by: RebelYank

 

Anna sat alone in the hall way just a door away from where Rosco was balancing on the fine line between life and death. The head surgeon had gone in to see Rosco when the ambulance first brought him in. After ten minutes he came out and talked to Anna and Enos. Anna explained that the Sheriff had been working on a case for the State Police, which explained why she was present. The doctor nodded grimly and told her simply that she may want to contact next of kin for the Sheriff.

“I can give no guarantees that he’s going to get through this free and clear,” he said. “I’m sure you understand what I mean.”

Anna stared at the floor, knowing perfectly well what he meant. She snapped out of it long enough to nod her head. “Yes.”

The surgeon returned to the operating room, leaving the State Police officer crying in the middle of the hall, with Enos looking on helplessly.

That was thirty minutes ago. Anna had found a phone and called headquarters to tell Commander Thomas what happened. The Commander was shocked and very upset by it. He then asked if she was okay.

“No, sir. No sir, I’m not okay. I’m not okay at all! I’m sorry, sir, but dammit I just can’t believe this is even happening!”

The Commander was sympathetic and told Anna it was okay that she was upset. But even he didn’t know why she was so upset.

Enos went ahead and started in contacting next of kin. Anna had barely heard him when he said he would be contacting Rosco’s sister and some cousins. She was mad at him for having lied to her. So she sat in the chair two doors away from Rosco and everytime she thought of calling her mother, she got too upset and just buried her face in her hands.

She was still sitting that way when Enos returned with a cup of coffee for her. He sat down beside her and waited for her to look up, but she never did.

“Lt.?”

Anna raised her head enough to look at the coffee cup. She wiped her hands on her pants and took the cup, not looking at Enos as she did.

“Thanks,” she mumbled.

Enos watched the State Police officer take a sip of the coffee and then she stared ahead. She remained like that for quite a spell and surprised Enos when she finally spoke.

“You lied to me, Enos.”

Enos looked at her. Anna turned her head to look back at him and saw he had no idea what she was talking about. “You lied to me about Rosco’s condition. You told me that the paramedics said he’d be fine. He’s not fine, Enos.” She turned away from him and looked at the floor. “He’s not fine at all.”

“Anna, I’m sorry,” Enos said softly. “I didn’t mean to purposely lie to you. I’m scared for Sheriff Rosco too, but I can’t understand why you’re getting about as upset as Miss Lulu probably is right now.”

“Who’s Miss Lulu?”

“The Sheriff’s sister.”

Well, duh, I’m his damn daughter, how the hell do you expect me to react?!?! Anna buried her head in her hands and sighed heavily. She was quiet for several moments and then finally said, “You’d never, ever understand Enos. Nobody would. I’m upset for a reason, a perfectly good and simple reason. But nobody would ever understand why.”

“Try me.”

Anna shook her head and said nothing more to the deputy, leaving Enos to wonder just who Anna was to Rosco.

And who Rosco was to Anna.

* * *

Bo and Luke were still on Mill Road, thinking they were waiting for Cooter. Neither figured it would be fair for the mechanic to have to face alone the task of towing in Rosco’s Trans Am, not with the evidence of what had taken place clearly visible on the ground.

Luke looked away from the crimson spot in the dirt and gravel and sighed. What the Sheriff had done and what Rosco had just gone through all but completely blew the ex-Marine’s mind. Even though Jesse had told of Rosco having done undercover work before, some of it even having been dangerous, the idea almost seemed incomprehensible. Rosco was just the giggling, grinning Sheriff, who talked silly to his basset hound, Flash, and shouted his familar battle cry of ‘Hot puruit!’ as he made one of a million attmepts to catch the boys and the General Lee. Being found lying on the side of the road with two gun shot wounds in him was just unreal.

Luke looked up at Bo, who was leaning against the front fender of General Lee, staring of in the distance down the road.

“You alright, Bo?”

Bo broke his gaze and looked at his older cousin. “Not really,” he said. “I just can’t believe it, Luke. I just CAN NOT beleive it.”

Luke nodded. “I know.” He then glanced up the road and saw a State Police cruiser coming.

Bo saw it too. “Oh great,” he muttered. “Here we go.”

Trooper Burt Pearson pulled the patrol car off to the sie of the road a few feet behind the grey Trans Am. Leaving his blue lights flashing, he stepped out of the car.

“Are you fellas waiting for something?” Pearson asked.

“We’re waiting for our friend Cooter to come with his tow truck to take this car back to town.”

Pearson looked apologetic. “I’m afraid that won’t be for a quite awhile. This car and the area around it is a crime scene and this car won’t be going anywhere just yet. In fact, I’m gonna have to ask you fellas to leave.”

Luke stared and then cringed at his own thoughtlessness. It WAS a crime scene and Rosco was the victim! For Pete’s sake, Luke, use your brain!

“I’m sorry,” Luke said. “We’re just kinda in shock I guess with what happened we thought…we thought we could help.” Luke shrugged, realizing he was making probably no sense to the trooper. “C’mon Bo, let’s go.”

The boys turned to the General and started to climb in.

“Wait a second,” Pearson said. “Ain’t you two the Duke boys that Sheriff Coltrane busted running moonshine?”

Luke had one leg up on the door of the driver’s side and paused to look at the trooper. “Yeah…?”

“Just wonderin’,” Pearson said. His simple question, although not purposely meaning to be fasicious, was just as sharp as any searing accusation could be. So are ya glad to see he finally got it?

Without a word, Luke slid into the General and backed the car away from the scene. Two sets of eyes ablaze in anger, the General swung around and the boys drove back to the farm.
Jesse was seated in his favorite chair, across from Daisy who was sitting on the couch. He watched his neice, who earlier tearfully told him what she had heard on the CB and that the boys had gone to see if they could help. Now, he and Daisy were anxiously waiting for the sound of the General to come into the yard, hopefully bringing news that Rosco was okay.

Daisy’s eyes had cleared and the tears were dried from her face, but she still thought of Rosco, wondering if it was all a bad dream. The events of the other night ran rampant in her mind and she remembered riding with him in his car. He seemed like a whole different person at the time, yet he was somebody she felt safe with. More safe than she ever had at any other point since she knew him.

The sound of a familar car exhaust outside the living room window made Daisy look up. She saw the tail end of the General and jumped off the couch, running into the kitchen to meet the boys at the door. Jesse came up behind her as the boys stepped into the kitchen, their expressions solem.

“What did you boys find out?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah, is Rosco gonna be okay?” Daisy anxiously asked.

Luke put a comforting hand on Daisy’s shoulder. He took a deep breath and said, “They’re not sure at this point.”

“You mean…they think he could….die?” she said.

Luke nodded.

“Oh no…” Daisy closed her eyes and leanded into Luke’s strong shoulder.

“If that wasn’t bad enough,” Bo said, “there’s a lady trooper that thinks we WANTED to see this happened. That we WANTED to see Rosco get shot!”

“What?!” Jesse exclaimed. Daisy lifted her head from Luke’s shoulder and looked at Bo.

“She knows about the last run,” he continued. “She finds it…odd that if Rosco busted us then, why we’d be so concerned with what happens to him now. She thinks that we may have possibly if not PURPOSELY blown Rosco’s cover when we talked to him in town.”

