by: A.L. Reynolds
06/08/05-6/16/05

It was a typical day in Hazzard County; Bo and Luke Duke were being chased by Sherrif Rosco Coltrane for god knows what. The chase finally ended when the boys managed to make a turn Rosco couldn’t see and, as fate would have it, his sherrif’s car went nose-first into the pond in front of him.

Bo and Luke laughed aloud and, not even five minutes later, pulled into the driveway of the Duke family farm. Daisy Duke was out hanging clothes on the line to dry and Uncle Jessie was doing a little work on the house.

“Heya, fellas!” Daisy said cheerfully as her cousins climbed out of their car, the infamous General Lee.
“Hey Daisy,” Bo replied as they came over to her.
“What’s goin’ on?” Luke asked her.
“Well, an old friend of mine is comin’ to stay for a few days,” Daisy replied.
“Really? This old friend happen to be anyone we know?” Bo asked.
“I doubt it – her name’s Billie Jo Dooley,” Daisy replied, “she’s a rodeo girl.”
“Oh, her daddy some big rodeo star?” Bo asked increduously.
“No, she’s in the rodeo,” Daisy answered.
“A GIRL rodeo rider? What WILL they think of next?” Luke quipped.
“She is, and I won’t have you fellas actin’ like this when she comes,” Daisy picked up her laundry basket and stomped away.
Uncle Jessie came ambling over in his usual way and said, “You boys ought ‘not tease Daisy like that; and… while her friend is here… I’d better not hear of ANY trouble, you hear?”
“Yessir,” Bo and Luke nodded.

~*~

The next day, Daisy had forgiven the boys, but was still visibly wary of them. So they decided to hang around Cooter’s garage until supper time.

Cooter was working on some souped-up hotrod that belonged to some rich guy a few miles outside town (who most likely knew the work Cooter did was good, but dirt-cheap compared to some places) while Bo and Luke chattered on about some races they would be racing in within the next couple of weeks. As their chatter began to liven up, they looked up and watched what was passing them.

“Wonder what’s goin’ on,” Luke said.
“They’re comin’ in for the county fair next week – start settin’ up on the vacant lot in a day or two; gonna have a rodeo this year, I hear,” Cooter inputted with all he knew.
Bo and Luke looked to eachother, then back at Cooter, “Daisy said a friend of hers was coming in to town to stay for a few days – she wouldn’t happen to be a rodeo rider in the fair, would she?” Luke asked.
“A girl rodeo rider? Well, I suppose it’s possible…” Cooter thoughtfully rubbed his stubble, then tipped his cap back a little further on his head, “heh, wonder what ol’ Boss’ll have to say ’bout that one…”

Meanwhile, old Boss Hogg was sitting in his chair, counting his money when Rosco came in out of nowhere.

“Boss?”
“What do you WANT, Rosco, can’t you see I’m BUSY?”
“Well, I was just gonna let you know, the people with the county fair are here, gonna start settin’ up in a couple of days,” Rosco said humbly.
“They’re here?” Boss Hogg asked anxiously, getting up from his seat and puttering over to the window and looking out of it to see all the people moving the equipment over to the vacant lot so it could be positioned in a couple of days.
“Yup, they’re here alright, ooh, the county fair! And just think, you’ve invested in the rodeo this year!” Rosco said excitedly, wringing his hands and grinning.
“Yeeesss, the rodeo… should bring in a LOT of money this year, more than usual, I believe…” Boss Hogg replied in his ever-so-kaniving way.
“Oooh, sounds like you’ve got a plan!” Rosco sputtered in excitement.
“Indeed I do, Rosco… but I’ll reveal it when need be,” Boss Hogg grinned, sticking a cigar in his mouth and continuing to count his money.

~*~

Bo and Luke went home that night to find Daisy wasn’t there. Uncle Jessie had begun cooking something and Bo went over to dip a finger in teh gravy to taste test, but Uncle Jessie smacked his wrist good-naturedly with a ladel.

“You boys go wash up, Daisy’s bringin’ her friend home any time and I wanna have this done before she gets here so Daisy can visit more than she has to cook,” he said in his gruff way, the boys doing so.

In the meantime, Daisy pulled up in the Dixie with a trailer hitched behind it, and a girl with long, dark blonde hair and large blue eyes sitting next to her.

Daisy smiled over to her friend, “I think you’ll like it here, Billie Jo; better than stayin’ at Boss Hogg’s old motel,” she said.
Billie Jo smiled as well, “I really appreciate you lettin’ me stay here, Daisy.”
“Oh it was no problem, sugar; here, let’s get your bags, unload Beauregard, and get you settled in, hm?”
“Alright.”

Inside, the boys noticed Daisy pulling up and getting out, the house casting a long shadow over them due to the sun going down on the other side of the house.

“Well dang, can’t even get a good look at her before she comes in,” Bo said with a snap of his fingers. “You know, I’ve always wondered what a female rodeo rider looks like.”
“Just like any other female, I suppose,” Luke replied, but then added, “who can ride a horse better than most females, too.”
“Yeeehawww!” Bo whooped in his characteristic manner as they made their way downstairs.

