by: Sarah Stodola

 

The sound of a cheerful Dixie horn split the peaceful air of a summer afternoon in the country, before that moment broken only by the occasional twitter of a songbird or cluck of a chicken. A second later, a bright orange racer pulled around the corner to skid to a dusty halt in a farmyard, squawking hens flapping their way out of its path to escape being run over.

The complaining fowl seemed the only life around the place for a couple of seconds, but then a horse whinnied, and that sound seemed to break a spell. In the next instant, a rooster crowed, a goat bleated, the front door swung open as fast as it possibly could, and a young woman and just slightly older man ran out of the farmhouse, having been waiting all day for the arrival of the Texas adventurers. Luke and Bo paused halfway out of the car, sitting on the windows, and called out a greeting to their friends.

“Cooter! Anna! How’ve you guys been?”

It took about one more second for the pair to descend upon the General Lee, everyone laughing, yelling, and hugging everybody else. Bo finally disengaged himself from Cooter, slapping him on the shoulder and scrambling up to sit crosslegged on the General’s roof. He just sat there for a moment, closing his eyes and breathing in deeply the clear mountain air. It was so good to be home. He’d missed this, more than even he had known until he was back. He opened his eyes again and grinned at his mechanic friend, then glanced over at Luke. His older cousin was standing still, Anna pulled into his fervent embrace. He wasn’t saying anything, wasn’t even kissing her. He was just holding her close, as though he hadn’t been sure he would ever see her again. The truth of that was almost painful even to Bo, although it was only a fleeting thought.

He let them have a few more moments, then wrinkled up his nose and shoved Luke in the shoulder. “C’mon, you two lovebirds, break it up!” he teased.

Anna turned to look at him, a playfully annoyed twinkle in her eyes. “Oh, you. Come here, I haven’t given you a real hug yet!”

Laughing, the blond eighteen-year-old slid down off the racer’s roof to accept an embrace just as loving as the one the brunette had given Luke, though in a different way. He sighed, content to be home, and stepped back, meeting her green eyes to say something else teasing, but then paused in serious thoughtfulness. Green eyes… his mind flashed back to another set of green eyes, framed by blonde hair and a city-tough yet friendly attitude… and something inside him ached.

“What is it?” Anna asked softly, her gaze searching the younger boy’s face gently.

He mustered a genuine smile. “Nothing. I’m just so glad to be home. Where I belong.”

She put on a face of mock-shock. “You mean you didn’t have fun on the racing circuit?”

It worked; he had to laugh. “Sure I had fun. After we caught the crooks.”

“Crooks?” Cooter blinked, then held up both hands. “Hold on, whoa there. Start at the beginning, boy, I thought you were goin’ on a vacation.”

Luke chuckled, coming up to claim his girlfriend, sliding an arm around her waist. “We’ll explain, I promise, Cooter. Now, is there any food for a pair of hungry young men around? We didn’t stop for lunch.”

“On the stove waiting for you,” Anna smiled up at him. “Actually, we haven’t eaten yet either. I guess it’ll be a combination lunch and dinner.”

“Fine with me.” Luke smiled back, then moved over to the General Lee to reach into the back seat. “We have got somethin’ for you two, though.”

“What’s that?” Cooter perked up, hazel eyes dancing in anticipation. The mechanic always loved a surprise.

Not losing the secretive sparkle in his eyes, Luke slowly straightened and turned around, hiding something behind his back. He stepped forward, and then suddenly whipped a large gold trophy out and presented it to Anna. She gasped, Cooter blinked, and Bo giggled, feeling like his grin would split his face in two.

“Oh my gosh!” the brunette finally managed. She turned the trophy around, eyes wide in startled, joyous disbelief. “You boys won that?”

“Bo did, actually. The team gave it to us instead of keeping it in their collection. And here’s something else we brought home.” The older Duke pulled a wrinkled envelope out of his jeans pocket and handed it to Cooter. “Don’t you dare not accept. I’ll sneak into the garage after midnight and stuff it in your cashbox.”

“Wha..?” The mechanic frowned and opened the envelope, peering inside. He looked up quickly, eyes wide. “Luke, I can’t take this. I-“

“I told you, take it or else,” Luke interrupted mock-threateningly. He let his friend stand dumbfounded for a few more seconds, then laughed and squeezed him on the shoulder. “Go buy that new truck you need.”

“Th-thanks,” Cooter finally managed, still looking uncertain.

“C’mon, let’s go eat,” Bo broke in, his stomach making its desires quite clear. “I’m hungry.”

Everyone laughed, and he hesitated a moment before smiling too. It did sound kinda funny, when he thought about it; all this climactic stuff, then him talking about food. Oh well. He’d said what he meant, and they all knew it. “All right, let’s go eat,” Luke agreed, slinging an arm over his younger cousin’s shoulders. They followed Anna toward the house, Cooter bringing up the rear and still muttering disbelievingly to himself as he counted the money in the envelope.

Once they all were seated at the table, and the food brought over, Luke glanced around at the little group, smiling, then bowed his head. Bo hurriedly shut his eyes too, just in time for his cousin to begin to speak, softly.

“Lord, thank you for this food, this home, and these friends. Thank you that we arrived home safely… Thank you for everything. Amen.”

“Amen,” the others chorused quietly, then Bo broke the mood by reaching for the baked potatoes.

“Now,” Cooter started as the food started being passed around, “what’s this about catchin’ crooks..?”