“How can she think something like that?!” Daisy cried. “How can she think we would take some kind of revenge on Rosco when all he was doing at the time was his job? AND how can she think we would want to see him dead?!”

“Easy, Daisy, take it easy…” Jesse said.

Daisy turned to her uncle. “But Uncle Jesse, how can she accuse the boys of that? How?? That’s not fair!!”

“Come on, sit down,” Jesse said as he turned Daisy towards the kitchen table. Daisy obeyed and plopped down in the seat the anger clearly etched on her face. Bo and Luke sat down as well, along with Jesse.

“Uncle Jesse, none of us would ever wish something like this to happen to Rosco,” Daisy said softly and shook her head. “None of us.”

“I know, baby,” he said taking her hand. “I know, cuz that ain’t the way I raised you and the boys here.”

“That’s right,” Luke said. “That lady trooper has no idea what it’s like here in Hazzard. Rosco’s not necessarily our ‘enemy’ as he is just…a…” Luke tossed his hand in the air. “…a…pest, I guess. I mean, he ain’t got it in for nobody and we would never have it in for him. We’ve saved his hide on numerous occasions and he’s helped save ours a couple of times too. Are we just gonna sit here and let this gang get away with this?”

“Hell no,” Bo said.

“Bo…” Jesse scolded.

“Sorry, Uncle Jesse. But we ain’t gonna let them get away with it! I mean, Rosco’s…” Bo paused and found himself putting his hands in the air trying to think of what he was trying to say. “Well…he’s OUR SHERIFF! I just can’t sit here and let this happen and say ‘Oh well, too bad for Rosco. Come on Luke, we’ll go tune the General for next week’s race.’ We can’t ignore that this has happened.”

“Plus,” Luke said, “if we somehow triggered the events that led to Rosco’s cover being blown, you better believe we wanna do something to correct that mistake.”

“Yeah,” Bo said. “Uncle Jesse, we had no idea when we talked to him in town that he could have been being watched. We had no intent of messing anything up for him, not something that dangerous.”

Jesse nodded. “I know,” he said. “But I don’t want you kids to subject yourselves to something as dangerous as what Rosco did.”

“We gotta do what’s right here,” Luke said. “Dangerous or not, we have to find a way to help Enos nail these guys once and for all.”

“That’s right,” Bo said.

“What do you boys think you’ll do?” Daisy asked.

“Dunno,” Luke said. “I figure we’ll wait until later this afternoon or maybe tomorrow morning and go see Enos. See if there’s something, ANYTHING we can do to help.”

“In the meantime tho’,” Bo said. “I think we should pray for Rosco.”

“Yeah,” Daisy agreed softly as Luke and Jesse nodded.

And they prayed…

* * *

The gang, meanwhile, were tending to their wounded. Makeshift medical quarters had been set up at the back corner of the still site and inside the two most knowledgable gang members in medicine were tending to Chet’s gun shot wound. The wound was not life threatening but it would certainly slow the killer moonshiner up a bit.

From a chair in the corner of the tent, John watched as Chet was being treated.

“Ah! Jesus, Willie, watch it,” Chet moaned.

“Atleast you felt that. Stop yer complainin’. I told you this was gonna hurt,” Willie replied.

Chet sighed. “Still can’t believe the son of a bitch shot me.”

“Which isn’t my concern,” John said. “My concern is whether or not you had a chance to finish him off. If he can indetify us it’ll be the end of everything.”

“Aww, I dunno,” Chet groaned. “Ow! For Chris’ sakes…”

“Hold still,” Willie said. “John, do you think you could wait two minutes so I can get this slug out of him first?”

“Sorry, Willie,” John said, sincerely. “I’m just concerned about the welfare of ALL my men.”

“I’m aware of that,” Willie said. “But Chet here ain’t gonna be a damn bit of good to you or any of us if I don’t get this slug out of him.”

John nodded. “You’re right. I’ll wait outside then.”

“Thank you,” Willie said as John stood up. Quietly the leader exited the tent.

Donnie was standing a few feet away from the tent, smoking another of already several cigarettes. He turned when John came out, tossed his cigarette to the ground and jogged up to his leader.

“Is Chet okay?”

“Willie’s still working on him. He should be all right though.”

“I dunno what happened, John,” Donnie said. “I mean, it was four on one, we should have taken him down easily. He fought like hell–”

“Did you finish him?”

Donnie hesitated. “I–I dunno, man. After he shot Chet there was a car coming so we got the hell out of there. Chet did get him twice, but we sure didn’t hang around to watch him bleed all over the road.”

“One shot to the head…”

“We didn’t have time! That other car was coming too fast! Besides, he would have seen it and then you would have expected us to kill him too. The body count already is too high, John! This is insanity!!”

John wrapped his arm around his waist and propped his elbow on his left hand and touched his right index finger to his lips in thought.

After a moment of silence, Donnie asked, “Do–do you think Atlanta knew their driver was a smokey?”

John looked at Donnie. “Well, we’ll find out when I contact him again, won’t we?”

* * *

Anna stood infront of the pay phone that was around the corner of the waiting room of the ER for a long time. She knew she had to tell her mother, but every time she touched her hand to the cold black receiver, the tears would well up. Finally, Anna pushed herself to make the car, managing to drop the dime into the slot before it blurred.

Anna blinked away the tears and slowly dialed the number, mouthing it as she turned the rotary dialer on the phone. When she finished and the other end began ringing, Anna took a series of deep breaths.

“Hello?”

Anna swallowed. “Momma…momma it’s me.”

“Anna? Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Rosco.” Anna paused and sniffled. “They shot him, Momma. They shot him!”

Anna brought her other hand to her face and cried for a moment.

Anna’s mother, Laura, was quiet for several moments. “Oh my Lord…” she breathed. “Anna, is he–? Is he…okay?”

“I don’t know. He was still alive when I found him and when they brought him in. But I haven’t heard anything since.”

“How long ago?”

“Um…” Anna looked at her watch. “About an hour or so.” She wiped the tears off her face. “Momma, what if–what if now he’s never going to know–?”

“Anna, don’t think that way. Try to keep good thoughts. I’m coming to Hazzard. I think maybe it’s time we let him know, somehow.”

* * *

She was supposed to have met a fella named Duke. But the young rent-a-cop kinda snuck into her heart without her really noticing.

The summer of 1955 found Laura Jameson staying in Hatchapie County to help out her aunt and her ailing husband. One Saturday some friends of Laura’s convinced her to take a ride with them to Hazzard to meet the often talked about Duke boys. But none of them caught her eye, not the way Rosco did.

He hadn’t been trying to do it purposely either. Laura and her friends were at the diner waiting for the Duke boys to show up. Rosco had come in to the diner to pick up a lunch on the run. Laura was just coming around the corner from the ladies room when they almost collided with one another.

“Ooops,” Rosco said, putting a steadying hand on her arm. The brown paper bag crumpled a bit in his other hand and she looked up at his face, seeing eyes bluer than she’d ever seen in her life.

“Oh I’m sorry,” she said as he smiled. Laura couldn’t help but return a smile. Ooh, he’s kinda cute…

“It’s alright,” he said. “I just gotta watch where I’m going.”

“Yeah, watch out for crazy women coming around corners.”

They “ran into each other” a couple more times after that and got to know each other a little better. Later, after they started dating, they joked that Rosco not paying attention to where he was going had sent him down the right path.

