by: Kristy Duke

Looking around the empty  old farm house, Craig feels his muscles tightening up as he forces his thoughts to run through his well thought through plan and chills of excitement cross his body. Excitement at the thought that they had entered Hazzard dirt poor and will be leaving Hazzard rich with all of Hogg’s money. An evil smile crosses his handsome face at the thought of what Hogg’s reactions will be when he finds that he has been robbed and by the time he figures out that he was robbed by them, they’ll be long gone from Hazzard. Despite how much he hated Hazzard and the old farm house they  had been trapped in the past few days, the rewards were going to be well worth it. If only there was some way to speed up their plan…

But Craig knows that if he were to change his plans or  tries to speed them up, would only produce failure. Reminding Craig that he needed to be patient and to follow his plans no matter how he felt.

Sighing heavily he walks out of the living room and into the empty kitchen where Rory is standing over the counter making sandwiches. “Oh good,” she smiles up at him, “you can run this up this up to your idiot brother. He’s lucky I don’t make him starve to death.”

Craig shakes his head at her. He loved her, but couldn’t understand why she hated his brother for. “I’ll make sure to relay the message to him,” he grins ornery at her as he takes the plate from her, “Hey, have you looked for that old man’s ring yet?”

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by: Marty Chrisman

Luke sat on a bale of hay watching Bo do the chores. He felt guilty about not being able to help but he just wasn’t strong enough or coordinated enough to do that yet. A physical therapist came to the farm twice a week to work with him and a speech therapist came once a week. He was continuing to improve slowly and he was also getting more frustrated every day. Jesse and Bo let him do as much as he could by himself but there were still times he needed their help. And he hated that but he knew he didn’t have any choice.

He let his eyes drift over to where the General was parked. It looked as good as new. Bo and Cooter had told him how badly it had been damaged in the wreak. You couldn’t tell by looking at it now. A slow smile tugged at Luke’s mouth. Looking back at Bo, he said “Bo…let’s go for…ride.”

“”Sure…” Bo said absently “Where do ya wanna go?”

“Ride in General Lee.”

Bo jerked his head around to look at his cousin questioningly, not sure he had heard him right. Bo hadn’t driven the General since had Cooter brought him back to the farm. “You sure about that?” Bo asked, swallowing hard. He hoped Luke would say no. Bo still wasn’t sure he could get behind the wheel of the General again especially with Luke sitting shot gun beside him. Luke nodded his head in that determined way that told Bo he had made up his mind and wasn’t going to change it.

“Okay…” Bo said in a hesitant voice, feeling the butterflies fluttering in his stomach. As if sensing his uneasiness, Luke said

“I need…to do this. And so ….do you.”

Bo helped Luke over to the General and lifted him so he could crawl in through the window. Then Bo went around to the other side and climbed in under the wheel. He looked at Luke and saw the smile on his face and the trust in his eyes. Taking a deep breath, Bo dug the keys out of his pocket and turned on the ignition. The powerful engine roared to life.

Jesse and Daisy both came hurrying out of the house when they heard the sound of the General’s powerful engine. They came out the back door in time to see the General pulling into the dirt road that ran in front of the house.

“Uncle Jesse…” Daisy said in a fearful voice, grabbing her Uncle’s arm.

“It’s alright, Daisy girl.” Jesse said patting her hand gently “Them boys had to take General out sooner or later. They both need this. They’ll be alright.”

Bo drove down the road, slowly starting to relax behind the wheel of the orange stock car. “You’re driving….like Grandma…Duke.” Luke told him with a crooked grin.

“Oh, yeah?” Bo said grinning back and accepting the challenge. He punched the accelerator and the General shot forward with a burst of speed. Luke used one hand to steady himself by putting it against the dashboard but he had confidence in Bo’s driving and he wasn’t afraid. Not anymore. He felt the same freedom he had always felt when they were driving around the countryside in the General.

“Bo…the accident wasn’t…your fault.” Luke said “I don’t blame you…for what happened.”

“You don’t have to, cuz.” Bo told him with an awkward smile “I’ve been blaming myself enough. But I know it wasn’t anybody’s fault….you could have been driving instead of me and it could be me sitting there instead of you.”

“I’m gonna…be okay.” Luke told him “We both are. I get frustrated…and mad…because it takes so…long…but I know…I’m gonna be…okay. Now let’s see if …the General remembers how to…fly.”

“YeeeeHaaaw!” Bo yelled as he turned off the main road and headed for one of their favorite spots to jump the General. It would take time, maybe a lot of time but Luke would be alright again.

The End (For now)

by: Karen Campbell

Disclaimer: From Smokey and the Bandit: The characters of Beauregard “The Bandit” Darville, Cledus “The Snowman” Snow, Carrie, Sheriff Buford T. Justice, Joseph Justice and Fred are the property of Hal Needham and Robert L. Levy.