Just as they got downstairs, Daisy came in the front door, Billie Jo in tow. Daisy saw her cousins and smiled.

“Oh Billie Jo, this is Bo and Luke, my cousins. You’ll see more of them at supper, but let’s go on up here and get you settled in,” Daisy made quick introductions before taking her charge upstairs to her room.
Bo and Lukes’ gazes both followed Daisy and Billie Jo upstairs, but they shook their heads and looked to eachother, “You know, I’ve come to a conclusion.”
“What’s that, Bo?”
“That female rodeo riders must be some of the best lookin’ women of their species.”

The boys shared a look and a chuckle as they made their way back to the kitchen and took their seats at the table to pester Uncle Jessie until the girls came back down. When they did, Billie Jo had changed from the outfit she was in into a pair of relaxed jeans, a short sleeved button up shirt, and her hair down as it was before, only her bangs were a little more swept away from her eyes.

“Uncle Jessie, this is Billie Jo…” Daisy mad their introductions as Uncle Jessie welcomed her as he did all of his guests.
“Man, those must be some of the biggest, bluest eyes I’ve ever seen this side of Georgia,” Bo marveled.
“Well, some people have begged to differ when they’ve looked into mine,” Luke replied sarcastically.
“Oh shut up, I ain’t lookin’ in your eyes,” Bo scoffed, making Luke laugh.

Daisy and Billie Jo helped carry the food over to their modest kitchen table, although Daisy and Uncle Jessie both protested against her doing it, she wanted to help.

They then all sat down and said grace, then began their meal with lively chatter and “pass the corn” requests.

“So Billie Jo, you’re in the rodeo?” Bo said conversationally.
“Yep, been riding for a couple of years now,” Billie Jo replied.
“Couple of years?” Luke asked.
“Yep; started training for it right after I quit school. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, so I rode and trained, and I’ve trained with some of the best,” Billie Jo replied, “it’s the one thing I’m serious about in life.”
“Well I think that’s good that you’re gettin’ out there and doin’ what you want with your life,” Uncle Jessie chipped in, “how many shows have you been in?”
“Oh quite a few; won a few, too, and some dumb ugly jerk would get mad just because he got beat out by a girl,” Billie Jo rolled her eyes with a laugh.
“Men can be such jerks sometimes,” Daisy intoned, giving Bo and Luke a direct look when she said this, obviously referring to their attitude about female rodeo riders.
“Yeah… or at least the few I’ve had encounters with,” Billie Jo added, “especially the male chauvenists who think girls can’t ride rodeo.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” Daisy replied.

Bo and Luke said nothing, acting like a couple of puppies with their tails between their legs; Uncle Jessie couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, his wise old eyes twinkling with knowing and good old fashioned southern humor.

Later on in the evening, after supper while everyone was sitting in the living room, Billie Jo had excused herself and gone outside. She walked out to the barn where Daisy had shown her to put her horse Beauregard, in a sense the best friend she’d ever had.

She reached up and stroked his pitch black cheek and scratched behind his ears. Beauregard was a solid black thoroughbred with a white star on his forehead. He was indeed a very reagle-looking fellow, one of the ways he had earned his name.

She couldn’t help but smile with pride at her companion. She ran her fingers through his mane for a moment, looking up at the night sky through a hole high in one of the barn walls. But a noise from behind her caused her to turn around.

Bo was walking into the barn at the moment, so she just turned back around and continued playing with her horse’s mane.

Bo leaned his arms against the gate and watched the horse and his owner for a moment, “So this is the horse you ride in shows?”
“Yep; his name’s Beauregard,” Billie Jo replied. Bo groaned just a little, but it was enough to cause Billie Jo to look up with a grin, “Hmm… another Beauregard, huh? Wow, I’m surrounded.”
This lightened the mood a little for Bo as he reached over and scratched behind Beauregard’s ears, “Must be hard bein’ on the road so much, ridin’ and all; bet he makes good company.”
“He does; he’s all I’ve got. I used to have an uncle who rode as well, but he got ill and died not long ago; so now, it’s just me and Beauregard.”
“Don’t have any special man in your life?”
“In the rodeo? Hah! I would never even consider dating half the loosers I’ve been in competition with. They’re all chauvinists. Besides, I don’t have time for a man and don’t need one, I can take care of myself.”
“I’m sure you can. It’s also gotta be pretty hard sometimes, puttin’ up with the jerks, I mean.”
Billie Jo sighed, “It is sometimes… but you get over it and go on. I’ve actually met a couple of nice people out on the road from time to time, but I could never be tied down.”

Bo watched Billie Jo’s movements as she petted her horse and rubbed her fingers and thumb together as she spoke. He also watched her face, which had character all its own. Her eyes sparkled when she talked about the rodeo, clouded over when she talked about jerks, and became a little sad when she talked about not having time for love. He also took notice of the fine dusting of freckles she had on her cheeks and across her nose when she looked over at him. And those gigantic blue eyes. Baby blue, that was what you could call them. She had a refined, quiet accent that you could listen to forever because her voice matched what she was talking about in a feeling sense. She could’ve made a pretty good actress.

Her gaze wandered over to the sky again for a moment, concentrating on it even when Bo spoke.