Laura had never been happier with someone. They dated for nearly six months and then Rosco started hinting at a long term relationship and the word ‘marriage’ had entered both their minds, but neither had verbalized it.

The possibilty of a long term relationship, however, did not sit well with Laura’s father.

“I will not let you waste your life with such a commoner,” her father had said. “What kind of life could he possibly afford for you? Certainly not that which you are accustomed.”

“But, Daddy I’m happy with him. Doesn’t that count for anything? Does it matter how much money he has, or doesn’t has? I don’t care about that. All I care about is that I’m happy with him.”

“I absolutely will not allow this to continue, Laura.”

“Daddy, I am 23 years old. I can make my own decisions!”

“I’m sorry, but this is a decision I will not allow you to make. As my only daughter I will not let you continue this relationship and end up raising potential heirs in some backwater county.”

Laura narrowed her eyes. “This isn’t even about me is it? All you’re worried about is your money! Your god damn money!!”

Her father’s eyes flared at the sound of his daughter swearing. “That’s enough! If you don’t end the relationship I will be forced to take some sort of legal action!”

“Like what?”

“Like having you DISOWNED! Now as far as I’m concerned this discussion is over and you will no longer see him!” With that her father stormed out of the room, leaving Laura quietly crying in the middle of the living room.

Telling Rosco she could no longer see him was the hardest thing she had ever done in her life. To this day, she could still see how the expression on his face just literally dropped and his blue eyes clouded over in sadness. Somehow he had found enough bravery to gently take her hand and tell her this:

“Laura, I know I ain’t got much and I probably never will. Certainly not enough to impress your father. But I love you and I’d give everything I’ve got for you.” He lightly traced his finger over hers and looked her in the eyes. “Maybe someday when you break free from your father you can come back.”

Laura’s tears overflowed and she threw her arms around him. “Rosco, I’m so sorry,” she cried.

“Shh, it’s okay honey, it’s not your fault,” Rosco said as he hugged Laura tightly and stroked her hair. “Just don’t forget that I love you.”

“I won’t. And I love you too, Rosco. I always will.”

They were quiet for a moment then Rosco suddenly whispered to her, “Do we have some time?”
Laura moved her head back to look at him. He softly touched his fingers to the side of her face and looked in her eyes. “Don’t tell me you have to leave right now?” he asked.

Laura shook her head. “Not yet.”

Rosco smiled. “Good,” he said. He then gestured with his head for her to come with him and Laura took his hand…
Laura brought her car to a stop at the light at the end of the exit ramp. She stared at the red circle and wondered….was that ‘someday’ Rosco had spoken of, now? Or had it passed and Laura had failed to take advanatage of it?
* * *

Enos got nothing more than a hand waving in the air in an uninterested fashion when he told Anna he was going to return to town to contact the commander and give a report. The state trooper’s reactions were still baffling Enos, and he couldn’t figure it out for the life of him why Anna was so distraught over what happened to Rosco. It was almost as if they were family or something, but to Enos they had seemed like no more than strangers.

The daze Enos was in as he drove back to town seemed to cosume him more with each passing mile. The shock of the situation was starting to wear off and numbness started to set in. Over an hour had passed since Rosco had been brought into the hospital and the doctors had said nothing of his condition. The harsh reality and possibilty of what could happen to his superiour officer suddenly hit Enos like a slap in the face. If Rosco were to die, Enos knew he would carry nothing but guilt for the rest of his life. Never again would he hear Rosco call him a ‘dipstick.’

Enos blinked, trying to clear his vision. He realized what was causing the road ahead of him to blur and he pulled his patrol car off to the side and stopped. Unable to fight it, Enos buried his face in his hands and quietly cried.

Why did it have to happen? What were he and Rosco trying to prove, how easy it was for two fools to try to get themselves killed? Why did Rosco have to be so sure of himself in thinking he could handle the undercover aspect?

Why did we agree to take part in this in the first place?

Enos slammed his hands down on the steering wheel and gripped it tightly. He shook with the rush of anger and opened his eyes. The gang was not going to get away with what they had done, he knew. If Rosco lived or died, the gang would pay. At that moment, Enos vowed that for the Sheriff’s sake, the gang would be brought down and brought down hard. Period.

Suddenly self concious of anyone possibly watching him, Enos returned to the road and continued on to town.

* * *

Anna was staring at the dark blue carpet of the waiting room when the surgeon came out of the ER.

“Lt. Ferren?”

Anna looked up and then bolted off her chair. “Yes, Doctor? Is he alright?”

“He’s stabilzed but he’s still critical. He lost a lot of blood but the damage to any internal organs was minimal and we were able to repair that. The next few hours however, we will be keeping a close eye on him.”

Anna nodded and found herself breathing a little easier. Not much, but a little bit. “Thank you, Doctor,” she said and gave a relieved smile. The doctor nodded and turned to return to the ER.

Anna was about to return to her seat in the waiting room when she stopped and called to the doctor.

He turned back to her. “Yes?”

“Umm…” She stepped towards him and softly asked, “May I see him? Please?”

The doctor exhaled slowly. “I’m afraid at this point I can only allow his immediate family to see him. However, that won’t be for atleast a half an hour because we’ll be moving him to the Intensive Care Unit.”

Anna was devastated. She knew the expression on her face must have looked like it fell completely to the floor but she didn’t care. She let the doctor see her disappointment and then nodded. “I understand,” she said and then turned and went back to the waiting room.

She sat down and looked at her watch. It would be another 45 minutes before her mother arrived and Anna also figured she should call Enos and let him know that Rosco had atleast stabilized. Anna looked up, saw the doctor was gone and stood up and went to the pay phone.

* * *

The unnatrual silence of the booking room was an eerie reminder of Rosco’s absence. Not that it would be quiet for long, but the emptiness at that moment was thick as Enos walked in. Rosco’s office door was still open. The papers were still scattered about the booking desk just as Enos had left them when Amos Wilson’s call for help came over the CB. Enos had briefly caught a glimpse of Rosco when he was laying on the side of road. It hadn’t affected him directly at the time, having been too shocked that what had happened, happened. But now, the images came back to him and Enos shuddered. He closed his eyes, trying to force it away so he that he could tackle the task at hand and that was reporting to Commander Thomas.

Enos walked up behind the booking desk and picked up the papers that were tossed about. He turned them up on edge, straightened them and then placed them aside. He had tossed the radio mike onto the desktop when Amos called, now he placed it back on top of the radio.

“Enos, got yer ears on dipstick, come on…”

Enos paused. “Right here, Sheriff…” he whispered. He sighed, realizing he was missing Rosco’s badgering already. He was about to pick up the phone when it suddenly rang.

“Hazzard County Sheriff’s Office.”

“Enos, it’s me,” Anna said. “I’ve got some news for you.”

“Sheriff Rosco? Is he okay?”

“He’s stablized. The doctor said he’s still critical and that the next few hours are gonna be the deciding factor but he has stabilized.”

Enos closed his eyes, a little bit of relief and a lot more encouragement settling in. “That’s good to hear,” he said and opened his eyes. “I was just about to call Commander Thomas. Are you stayin’ at the hospital?”

“Yeah, I’ll stay here for a little longer.”

“Okay,” he said. “I appreciate that, Anna.”

