by: Marty Chrisman

Luke slowly opened his eyes, blinking against the glare of the early morning sun. At first he was afraid, convinced that he had only dreamed that someone had found him, that he was still trapped and alone on the mountain. He moaned softly as a jolt of pain shot through his injured leg and into his back. Glancing around, he saw a black horse tethered nearby, grazing on some wild grass that was poking up through the rocks.

“That’s Lobo.” Cory said. He was sitting on the ground beside Luke. He opened a thermos and poured out a cup of steaming coffee. He offered the cup to Luke who shook his head. He still felt nauseated and the thought of eating or drinking anything wasn’t very appealing. “And we’re gonna have to get you up on him to get you outta here.”

“I can’t ride with this leg.”

“You don’t need to ride all you need to do is just hang on.” Cory told him. He picked up the thermos and walked over to the horse. He put the thermos in the saddlebag and picked up the reins, leading the horse over to where Luke was lying. “Come on, Lobo” he said clucking his tongue “Down boy….down.” The horse bent his front legs and knelt down on his knees, putting the saddle closer to the ground. “You ready?” Cory asked Luke once he had the horse in position.

“Just get it over with.” Luke muttered. He clenched his teeth tightly to keep from screaming as Cory grabbed him under his arms and lifted Luke to his feet. Taller then Luke, Cory was also stronger, easily managing to support Luke’s weight. He sat Luke down on the saddle, using the opposite side of the horse than a rider would normally use to mount, knowing it would easier for Luke to get his uninjured leg over the horse’s back. Even that was almost impossible for Luke to do. Cory finally had to help. Luke’s injured leg was throbbing with pain (Not to mention his ribs) and he suddenly felt dizzy and light headed. He had never been afraid of being on a horse before, not until now.

“Hang on.” Cory ordered once Luke was settled in the saddle. Luke grabbed the saddle horn and held on tightly, as Cory gently eased the horse back on his feet. Luke swayed and would have fallen from the saddle if Cory hadn’t noticed and quickly reached out to steady him. “How you doing?” he asked in s concerned voice.

“I’ve been better.” Luke admitted in a tightly controlled voice, not wanting to show just how much pain he was really in. His right leg was throbbing, the pain extending up into his hip and lower back. He hunched forward in the saddle because of the pain from his broken ribs. It seemed as if he could not remember a time when he hadn’t been in pain.

Cory gently patted the horse’s neck and fed him a cube of sugar, at the same time eyeing Luke carefully, making sure that he was going to be able to stay in the saddle. It wasn’t far to his cabin but he would have to go slow because of Luke’s condition. He had considered riding double, but it would easier if he walked and led Lobo so he could try to keep the horse away from the more rugged ground. He knew that the slightest jar of the horse’s hoofs would only cause Luke more pain. But it couldn’t be helped it was the only way to get him out of here. Once he was certain that Luke would be able to at least stay in the saddle, he started walking Lobo towards home.

It was only two miles to the cabin, but to Luke it seemed like an eternity. By the time they arrived, his whole body was screaming with pain and sweat was pouring down his face. Cory dropped Lobo’s reins to the ground. He knew that Lobo would stay where he was until he came back to put him in his stall.

Cory glanced at Luke. His face was deathly pale and covered with sweat. He was obviously in a lot of pain. Walking to the opposite of the horse, he grabbed Luke around the waist and pulled him out of the saddle. Luke moaned, collapsing in Cory’s arms and losing consciousness. Shifting positions, Cory easily picked Luke up in his arms and carried him into the house. Inside, he gently laid Luke down on a sofa in the living room and yelled “Hey, Shelby!”

His sister came out of the kitchen, her eyes widening when she saw Luke lying on the sofa. “What happened?” she said. Her voice had a musical lilt to it but with the same slow southern drawl as Cory.

“I found him up on the ridge.” Cory explained “He got himself tangled up in a bear trap.”

“Who is he?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t get around to asking. I figure he’s probably from Hazzard.”

. “What was he doing up on the mountain?”

“Hunting from the looks off. He set up camp down by the road.” Cory grinned and added “He was driving that orange car with a rebel flag on top that you said you saw in Hazzard the last time you were there.”

“Yeah,” Shelby said with a grin, glancing at Luke’s face more closely “Now that you mention it, he was the one I saw riding shotgun. How long has he been out?”

“Just since we got here. He passed out when I took him off Lobo.” Cory told her, looking at Luke thoughtfully “Think he’s a ridge runner?” he said, using the name commonly used to identify the drivers who delivered the shine in the dead of night.

“Could be.” Shelby said thoughtfully “At least whoever was driving that day knew some old ridge runner tricks. And that car sure could hit it and get it. It was maxed out all the way.”

“Yeah, I noticed that when I saw it. You were right when you said it was one nice piece of machinery.”

“They kept up with me till I hit Pine Creek road and then I lost ‘em on the turn around.” Shelby told him with a grin. Her eyes grew serious “He looks like he’s in pretty bad shape, you best get to town. But first help me get his boot off so I can see how bad his leg is. You hold his legs. I don’t wanna get kicked if he wakes up while I’m taking his boot off.”

Cory nodded and put his hands on Luke’s upper legs just above his knees to keep him from moving his legs when Shelby pulled off his boot. Luke moaned and jerked his head from one side then the other when Shelby pulled on his boot, but didn’t wake up. Since boots are made to fit tight, it took some tugging for her to get it off.

Shelby went into the kitchen and returned in a few minutes with a pan of hot soapy water and a pair of scissors. Luke’s sock was soaked with blood and most of it had dried causing the sock to stick to his skin. Shelby carefully cut a slit up one side of the sock and then used the water to gently soak it loose from his skin. When she peeled the sock out of the way, she could see that his foot and ankle were both deeply bruised and badly swollen. The teeth of the trap had punctured his leg just above the ankle, causing three deep wounds on either side of his leg. The wounds had ragged edges that had been caused by the teeth being pulled back out of his leg when Cory released the trap. His ankle was definitely broken; Shelby could see a bone sticking through Luke’s skin.  It was a nasty injury with a serious danger of infection. Using her scissors, she cut a slit in the side of Luke’s jeans up to his knee.

She gently unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it open to expose his chest, checking for additional injuries. His right side was badly bruised over his ribcage. Even though he was still unconscious, he flinched and tried to move away from her touch when she gently ran her fingers along his ribs. Using her touch to guide her, Shelby estimated that he had at least 2 maybe 3 broken ribs. His vital signs were good, but his pulse was a little higher than it should have been. Under normal circumstances, Shelby would have put a couple of pillows under his feet to elevate them but with his injured foot she didn’t want to do that.

“Okay,” she told her brother “Tell the doctor that he some broken ribs and a badly broken ankle. His vital signs are strong and stable at the moment, except for his pulse which is a little fast. Make sure Doc knows that he’s gonna need a tetanus shot. There’s a total of six deep puncture wounds.” Cory listened carefully, memorizing his sister’s assessment of Luke’s condition.

“Anything else?” he asked

“Yeah, see if you can find out who he is and if you can find any family for him. I’m sure somebody in Hazzard knows who owns that orange car.”

“Okay, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Cory went outside, leading Lobo to the barn to unsaddle him and put him in his stall before he left for Hazzard.