“So you don’t wanna fall in love at all?”
“Nope; I can’t and I won’t, it’s not in my agenda.”
“What would it take to make you change your mind?”
Billie Jo gave Bo a knowing smile and backed up, walking out of the barn, “It would take a lot to change my mind, Bo Duke; when I’ve got my mind set on something, I’m serious, and I won’t back down.”
“I bet you would, given the right circumstances,” Bo grinned as he followed her.
Billie Jo chuckled dryly, “Bo, what’s your game?”
“Game, what?”
She chuckled again, putting her hands on her hips and looking up at the stars, “I’m not talking about anything any more tonight. G’night.”

And with that, she marched back into the house, leaving Bo standing there, confused, dazed, and amazed. This girl meant business. This would be tough.

~*~

The next day, Boss Hogg had gotten wind that the rodeo rider Billie Jo Dooley was in town and would be in the county fair’s rodeo; of course Boss Hogg being himself, he wanted this ‘famous’ person to come to the Boar’s Nest for a special ceremony in HIS honor. That’s right, HIS. Apparently, Boss Hogg had no idea that Billie Jo was a girl. Not surprising, of course, this WAS Boss…

He also found out that Billie Jo was staying with the Dukes, so he talked to Daisy personally when she came in to work and let her know that Billie Jo was to come to the Boar’s Nest for a ceremony-like, free dinner there in honor of HIM being in town on Saturday. Daisy didn’t bother to correct him and just smiled, saying “Alright, I’ll do that.”

Meanwhile back at the Duke farm, Billie Jo had been left to sleep as long as she needed, seeing as her travel the day before had been long and tiresome. Bo and Luke helped Uncle Jessie with a few chores around the farm before heading out to Cooter’s so he could put some new gadget on their car for them to test out.

Sitting in the garage while Cooter put their new part on, Luke talked to Cooter about various happenings on the farm and with the General Lee. He suddenly caught Bo moping and grinned a sideways grin, “And I do believe a certain li’l rodeo lady has stolen Bo’s heart and stomped all over it.”
“Oh, has she now?” Cooter said as he looked up and grinned, adjusting his ball cap, “Bo, whacha gone an’ let a woman do that fer?”
“I didn’t, Luke don’t know what he’s talkin’ about,” Bo clipped, crossing his arms and taking on a typical pouting stance.
Luke chuckled and looked to Cooter, “He looked into those huge blue eyes and it was all downhill from there.”
Cooter grinned himself, “Blue eyes, well I can’t really blame him there.”

Bo tried to ignore his cousin and friend going on the way they were, but it was starting to get to him. Luke noticed and cut their talk off promptly, asking Cooter about the part he was putting in and how much more it would do for the General Lee.

And to himself, Bo pondered, you guessed it, Billie Jo, and wondered why it would be so hard for her to open up her heart to a man. And he also pondered how in the world he was so attracted to a little cowgirl with a grown-up attitude.

Back at the farm, Billie Jo had long ago awoken and, upon finding Daisy’s note about going to work and not finding anyone else around, she walked out to the barn, saddled up Beauregard, and went for a ride around the Dukes’ property.

The boys pulled up in the driveway to find Beauregard galloping around with Billie Jo, dressed in jeans, a low cut tank top and a button up overshirt, mounted on top of him, the pair riding like the wind without any other cares in the world. Bo got out of the car and trapsed into the house, while Luke leaned back against the General Lee and watched her ride.

Soon, Billie Jo realized she had an audience and stopped, trotting Beauregard over to Luke, “Didn’t know you were home.”
“Bo an’ I just pulled in a minute ago – you sure are comfortable in the saddle,” Luke commented.
“Of course, I grew up in the saddle,” Billie Jo replied, sliding out of it and taking Beauregard’s leadrope and leading him down to the barn, Luke following, “my whole family was good in the saddle, so it made sense that I wanted to be, too.”
“Can’t really break family tradition, can ya?” Luke asked, then added, “The Duke family used to be in the shine business, but Bo and I got caught in a run and Uncle Jessie gave up making it so we wouldn’t go to jail, but get probation instead.”
“Wow… I bet that was hard for him to do,” Billie Jo commented, brushing Beauregard down inside the gate in the barn.
“It was, but he didn’t want us goin’ to jail for it,” Luke replied.
“Y’all are a pretty tight nit family,” Billie Jo observed.
“Yup – we have eachother, and that’s all that matters,” Luke said.
Billie Jo smiled, then continued brushing Beauregard down. “Y’know, Bo was askin’ me some strange questions last night…”
“About love and stuff? Yeah, he told me.”
“Yeah… I didn’t wanna hurt his feelings, but love’s not something I’ve been lookin’ for here lately – and quite frankly, no offense to Bo, he just doesn’t seem like… you know…”
“The type that’ll stick around? Eh, well, Bo will be Bo, and he’s a womanizer, I won’t lie; but he does know how to treat a lady when ya get right down to it,” Luke replied on his cousin’s behalf. “Sometimes, he can be pretty surprising.”