Anna paused. “Um, Enos? Listen, I want to apologize for how I’ve been acting. I know it’s not very becoming of a State Police officer and I’m sorry I got upset with you. I’m not mad at you, Enos, I’m just mad at the situation, you know?”

“I know,” Enos said. “It’s okay, Anna.”

“No, it’s not okay. You’ve known the Sheriff a lot longer than I have and I haven’t been very considerate of your feelings. I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this and I’m sorry the State Police asked this of you and Rosco.”

“Anna, we agreed to do it,” Enos said. “I’ll admit I’ve wondered why we agreed to do it, but we did and we didn’t back down. We knew of the danger involved, especially the Sheriff. He knew. He was willing to do the undercover part himself. I’ll tell you, if this gang gets caught and jailed and Sheriff Rosco recovers, I could ask for nothing more.”

“We’ll get ’em, Enos,” Anna said. “We’ll get ’em. You can count on it.”

* * *

Commander Thomas was heading back to his officer after having an impromptu discussion with Trooper Holsen.

“Well, he blew it,” Holsen had said. “Now look at the mess we have to clean up. The Major’s gonna have a fit about this.”

Yeah, yeah, I know all about the Major, the Commander thought scartastically as he rounded the corner to his office. One of his secretaries, Eileen, stood up.

“Commander, I have Deputy Enos Strate from Hazzard County on the phone.”

“Send it right in,” Commander Thomas said, pointing towards his office as he went towards the door. After the door closed behind him, the phone on his desk started ringing.

“Hi, Enos. What have you heard?”

Enos told the Commander what Rosco’s current condition was and that Anna was still at the hospital. The Commander expressed relief and asked Enos if he could call regularly with an update. Enos said he would.

“What happens now?” he asked. “Shouldn’t we be rounding these boys up before more people get hurt?”

The Commander hesitated. “Um, actually Enos, we were thinking of sending in another driver.”

“WHAT?!?! Are you nuts?!” Enos exclaimed. “An ATF agent is dead, Sheriff Rosco was nearly killed and you want to risk possibly hurtin’ more folks to nail these guys?! Why can’t we just go in and arrest them? We know where they are!!! ”

“Enos, the Major wants concrete evidence and so much of it that the gang will be convicted with out any legal snags or technicalitites.”

“Well, how’s one, possibly two dead police officers sound for evidence??”

“Enos, look I know you’re upset, I understand. I want to see this gang nailed as bad as you do. But don’t you want to see them convicted without any room for doubt? Without any technicalities that could put these guys back on the street again and more innocent people could get hurt, either from drinking that pure-dee-poison they call moonshine or another police officer or Sheriff like Rosco finding himself shot on the side of a lonley highway?? Enos, the State Police wants to no chance for any of these guys getting off on parole, probation, or some damn technicality. When this case closes it’s going to be air tight.”

Air tight like coffin huh, Commander? Enos thought bitterly. He knew though that the Commander was on his side about this. “It better be,” he said evenly. “It sure damn better be, Commander.”

“It will be, Enos. Look, we’ll let it settle for a few days. We’ll keep tabs on the gang and all, but if John contacts you again, leave room for possibly sending another driver. They’ll only have to make maybe two runs, and that’ll be it. Then we’ll have ’em, Enos. We’ll have them all. For good.”

Enos sighed and was quiet for a moment. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll leave the opportunity for a new driver open. But it stops here, Commander. The investigation and the run of this gang all stops here.”
After talking to Enos, Anna returned to the waiting room. From where she was seated she could see the doorway that led around to the ER. The doors were open, revealing a long hallway. By chance, she looked up and saw a group of hospital personel pushing a gurny from the ER down the hall. She strained to see who it was, but the nurses and assisstents blocked her view. She glanced at her watch, seeing it was a little past the half hour mark the doctor had given for when they would be moving Rosco from the ER to ICU. After the gurny disappeared from sight, Anna let her gaze drift. She looked at her uniform and suddenly wondered why she was letting the doctor stop her from seeing Rosco.

I am a Lieutenant with the State Police.

You’re also his DAUGHTER. Don’t you think that qualifies as immediate family?

Anna looked around the waiting room and then jumped up from her chair, walking with authority to the elevators.

When the doors opened onto the second floor everything was much quieter than down at the ER. Anna stepped out and looked at the sign on the opposite wall, pointing out the direction of ICU. Straightening her shoulders, Anna marched down the hall. She stopped at the nurses station, catching the attention of the nurse seated at the desk, who looked at up.

“Can I help you?”

“Do you know if Sheriff Coltrane has been brought up from the ER yet?”

“I believe he just came up.” The nurse looked at the other nurse standing at the other desk. “Sandy? Did they bring the Sheriff up yet?”

Sandy looked at her sister nurse and then at Anna. “Yeah, they did.” Sandy saw Anna’s high rank with the State Police. “Is there something wrong, officer?”

“No. I was just wondering if I could see him, that’s all.”

“I think Dr. Bedford is restricting vistors to just the Sheriff’s immediate family.”

“I’m aware of that.”

Sandy looked at Anna for a moment and took a step towards the trooper. “Are you a relative of Sheriff Coltrane’s?”

Anna kept her focus right on the nurse’s eyes. Without blinking she said, “I’m his daughter.”

Both nurses were quiet for a moment. They glanced at each other and the other nurse said, “I didn’t know the Sheriff was ever married.”

“He wasn’t,” Anna said plainly. “I think you can figure it out, but you didn’t hear it from me. May I see him please?”

Sandy nodded. “Of course,” she said. “He’s in room ten.” She pointed up the hall.

“Thank you,” Anna said. “And I’d like to ask that what’s been said here to not be repeated.”

Both nurses nodded. Anna turned and walked down the hall. She arrived at room ten and stepped through the already open door. She stopped briefly when she saw him lying there. She immediately focused her gaze on his face and saw that he actually looked okay and she stepped closer to him.

She glanced at the heart monitor, and took comfort in the steady blip of Rosco’s heartbeat. She looked at the man, thirty odd years out of her life, only recenlty discovered to be her father, yet he did not seem like a stranger to her. She was worried sick about him and afraid that she would never get to call him ‘Dad’ so he could hear it. She was terrified of losing him before she had completely found him.

She studied his features for a moment. Her mother had made it so clear that he wasn’t supposed to know who Anna was, and Anna was willing to accept that before. It was for his own good. Her mother had vowed she would not be the cause of trouble for him and asked for Anna to do the same.

Anna understood what her mother meant by ‘trouble.’ His elected position would have been compromised if he, or anyone else, had ever found out who Anna really was. So a stranger to him she had to remain.
But not now. None of that mattered now. Anna realized that life was too short and too precious to keep a secret like this from him. What if he were to die without ever knowing he had a child? Anna wasn’t sure she could have accepted him never ever knowing who she was. He had to know and she hoped that what she heard about hearing being the last thing to go was true. Hesitantly, she reached out and stroked a bit of his dark grey hair off his forehead.

“Rosco, there’s something I have to tell you,” she started in a whisper and then her voice got a little stronger. “I want you to know who I really am. I mean, yes, my name is Anna and yes, I’m a Lieutenant with the State Police and all but there’s more. Remember when you told me that I looked familar to you? By any chance is it…you that you see when you look at me? I don’t know any other way to put this other than that…I’m you’re daughter…” She paused and closed her hand into a gentle fist and lightly touched it to her lips. She watched the numbers on the monitor change…up…down…up…

Could he hear her?

