your room. And for your continued sass and mouthing off, your reward will be not only no lunch, but you are to have no further contact with your cousins. Do you understand me? No phone calls, no visits, no anything. Now go!”

Daisy stood still for a moment, then spun and ran out the door and up the stairs. Roseanne sighed, massaging her temples. Why couldn’t the child understand? And what could have changed her so much in so little time? Did Jesse Duke keep no rules or respect? No order among his children?

Those farm people! She had disapproved greatly when her sister had married one of them, a Henry Duke. They had almost changed her entirely! Then Henry had died, and Marian had come back to live at the family manor with her little girl Daisy Mae. The girl had always been the most ladylike of children, hardly getting into trouble of any kind, never in the way, striving to do her best at everything she tried. What could have made that beautiful young lady into such a… a tomboy?

There was really only one cure, and that was for Daisy to stay here, become involved in the manor parties, associate with the other people of her rank. Yes, that was it! Roseanne brightened. Steep her in propriety, and she would imitate those around her, just as she apparently had done in Hazzard County. So tomorrow, Daisy would start school, just as if she’d never left. Roseanne went to the phone, to contact the child’s old tutor.

Daisy tiptoed down the hall, and peered inside her aunt’s bedroom. Her eyes fell on the telephone, and she licked dry lips nervously, glancing around. If she got caught, she’d be in even more trouble with her Aunt Roseanne.

But then again, she hadn’t talked to her cousins in almost a week! And if she was adopted, then she’d never get back to Hazzard! So… the risk was worth it.

Daisy slipped through the half-open door silently, and shut it behind her, leaving a small crack so that the door wouldn’t click. She crossed the room to the bed stand where the old-fashioned telephone rested. She looked around again, feeling guilty, then swallowed and picked up the receiver. Crossing her fingers, she dialed a number from memory.

Bo and Luke were washing the breakfast dishes when the telephone rang. The boys put down what they were doing and leaped for the phone, fighting as to who would get their hand there first. Luke snatched it up, and Bo scowled, crossing his arms and leaning back against the counter.

“Duke farm,” Luke spoke into the receiver, then his eyes widened. “Daisy!”

Bo jumped up and leaned close to his cousin, trying to hear through the receiver. Luke held the phone away from his ear, and the boys put their heads close together so they could both hear.

“Guys?” came their cousin’s voice through the receiver. She sounded nervous, almost whispering into the line. Bo had to strain to understand what she was saying. “Guys, I need help.”

“What?” Luke asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Aunt Roseanne wants to adopt me! Luke, Bo, I’ll never see you again!” Her voice was still quiet, but rising in urgency. “She doesn’t want me to have anything to do with you. I’m not even supposed to be on this phone!”

“Okay, okay, hold on a sec,” Luke told her, his worried eyes meeting Bo’s. “Daisy, listen. Uncle Jesse’s down in town again, trying to see what he can do to get you back.”

“No time!” Her voice was panicky now. “She’s gonna get the papers signed tomorrow! She has too much power, Luke! Uncle Jesse will never win a lawsuit! You’d lose the farm!”

Bo bit his lip. A crazy plan was forming in his mind. Luke was usually the one to come up with ideas, but this time… and it just might work. “I got an idea.”

“What?” Luke frowned when Bo gestured to the phone. “Wait a sec, Daisy, Bo wants to talk to you.”

“Well, hurry up! I don’t know how much time I have before Aunt Roseanne comes upstairs to check on me! I’m supposed to be in my room!”

“Daisy,” Bo cut her off, snatching the phone, “do you know how to get to the manor from Hazzard?”

“Sure. It’s right outside Atlanta. But what has that have to do with anything?”

“It has to do with everything.” He met his cousin’s eyes. “We’re gonna break you outta there.”

Luke’s jaw dropped, but then he nodded, slowly. “Yeah,” he whispered, then spun and ran up the stairs.

“What?!” Daisy exclaimed. “How’re you going to get here, even if I give you directions? And what if you get caught? Bo…”

“Daisy, listen,” he said stubbornly, one fist clenching. “We’re your cousins, okay? We’re gonna get you out of there before your aunt can take you away forever. I don’t wanna lose you.”

There was silence for a second.

“Daisy?”

“What… what if you get caught..?” she sounded like she was trying not to break down. “Bo, I just want to come home. That’s all I want.”

“That’s what we want too.”

“Then, how are you going to get me out of the manor? I’m on the third floor, and believe me, Bo, it’s high. I’m not going to jump out the window into the swimming pool.”

“I’m not tellin’ you to.” He thought for a second, then reached for a piece of notebook paper that was lying on the counter. “Look, just give me the address, and trust me.”