From The Dukes of Hazzard: the characters of Bo, Luke, Jesse and Daisy Duke, Cooter Davenport, Boss J.D. Hogg, Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, Enos Strate, Sheriff “Big” Ed Little, Artie Bender and Flash are the property of Gy Waldron.

Years later, they all remembered that day: for different reasons, you understand.
There was a first for every one of them. Rosco changed vehicles in the middle of a
highway, Daisy rediscovered Hidden Canyon, the Duke boys ran blocker for a truckload
of snow, and Enos helped to bring forth a miracle. Well…whatever the reason, no one
was likely to forget the day that Smokey and the Bandit came to Hazzard County. And no
one would ever want to, either.
Tangy smoke from burning leaf fires–or moonshine stills–lent a sharp perfume to
the air as Bo and Luke Duke barelled down the road in a car as orange as a Hallowe’en
pumpkin.
Luke cast the bait. “So…who you taking to the Hallowe’en dance next weekend,
Bo?”
Bo grinned as he flexed his hands on the steering wheel of the General Lee. “No
way, cuz. I ain’t biting.”
“What do you mean?”
“Soon as I tell you you’ll make some crack ‘bout her not needing no costume
‘cause she’s skinny as a skeleton or something.”
“Well, come on, Bo. That little redhead you been seeing’s so thin she has to stand
up twice to throw a shadow!”
“Luke!” Bo tried to scowl but his lips kept quirking.
“Shoot, if anybody ever broke into her house, all she’d have to do is pull the
covers up over her head and they’’d just think it was a made bed!””
“Luke Duke, I swear-“
Suddenly the wail of a siren cut off Bo’s reply. Luke sighed. “Speaking of
Hallowe’en, guess who’s just riz up to haunt us?”
Bo didn’t even bother to look in the rearview mirror. “Trick or treat, Rosco!” he
carolled as he slammed the accelerator to the floor.

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by: Kristy Duke

Jesse Duke feels his heart tightening painfully within him as he looks down at his youngest nephew whose blood covered head rests upon his lap, an air mask covering most of his face. He finds himself caringly brushing his blood covered hair out of his face as Luke had done before climbing out of the backseat as his mind races within him. Races from their current situation before rewinding into the past of Bo’s childhood and back again. Through Bo’s entire life it was Bo who Jesse had worried about the most with how Bo often acts before thinking, always the one that seems to trip over his own pride. Jesse had always worried about losing Bo in one of his crazy car stints or in some fight that was too big for him to handle. But over the loss of their farm?

Looking down at Bo, Jesse feels a tear break loose from his eyes to tickle down his cheeks and he allows them to soak into his thick beard and mustache. “C’mon Bo,” he hears himself whisper to his nephew as he glances up to find Rosco pulling into the hospital’s parking lot, “help is almost here.” Sighing heavily, he glances back down and at noticing how still Bo’s thin chest remains, forces Jesse’s own heart to come to a painful halt.  Forcing himself to breath in and out, he places a couple of trembling fingers upon Bo’s bloody neck and a chill runs down his back at not feeling a pulse. “I don’t feel  anything,” he looks up desperately to see Luke fearfully looking back at him, his fingers remaining on Bo’s still pulse. Looking down at Bo, he is gripped by fear for his young nephew’s life. “There’s no p -” he begins to say, his voice rising in his panic before a small pulse beats upon Jesse’s callused fingers from Bo’s neck, “there’s one.”

“Damn,” Luke hisses from the front seat, his own worry and fear apparent on his face before he turns to look up ahead, “Rosco, pull up behind the ambulance there. There has to be a nurse or a paramedic that could get Bo in quicker than us carrying him into the ER waiting room.”

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by: Marty Chrisman

Luke sat in the wheelchair watching the door anxiously. He was finally going home. After almost 2 months in the hospital, he was going home. Back to Hazzard. Back to his family and his friends. And back to the pieces of the life he’d left behind. He would still have to have therapy for awhile but no one seemed to be able to tell him for how long. But everyone seemed to be pleased with the progress he had made. He could walk by himself (although not for very long distances and he had to consciously concentrate on keeping his balance.) and his fine motor skills had improved to the point that he could at least feed himself and take care of his personal needs without any assistance.

Speech was still difficult for him and it might always be. But he could talk in a normal tone of voice now, although his speech patterns were slower sometimes and he still had trouble with some words.  And if he was too tired, his speech tended to be a little slurred. But considering the fact that he had come this far when he had been given up for dead more than once, it was nothing short of a miracle. And he thanked God everyday that he had been given a second chance to live his life as fully as he possibly could. He would learn to live with his limitations but he would also continue to fight to overcome them. Finally, Jesse and Bo arrived to take him home.

“You ready to go?” Jesse asked with a smile. He already knew the answer he could see it plainly in Luke’s eyes

“Been ready.” Luke told him with a grin

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