“Momma,” she said suddenly. “My mother….Laura Jameson….she told me all about you. How you met and then how grandpa broke the relationship up. She said she wanted to tell you for years about me, but after you got elected Sheriff, she knew that she couldn’t risk causing trouble for you. You understand that don’t you? Can you imagine if some woman came back to town saying she had your child…I mean, how would the town of reacted? It would have jeopradized you career and Momma didn’t want to do that.”

Anna paused again, watching the numbers. They were still changing. What if I’m making him upset? Good grief! I could be doing more bad than good for him right now!

“Rosco, I’m sorry. It’s just that…well, I’m afraid maybe I ain’t never gonna have the chance to tell you, except now. I wanted to be able to tell you with your eyes open and knowing you can hear me.” She shrugged. “Maybe you can hear me, and if you can…you better wake up!” Anna’s throat tightened as she spoke, and she paused fighting the tears for a moment. It was a losing battle, she knew, so she turned away towards the open door.

She buried her face in her hands for a moment and quietly cried. After a moment a voice spoke.

“Your mother was a lovely girl.”

Anna looked up at the door way startled. Standing there was a large sized woman with dark hair and wearing a dark purple dress. Behind her was a man in a white suit who took his hat off as they both stepped into the room.

Anna suddenly felt embarassed to be there. “Um…I’m sorry?”

The woman smiled. “Your mother was a lovely girl. I remember her quite fondly.” The woman looked over towards Rosco and her smile faded. “It’s a shame that she and Rosco didn’t get married.”

Anna looked at the woman for a moment. “You must be Lulu. Um…listen I can leave if you folks want to be alone with Rosco for a bit.” Anna started to walk to past them to the door.

“No, it’s okay,” Lulu said turning to Anna. “You have as much right to be here as we do.”

Anna stopped but didn’t turn around right away. “You know who I really am, don’t you?”

“Yes. I apologize but I heard you talking just a minute ago. Plus….there is a strong resemblence,” Lulu said.

Anna turned to face the two. “Lemme guess,” she said with a bit of a smile. “It’s the hair and the eyes, right?”

Lulu and Boss both smiled.

“Well, they’re not my mother’s traits that’s for sure,” Anna said.

“And with that police uniform you’re more Coltrane than you probably realize,” Boss said.

Anna nodded. “Yeah, Momma figured that’s why I’m wearing one.” She paused and looked over at Rosco. “I should have put in for a transfer to another case as soon as I found out tho’. I’m wondering if it would have been better to not know about him and not have to go through this.”

“You’re wrong,” Lulu said. “You’re very wrong about that….”
Saturday, August 31, 1985
The next morning, Anna had her hands wrapped around a cup of coffee and was standing in Rosco’s office, looking at the different pictures he had on the walls, the books that lined his bookcase and the various other items that were placed about the room.

I’ve never seen so many dang pictures of horses. Each artifact offered a small glimpse into the personality of the man. They showed the things he liked and the things that were important to him.

As she raised the mug to her lips, she thought of Rosco and hoped he had made it through the night okay. Her mother, after she had arrived, told Anna she would go with Lulu and J.D. when they went up in the morning to see Rosco and would let her know what was going on.

Anna sipped her coffee and sighed, still feeling very drained from yesterday’s events and the emotions that were still tugging at her. She wanted so desperately for Rosco to be okay and to pull through and she knew that most of her day would be spent thinking about him. She looked out the window in time to see the orange Dodge Charger stock car of the Duke boys pull up. She watched them climb out of their car and start to walk towards the steps of the courthouse. She rolled her eyes and muttered, “Great,” as she turned around and walked out of the office.

She stood looking at the doors, waiting for them to swing open. Enos was sitting at the booking desk and looked up at her. Before he could ask, the doors opened and the boys came in.

They both stopped and looked at Anna for a moment. Her accusing look was not what they were expecting and they didn’t like it. Anna didn’t say anything and didn’t give them a chance to say anything. She turned her back to them and walked over to the desk by Boss Hogg’s office.

The boys glanced at each other and then looked at Enos.

“Hi, fellas,” he said.

“Hey, Enos,” Luke said. “Can we talk to you?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

“Enos,” Bo started. “If me and Luke somehow was responsible for Rosco’s cover being blown, we want to do something to help nail the gang and maybe rectify our mistake.”

“Umm….” Enos cringed a bit. “I appreciate that fellas, but the state police have everything under control.”

“I’ll tell you how you can help,” Anna said suddenly, walking towards the two. “You can help by not getting involved. Just turn around and leave. You and your ‘help’ have been nothing but trouble to us.”

“Ma’am, we’ve never meant any harm to Rosco,” Luke said. “You don’t understand how things are here in Hazzard. He’s not really our enemy…he’s…”

“You’re friend?” Anna suggested, although she gave the boys a “don’t be bullshittin’ me” look.

“He can be,” Bo said. “Sometimes….”

“Sometimes,” Anna said. “And what is he when he’s not your friend?”

Bo looked at Luke now for help. The cousins seemed to be doing nothing more than burying themselves deeper.

“I guess the only way to put it is that we tend to annoy each other. A lot,” Luke said.

Anna snorted. “I see. So you annoy him by leadfootin’ around Hazzard breaking every vehicular law in the book. You annoy him by managing to capture a few criminals here and there, making Rosco look like a fool and incompetent law man. You annoy him probably enough just by the fact that you two didn’t get jail time when you were busted for running moonshine. You use your probabtion as a way of snubbing your noses at the law.”

The boys looked at Anna slack jawed.

“Oh yeah, I’ve done a lot of reading on you two in the past couple of hours. You’re quite the pair around here aren’t you?”

“Now wait a minute,” Bo said firmly. “You can’t go judging us like this. You’ve got us all wrong!”

“All I know is what I’ve seen and what I see now. Seems to me you two are nothing more than a couple of good ol’ boy busy bodies. Can’t you just leave the Sheriff alone? Can’t you just leave anything well enough alone?”

Luke crossed his arms over his chest. “Somebody tried to kill Rosco. There ain’t no way you can expect us to leave that alone.”

“Why does it matter to you two anyway? He arrested you then, he’s arrested you a bazillion times since then. It’s just like you said, y’all tend to annoy each other. I would think you two would be glad not to have him ‘bothering’ you any more. Why do care if justice is served?”

Bo rolled his eyes. “Oh for the love of…” He turned away briefly and then to Enos. “Enos, will you explain it to her! You know better than anybody that me and Luke don’t have it in for Rosco! She just doesn’t understand how it is here in Hazzard!”

Enos stood up from his stool and stepped down from the booking area. He looked at Anna sincerely.
“You’re wrong, Anna,” he said. “These boys would never want to see anything happen to the Sheriff. Certainly nothing like what did happen. These boys do care about what happened to him, and I understand their coming here to see if they can help.” He looked at the boys now. “But I gotta say no. We can’t risk having private citizens get involved and possibly get hurt. It’s too much of a risk and this gang is much too dangerous. I’m sorry, fellas.”

“Alright, Enos,” Luke said and nodded. “But if there’s anything we can do, let us know ok?”

Enos nodded.

Luke then looked at Anna. “You’ve go us all wrong, Anna. I wish there was some way we could prove it to you.”