“I… I guess I’ll have to.” Her voice was worried. “But will Uncle Jesse let you come?”

“No. But we don’t have time to ask him anyway, we’re gonna have to get going if we’re going to be there by nightfall.”

“You mean you’re..! You’ll get in trouble!”

“It’s okay.” Bo shifted the phone to his other ear so he could write with his right hand. “Just tell me how to get there.”

“Welll…” she said slowly, drawing the sound out, “I guess so.” She rattled off a list of turns and road signs, and Bo copied them all, then had her repeat them so he could double-check.

“Okay.” He put the pencil down. “Daisy, just hang in there, ‘kay? We’re comin’ for you.”

“How are you going to get here? You can’t drive, and it’s way too far to walk!”

“We’ll find a way. Hey,” he tried flippantly, “we’re Dukes! We always got to find ways out of trouble.”

“…Yeah. Just be careful, you two. And hurry.” Suddenly there was silence, then her panicked voice exclaiming, “Aunt Roseanne!” The phone slammed down.

Bo held the dead receiver a few more moments before stretching to hang it back up. He bit his lip and studied the paper he’d written the directions on, then ran upstairs.

He just hoped they’d be there in time.

“You were on the phone to your cousins, weren’t you? Weren’t you?!”

Daisy flinched back under the verbal barrage.

“I thought I told you that you were not to have any contact with them!” Aunt Roseanne tightened her grip on her niece’s arm. Her eyes flashed hot anger at being disobeyed.

“I… I just wanted to talk to them,” Daisy stuttered, scared of what her aunt might do. She knew that no rule in this house was to be broken; that had always been the case.

“I said no! And you went and did it anyway!” Roseanne released her abruptly, and she stumbled back against the bed, eyes wide. “Get to your room on the double, young lady! You’re lucky I don’t whip some sense into you! Go!!”

Daisy scrambled across the wide bed and ran for the door, grabbing the doorjamb and swinging around it as she made tracks for her room.

Her aunt shouted from behind her, “And don’t come out until tomorrow morning! No dinner either, since you were so blatantly disobedient! You hear me?”

Daisy slammed her door behind her, and winced, expecting more angry shouts. Another rule was no slamming of doors allowed. But the reprimand didn’t come, and she relaxed in relief, sliding down the door to sit on the floor, head buried in her arms. She had to get out of here. How could she have never seen her aunt this way before? The woman was a tyrant! She was all sweetness and honey as long as you did all she said for you to do, but the moment you contradicted her…

Daisy shivered. “Hurry up, guys,” she whispered. “And bring a real good plan.”

###

Two boys ran out of the farmhouse after leaving a note to tell their uncle that they were okay, and not to look for them because they were on a very important mission. Okay, so the note had been a bit misspelled, but it had gotten the point across. After all, Bo was only in third grade, Luke thought, and he’d been the one to write it.

The boys were traveling at light as possible. Luke carried some food, sandwiches and granola bars, in his backpack, along with a shirt and pair of pants for Daisy, in case her aunt had taken away her stuff. Which was likely. Bo, being younger and smaller, had the directions and a mapbook. They weren’t taking any chances on getting lost. Bo also carried Luke’s bow and arrows. Archery was one of the things that the two boys, even at their young age, were very good at. And it just might be of some good use. Luke had an idea for rescuing their cousin, but he’d need the bow to carry it out.

The two boys ran across the yard and disappeared into the trees, using the woods skills that their uncle had taught them in order to not leave a trace of where they were going. It took them only a few minutes to make it to the road.

“Now what?” Bo puffed from behind him as they slid down the embankment and stood on the packed dirt. “How’re we going to get to Atlanta?”

“Easy.” At least Luke hoped it would be easy. “We find a truck and somehow get on.”

“I don’t think the driver will let us.”

He made a face. “No, Bo. We’ll *sneak* on. When the truck’s stopped.” He looked around. “What we need is to get ourselves a roadblock.”

Bo frowned, and looked around. Then his face lit up. “Like that one?” he pointed.

Luke turned to see what his cousin was pointing at, then grinned. A big log lay up on the side of the hill, almost ready to roll down. “Perfect! Now all we gotta do is find a truck going to Atlanta.”

“That’ll be easy. Almost every truck’s going to Atlanta.”

“Uh-huh. Then we push the log so’s it rolls down into the road, then the guy’ll have to move it.”

“And while he’s busy, we’ll jump in the back!” Bo said excitedly.

“Yeah!” He looked around. “We have to find some sort of place to look down the road… there.” He pointed to a tree. “C’mon.” He scrambled up the hill with Bo right behind him, then pointed up. “You’re still the best tree climber in Hazzard, right?”

