by: Essy Jane

At the hospital, Jose was still trying to work his magic on Jesse. “Hey cousin, you know, you’re a great friend to me. You always will be. You remember that one time when we were tied up to the rafters? I thought we would never get out. Well. You somehow got your legs out and shimmied over to me. I grabbed your knife and we both got out of it. I don’t know how we do it,” Jose commented. Suddenly, Judd came in.

“Jose, switch!” Judd exclaimed.

“He’s awake?”

“And asking for you!”

“Me? Why me?”

“Just go and see him!”

“Yes sir.” Jose walked down the hall and looked at Bo. He didn’t look too awake to him.

“Come here you,” Bo mumbled.

“Hey, are you alright?” Jose asked him.

“I’ll live. How’s Jesse?”

“Still way out there, I have been trying everything.”

“When Judd cried, I knew it was time to get up. Where’s my daughter gone off to?”

“Capture some bank thieves.”

“I saw the guy’s face, the person who did this to us.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you remember the story of Kay?”

“You have got to be kidding me! The battle you and Dad never won?”

“Yep, that particular battle. Jo is on an adventure that I couldn’t win. Now Lilly and Jo are in big trouble.”

“No kidding. Man, that’s why she didn’t tell me.”

“Now, I don’t know where they are and neither do you.”

“What do we do?”

“Call Essy—get her to try and raise those two on the CB. Send Judd home and if he needs to, saddle him up on Uncle Sam and send him after those two gals.”

“I should go too.”

“No! Leave this to Judd, he’ll know what to do.”

“Bo…”

“Hey, I don’t want you in here either.”

“Bo, you’re gonna have to trust me.”

“Besides, my son needs you.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“You’re his cousin…his best friend…not to mention a brother to him.”

“I can’t sit here while Jo and Lilly get fried.”

“Jose, you’re gonna be the last resort. If Judd fails…”

“He doesn’t have the tracking skills I do! Come on Bo, you know I am the only one who can go after them.”

“You know, you may be right—but I know there are two other people who can help us.”

“Who?”

“Have you called Luke or Coy?”

“No, I never thought of doing that.”

“Well, give them a shout. Coy can always leave Vance here. He can watch Jesse for me. You and him can go off in General 2 and search for General 1.”

“I’ll call Coy.”

“Luke will take too long getting his butt down here. Good choice.”

“Bo?”

“Yeah?”

“I am so going to miss you.”

“I know you are and I’ll miss you boys and of course the girls too.”

“It won’t be the same without you.”

“Ah, I think you’ll have a great time with your boys in Kansas. That is when you have kids. Remember, always look out for them. Now git going, you have a phone call to make.”

“Yes sir!”

Meanwhile, in an abandoned barn, Jo and Lilly had been handcuffed to the beam, sound familiar don’t it. Uh huh, the Dukes seem to follow a trend. Even the dearly departed Jesse had to get his brothers out of big messes.

Anyway, Jo Anna had managed to untie her feet. She was standing on a bucket though. “You know, we could have stayed at the hospital and everything would have been great,” Lilly-Rose said.

“Uh huh,” Jo replied. She began swinging her feet towards the beam.

“We would have been safe and out of the way.”

“Could have been.”

“We would be with Jesse and Bo right now.”

“Yep, we would have.” Jo continued swinging. She got her legs up and began shimming over to Lilly-Rose.

“Are you listening to a word I’m saying?”

“Uh huh.”

“I don’t think you understand the war here. If Bo and Luke couldn’t do it, what makes you think we can?”

“They haven’t left yet.”

“Come again.”

“They are still here. They are expecting more Duke company, that’s why they’re still here.”

“I don’t get it, if they wanted an easy job by getting rid of the Dukes, why doesn’t old Kay just leave the county with his money?”

“He wants to fight Luke again or at least his son.” Jo reached over and grabbed a pin from her cousin’s hair. She put it in one of the handcuffs. “If he can win and get his money back, then all is well. Don’t you remember on the way over I mentioned that I was Bo Duke’s daughter?”