“I think I’ve seen enough evidence to the contrary. The best thing you boys can do is just go back home. Then again, if you are so broken up over what happened to the Sheriff why don’t you go visit him in the hospital. That’s assuming he’s still alive!” Anna stormed past the boys and walked out of the booking room.

After a moment of silence Bo said, “Why does it seem like she’s more upset about happened to Rosco than I would have expected?”

“I noticed that too,” Enos said. He looked at the booking room doors that were still slightly swinging. “And I can’t figure out why.”

* * *
Monday, September 2, 1985

The next two days seemed to pass slowly. Rosco remained unconcious in the hospital while the town remained on edge. Anna and her mother visited Rosco a few times, both of them realizing that it was the first time mother, father and daughter were together in the same room. They both prayed for him to recover and that he would wake up soon and that a happy, and long overdue, reunion would ensue.

Back at the courthouse, it was becoming a waiting game. Enos wasn’t sure if he should contact John and figure he should let things settle for bit. Enos certainly wasn’t interested in the possibilty of sending a new driver in. At the end of the two days, John set the ball rolling. Enos was just coming into the booking office when the special phone in Rosco’s office started to ring.

Enos let it ring for a bit, then went in to pick it up.

“Casey’s Distributing.”

“Missing anything?”

“Depends. What happened to my driver?”

“You’re ‘driver’ was the damn local Sheriff, Rosco Coltrane.”

Enos paused. John took the hesitation as reaction to the fact that it wasn’t what Enos was expecting to hear. Enos’s was just reaction to the sound of Rosco’s name, and the way it was spoken with venom.

“No way…My driver was Tim Hunt. About 5’8”, brown on brown.”

“Try six feet, blue on black. That was too damn close for me. You should be more careful about what drivers you pick.”

“I saw Tim leave here myself. Now somewhere along the line my driver was switched, which means Tim’s in jail somewhere.”

“That’s not my concern. My concern is that that’s the second time a law officer has infiltrated my operation. My boys found out who he was and we took care of it.”

“I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”

“I don’t care what you like the sound of. The point is, that was too damn close of a call for me and I do whatever I have to to protect my livlihood. Now if you want, we can still do some business. But I think this time you better tell me what your driver looks like before hand.”

“Alright. But it’s going to take me a couple of days to get another driver.”

“That’s fine. It’ll give this thing time to blow over.”

“Very well then. I’ll contact you in a couple of days.”
Boss and Lulu were sitting quietly in Rosco’s room when he suddenly started to stir. They stood up and stepped toward the bed and watched him. Boss took a hold of Lulu’s hand and together they watched as Rosco came out of his deep slumber.

When his blue eyes opened, Rosco saw his sister and brother-in-law and felt relieved to see them there. He cracked a tiny smile and said hello. They both smiled back, glad to see him awake again.

“Rosco, what am I gonna do with you?” Boss asked, the touch of amusement on his face. “I pormised Lulu here I’d keep you from gettin’ yer fool head shot off. I’m gone no more than a week and you dang near get yer fool head shot off!”

“I know,” Rosco groaned. “I promise, Boss, I’ll never do it again.”

“We’re just glad you’re okay,” Lulu said.

Rosco sighed and nodded. “Me too. I’ll certainly never forget this for the rest of my life.” He paused a moment, looking toards the ceiling. “How long was I out?”

“Almost two days,” Lulu answered. “Thankfully Amos Wilson found you, and Anna and Enos acted quickly.”

Anna…

Suddenly Rosco got the feeling that she had visited him and he remembered for some reason. He concentrated on it, trying to remember what she had said to him. He knew he heard her voice…

Jumpin’ Geehosafat!!

“Do you know if Anna was here?”

Lulu and Boss glanced at each other briefly. Boss then nodded. “She’s been here a couple of times.”

“I think I remember one of them. Either that or I was dreaming. You sure I’ve been out for two days?”

Both Boss and Lulu nodded. “Rosco, what is it you think you remember?” Lulu asked.

“I’m not completely sure. She was here and…” He shook his head. “It’s crazy. It’s just too crazy. I musta been hallucinatin’ or something.”

Lulu shook her head. “No, Rosco. You weren’t hallucinating.”

Rosco looked at his sister and slowly shook his head. “No….” There was no way!! Well…there was a way…but…no…it couldn’t be!!

“Would it be more believable if we told you that Laura Jameson is back in Hazzard?”

“Laura?” Rosco paused and then took a deep breath. There was no denying it now. “Oh my Lord…” Rosco looked away, suddenly embarrased by it all.

“It’s okay, Rosco,” Boss said. “She’s a very pretty young lady. There ain’t nothin’ to be ashamed of.”

“But why didn’t Laura tell me? Why did she wait THIS long and for something like this to happen before I could find out?” Rosco shook his head and closed his eyes. “Now I understand why Anna looked so dang familar.”

“Well, yeah, she looks like you,” Boss said, trying to be comical. It didn’t work. Rosco opened his eyes and glared at Boss.

“Well, she does! Rosco, a man would have to be blind to not see that that young woman is very much your daughter. And not just in how she looks, but in who she is. I can understand you being upset for not knowing about her before, but I know Laura has a prefectly good explanation as to her reason. She didn’t with hold telling you to hurt you. To be honest it was the other way around.”

Rosco sighed. “I ain’t mad that she didn’t tell me…well, yeah I am mad but not at her…oh good grief…”

“I think it would be best if Laura talked to you,” Lulu said.

“Yeah….yeah, I guess it would…”
Enos had just finished telling Anna about the call from John and picked up the phone to call Commander Thomas in Atlanta. When the Commander came on the line, Enos told him that there was an opportunity to send in another driver, and that John would be expecting a call in a couple of days.

“He didn’t like that the Sheriff had infiltrated the gang,” Enos said. “He all but admited that the gang tried to kill him. Commander, I’ll be honest, I really don’t like the idea of sending in another driver. I mean, after the ATF agent, and Sheriff Rosco, the gang’s gonna be on super high alert. Whoever we send in, is walking into a death trap.”

“I know, Enos,” Commander Thomas said. “But I think we would just need them in there for a day. One run. We need somebody who can testify against the gang and can corraborate what the ATF agent reported and what Sheriff Coltrane saw.”

“Well, this time John’s asked for a description of the driver from me before they show up.”

“Okay. Do you have anyone in mind for a driver?”

“No, sir.”

The Commander paused a moment. “Well, um…Enos, I’ve been doing some research on Bo and Luke Duke. I realize they’re on probation for running moonshine, but they’ve helped nab some criminals. Russell “Snake” Harmon for one and J.J. Carver. What would think about asking them if they could help?”

Ack!! Not the boys! Uncle Jesse’ll have my hide for sure now!

“Um, well, sir I’ll see if the Duke boys would want to help somehow.”

Anna shot Enos a look. The Deputy, however, was staring down at the desk top but he could feel the State Trooper’s eyes on him. Before Enos could hear what the Commander had to say, Anna walked over and took the phone from him.

“Commander? I apologize for interupting here, but I DO NOT recommend that the Duke boys be of ANY help to us! Sir, it’s quite possible that they’re the ones who blew Sheriff Coltrane’s cover which in turn nearly got him killed! And if you read the history on these two then you know that Rosco was part of the unit that caught them two.”