The blond boy grinned, dropping his backpack and the bow. “Yeah. Gimme a boost.”

Luke put down his pack as well, then bent his knees so that his younger cousin could climb on his shoulders. He struggled to a standing position, making a face. “You’re growin’,” he complained.

Bo didn’t answer. He reached for a branch, then the weight was off Luke’s shoulders as the agile boy swung himself up into the tree. Luke watched as he scaled his way from branch to branch, making his way up. Then he paused near the top. “Hey, you can see for miles!” he called down.

“Any trucks?”

“Nope.” Bo settled himself into the crook where the branch met the treetrunk. “Hope one comes soon.”

“Yeah, really.” Luke slid down the trunk to sit in the pine needles. “Please, God, if you listen to kids, give us a truck,” he groaned, squinting at the sky. “We gotta get Daisy out of trouble.”

It didn’t take too long for a truck to show up. Only about forty-five minutes, according to the positioning of the sun. Of course, to Luke, it felt like forever. “Here he comes!” Bo cried excitedly, pointing in the direction of town. The boy bounded down out of the tree, nearly landing on his cousin’s head. “He’s comin’! The delivery van from the Boar’s Nest!”

“Great!” Luke leaped to his feet. “We *know* that *he’s* goin’ to Atlanta!”

It was less than a minute before the van puttered its slow way around the corner. “Now!” Luke snapped out, and both boys put their whole weights into pushing on the log. It didn’t budge, and Luke wondered if it ever would, but then it came loose with such force that the two cousins fell flat on their faces, sliding a little ways down the hill.

“You okay?” Luke panted.

“Yeah. Look!” Bo pointed. The log was rolling down the hill, picking up speed, until it reached the road. Its end lodged in a ditch, and the log jerked to a sudden halt, blocking over half the road. The bulky delivery van would never be able to go around the log. It would have to stop.

And it did. The van slowed and halted with its nose almost touching the boys’ roadblock. The driver’s side door opened, and a heavyset man climbed out, grumbling so loud that the boys could hear his complaints about stupid backwoods roads’ and the men who kept them up.

While the man was pulling and tugging on the heavy tree, Bo and Luke snatched up their packs and the bow and arrows. They ran-slid down the hill in the path the log had taken, so as not to leave other marks of their passing, and down onto the hard-packed dirt road. They ran quietly to the van and Luke opened the canvas flap over the back, motioning his younger cousin in. Then he followed Bo, grinning as he vaulted up and turned to resecure the flap. They sat down side by side, taking reassurance in the dark from each other’s presence.

In a few minutes, the van started up again, and with a lurch, two young Duke boys were on their way to Atlanta.

by: Sarah Stodola

Roseanne Douglas smiled to herself, studying her reflection in the mirror and smoothing her dress carefully. She’d just received the phone call from Sanchez, and he’d found Daisy Mae. And he was bringing her home where she belonged.

Yes, where she belonged. A farm was no place for a little lady. Roseanne heard the front door open, and smiled again, patting her neatly pulled up hair to make sure it was in place, then heading for the door with the swish of silk skirts. She was halfway down the stairs when she stopped, not sure if Sanchez had even found the right girl.

But, it was Daisy Mae. She could see that. Yet she looked so different..! She wasn’t wearing a dress, but instead some rather dirty-looking… jeans, she thought they were called, and boots! Boys’ clothes for a farm! The child’s hair was no longer a smoothly-brushed fall down the center of her back, but instead a wild, wind-blown looking mass of curls. And it was shorter, too!

“What… what’s been done to you, Daisy Mae?” she cried, stepping the rest of the way down to the first floor. The girl didn’t answer, and Roseanne reached out to raise her chin with her fingers. She was surprised again at the look in those eyes when they finally flashed up to meet hers. The quiet, shy little girl was gone there. Instead was a flame, something wild, and almost… angry. And defiant. That hit her the hardest of all.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Daisy Mae…”

Daisy Mae pulled away, stepping back. She looked taller, too, Roseanne thought. At least she’d been fed well, if not dressed well. “It’s just Daisy,” she said. Her voice sounded confident, assured. “And what’s wrong?” She laughed, almost bitterly, the sound totally unladylike. “What’s wrong is you took me away from my family.”

“But darling, I *am* your family.”

The now-disconcerting dark blue eyes met hers again, unhesitatingly. “Yes… But I was happy there. Why didn’t you let me stay in Hazzard?”

