by: Marty Chrisman

Bo and Jesse looked up from their work as a black horse came galloping across the field towards them. As the horse got closer, they could see that the rider was Shelby Lynn. From the way she approaching, both Dukes knew something had to be wrong. She reined Lobo in and jumped off his back at the same time. Breathlessly, she said,

“Somebody just grabbed Luke up on Hunter Ridge.”

“What?” Jesse and Bo both exclaimed simultaneously

“There were two men on Hunter Ridge Road acting like they had car trouble. Luke pulled over to help them and they pulled guns on him.”

“Is he hurt?” Jesse asked anxiously.

“I don’t know. He tried to fight ‘em but they got the best of him. I think they knocked him out before they put him in the car.”

“We best get to the house and call Roscoe.” Jesse said grimly “Shelby, you best come with us. Roscoe will most likely wanna talk to you.”

“Uncle Jesse, maybe I should go see if I can find Luke.” Bo said in a worried voice

“No, you best stay here till we get hold of Roscoe. You don’t even know where to start looking.” Jesse told him firmly

“You think Roscoe’s gonna care about a Duke?” Bo said sarcastically

“Now, Bo…” Jesse said “Roscoe may not care for you boys much but he ain’t gonna stand by and let one of ya get hurt.”

Continue reading →

by: Marty Chrisman

The Dukes spent a pleasant evening visiting with Shelby. All of them thanked her for her part in saving Luke’s life when he had been hurt. Jesse told stories about his days running shine with her granddaddy and Shelby admitted that she and Cory still ran shine using her granddaddy’s recipe. When she decided that it was time for her to leave, Luke quickly offered to walk her to her car before Bo could volunteer.

As they walked outside, Luke said “Ya know, I tried to find you after I got out of the hospital but I never could find your cabin.”

“Yeah, granddaddy had a thing about people knowing just where he lived. You can’t find the cabin unless ya know exactly where to look and how to get there.”

They paused by her car and Luke moved closer. In a quiet voice that only she could hear, he said “You’ll have to show me someday.”

“Maybe I will.” Shelby said with a grin

“I’d like to see you again.” Luke told her “I still haven’t had a chance to thank you personally for saving my life.”

“What did ya have in mind?”

Continue reading →

by: Marty Chrisman

Bo tapped the General’s accelerator, revving the engine, as he waited for the race to start. He never got nervous before a race but he did get impatient. Luke adjusted the strap on his orange crash helmet and glanced at his cousin with a grin. Bo was always full of nervous energy but before a race, that energy kicked into a high gear. And it was that same energy that brought out Bo’s razor sharp skills behind the wheel during a race.

The starting flag waved and the race was on. The General’s powerful engine roared as Bo took off, the rear tires smoking. It was only a matter of minutes before Bo had pulled to the front of the pack. Bo kept the lead, the General easily outrunning the other cars in the race. Which anyone who had ever seen the Duke Boys race knew to expect if they were entered.

Twenty laps into the race, with just five more laps to go, a yellow car suddenly appeared from out of the pack and pulled in beside the General on the left.

“Where the heck did they come from?” Luke said in a startled voice

“Who the heck are they?” Bo asked, equally surprised to find a little competition after all.

Continue reading →

by: Marty Chrisman

After finishing supper and the evening chores, Luke took a shower and changed clothes. He was planning to go to the Boar’s Nest, just like he did almost every day. It was the local hangout, a honky-tonk owned by Boss Hogg, the County Commissioner. But then, Boss Hogg owned just about everything in Hazzard County and what he didn’t own, he held the mortgage on. (Just like he had held the mortgage on the Duke farm until Luke paid it off) Actually, there was an ironic justice in the fact that Boss Hogg had been the one who had bought Kelly’s property. And he had been forced to pay a fair price for it since it was part of her estate and the selling price had not been negotiable. So, Luke had actually paid Boss back the mortgage on the farm with Boss’s own money.

The Boar’s Nest was located just off Route 7 about five miles from the Duke farm and eight miles from the town of  Hazzard. It was located in a large one story cinder block building with a huge dirt parking lot in front. Luke pulled in beside a white jeep CJ7 with the name Dixie written in gold on the hood. The jeep belonged to his cousin, Daisy, who was a waitress at the bar. Since Bo had the General Lee with him, Luke was driving the black Sable that had belonged to Kelly.

Luke climbed out of the car and went into the bar. Several voices called out a greeting as Luke made his way through the crowd to the bar. Daisy smiled and poured a cold draft beer for him when she saw him enter the bar. She was the prettiest girl in Hazzard county with big blue eyes, a friendly smile, and long chestnut colored hair. She could shoot like Annie Oakley, drive like Richard Petty and knew the words to every Dolly Parton song. The guys all flocked around Daisy just like a bee to honey.

Continue reading →

by: Marty Chrisman

Luke Duke stopped his work for a minute, swiping his arm across his forehead to wipe the sweat out of his eyes. It was a hot day for early April. There had better be something cold to drink when he got back to the house. Mending fence was a hard job, especially since he was doing by himself. His cousin, Bo, was gone for the weekend helping Uncle Ben over in Chickasaw County build a new barn. The boys were always the first ones asked to help out when a friend or family member was in need of a pair of extra hands.

Luke ran his hand through his thick dark hair and squinted at the sun. He decided it was time to take a break and eat the lunch that Daisy had made for him that morning. He walked over to the back of Uncle Jesse’s battered white pickup truck and sat down on the tailgate. He reached for the white cooler sitting on the tailgate and opened it. Inside he found a 12 ounce can of coke, some left over fried chicken from last night’s supper, some potato salad and some cookie chip cookies. Smiling to himself, he leaned back against the side of truck to enjoy his lunch and rest before finishing his job.

Luke had only been back in Hazzard for about three months after spending almost a year up north with his Aunt Pauline. After the tragic death of his wife, he had fallen into a deep dark depression that had almost destroyed him. He had even thought about taking his own life. It had gotten so bad that Uncle Jesse had sent him to Pauline’s to keep him from losing his mind.

Continue reading →