by: Marty Chrisman
Early the next morning Bo was up and rearing to go. They were going home for the holidays. He waited impatiently for Luke to wake up. Finally he couldn’t stand waiting any longer. “Luke?” he said, shaking his cousin’s shoulder “Hey, Luke…come on get up.”
Luke groaned and pulled the covers over his head “Go away, Bo.” He said sleepily.
“Come on, Luke.” Bo coaxed. “It’s time to get up. We’re going home for Christmas. Remember?”
“Alright,” Luke mumbled, blinking his eyes and sitting up on the edge of the bed. He ran his hand through his thick dark brown hair and scowled at his cousin. “I’m up. Are you happy now?”
“I will be as soon as we’re on that plane headed for home.” Bo told him. He pointed to the suitcase lying on his bed. “I already got some stuff packed.”
“Good.” Luke muttered, shoving himself to his feet and heading for the bathroom. “Then finish packing and leave me alone.” Bo looked at his cousin with an arched eyebrow as Luke went into the bathroom and slammed the door. He sure was in a bad mood this morning. Maybe I shouldn’t have kept waking him up last night Bo thought to himself. He heard the shower start running and smiled as he went back to packing their clothes.
Luke had just come out of the bathroom when there was a knock on the door.
Bo opened it to admit a man in his early sixties with gray hair and watery blue eyes. He smiled at the two boys and said, “I’m Benny Martin. Charlie’s friend. I hear we’re taking little trip to morning to a place called Hazzard, Georgia.” He held out his hand and shook Bo’s hand and then Luke’s hand.
“That’s right.” Bo said enthusiastically “We’re going home for Christmas.”
“That’s what I hear. Well, if you boys are ready…we better git going.”
Bo grabbed their suitcase and they followed Charlie outside to a battered brown Chevy that was parked at the curb in front of the motel. The three men climbed into the car and Charlie turned on the ignition, pulling into the flow of traffic and heading for a private airstrip.
At the airstrip, Charlie led the way to a red and white Piper 260 Comanche. It was a twin engine 4 seater air craft with a cruise speed of 185 MPH. Charlie put their suitcase in the storage compartment in the belly of the plane and the three men climbed into the plane. Bo rode shotgun since he was taller than Luke and sitting in the front gave him more room to stretch out his legs. Luke sat in the back seat directly behind Bo. Luke had flown in similar small aircraft while in the service but Bo had never flown in a small plane before (Other than a two seat crop duster that a friend owned back in Hazzard) and he was visibly nervous.
“Don’t worry, Bo…” Luke said leaning forward and putting his hand on his cousin’s shoulder “You won’t notice it for long if we crash.” He grinned getting a little dig in at his cousin for keeping him awake the night before.
“That’s not funny, Lukas!” Bo said in a high voice that betrayed his anxiety.
“Don’t worry, Bo.” Benny said with a chuckle “I promise not to crash this baby.”
He reached for the mike and requested clearance from the tower. When he got it, he slowly taxied into position and started down the runaway gradually picking up speed. The plane lifted gracefully into the air and they were airborne. Once they were in the air, Bo started to relax, looking out the windows amazed at the view below him.
“How will it take us to get there?” Bo asked, excited as kid about going home for the holidays.
“About 3 or 4 hours.” Benny told him “You’ll be having supper with your family tonight.”
“Yehawwwww.” Bo exclaimed with a huge grin. His rebel yell echoed loudly in the small enclosed cabin of the plane.
“Okay, Bo….” Luke said with a laugh “Chill out a little, okay?” Luke was just excited to be going home for the holidays. He was homesick too. He missed Hazzard just as much as Bo did. He couldn’t wait to see Uncle Jesse and Daisy, along with the rest of their friends. But unlike his more impulsive and reactive cousin, Luke was more reserved and laid back.
The three men made casual conversation as the small plane headed for Hazzard. Bo and Luke told Benny about them driving with the NASCAR circuit and entertained him with stories about life in Hazzard. Benny told them that he was originally from a small town in Arkansas so he was familiar with the southern way of life. His daddy had even run moonshine for awhile. He laughed when the boys told him that they were ex-ridge runners.
As they crossed into Kentucky, the sky turned dark but Benny didn’t seem to be alarmed. He told the boys that he was used to flying in bad weather and not to worry if things got a little rough. Bo’s face turned a little green at that idea but he decided to keep his mouth shut. The dark sky soon turned into a full fledged blizzard making it impossible to see, Benny had to rely solely on his instruments to continue flying. Bo was white as a sheet and Luke was a little nervous himself.
Suddenly Benny muttered a curse under his breath and started turning dials and pressing buttons. “Hang on!” he said sharply “We got a problem. We just lost an engine!”
Neither Bo nor Luke had to be told twice, they were hanging on and they were praying. Benny grabbed the mike and pushed the transmit button “This is Cobra 2486 declaring a may day! Repeat May Day! I have an engine out and we’re going down!” Keeping his eyes on his controls he told the boys “Put your head between your legs and kiss your asses goodbye…we’re going down, boys!”
Both Luke and Bo assumed the crash position with their heads down between their legs and their arms covering their heads. They were both terrified as they felt the plane spiraling out of control and heading for the ground. They heard the ripping of the metal around them and then there was a tremendous jolt followed by nothing but darkness.