Some of the old quiet unsureness showed through into the last question, and Roseanne relaxed slightly. At least the young girl was still there somewhere, even if she been buried by the new, shocking sassiness. Hang those stupid country bumpkins! If they’d had Daisy Mae much longer, they would have ruined her forever! “Because you’ll be better off here, with your loving Aunt Roseanne,” she said gently, bending down to kiss the girl on the cheek.

To her surprise, Daisy Mae ducked away with a smooth, agile move that bespoke none of the fragile daintiness she’d always had, but rather a sinuous strength. Was the child perhaps more healthy now, thanks to mountain air? Maybe it was one thing those folk did right, living there. The girl wandered into the living room, looking around. “It hasn’t changed any.”

“Of course not.” She waved Sanchez away and followed her young niece. “It never has, and never will.” She smiled when Daisy Mae glanced back at her. “You know, you will need a bath and some clean clothes before you could really sit down though, so why don’t we let that be first? Then we’ll talk.” She rang the little silver bell that would signal the maid.

But Daisy Mae stepped towards the door. “I can get my own bath, Aunt Roseanne. I’m not a baby anymore!”

Roseanne felt her patience thinning. “No!” she snapped. You’re not! You’ve become a spoiled little brat, Daisy Mae!”

The girl spun around in the doorway. “Just Daisy! I don’t want to be called by my full name! And I ain’t spoiled!” The flash of defiance in her eyes told Roseanne that the child had used the bad grammar on purpose, just to spite her.

“Shut your mouth!” she ordered. “I don’t want any lip from you, understand me, Daisy Mae?”

Daisy Mae stood her ground, but slowly, under her aunt’s angry stare, gave in, looking away and sagging a little, no longer as drawn-up or proud. “O-okay… but Aunt Roseanne?”

“Yes?”

The eyes meeting hers now were shy, almost afraid. “Could you please just call me Daisy?”

Roseanne sighed. “Very well, I suppose. There is nothing wrong with that name. Now go with Marie like a good girl and take your bath.”

“Yes, Aunt Roseanne.” The child went out the door, with the maid, who’d been standing in the background, right behind her.

She sighed again, sitting down on one of the couches and folding her hands in her lap. Maybe there was hope. Maybe her baby was still there somewhere. The way Daisy Mae — Daisy — had backed down gave hope. She’d just have to be strict until she was sure that the girl was herself again.

###

“Are you sure?” Jesse asked, feeling downheartened.

“Well, you could try,” JD Hogg answered, waving a hand, “but those are rich, powerful folks up there.” He nodded, emphasizing his own point. “Too powerful.”

“There must be something that can be done, JD!” Jesse snapped, not at his old friend but at the situation. He sprang to his feet, pacing Hogg’s office. “Daisy is happy here! Why take her back to the city? Roseanne never seemed to show much interest in the kids before! Why now?”

“Daisy grew up there.” Hogg stood as well, putting down his cigar to cross the room and put a hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “This Roseanne wants an heir, someone to inherit her money and imitate her.”

Jesse turned his head to stare down at his old buddy. “All little Daisy wants is to have a family. She told me that she’d never felt like she had one before, what with her mama always being gone and her aunt ignoring her. She said she felt like she’d found a home here. And the boys love her. So do I.”

“Folks like them down in Atlanta don’t care about what a child wants,” Hogg told him sagely. “They care about power.”

“Then, how do we get her back?”

“There’s only one way.” At Jesse’s questioning look, JD nodded, smirking a little. “You’ll have to prove that the lady doesn’t love your niece, and that Daisy would rather stay here. You’ll have to take her to court.”

“But we don’t have the kind of money it takes to hire a lawyer!” Jesse exploded, starting to pace again. “That would be impossible! We’re just making ends meet now as it is!”

“Well, there is one way.”

He spun to look at Hogg. “So help me, JD, if you can help us and won’t…”

“Not I, oh, no, no!” JD hurried to say, moving back to his desk. “But I have a… friend, shall we say, who does lawsuits like that. He won’t charge you unless you win. But, he will charge you an arm and a leg if you do.”

“But I…” Jesse stopped to think.

“If you get your little girl back, isn’t that worth it?” Hogg smiled. “Money is what makes the world go ’round, you know.”

“No it ain’t, JD,” Jesse shook his head. “But… if it’s the only chance…”

“It is, unless you can get the girl here to testify for herself.”

He shook his head. “Okay, JD, call your friend’. I’ll find some way to pay for it, I suppose.” He sighed and picked up his hat, preparing to leave.

“You know I wouldn’t lie to you, Jesse,” Hogg told him. “Not when it’s somethin’ this important.”

“I know.” If it was the only chance, then he would have to take it.

