by: Marty Chrisman

The next day, Shelby called her attorney and told him to make arrangements to have Cory cremated. There would be no service. He agreed and assured her that he would take care of everything. That only left one thing for her to do. She sat down and wrote four letters, sealing each one carefully. Sighing, she threw some clothes in a suitcase she found in the closet and left her bedroom. The boys were out in the fields with Uncle Jesse and Daisy was at work. She left the envelops with the letters she had written lying on the kitchen table, then walked out to her and threw the suitcase in the back seat. With one final look at the farm, she left.

When Daisy got home from work, she found the envelopes on the table. With a sinking feeling, she hurried to the bedroom that Shelby had been using. Just as she suspected, Shelby’s were gone and so was she. Daisy slumped down at the kitchen table wondering how she was going to tell Luke that Shelby had disappeared again. She picked up the envelope addressed to her and tore it open. Taking out the letter inside, she read:

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by: Marty Chrisman

   When Luke and Shelby arrived at her Lawyer’s office the next morning, Shelby was composed and under control although her eyes were red from crying. Charlie immediately ushered them into his office and closed the door.

“I’ m very sorry about your brother, Shelby.” He said sympathetically.

“What….uh…about the arrangements?” Shelby asked in a halting voice

“I can take care of all of that for you. Just let me know what you want done.”

“I need to know what happened.”

“Well, I’ve found out a lot since the last time we talked and I’ve managed to more or less piece things together.” Charlie told her. He opened the file on his desk and started reading from his notes “The feds wanted Cory to cooperate with them……to name names and to testify in court against the other people involved in the drug operation.” He paused and looked at Shelby solemnly “Unfortunately, they decided to use you to force Cory to do what they wanted.”

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by: Marty Chrisman

            Late the next afternoon the Duke family was just sitting down to supper when the telephone rang. “Now who would be interrupting a man when he’s tryingt to talk to his lord?” Jesse grumbled as he shoved himself to his feet and to answer it. “Duke farm. This is Jesse Duke speaking.” He listened for a moment, then said “Shelby, it’s for you.”

Shelby looked surprised as she stood up and went over to the phone. She couldn’t imagine who would be calling her. She said hello and then listened for several long minutes without speaking. Luke immediately sensed that something was wrong, very very wrong. Shelby’s face went white and she swayed slightly and then said something into the phone so quietly that none of them could hear her side of the conversation. Luke jumped to his feet and went to her side just as she hung up the phone. “What’s the matter?” he asked in a concerned voice.

Shelby looked him blankly for a moment, then whispered “Cory’s dead.” Then she collapsed in his arms, in a dead faint. Jesse, Bo and Daisy immediately jumped up from the table, as Luke gathered her up into his arms and carried her over to the couch.

“What happened, Luke?” Jesse asked worriedly

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by: Marty Chrisman

Jesse couldn’t bail the boys out until the next morning. They had to listen to Jesse’s lecture all the way home. “I don’t know what gets into you two sometimes” Jesse growled “Then people ask me…Jesse, why is your hair so white….you two are gonna be the death of me yet!” The boys listened in silence waiting for Jesse to wind down. This was the same lecture they heard every time they got into trouble. They knew that Daisy and Shelby had already told Jesse what had happened but Jesse’s lecture was still part of their atonement.

Both girls greeted the boys warmly when they got back to the farm. Daisy had made a special lunch knowing the boys would be hungry. The Hazzard county jail didn’t always offer very appetizing meals. After they ate, Daisy had to go to work and Jesse took Bo with him into town to pick up some feed. That left Shelby and Luke with the house to themselves for at least a couple of hours.

Smiling, Luke took Shelby’s hand and led her over to the couch where they sat down side by side. Resting his arm on the back of the sofa behind her, Luke looked deeply into her eyes for a moment and then bent his head and kissed her. “I’ve been wanting to do that ever since I got home.” He told her with a grin

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by: Marty Chrisman

Early the next morning, shortly after breakfast, Luke, Bo and Shelby got ready to head up on the mountain to make sure there was no evidence to use against Shelby for making moonshine. At the last minute, Daisy decided that she was coming too. Jesse ordered them all to be careful. They could all still be arrested if they were caught dismantling the stills or getting rid of the shine the Lynns still had stored.

They decided to take Daisy’s jeep since it would better on the rough terrain than the General would be. Shelby directed Daisy to a rutted dirt road on the far side of the mountain. Bo realized that this must be the way Cory had taken him to the Lynn Cabin when Luke was hurt. But Bo could never remember how to find the road afterwards because he had been so concerned about Luke that night that he hadn’t been paying as much attention as he should have been. They drove for almost an hour taking a couple of turns that Shelby had to warn Daisy about in advance because they came out of nowhere.

Finally, they reached a heavily wooded area where the road seemed to just end, until Shelby told Daisy to keep driving through some brush. When she did as Shelby instructed, they suddenly found themselves in a large clearing with the Lynn Cabin sitting in the middle of it. Now Bo and Luke understood why they had never been able to find the Lynn cabin when they tried to. They had decided to stop at the cabin first so Shelby could gather us some clothes and load up her car.

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