“That was to make him stay?”

“Uh huh, don’t you think I know what I’m doing? I wouldn’t let him lock me up without knowing I could beat him.”

“So you think Jose’s going to come.”

“Oh yeah, that’s why I left him there in the first place. He was going to get me out of trouble.”

“You knew all of this was going to happen.”

“Yep.”

“Man, I should hang out with y’all more often. I need some more of the Duke traits to rub off on me.”

“Or at least the Davenport.” Jo winked as she got her handcuffs off.

An hour later, Coy was at the hospital with Vance. “Why didn’t you tell us in the first place?” Vance lectured. Bo smiled.

“Because he didn’t want to scare y’all,” Bo replied.

“Oh Bo, you and your charges are so…”

“Alike?”

“First you and your son get in an accident. Then they don’t tell us.”

“Well paint them pink and call them forgetful. You live in a whole other country. Besides, they forgot to mention it to Luke too. We don’t need everyone out here though Vance.”

“Bo, you are so…”

“So what?”

“So weird. You don’t even think about what we want.”

“Oh Vance, get off your high horse.”

“No, we are your family too.”

“Hey, you were the one that was given the second chance from me. Don’t tell me what my kids have to do. They’re my responsibility not yours.”

“Well then you should learn…”

“Don’t give me a lecture Vance. I have been doing this a lot longer than you. I have raised two kids all the way through. I brought up Jose partially. Now I am raising three kids…don’t tell me how to do my job.”

“Bo…”

“Don’t even go there Vance.”

“Bo…I’m sorry.”

“Yep, that’s better.”

“You would think that they would learn from your mistakes. Not go off and make new ones to scare the living daylights out of us,” Coy commented. Bo rolled his eyes. He was about to say something when Jose put a hand on his mouth. Jose knew that even though Bo was wise, when he was mad, the wild side came strolling back out again.

“We make our own mistakes, Coy. Bo isn’t responsible for us anymore. Jess, Jo and I are adults. Besides, we’re Dukes, we get in trouble. It’s our way of life. Moreover, I think Jo planned it this way,” Jose said. Bo nodded.

“Ah, come again?”

“My cousin doesn’t like to go into a battle without knowing she can win. Jo has been that way all of her life. She loves the fight but is always plotting. She’s just like her Dad.”

“And…”

“And, she probably said something to make them stay.”

“You’re right Jose, My Jo Anna always likes the thought of winning. I never thought of that. She wouldn’t let them leave without a good old fashion Dukes of Hazzard fight,” Bo cut in.

“You know as well as I do Bo that Jo loves to challenge the odds. Sometimes it gets her in big trouble.”

“Whereas other times, she is just dandy, Jo will know exactly what she’s doing.”

“Uh huh and she knows as well as I do that Kay wants a fight again.”

“Unfairly this time.”

“He wants revenge for you getting the money back.”

“And we want him jailed for taking it in the first place.”

“So let’s do it.”

“Do what?” Vance asked.

“It’s time to track. Judd and Essy and gonna watch the babies and Vance can stay and try to wake Jesse up,” Jose commented.

“I can handle that one.”

“Bo, you better not sweet talk the nurse into putting you in Jesse’s room.”

“First off, I am a married man. Second of all, I am injured. Jose, why would you think I would do something like that?” Bo asked.

“Well, you have Duke Charm under your belt and you’re not afraid of using it. Besides, with Jesse stuck in a hospital bed, you’re worrying about him more than a mother bear worries over a cub.”

“Okay, you do know me.”

“Let’s go, Coy.”

“You want me to come with you?” Coy inquired.

“Yes, you drive, I’ll track. We have to hurry before the rain washes it away,” Jose replied.

“Alright. Get better Beauregard.”

“Coy if you call me that one more time…” Bo began.

“What are you gonna do cuz, you’re stuck in bed.”

“Oh Jose…”

“Alright, I get it.” With that, Coy and Jose went off to find Jo and Lilly-Rose. Bo knew that they could do it after all, they were Dukes.