“I’m aware of that Lieutenant,” Commander Thomas said sternly. “But unless you can think of any one better suited to pose as moonshine drivers, I’m open to suggestions.”

“This is insane. Alright, fine, Commander but I do not support this decision.” She shoved the phone back to Enos.

“Commander?” Enos said, to let him know that he was now on the phone. Anna walked out of the booking room.

“Enos, ask the Dukes if they’ll help. If not, that’s fine we’ll find someone else, but I think they’re what we need to finally nail this gang. Will you ask them?”

“Yes, sir,” Enos replied. Not that I need to ask…they already want to help.

 

Rosco was dozing and awoke with a start when he heard someone come into his room. He blinked his eyes for a moment and then turned his head to see who had entered.

There was silence between them as they looked at each other for a moment. Rosco had never really forgot her and he recognized her immediately. She hadn’t changed, much. She was still as pretty as ever.

Laura paused a moment and then took a step towards him. “Hello, Rosco,” she said softly.

“Laura…”

She looked at him, trying to determine if he was angry with her or not. His blue eyes showed no animosity, only a questioning, somewhat pleading look.

“Rosco, I’m so sorry,” she said. “I probably should have told you this a long time ago and I didn’t.” She paused and looked at him. He waited.

Laura took a deep breath and said, “Anna…is your daughter.”

Rosco was quiet for a bit, letting the revelation sink in. My daughter…

“I wanted to tell you, Rosco. For years I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t want to be the cause of trouble for you. I didn’t want to jeopardize your career.”

Rosco looked at her sadly. “Nobody would have had to have known.”

Laura hung her head a bit then looked up when Rosco sat up and pushed himself back. She saw him flinch and gently touch his wounded side. When the pain passed and he was settled, he put his hand out to her. She took it and sat down on the edge of the bed. Rosco held her hand between both of his and looked her in the eyes. “Laura, I wish you had told me,” he said, “because you don’t know how long I’ve wanted to have a family of my own.”

Laura blinked her eyes and Rosco saw them start to become red. He lifted his left hand and gently touched the side of her face. “Laura, it’s alright. I’m not mad at you. I remember how things were and I’m sure your father didn’t know.”

Laura shook her head. “No. No, he didn’t.” She paused and took a deep breath. “Two months after I left, I became engaged to a man who was more to my father’s liking. He was good man and a good father to Anna….but he wasn’t you. He knew Anna wasn’t his tho’ but he loved her very much.”

“How long has she known?”

“Since she was old enough to understand. When she got this case assignment we had a long talk and I told her it was okay if she didn’t want to work on the case knowing you were involved and the danger you were putting yourself in. But she insisted, because she wanted to see you. She wanted to see who you are and what you are.” Laura paused, a tiny smile coming to her face. “She’s proud that you’re her father.”

Rosco grinned. “She’s a beautiful girl, Laura.”

Laura’s smile grew wider and she chuckled. “Sure, she’s got your eyes, your hair…”

“Doh…”

They both laughed and Laura felt new tears threatening. She let go of his hand and gently hugged him. “Oh Rosco, why couldn’t it have been you and me? I should have never listened to my father, I should have just followed my heart and stayed here with you.”

Rosco slipped his arms around her. “Shhhh…it’s okay, Laura. It’s okay. Whatever is meant to be will be.” He held her for a moment and could hear her trying to keep her crying quiet. “Look, we’re hear now. I’m glad you’re hear.” He paused. “There’s a lot I want to say to you right now, but I probably shouldn’t. But I do want to ask you if you could do me a favor?”

Laura let go of him and sat back to look at him. She wiped her tears. “Of course.”

“Will you find Anna, ask her to come here please? I’d like to talk to her…to my daughter.”

Laura smiled and nodded. “I can do that.”

* * *

Enos didn’t feel that simply calling Bo and Luke to tell them that the State Police were requesting their assistance, was fair. Plus, it was a request that would have to be made to the entire family. Jesse and Daisy couldn’t be left out of the loop. Not with something this dangerous.

So Enos drove out to the Duke farm. He was hoping they would say no, which he would completely understand if they did. Even if it meant delaying finding a driver for a few days, Enos didn’t care. After what happened to Rosco, Enos refused to allow his friends to be forced to put themselves in the same position. But he couldn’t disobey the State Police. Otherwise, they would have probably approached the boys themselves.

Enos pulled into the Duke’s yard and saw that all of the family were out doing chores. Daisy was hanging laundry, Luke was splitting wood and Bo and Jesse were getting the trailer hitch hooked to the pick up truck.

“Hey, Enos!” Luke greeted after swinging the ax down. He left it stuck on the chopping stump and grabbed his blue and white flannel shirt and walked over to the patrol car, joined by Daisy, Bo and Jesse.

“Hey there, Enos,” Jesse said and gave the deputy a smile.

“Hi Uncle Jesse, Luke,” Enos said. He removed his hat and held it close to his chest like he always did.

“Have you heard anything about Rosco?” Daisy asked.

“Not since yesterday,” Enos said. “As of yesterday he was stabilized but still critical.” Enos paused and looked at everyone and then just the boys. “Acutally, I’m here to ask you boys a question.”

“Is it something to do with helping out?” Bo asked.

“Um, yeah.”

“Well, why don’t we go inside for some lemonade,” Jesse suggested, “and Enos can tell us everything.”

After everyone was inside and seated at the kitchen table, Luke fetched the pitcher of lemonade from the frige while Daisy grabbed some glasses from the cubboard.

Enos watched Luke pour the fresh lemonade and place the glass infront of him.

“So how can we help Enos?” Bo asked.

“Well, first of all, y’all are under no obligation to do this,” Enos started. He paused, looking back and forth between the boys. “The State Police have asked for you boys to help out with our undercover operation.”

“The undercover operation?” Daisy said. “You mean have the boys do…what Rosco did?”

Enos nodded grimly. “The State Police Commander’s aware of your past with moonshining and how you’ve help catch some criminals before, particularly Russel Harmon and his gang. He’s also aware that y’all are on probation, but is apparently going to let that slide for this. But you don’t have to do this if you boys don’t want to.”

“What, exactly, would we be doing?” Luke asked.

“The same thing the Sheriff did. You would go into the gang posing as a hired driver or drivers, pick up a load of shine and bring it to us. The Commander believes y’all would only have to do it for a day would have make one, maybe two runs. Then we would have somebody to testify at trial and corraborate all the evidence the ATF and Sheriff Rosco got.”

“What does that lady trooper think of all this?” Bo asked.

“She does not support the Commander’s request,” Enos said.

Luke snorted. “Why am I not surprised…”

“It’s not her final decision,” Enos said. “It’s yours.”

The Dukes were quiet for awhile. Both boys looked at Uncle Jesse for guidance. “You boys know I wouldn’t want you to do something to put yourselves in danger. But if you decide to do this, then I’ll support you, but I would want you to be careful.”

Luke and Bo both gave a nod. Luke then looked at Enos.

“How soon do you need an answer?”

“Well, the gang’s leader is gonna be expectin’ a call in a couple of days regarding a new driver. If you boys could let me know by Thursday at the latest.”

“Okay. We’re gonna have to think about this a little.”

“I understand,” Enos said. “And I’ll understand if y’all say no. It’s perfectly alright.” Enos took a final sip of his lemonade and then stood up. “I better be getting back,” he said.

