by: Marty Chrisman

            “So, where are we going?” Kelly asked, as she settled back in the front seat of the General beside Luke.

“Some place quiet.” Luke repeated without really answering her question. He kept his eyes on the road, concentrating on his driving. But he could still sense Kelly’s closeness to him in the confines of the car and smell the faint aroma of her perfume. Asking her to go some place with him so they could talk had been an impulsive gesture on his part. But watching her on the stage tonight and singing with her the way they used to do, brought back old memories and emotions that he knew he had to deal with once and for all. Not only for his sake but for Kelly’s sake too.

When Luke turned onto a deeply rutted dirt road and began driving slowly along the path to the east, Kelly knew exactly where he was headed. Hazzard Pond. It was one of the boys’ favorite fishing spots (not to mention a favorite skinny dipping spot for the local teenagers) Luke was right about one thing. It was quiet alright.

Luke pulled The General up close to the edge of the pond and turned out the headlights, surrounding them with darkness. Staring out through the windshield, he tried to gather his thoughts and put into words what he was feeling. It was harder than he thought it would be. When they were younger, they could share their most private thoughts with each other, but Luke had changed over the years. He had learned to close off a part of himself, to protect himself from the intensity of his own emotions. He sighed softly, while Kelly waited patiently for him to say whatever he had to say.

            After Kelly had disappeared, Luke went half crazy missing her and blaming himself for not making her stay with him that night. And what made it even worse was that he didn’t have anyone to talk to about what he was going through because nobody knew about his true relationship with Kelly. He had never told  anyone about the days he had spent searching the woods around her parent’s shack looking for a shallow grave, praying that he wouldn’t find one and yet, terrified that he would. He had a ring that he planned on giving Kelly but never got the chance, a simple gold band. Instead, he now wore on the pinky finger on his right hand. His pain over losing her had prompted him to join the Marines and leave Hazzard for four years.

*   *   *   *

            “Luke?” Kelly said softly, cutting into his thoughts.

“I’m sorry” Luke said, realizing that she had been waiting for him to say something. “I’ve had a lot of time to think since the other day……..about what you told me…….about us.” He paused just long enough to gather his scattered thoughts “I was hurt because you never told me about the baby.”

“Luke, …” Kelly started to say something more, but Luke stopped her with a look. Gently, he put his fingertips against her lips to stop her from speaking.

“Let me finish.” He told her with a lopsided smile “Or I’ll never be able to get it out.” He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I was hurt because you never told me about the baby.” He repeated “I had the right to know. For years I blamed myself for what happened that night, for not making you stay with me instead of going home.”

“You couldn’t have stopped me, Luke.” Kelly told him, breaking her silence. “Nobody could have. I didn’t intend for what happened to happen.”

“When I found out that you were alive and not dead like I thought all these years, I was hurt about that too and I was angry. But at the same time, I was never happier about anything else in my life.” He pulled his gaze away from her face and stared out through the windshield again. “When you told me everything that happened that night, I didn’t know how to deal with it. I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel……..” He fell into an uneasy silence for a few moments before continuing    “I’m still not sure about that part.”

“I never meant to hurt you, Luke.” Kelly said softly

“I know that.” Luke told her, turning his gaze back to her face. He shifted positions in the seat so that he was facing her, resting his right arm on the back of the  seat behind her. “There’s part of me that understands why you did what you did and there’s another part of me that wants to shake the daylights out of you“

“Does that mean you forgive me?” Kelly asked, tears pooling in her beautiful eyes.

“There’s nothing to forgive.” Luke told her quietly “There never has been.”

“I was afraid that you’d hate me when I told you the truth about everything.” Kelly admitted, the tears slipping from her eyes and falling down her cheeks. “That’s the biggest reason I was scared to come back. I couldn’t have handled it if you hated me.”

With a gentle smile, Luke wiped the tears from her face, letting his fingertips linger on her cheek for a few moments longer than was necessary. “I could never hate you, Kelly.” He whispered “I love you………..I’ve always loved you and I always will.”

Kelly began to cry as she heard Luke say the words she had convinced herself that she would never hear him say again. Without a word, Luke put his arms around her and held her while she cried. He made gentle soothing sounds as he gently rubbed her back.

Kelly’s sobs slowly quieted as she sat there, leaning her head against his chest, comforted by the warmth of his embrace. Finally, she raised her head to look at him questioningly.

“So where do we go from here?” she asked

“Take it one day at a time……” he said quietly, looking deeply into her eyes, eyes he could easily and willingly get lost in. “Get to know each other again.”

Tilting his head towards her, he let his lips gently brush against hers. For just the briefest moment, Kelly tensed in his arms, then relaxed, as his mouth became more insistent. Luke kissed her deeply, savoring the warmth and the sweetness of her mouth. His arms tightened around her waist as he pulled her closer. Reluctantly, he pulled away, stopping himself before he got carried away and let things go too far. It was too soon.

Kelly looked at him, understanding just as she always had. The emotional bond between them was still there, just as strong as it had ever been. And this time, there would be no hiding and no secrets.