Billie Jo kept silent and let what Luke had said roll around in her mind for a little while. In any case, it wasn’t nice of her to go avoiding him, after all, she was a guest here and she didn’t want to feel like she was being mean to anyone. She would find him later and let him speak, not cut him off any more like she had the night before.

~*~

Bo had just showered for the evening and was putting on his shirt when Billie Jo walked in and had to brush past him to get to Daisy’s room.

“‘Scuse me, Bo,” she said with a small smile as she passed and walked on down the hall and into Daisy’s room.

Bo watched her go and could only sigh as he walked the opposite way, but was only to be stopped by her once again, only to actually speak to him rather than to pardon herself for having to brush past him.

“Hey Bo, y’all got a record player around here?” she asked in a friendly enough tone.
“Sure, it’s downstairs,” Bo replied, “whacha got?”
“Oh, I’m a George Strait junkie,” Billie Jo replied with a grin, “he’s got some pipes on him! His looks aren’t too bad, either…” she continued as they made their way downstairs.
“Who’s looks might we be discussin’?” Luke asked conversationally as he came through.
Bo rolled his eyes, “She’s got the hots for George Strait,” he replied.
She playfully slapped Bo on the arm and caught sight of the record player, “I do not! I only said he wasn’t bad to look at, you know…”
“Well hey, I’ve had a couple of girls mistaken me for George Strait before,” Luke said proudly, standing and grinning dopily.

Billie Jo cocked her head to the site and bit the inside of her lip; this entire thing amused Bo and he stood off by himself and chuckled as he watched.

“Weeell… maybe in the right LIGHTING, but not in plain daylight…” she observed with her arms crossed.
Bo couldn’t help but snigger and Luke looked mildly disappointed, “Figures, it was probably pretty dark, after all…” he mumbled as he made his way upstairs.

Billie Jo looked to Bo, who looked to her, and they shared a silence until the door to the bathroom door shut, then they quietly giggled amongst themselves.

“Anyway, now I must have my fix…” Billie Jo commented, settling the needle on the song she wanted to hear.

The beginning strains to “Amarillo by Morning” were heard and Bo recognized the song as one he had heard on the radio not too long ago and smiled, holding his hand out to Billie Jo.

“May I have this dance?”
Billie Jo smiled, “Why thank you kind sir, and yes you may.”

He took her by the hand and brought her close to him, their slow-dance beginning just as George’s smooth voice filled their ears and his meaningful lyrics swam in their minds.

Bo knew the song and could understand why Billie Jo liked it so much; it was of course about a rodeo rider. But while he held her in his arms, the song’s meaning was far from his mind, as he only concentrated on the rhythm and how their bodies moved together in a perfect gliding motion. That was when his eye caught hers.

Billie Jo couldn’t help but look up into Bo’s eyes as they danced. He seemed so deep in thought, and she thought, from the brief times she had gotten to see them, that he had beautiful eyes. Fact of the matter was, no matter how you looked at him, Bo was beautiful in every way. From his twinkling eyes to his perfect, boyish smile. He had it all… yes he did…

As the song came to an end, their dancing became slower and Bo instinctively pulled Billie Jo closer to him, looking deep into her eyes, she looking deeper than she meant to. Not realizing, she pulled in closer to him as well, and before either knew it, their faces drew nearer and nearer, and their noses were almost touching…

“Boys! ‘R ya in here?” Uncle Jessie could then be heard exclaiming from the kitchen.

Bo jerked in surprise and Billie Jo, now realizing what was happening, pulled back and stuffed her hands in her back pockets, then stopped the record player and took the record off and back to her room where she had left the sleeve on Daisy’s bed. Bo watched her slight figetiness as she made her way up the stairs, not once looking back at him as he went into the kitchen to see what Uncle Jessie was up to.

Billie Jo could’ve slapped herself! How in the world could she have almost let that happen?? Was it the song? Well yes, it was a beautiful song, but sometimes it made her feel lonely… No, it wasn’t the song! Maybe it was something in the way he had held her… It was something like she had never felt before from any man in her life… Oh, why had Luke talked to her about all that earlier??

On her way up, she ran into Luke, who was coming out of the bathroom dressed in jeans and had his shirt in his hand.

“What’s wrong, Billie Jo? You look like you’ve seen a ghost… or something like that,” Luke asked, concerned.
“I’ve seen too much, that’s all I know,” was Billie Jo’s hurried reply as she shut herself in Daisy’s room, away from everyone.

Luke raised his eyebrows in apprehension, shook his head, and made his way on downstairs.

~*~

Back in town, old Boss Hogg had developed his plan to get more money from the rodeo. And it was after everything in Hazzard county was beginning to settle down that he decided to tell Rosco what his plan was.

He spun around to Rosco in his little chair and stuffed a cigar in his mouth, “We create a diversion and blame it on the Dukes, then nab the extra money when no one’s lookin’ – after all I DO own the town!”
“Ooh Boss, sounds like a plan to me!” Rosco laughed in his oh-so-Rosco way.
“Yeees… now it’s just comin’ up with a diversion that’s the problem,” Boss Hogg said, which set him and Rosco in some deep thinking. They didn’t know it yet, but they would soon have all the help they needed in creating a “diversion” from someone staking out Hazzard whom they would meet soon in the future. Had a pretty flashy ride, too… Mysterious, no?