###

Daisy didn’t say much during dinner, and afterwards, she was sent up to bed. She closed the door to her bedroom, and wiped tears out of her eyes as she looked around. The room was almost as large as the whole of the downstairs of the farmhouse. It seemed too big. She swallowed back sobs, but the tears continued to flow.

She had to admit it. She missed her new home. She missed the things she’d only recently gotten to know, the coyote howls in the distance, the crickets in the tree outside her window. She missed staying up and hearing Bo and Luke talking though the wall, she missed the Morse-code messages she and Bo would send back and forth. She missed Uncle Jesse yelling for them to be quiet and go to sleep. She missed sneaking out of her room after he was asleep to go play midnight fort with the boys under the blankets they’d strung across the room from bedpost to bedpost. She missed it all.

Daisy slowly walked across the huge room, wondering how she could ever have slept here and felt it normal. It seemed too big, too girlish with its pink and ruffles. She ran a hand along the edge of a shelf, looking up to see her old collection of dolls, as neat as ever. The picture of the cars that she and the boys played with, spread out across the whole bedroom floor, came into her mind, and she smiled. Now *that* sort of thing was fun. Things like those matchbox cars, and the treehouse that she’d helped Luke and Bo finish. Luke had said she could come into the club because she’d helped, but she could see that Bo had been right when he’d said that Luke really did like her. Even when he pretended he didn’t.

Finally her eyes rested on the bed, a wide expanse of pink polyester. She’d always thought it the most comfortable thing, until she’d snuggled up on a crisp fall night under a quilt of goose and duck down. Nothing was warmer or airier than that.

Daisy went into the bathroom and brushed her hair and teeth, then stared at herself in the mirror fiercely. “You are Daisy Duke,” she told herself, pointing a finger at the mirror. “Not anything or anybody else. You belong home, in Hazzard County. And somehow, you’re gonna get back there.”

Saying it out loud made her feel a bit better, as though now she was only sleeping over instead of living here. Heartened by her thoughts of home, she began to whistle as she moved back into the room, a trick Bo had taught her. She paused in mid-note when she remembered that Aunt Roseanne didn’t approve of girls whistling, then realized that no one could hear her though the almost sound-proof walls anyway, and continued with the cheerful melody she was making up.

She dug through her dresser for something comfortable to wear to bed, and managed to find only one article that didn’t have itchy lace, an old nightgown which was too small when she tried it on. Knowing that nobody would check on her until breakfast time, she just shrugged and pulled the dress that her aunt had made her put on for dinner over her head, not bothering with the buttons. She slung the dress over the foot of the bed, now dressed in only her t-shirt and underwear, but comfortable.

Daisy eyed the bed, then pulled a pillow and the comforter off. She struggled with the oversized quilt wanna-be until she managed to get it folded in half, then she folded it again from the other direction, making a somewhat small but soft square on the floor. Then she tossed the pillow onto it and tugged a blanket out of the closet, folding it in half. She threw the blanket up in the air and dived to get under it before it came down, giggling. She didn’t quite make it, she stood and threw the blanket up again. This was fun! On the fourth try, she got all the way underneath the blanket before it came down, and she just laid there for a couple of moments, grinning.

Then Daisy sat up, crossing her legs. Locking her fingers together in her lap, she looked out the open window, up at the stars. “Dear God,” she whispered, “thanks for letting me go live with Uncle Jesse, and Luke and Bo. It’s so much fun there. It’s really, truly home. Please, God, help me be good for my aunt, but help me get back to Hazzard too. Forever, cause that’s where I wanna be. Amen.”

She sat there looking at the stars for a few more seconds, then her eyes sought out one particular star, Bo’s special star that he had said he’d share with her. Daisy stood and crossed to the window, then reached up to place her finger over the dot of light in the sky. It wasn’t nearly as big or bright here in the city as it was at the farm, but it was there. “Hi Bo,” she said quietly. “Can you hear me? I’m okay, honest. But I wanna come home. I hope Uncle Jesse has a plan.” She was silent for a few minutes, just looking out, then finally said, “Goodnight, cousin. Friend.”

Then she went back to her little bed on the floor, and fell into it. She was asleep almost as soon as she’d pulled the blanket around herself.

Bo Duke was looking out his window, too, at the same star. He blinked tears out of his eyes, knowing that crying was a girlish thing to do, and reached out to touch the star through the windowpane. “I hope you’re lookin’ at this star too, Daisy,” he whispered so that he wouldn’t wake Luke, who was already asleep in his bed. “I care about you, ya know.” He paused, a little awkwardly. “G’night, Daisy.”

Then he went back to bed, and fell asleep as well.