THE END (FOR NOW)

by: Marty Chrisman

Kelly examined the various clothes lying across her bed. She had to be at the Boars’ Nest in less than an hour and she still hadn’t decided what to wear. She was already wearing a pair of blue jeans and suede squaw boots, but couldn’t make up her mind on a shirt. Finally, she choose a white shirt with black stitching on the yoke and long black fringe on the sleeves. Slipping into the blouse, she quickly brushed out her hair, deciding to leave it loose tonight instead of pulling it back like she usually did.

Satisfied with her appearance, she grabbed her guitar case and headed out the door.

Fifteen minutes later, she entered the Boar’s Nest through the back door, which led directly into Boss Hogg’s office. That was where the band was already gathered, tuning their instruments and waiting for her to arrive. Jake introduced her to the rest of the band members, a drummer, a fiddle player and a steel guitar player. Jake played lead guitar and was the lead singer for the group. The other men in the band eyed Kelly apprehensively, Jake had already told them about her but none of them were prepared for someone so beautiful.

“How about some Loretta Lynn, some Tammy Wynette, and maybe some Dolly.” Kelly suggested, naming her favorite singers. Jake agreed with her suggestions and they began picking the songs to do. The plan was for Jake and the band to go on first and sing for about half an hour before introducing Kelly to the audience. Since her appearance was a surprise, she would stay in the back room until she heard her cue. By the time the band was ready to go on, they had a forty five minute set worked out featuring Kelly.

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by: Marty Chrisman

It was always noisy in the Boar’s nest. The jukebox blaring, people laughing and yelling, laughter and curses. Hardly a night went by that someone didn’t start a fight with someone else. And, once in awhile, things could get really rough when some irate wife (or husband) came in looking for a straying spouse. Since it was still early, there were only a few hardcore regulars sitting at some of the small tables scattered throughout the room, drinking the watered down beer that Boss served to his customers. Daisy was standing behind the bar, washing glasses, when Kelly came in. She smiled brightly as Kelly sat down on one of the barstools. She was glad to see her best friend again.

“Hi sugar!” she said brightly “Can I get you anything?”

“A coke.”

“What are you doing? Out taking in the local scenery?” Daisy asked as she pulled a 12 ounce can of coke from the cooler and popped the tab. Pouring it into a glass, she sat the can and the glass on the bar in front of Kelly.

“Something like that.” Kelly said, taking a sip of her drink

Daisy grinned mischievously as she leaned in close to Kelly and whispered “Looks like some of the local scenery is checking you out too. Good thing the boys aren’t here or some good ole boy might be picking himself up off the floor.”

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by: Marty Chrisman

            Kelly drove back to her house in a sad, deeply depressed mood. She had seen the pain in Luke’s eyes and she knew that she had hurt him, hurt him badly. That was the one thing she had never intended to do. She wondered if telling him the truth about the baby had been the right thing to do. He was right; she should have told him when she first found out instead of keeping it a secret. But at the time, she had been afraid, afraid of seeing the disappointment in Uncle Jessie’s eyes,  afraid of becoming the gossip of Hazzard because she’d got herself knocked up by one of the Duke boys, and afraid of Luke’s reaction. But most of all, she was terrified that her father would find out. She knew that he would never have allowed her and Luke to get married. He would have killed her for sleeping with Luke in the first place. Kelly found herself thinking about the first few days after she had ran away and the months that followed.

*   *   *   *

            She had run until she couldn’t run any more and the pain forced her to stop and rest. She had miscarried there in the woods. Cold, alone and afraid. The pain, both the physical pain and the emotional pain, was almost unbearable. When she was finally able to walk, she was numb and empty, aching deep inside. Her mind shut down, trying to block out the loss she felt. Not just the loss of the baby, but in her mind, it was also the loss of Luke’s love.

            She wondered through the woods until she came to one of Jessie’s still site that he no longer used. Luke had brought her here more than once and she knew she could hide there and be safe for a few days while her injuries healed. There was an old shack where she could sleep and inside, she found some clothes that one of the boys had forgotten and left there. They were too big for her but she couldn’t go walking around in her bloody clothes. There was a stream nearby so she had water to drink and there were berries to eat. Kelly stayed there for three days. Before she left, she destroyed her bloody clothes so there wouldn’t be any evidence of her having been there.

            Making her way to the highway, she had hitchhiked into Atlanta. She spent two weeks at a shelter for runaways, and then found a job working in a bar. She had always looked older than she really was, so it was no problem lying about her age. She rented a sleeping room and kept to herself, never mentioning her past and afraid to even think about the future.

            She had been in Atlanta for almost a year when she happened to stop at the local library and found back issues of the Hazzard Gazette. Hungry for news about Hazzard, she had read all the papers she could find. That was how she had discovered that her father had apparently killed her mother and then himself the night she ran away. The article mentioned her by name and simply stated that her whereabouts were unknown but that the police believed that she was probably dead too. In a later edition of the paper, she found a small item hidden away on one of middle pages stating that Lukus K. Duke had enlisted in the Marines.    

            Kelly had used a friend’s name and subscribed to the Hazzard Gazette. Through the years, she knew who got married, who had babies, who got divorced and who had died through the years that she was gone. It wasn’t the same but it gave her the connection to Hazzard that she desperately craved.

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