Everyone stood up. “Alright, Enos,” Luke said. “We’ll talk to you in a few days.”

“Okay, Luke.”

After Enos left, the Dukes family stood silently in their kitchen.

“What do you think, Luke?” Bo asked.

Luke stood in throught for a moment and then turned to his younger cousin.

“I’m thinking we should do it. To help Enos nail that gang for what they did to Rosco. We can’t leave Enos in a lurch.” He looked at Jesse and Daisy. “But we won’t if your afraid of something happening.”

“Luke,” Jesse said. “The good Lord’s watched over you through a war, when the both of you were on the NASCAR circuit, and through just everyday livin’. If you believe that helping Enos to nail that gang is the right thing to do, than it’s what you should do. Each of us in this room knows that Rosco didn’t deserve to have what happened to him, happen. And every one of us wants to do something, or see something done to make it right again.”

“Yeah…but what happened to Rosco…” Daisy started.

“Rosco isn’t a moonshine driver, never was,” Luke said. “He’s the Sheriff. Now either me and Bo blew his cover or the gang figured out who he was otherwise. His picture’s in the paper every once in awhile. I mean, when you stop and think about it, as Sheriff, Rosco’s too high profile for undercover work. He’s lucky he lasted as long as he did.”

“Luke’s right,” Bo said. “We’ve done stuff like this before. I think we can teach these a boys a lesson.”

“That they came to the wrong place,” Luke said.

Bo nodded with a smile of pride.

Daisy snickered and then nodded her agreement with the boys.

“Are you boys going to use the General?” Jesse asked.

“Oh yeah,” Luke said. “But he’s gonna have to get a new uniform.”

Jesse nodded. Just the fact the boys would be using the General gave him some comfort.

“Well, why don’t we go tell Enos?” Bo said.

“Hold on a second, Bo,” Luke said. “He’s not going to be expectin’ an answer from us right away. Infact he would probably tell us to wait a few days and then tell him. So why don’t we wait a couple of days and then we’ll let him know. Besides that’ll give us time to get the General repainted and to figure a basic plan.”

“Alright.”
Anna slammed the Hazzard patrol car’s door a little harder than she intended to. She looked at, somewhat apologetically and then her shoulders slumped. She heaved a sigh and turned to walk into the courthouse.

Why hasn’t Momma come to tell me anything?

Anna was two steps up the stairs when she heard her name being called. She turned her head and saw her mother running up the side walk, smiling. Anna stepped down off the stairs and jogged to meet her mother half way.

“Momma?”

“Anna, he’s alright. He’s awake!” Laura stopped to catch her breath but was still grining from ear to ear.

“He’s—oh my God!!” Anna threw her arms around her mother and giggled like a little girl. “Oh that’s wonderful!”

“Listen, listen,” Laura said as she looked at her daughter. “He wants to see you.”

Anna gasped. “Oh no…”

“You don’t want to see him?”

“No, I do! But, Momma, I gotta go to Atlanta. I was just going in to get my report that I have to file with the Commander and I’m not going to be back until Wednesday morning. Oh man….”

“It’s okay, Anna, it’s okay. He’ll understand.”

“You tell him, first thing Wednesday morning, I’m coming to see him, okay?”

“I will, Anna.” Laura smiled again and hugged her daughter. “Oh, you’re finally going to get to know him!”
Anna giggled again, the tears of happiness spilling from her eyes. Finally she would get to know him as ‘father.’ Finally.

* * *

Commander Thomas walked with a bit of a spring in his step towards Major Derrick Callahan’s office. He had just got the call from Enos and Anna that Rosco was now awake. Commander Thomas figure now things could be wrapped up. With Rosco awake he could tesify. All that was left to do was round up the gang.

The Major, however, did not feel it was that simple.

“We don’t know what he remembers, if anything,” the tall man said. “Despite all the evidence he helped us get, he’s useless to us in court if he can’t even remember half of it.”

“Are you saying we should still send in a driver?” Commander Thomas asked.

“Of course.” The Major stepped around from his desk that was decorated with pictures of his wife and two little sons. ATF Agent Fieldman had had two sons. But they didn’t have their daddy anymore. The Hazzard Sheriff had nearly lost his life and the commander couldn’t recall if Rosco had a family.

“Richard, this gang must be stopped,” Derrick said. “We just need someone to go in for a couple of runs, in order to corroborate everything Agent Fieldman and Sheriff Coltrane saw. That’s it.”

Commander Thomas shook his head. “I don’t like the idea of having to send in someone when we really don’t have to. How do you know that the Sheriff won’t remember everything?”

“The man was shot. Twice. The emotional and mental anguish he’s gone through and will go through will be enough to cloud his memory. If those two young men, Bo and Luke Duke, agree to go in, then I want them to go. You yourself said they would be perfect for it.”

“Yeah, I know what I said. But that was when I thought the Sheriff wouldn’t survive.” Richard sighed.

“Nothing’s changing. We’re going to send in a driver, whether it be the Duke boys or somebody else. And that’s final.”

Richard nodded knowning he didn’t have the authority to overrule the Major. “Yes, sir.”

 

The phone at the Duke farm rang three times before Daisy came running in from hanging laundry to answer it.

“Hello?….Enos, hi!….No, the boys aren’t here right now. They went to town a little while ago. They should be back soon, can I tell them you called?”

“Daisy, could you just tell them that Sheriff Rosco’s okay? He’s awake.”

“He is?! Enos, that’s great!”

Enos smiled. “Yeah, it is, Daisy. A lot of folks are relieved that’s for sure. Just let the boys know that he’s okay, but the State Police are still looking to send in a driver…um, so I’ll still need an answer by Thursday.”
Daisy smiled. “I’ll let them know, Enos. And thanks for letting us know!”

“Sure thing, Daisy. See you later.”

After she hung up the phone, Daisy bounced through the kitchen towards the porch door. “Uncle Jesse! Guess what?!….”
Wednesday September 4, 1985

So the boys waited until Wednesday to tell Enos. Cooter agreed to repaint the General and a new dark blue uniform was applied to the ‘69 Charger. The boys kept the General out of site for the two days and drove to town in Daisy’s Jeep to give Enos their answer.

The Deputy looked at them a bit stunned. “Are you fellas sure about this?”

“We’re sure, Enos,” Luke said. “We’ve already got the General repainted. We want to do this.”

“That’s right,” Bo said. “We’re not going to leave you in a lurch, Enos. Not with something like this.”
Enos regarded the boys for a moment. He then nodded. “Alright,” he said. He then put his hand out to his friends. “I appreciate this, you know.”

Luke shook Enos’s hand and gave a nod.

A little later, Enos made his phone call.

“I’ve found a couple of drivers.”

“Excellent,” John said. “Tell me what they look like.”

“Alright. I’ll be sending two this time. One to drive, one to ride shotgun. Their names are Joe and Hank. Joe is tall with blonde hair, blue eyes and Hank is just a little shorter than Joe, with dark hair and blue eyes. They’re my two best drivers, so if something happens to them, we’ll all be going to jail.”

John was nodding to himself. “Okay. Make sure you tell them to be careful of of the law around Hazzard when they get here.”

Enos actually smiled a little at that comment. “I will,” he said. “They’ll be down tomorrow.”