by: Marty Chrisman

Luke knew he had to get help. He was bleeding heavily from the wound in his left side and the shoulder wound as well. He didn’t have anything with him to make a field dressing but he knew that if he could just make it to the nearby stream he could use an old Indian remedy to help control the bleeding. But he had to stay far enough ahead of Rusty to give himself time to take care of his wounds when he got to the stream. And to do that, he would need to go in a different direction to throw Rusty off his trail and then double back to the stream.

Luke had a distinct advantage over Rusty. One he knew these woods better than Rusty did and two as a well trained hunter (trained both by Uncle Jesse and the Marine Corps) Luke knew how to hide and stay hidden, even if he was hurt. With darkness falling, he knew that it would be difficult for Rusty to follow any blood trail he might leave behind.

Luke made his way through the woods, going almost 5 miles in the opposite direction. He could hear Rusty in the distance shouting and yelling and Luke knew that he was following his trail. That was what Luke wanted and he was making the trail easy for even someone like Rusty to follow. Finally, he shifted directions and disappeared back into the woods, slowly and carefully backtracking to the stream which was where he really wanted to go. He knew that even after he lost the trail, Rusty could keep going in the same general direction at least for awhile, hopefully long enough for Luke to take care of his injuries.

When he reached the stream, Luke carefully stripped off his shirt and threw it to the ground. Using his right hand since his left was temporarily disabled he scooped up some mud from the river bank. Wincing and clenching his teeth against the pain that just touching the wounds caused, Luke used the mud to cover both wounds. He knew that the mud would help slow down the bleeding, hopefully long enough for him to get help. He was already weakened from losing so much blood. Leaving his discarded shirt behind, he used a low tree branch to help pull himself to his feet and started walking south towards the Duke farm.

With darkness falling, he had to move slower and more carefully. The last thing he needed to do right now was catch his foot in a twisted tree root or slip on some rocks and fall. He listened intently but so far didn’t hear any sounds that indicated that Rusty had picked up his trail again. He cursed himself for allowing Rusty to get the drop on him to begin with. But he had never expected Rusty to use his own brother to bring Luke out into the open where Rusty could attack him. Rusty didn’t seem that smart, although he was considerably smarter than Jamie.

Luke suspected that if Rusty couldn’t pick up his trail again, he’d just hightail it out of here and try to disappear before Luke could report this latest attempt on his life. Especially since now Luke could identify the two brothers. And Rusty was enough of a coward that he would simply leave Jamie behind to take the fall for everything. People like Rusty only cared about themselves. His brother’s welfare wouldn’t matter that much to him. Suddenly somewhere in the distance, Luke could hear someone coming and they were closing in on his location rapidly. He had to get out of sight he was too vulnerable out here in the open.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Duke family and most of Hazzard County was out searching for Luke without much luck. And Uncle Jesse was fit to be tied worrying about his oldest nephew.  Finally, Bo suggested heading up to Henderson Ridge.

“Do you think he’d go back there?” Jesse asked

“He might…if he thought it’d help him remember something…” Bo said

“Well, he ain’t no place else to be found so it’s worth a try.” Jesse said gruffly as he turned the truck towards Henderson Ridge. A few minutes later, he turned onto the rutted dirt road that led through the woods and up to the ridge. Pulling into the clearing where Angie’s body had been found a few days before he parked the truck and the two Duke men climbed out of the cab. Jesse grabbed two lanterns from the back of the truck and lit them, handing one to Bo, so they could see in the rapidly falling darkness.

“Luke?” Bo yelled “Hey, Luke! Are you here?”
Jesse walked over towards the woods that bordered the clearing, stopping to listen

intently. “Bo!” He yelled to his youngest nephew “Over here. I think I hear something. It sounds like somebody could be hurt.” When Bo had joined him, they went into the woods. Pausing to listen again, Bo heard the soft moaning sound coming a short distance away from where they were standing.

“Luke?” he cried, hurrying towards the sound. He was startled when he found the man lying on the ground, curled up in a fetal position and moaning softly. As Jesse came up behind him, he looked at the young man on the ground and said “That ain’t Luke.”

“No, it’s Jamie Harrison.” Bo said, recognizing the younger man. He frowned “What’s he doing here?”

“I don’t know…..but somebody’s hurt….” Jesse said, kneeling down and reaching out to touch the blood on the ground near Jamie’s body. “And hurt bad from the looks of it.”

“Luke?” Bo asked anxiously

“Maybe,” Jesse said letting his eyes scan the surround area carefully, the experienced eyes of a master tracker. “There were at least two other men and they went off in that direction.” He nodded towards the east. “I’ll call Rosco and Enos to get them up here to watch this one here until we know what’s going on.” Jesse said “You try following that trail and see if you can find anybody else. But be careful….we don’t know who’s out there.”

“Yes, sir.” Bo said, turning to move deeper into the woods. He soon picked up the trail following it easily, almost too easily. Then it hit him, if Luke was the one who was hurt, he would try and lead the other man on false trail and then double back so he could lose him. Bo paused then remembered about the mountain stream that ran through the woods. If Luke was hurt, he’d head there. Bo was sure of it. Ignoring the trail he’d been following, Bo turned in the direction of the stream.

When he reached the riverbank, he started walking slowly along the water’s edge, shining his light on the ground and looking for any sign that Luke had been there. His heart caught in his throat when he saw the blue plaid shirt lying on the ground. As he knelt down to examine it, he saw the blood, too much blood. It was Luke that was hurt and he was hurt badly from the looks of it. Hearing a sound approaching in the distance, He yelled “Uncle Jesse! Over here!”

A few minutes later, he was joined by Uncle Jesse and Cooter, both of them carrying lanterns. “It’s Luke’s shirt…” Bo said with a catch in his voice, as he showed them the shirt he had found on the ground “And he’s hurt ….”

“We gotta find him.” Jesse said grimly “Spread out…we need to pick up his trail. Let’s find my boy…”