Daisy came home that night and regailed Billie Jo with the news that she would be meeting Boss Hogg on Saturday night at a ceremony, and that he had no idea that she was a she.

Billie Jo rolled her eyes, “Well that’s nothing new to me, my name would have anyone thinking that.”
“But isn’t your middle name Joanne?” Daisy asked.
“Yeah, but it’s too much of a mouthful, so it got shortened to Jo, which is all the same, I guess,” Billie Jo replied with a characteristic eyebrow raise and shake of her head.

It was obvious to almost everyone that Billie Jo and Bo were doing their best to avoid eachother, but were doing the most awful job of avoidance ever heard of. Bo was trying to keep away from her so he might not act upon instinct and take her in his arms like he’d had her before and played out the scene that never happened. And she was avoiding him… well, for that exact same reason. But their gazes always ended up at eachother when the other wasn’t looking, no matter how fleeting they might have been. It didn’t get past anyone.

As Daisy and Billie Jo were getting ready for bed that night, Daisy gave her friend a knowing look and smile, “Billie Jo, you gettin’ soft on Bo or somethin’?”
“What? No, why you ask?” Billie Jo tried to play it off like it was nothing.
Daisy flopped on her stomach across the bed and propped her chin up on her hand with her elbow, “It’s only obvious, sugar.”
“Why you say that?”
“Well honey, I saw the way you were lookin’ at him… and I saw the way he was lookin’ at you, too,” Daisy continued.
Billie Jo shrugged, “I’ve had something in my eye all evenin’, but I can’t speak for Bo,” she added.

Daisy giggled, humoring Billie Jo, but knowing good and well that something was cooking – and not just her pot roast getting prepared for dinner the next night.

~*~

The next day, Luke caught a ride from Uncle Jessie out to Cooter’s garage to see what he was up to, and to let him know how nicely their new parts were running on their flashy race car.

“Well hey, Luke! Where’s Bo?” Cooter inquired about the blonde cousin.
“Went ahead and let him sleep it off – besides, I think he might have a little un-taken-care-of business,” Luke replied mysteriously, then noticed what Cooter was working on, “Cooter, that’s the third time I’ve seen that hotrod in this garage!”
“I know, he’s stickin’ around for awhile and decided he wants a new motor put in it,” Cooter replied, “they’ve already had brand new wheels put on it and a lot of other stuff.”
“Odd, it looks like it would run fine with everything it’s got.”
“I’ll say – everything on this car screams speed, but apparently they want it REALLY fast! Really duded up guys, so I imagine they’re somebody.”
“I’d say so…”

At the farm, Bo awoke and went downstairs to find Luke gone, Uncle Jessie gone to town on an erand, and Daisy gone to work. And outside, Billie Jo was riding Beauregard up and down the open field.

He smiled slightly to himself, finished gulping down some more orange juice from the jug, and made his way outside. The early morning sun hit his face and made him squint for a moment while his eyes adjusted to the light. He went over by the fence and leaned his elbows up on it, his foot propping itself on the lower rung and just watched her gracefully ride her steed as if she had been born in the saddle.

Suddenly, Billie Jo looked up and noticed he was watching. She tried to ignore him, but it was almost impossible to because he just stayed right there. Sighing, she trotted Beauregard his way and stopped him short of being on top of the fence.

“What?” she asked.
“What do you mean what, I was just watchin’ you,” Bo replied innocently.
Billie Jo raised her eyebrow, “You don’t give up, do ya?”
“No,” he grinned up at her winningly.

She shook her head with a laugh and sighed. Wow, she would never be able to resist if he kept smiling up at her like that.

“Say, I know some mighty fine spots ya could ride Beauregard at – if you wouldn’t mind my joining you, I can show you…” Bo suggested with another one of his smiles, only this one was milder, and very much sincere.
Billie Jo’s eyebrows went up as she considered this, then smiled, climbing off of Beauregard, “Hop on, Cowboy,” she replied with a wink as he hopped the fence and got on Beauregard, pulling her up behind him in one fluid motion and off they galloped.

Billie Jo wrapped her arms around Bo’s waist and propped her chin on his shoulder so she could see what was going on. He slightly turned his head toward her when he felt her do that, and when their eyes met, Bo smiled again, then turned back to navigate Beauregard.

They jumped a fence and kept going further and further into a forest, among dense trees and mountainous hills. The view was awe-inspiring, but Bo apparently had more in mind than just the view. She smiled just a little and curled up closer into his back as they rode along. Bo felt it and a shiver went up his spine, but he kept himself under control, for her sake. After all, who feels like falling off of a horse?

After a few more minutes of riding through trees and clumps of wildflowers, Bo stopped at a particuarly nice spot. A tall, wide oak sat invitingly in the middle of a field of tall grass and wildflowers plenty. Moutains made the skyline in the distance and the sun shown down bright.

Bo stopped them there and climbed down, taking Billie Jo’s hand and helping her down. He tied the horse’s leadrope to a tree limb hanging above and he went over to the tree trunk and sat at the base, Billie Jo soon following and sitting beside him.