 

*     *     *     *     *

 

Bo sat by his bedroom window, on the blanket-covered trunk just below it, and looked out at the night. The air was warm, and the window was open, only a screen keeping out the insects. The smells of home drifted in — hay and jasmine mostly, the latter from the bush growing along the side of the house. The blond teenager was drinking it all in, looking out at the stars, unhidden by streetlights. He’d missed the sight more than he could say. He heard a light wind whistle through the old oak out in the yard, and smiled happily, drawing a deep breath then letting it out. He was home. And despite the fun and glamour of the big city, there was nowhere better to be than home.

He heard soft voices, and glanced downward and over to his left. He could just barely see the front porch out of the corner of the window, and the two figures sitting on the swing, catching up on two months of missed news and feelings. Bo watched them, sighing. He was very glad that Anna was a part of their close circle of friends. As he’d hinted broadly to his older cousin several times, he wouldn’t mind actually having her in the family. She understood him like no one else besides Luke and Uncle Jesse ever had. And being around her almost always put his cousin in a cheerful mood, made him act sorta relaxed and easygoing. The two were good for each other, the watching eighteen-year-old knew that much.

But it still made him feel sad inside, seeing them that close, talking and touching and laughing in the easy way of two people who were utterly comfortable with each other. He wondered how long it would be before that feeling would go away. He hadn’t been looking to fall in love at all, and when he had, Jennifer’s betrayal had hit him only that much harder. He could honestly say that she was the first girl he’d ever really loved, and he’d only just realized it when she suddenly betrayed them all, hurting him deeply in the process. He still didn’t understand why a lust for power and money could make someone go against their friends and coworkers. Maybe it was because he was just a simple country boy. He knew he didn’t understand city people… if those were the ways of the city, he wasn’t sure he ever wanted to.

Of course, there were the exceptions. Like the Brandons, and Frank and Henry, though the latter two had been not only orginally from the country, but the South at that. And several others he’d met. Texas people were pretty friendly, he decided. Maybe those like Jennifer Garret were the exception rather than the norm. It didn’t much matter; it still hurt.

He would be all right, though. He knew it. He already felt better than he had, and as time went by, the ache in his chest would dull even farther until he would hardly even remember it. He turned his mind to other things now, among them those weird dreams he’d had. They had saved Luke’s life both times… and then, with a sense of finality, they had stopped. He was glad. Being as abnormal as he was was enough for him to handle; he didn’t need more problems to figure out. He kinda had to wonder where they had come from, though. He’d finally decided that they had to have been from some other source than himself. God maybe. He’d heard of things like that happening before. Whatever the reason, he was glad he’d had those dreams, and also glad that they hadn’t turned out to be a permanent thing in his life. He had enough to worry about.

Dreams… His mind wandered to a different kind of dream, the kind that he imagined and wished. One of his dreams had been to race on a real track. It had been fulfilled, far sooner than he’d thought it might, and he’d managed to hold his own not only as a ridge-runner, but also driving against professional racers. Another dream, one that had been more wistful than anything, had been to be able to prove himself as capable of surviving the outside world. He thought that he’d fulfilled it; he wasn’t sure. He certainly knew one thing — he didn’t want to leave home again, didn’t want to go back out in the world, at least not without Luke at his side. He needed his older cousin, more even than he’d thought. Little Candy had confided to him shortly after that fiasco with Izzac that she felt the same way about her dad, admitting that maybe she wasn’t as grown up as she’d thought. Bo had to smile at the memory. Candy was quite a kid. She hadn’t been happy to see him go, but he’d given her the Dukes’ address, and promised that he’d write back whenever the team was in one place long enough to receive mail.

As for Henry… well, whereas Candy had seen in the younger Duke only a hero, the ex-Southerner had understood more. They had said their brief goodbyes, but then as Bo had turned to leave, the old man had smiled and touched his shoulder. “Don’t be ashamed of who you are,” he had said softly. “You’re a very strong person. Don’t let anyone change you.” Bo had been left standing startled and bemused, wondering just how much his elderly friend had seen in him that he’d tried to hide. He supposed that would always be Henry’s secret. But those few words had made him think, and he had finally come to a decision. He had started out for Texas with an inward urge to stretch his wings a little. Now, he was glad only to be home, safe, with Luke and Cooter and Anna to watch out for him.

Different dreams of his had been dreamed, proven true, and torn apart. Others had changed as he realized what he really wanted in life. And he’d learned, at least a little, how to be strong. Maybe now he could find the courage to reach for other dreams he had, ones here at home. And maybe he could hint to make others come true, and they could have a real family again.

Thinking about that, Bo glanced back down at Luke and Anna. When he saw them cuddled close together in a kiss, he decided that he’d intruded enough and stood up to go to bed. Climbing under his covers, he stretched out comfortably and yawned. Tomorrow there would be lots of work to be done, he knew. They’d probably take the day off anyway, though, going into town to meet up with some of their buddies. He was sure that when the locals discovered that the Duke boys were back, offers for shine runs would be coming in by the dozen! Well, okay, maybe only five or six would be waiting. But still, danger, excitement, and the fun of outwitting pursuit would be just around the corner. Rosco would probably be, too; they’d have to watch out for his speed trap on the way into town to make sure they didn’t get a welcome-home ticket.

Grinning briefly to himself at the thought, he blinked up at the ceiling, then around the familiarity of his own room, and sighed. Yep, life was gonna get back to normal, at least Hazzard normal, in very short order. And despite the adventure they’d had in the world outside this little backwoods county, there was nothing he would rather life do than just that — get back to Hazzard County normal. Moonshiners, revenuers, crooked cops, crotchety farmers, half-wild good ol’ boys like themselves, and all.

“Bring ’em on,” he whispered to himself. Then, with a little, quiet laugh, Bo Duke rolled over and yawned again, and closed his eyes.

 

END