He took a deep breath and sighed, “Look at it; no houses, no fences, just plain, good old countryside. Moutains and trees are the only thing you can see for miles.”
Billie Jo nodded, “Yes, it’s very nice, indeed,” she replied, almost a little nervous as to why he might have brought her here of all places.
He looked down at Billie Jo. He noticed that she tended to use her proper English the most when she was either nervous or shy. Gosh, why was she nervous? Or shy? He put an arm around her shoulders and smiled down at her, “What’s it gonna take to convince you I ain’t the big bad wolf?”
Billie Jo raised a characteristic eyebrow, “You certainly ACT like a wolf in sheep’s clothing…”
“Aww now, that ain’t fair…” he leaned back against the tree, crossing his ankles out in front of him.
“What? That I’ve caught you in your disguise or that you think I’m misjudging you?”
He looked over at her sheepishly, “Maybe a little of both?”
That made her giggle, then brush a lock of his hair from his eye, “You know, you remind me so much of a little boy…”
He slightly rolled his eyes, “Great, another one who wants to mother me…”
“Mother you? Heh, I think your mother did about as much as she could on her own, you just won’t be made any more of a gentleman than you are,” she replied cattily.
“Is that so? A gentleman, huh?…” he licked his bottom lip thoughtfully for a moment.
She crossed her arms, her eyebrow going up again as she leaned back against the tree herself and crossed her own ankles, “Don’t hurt yourself pondering that one, sweetheart.”
He came around to face her a little better, “Why do you insist on bein’ so darned hard to get?”
She gave a lazy lop sided smile, “Me? Why, where did you get such an idea?”
Bo rolled his eyes and leaned back, “Tom-boys…”
She almost felt disappointed that she had let that chance for him to kiss her slip away, “I can’t help it, I was just never like the other girls, so I hung around the boys.”
“No kiddin’…”
“Aww now, Bo, don’t be a spoiled sport just because I ain’t like none of your other lady friends.”
“I ain’t…”
“Then why’re you poutin’?”
“I ain’t poutin’… now would’ja quit that?”
“Quit what?”

He looked over at her again and found her smiling her beautiful smile, which only caused him to smile as well.

“Let’s start over, alright? So tell me somethin’…” Billie Jo began as she turned toward him and scooted down further into the grass and propped her head in her hand, “you know I like George Strait; tell me what kinda music you like.”
Bo raised his eyebrows and joined her in the same position, “Well, now that we’re playin’ this game, let me get my options together here…”

Back in town, old Boss Hogg sat in his chair cackling over his plan to rob the rodeo of its excess money without anyone knowing and how brilliant it was, even if he didn’t have a proper distraction. He lacked that one minor detail, but that didn’t stop him from celebrating with a chicken dinner, compliments of his establishment, the Boar’s Nest.

“Rosco, I’m brilliant! I’ll make so much money back, I could do whatever I wanted to!”
“Er, yeah, but Boss, don’t you already have enough money to do whatever you want?”
“Oh, that doesn’t matter, you can’t ever have ‘enough’ money, numbskull!”
“Right, of course…” Rosco tried to pluck a drumstick, but Boss slapped his hand before he could even get to it.

Now you understand where he got his name?

In the meantime, back at old Cooter’s garage, Luke had left with Uncle Jessie out to another part of the county to visit a friend and the people who owned the hotrod came in.

“Ah, I see you managed to get everything together, just as well as you did last time! I can’t tell you just HOW much I appreciate this,” a guy in a white suit, black shirt, a big hat, and sunglasses said, his accomplyss, a guy in a black suit, white shirt and sunglasses nodded in agreement.
“Oh it was no problem,” Cooter replied, taking their payment money.
The man in the white suit smirked to the one in black and whispered, “Should be able to get that girl somethin’ easy now – after all, you could get away with anything in this town and the cops wouldn’t catch ya.”

The man in black nodded and they climbed into their car, taking off and testing out their new speed toy.

Cooter shook his head and sighed, going back to his other works. All this for some girl…

“‘Smokey and The Bandit,'” Bo sounded off.
“Burt Reynolds!” Billie Jo’s eyes lit up, “Wow, I loved that movie!”
“You’ve seen it??” Bo exclaimed.
“Of course! That movie is what got me into fast cars and CB radios!”
“You too??”
Billie Jo fell backward onto her back laughing, then propped herself up a little bit better, “Hey, I took you for a ride on my horse… how ’bout you take me for a ride?”
Bo’s eyebrows shot up and he grinned, “Well alright, li’l lady,” he said smoothly, wrapping his arms around her and trying to kiss her, but she placed a hand on his chest to stop him.
“I meant in the General,” Billie Jo smirked with a wink, “boy you redneck boys sure are feisty this time a-year,” she then got up and dusted herself off.

Bo was still on the ground as she pulled herself up onto Beauregard and he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as he got up and climbed on behind her, they riding double back once again back to the Duke farm.

At the Boar’s Nest, Daisy waited on her usual tables and got her usual cat-calls, which she ignored with typical Duke charm: a smile. She then spotted a table with two men in suits of black and white and sunglasses. Looked like some city slickers to her; time to give ’em a Hazzard County welcome – Daisy style.

“Well howdy, fellas,” she said with a smile, “welcome to Hazzard! What brings ya here?”

The men couldn’t help but marvel at the sight before them – after all, who couldn’t see Daisy without marveling for a second or two?

“Some business,” the one in white replied, lowering his sunglasses and smiling, “at the county fair.”
“Oh at the county fair? Y’all in charge of promotions or somethin’?” Daisy asked.
“Something like that,” the guy in white said, about to take her hand in his when she noticed and discreetly got up to avoid it.
“So, what can I get you fellas?” she asked as she took out her notepad to take their order.
“Uh, just give us the special of the day, and two waters, please sweetheart?”
“Comin’ right up!”

They watched Daisy go for a moment before snapping back to their reason for being in Hazzard county.

“See? This place ain’t full of nothin’ but hicks and southern belles; no one suspects a THING! Billie Jo’ll finally be out of the rodeo circut for good!” the guy in white assured his friend in black, grinning broadly and giving a snide laugh.

Boss Hogg then came out of the back and found the men sitting outside at one of his tables. Of course because they looked like they would be pretty important people, he knew he just had to say hello and make an impression. And you know how ol’ Boss is with his impressions…

“Weeeell, how ‘do, y’all; name’s J.D. Hogg, Jefferson Davis Hogg, I run this fine establishment, as well as this entire county,” he bragged in his usual way.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Hogg; say, since you run the show around here, do you happen to know the whereabouts of Billie Jo Dooley? We’re, er… cousins of hers, come into town for just this week to see the show,” the guy in white replied smoothly.

Boss was so intent on making those young men happy that he didn’t even notice that they called Billie Jo Dooley a girl.

“Why at the Duke farm,” he replied with a happy-Hogg grin, giving them rough directions. “Or you could always look out for a bright orange car with a one on the side – they’re a troublesome bunch, them Dukes, don’t see how Billie Jo could EVER be associated with…”
“Well, thank you, sir, we are very, but VERY, grateful,” the young man in white said, giving Boss a stack of bills.

Uh huh, that was a given, wasn’t it?

Bo was about to help Billie Jo into the General Lee, but she put up a hand to stop him, “What, you don’t think I can climb into a racin’ car?”
“Well, I never said that,” Bo defended himself.
“Doesn’t matter what ya said, boy, it’s all in what you do,” Billie Jo replied, smirking as Bo went to the driver’s side to get in.
“Ready?” he asked her with his boyish grin.
“You bet,” she replied with a smile of her own.
Bo grinned again, then let out his characteristic, “Yeee-hooo!”

The General Lee spun tires and took to Hazzard’s rough backroads like a fish to water. Bo looked over to his passenger and tried to read the expression on her face, but all he could see were pure smiles as they rode along.

“Havin’ fun?”
“What do you think, cowboy?” she grinned, then let out her own, “Yaaaaaaaaaaaaahoooo!!!!!!!!”
Bo laughed and grinned himself, “Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahooooooooo!”

After another few minutes of riding along, they came up on a ridge with a small clearing underneath, a couple of trees growing up from the clearing itself.

“Ya ready for somethin’ really wild?” Bo asked, getting ready to shift gears, “Hang on, honey, this ain’t nothin’ like the movies!”
She knew what they were about to do and suddenly became panicked when he said that, “It ain’t?”
“Nope,” Bo looked over to her with a sincere smile, “It’s better.”

Billie Jo smiled to herself and prepared mentally and physically for the kind of thrill she had witnessed only in movies and on roller coasters at amusement parks.

Off the ground they went; floating, soaring, were a couple of words Billie Jo later used to describe the feeling of the General Lee when it was flying over that little clearing to the ridge on the other side.

Bo looked over briefly to her, “You alright?”
Billie Jo smiled, “Never better,” she replied.

Bo nodded and continued to watch up ahead of them to make sure they landed safely. For luck, he blew the Dixie horn as they were about to land; they landed safely and Bo pulled over close to a clump of trees and leaned over to Billie Jo.

“How was it? You alright?” he asked, concerned when she hadn’t said anything.
“Wow… Bo, that was amazing!” she exclaimed, her eyes dancing with delight.
“Well…” Bo blushed a little, “General can handle his own; but if you thought that was somethin’, you oughta see what I can do without the car…”
Billie Jo’s head leaned in a little closer to his, “Should I? Got a license for that?”
“Does my driver’s license count, cause that’s all I got,” Bo’s eyes met hers.
“It’ll do,” Billie Jo replied, her smile reaching her eyes as their heads inclined toward eachother, their lips meeting in the middle for a long-awaited, sensuous kiss.

Now despite that everything looks good for right now, as we all know, in Hazzard county, things can change mighty fast…

Bo and Billie Jo pulled away for a moment to look into eachother’s eyes, but it was just long enough for something to spoil their mood, as it always seemed to. A blue car came barrelling down the deserted dirt road, and the driver and passenger inside were in heavy discussion.

“It sure was slick getting this old beat-up ride to get her out at the Duke farm,” the guy in the black suit commented.
“Of course, Dylan, we don’t want anyone suddenly recognizing that ride we drove into town with. We’ll get Billie Jo, then switch back over to OUR car, then find somewhere to dispose of her,” the man in white replied.
“I just hope it works, Adrian…” Dylan spoke quietly, “I’m nervous and I don’t know why…”
“Don’t be nervous, son, we’ll get her out of this business, and you’ll have a clear shot at makin’ it bigger than she EVER did on the rodeo circut!” Adrian replied with fiendish glee.

Somewhere around this time, they passed the General Lee and Dylan just happened to be the one to notice.

“Say, didn’t that fat guy tell us to watch out for a orange car?”
“Yeah, what of it?”
“Well, we just passed it, if it had a number one on the side…”
“We did?!” Adrian almost panicked, quickly turning their car around and heading back through a cloud of their own dust to the General Lee.

Billie Jo just happened to peer around Bo right at that moment when she heard a lot of racket, “Bo, Bo, that car’s headed right for us!”
“What?” Bo questioned, turning and seeing that it was, indeed, coming right at them.

“Hey, she’s in the car with that guy!” Dylan exclaimed.
“Aha, even better!” Adrian replied, his grip on the steering wheel tightening, “Time’s come, son… let’s go.”

Bo quickly started the General and got her going, turning sharply to the right and steering past a dense cloud of trees, planning to just get out of the way. But from the way they started chasing the General, it seemed their intent to run over them wasn’t accidental…

Billie Jo couldn’t believe what was happening; she had instantly recognized the men in that car and knew from the start that they were up to no good.

“What is it they’re tryin’ to do, kill us?” Bo asked half light-heartedly.
“Not us,” Billie Jo replied, “me.”
Bo’s eyes clouded over in many emotions, “Why?”
“Bo, Dylan Driver’s on the rodeo circut as well. He’s always been jealous just because I’ve managed to get a bit more publicity and recognition than he has. I knew he was looking for revenge, but I would never have thought…”
“Hang tight, honey, we’re gonna shake ’em,” Bo patted her hand comfortingly and shifted gears, picking up his CB mic, “Lost Sheep to Shephard, Lost Sheep to Shephard, Uncle Jessie, you out there?”
Uncle Jessie and Luke were on their way back into the county when they recieved Bo’s urgent-sounding call. “This here’s the Shephard, go ahead.”
“Uncle Jessie, we’ve got a coupl’a creeps tailin’ me an’ Billie Jo with the intent of murder – I’m tryin’ to shake ’em right now,” Bo replied in as calm of a tone as he could manage, not wanting to scare Billie Jo any more than he knew she probably already was.
“Murder, what??” Luke exclaimed, seeming almost like he was about to leap out of the truck and run back to Hazzard.
“Now calm down, Luke,” Uncle Jessie tried to pacify his nephew as he tried to pacify and make plans with his endangered nephew, “Where’re you at?”
“Right now, I’m on Fox Crossing, but that could change any time seein’ as I’m tryin’ to loose ’em,” Bo replied.
“Alright, we’re almost there ourselves, we’ll do our best to intercept,” Uncle Jessie replied, shifting gears and making that truck go faster than he ever had in his life.

Billie Jo looked almost fit to be tied, but tried not to let it show. Unfortunately, Bo could smell fear, for he had plenty of it in himself right about this time. He patted her hand once again and gave her a wry smile.

“We’re gonna get out of this, don’t you worry, honey,” he said.
Billie Jo smiled back with a wry smile of her own, “I know you can,” she replied, with more confidence than she had at the moment, and which gave Bomore confidence than he had before.
His smile widened just a little, “So ya trust me?”
“I trust you – it’s them I don’t trust,” she replied, gesturing with her thumb back toward the blue car.
He laughed just a little, “Alright, hang on, then…”

They were approaching a jump which looked almost a mile wide – across a river of all things. Now who’s to say that they won’t follow them to the other side, if they make it?

Uncle Jessie then turned onto Fox Crossing; the General Lee came speeding down the lane, about to whiz across right in front of them.

“What?? Bo’s plannin’ on makin’ that jump over yonder??” Jessie demanded to the air.
“I think he can do it,” Luke replied, very confident in his cousin, although it didn’t stop him from worrying. “Stop right here, Uncle Jessie, I’ve got a plan.”

Bo kept his foot to the gas like no time ever before and was intent on loosing the creeps. No one was about to hurt Billie Jo for any reason, not if he had anything to say about it. And who could blame him?

“Ya ready?” he asked as they neared the jump.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Billie Jo replied. She would’ve taken hold of his hand, butrestrained herself, thinking it might’ve interfered with his jumping.

But he surprised her and took her hand on his own, pulling her just a little bit closer. They shared a quick, encouraging smile as Bo came right on the jump point. God if he got her out of this, she would more than owe him… but she didn’t mind that.

“Hang on,” he said, and off the ground they went, sailing through the air smooth as anything.

Billie Jo couldn’t savor that moment of flying like she could the last one. She knew good and well this jump could kill them, or the men behind them could one. And that alone would scare anyone.

Y’all stay tuned now, ya hear?

Go to Part Two