by: Chet (Dee)

*THE PAST *

A scream echos through an alley of a street in Las Angels C.A. But no one around seems to hear it and they continue on with there business. But with in the alley a couple and there 11 year old son stood in the face of danger. A man holding a gun in his hand threateningly at them suffled throw the womens purse and demanded the husbands wallet. The family wasnt weathy, but they werent broke poor either, but what the teribble killer found was not enough. He shot the boys father in the head killing him emedity, then his mother. The boy cried deeply kneeling next to his murdered parents, the killer still standing there but his gun empty.

“Stupid kid, you saw the hole thing and my face.” The killer said furiously.

Suddenly stricking the boy on the back of the head with the gun and beating him in the face brecking his jaw. The man kicked and beat the boy until there was no moevement from his bloody body and pleased with his work he walked away, never to be seen again.

It was nearly four hours later when a fire cheif on his way to work early in the morning found the couple dead in the alley. The fire cheif called the police in a hurry, reporting that he had found three dead civilians, two adults and one boy. The first officer on the scene was young and just happened to be in the area. The fire chief had done the best he could, but as he was preparing to continue onto work he saw the body of the young boy twich and shudder. Without thinking of anything but the life of the boy he scooped the 11 year old up in his arms and ran down the street until he came to the intersection. The cheif crossed and went up two blocks to the Emergency Hospital. He didnt relise that the young cop was running behind him until they were inside the hospital and running down the hall to the emgency room. Nurses and doctors appeared keeping as calm and cool as possible, put the boy on a bed and wheeled him away.

“You alright?” The young cop asked patting the old Fire Cheif on the back.

The cheif nodded whipping the swet off his face and turning to excit the hall way with the young cop. He looked over his sholder at the doors in which the boy had been wheeled through, the child had hardly been alive. In all his years of fighting fires and rescuing people the fire cheif had never seen a child in such bad shape unless they were already deseaced. Shaking his head he left the hospital and continued onto work despite his bad exsperience.

The doctors were able to stablize the child in a short time, he was dignost with four broken ribs, a broken jaw and a suveer concussion. His jaw was wired together, his ribs rapped and he was left to heal. He awoke late in the night of the day he had been edmitted, a nurse was changing the IV in his arm.

Harlond looked around the room scared to death, he did not know where he was or how he had gotten there. The only thing he remembered was kneeling over his parents, his parents he thought in his head, they were dead. He began to cry, he wanted his mom and dad and he wanted to go home. The first time he tried to move his head he cried out in pain, his jaw hurt so bad that he could only keep it open eough to breath. The nurse soothed him and told him not to move, she was an older women with soft old frail hands that proved her many caring years.

In a little more then a week Harlond was out of the hospital bed and on his way to an orphanage. With absultely no living relitives that would take him in and take care of him, it was the only thing the hospital and child well-fair services could do. He still couldnt talk hardly at all, his jaw would be wired together for the rest of his life and eventually he would beable to talk again when the muscles grew back together. But at the orphanage he was picked on badly by bigger and older boys.

On one ocasion on a trip to a town pool two older boys forced Harlond into the deep end of the pool, he didnt know how to swim and the boys nearly drownd him. When he was long since well he bagan to defend himself, fighting off those who picked on him and teased him. It wasnt unusuall for a local police officer to vist the orphanage, Harlond admired them so much and vowed that he would avenge his parents by becoming a cop. That way he could prevent what happened to him from happening again. At age 16 he enrolled in the army for two years and then applied to a DEA job in Las Angels where he was employed until he turned 21.

One week after he turned twenty one he was patroling a rough part of town with his partner. A man that was edgy and disrespectfull, neither of them getting along well. They stoped to inspect an ilegally parked car and write a ticket. A man waving a .45 pistol came hollering drunk from the house acrossed the street. He was enraged and highly intoxicated, Harlond drew his weapon and began talking the man into putting his down.

Harlonds partner and him crept towards the man talking him down as best as possible, and at last possible moment both officers attempted to arrest the man. The drunk pounded Harlond in the face with the side of the gun, the gun exploded shooting Harlonds partner in the throat and killing him. Momentaryly distracted Harlonds hand was flung from the drunks wrists and the gun barrel touched the right side of Harlonds chest exploding in one quick motion. The close range of the gun sent Harlond spralling to the ground and out cold.
Two hours after the shot rang out through the alleys an old retired man passed by finding the bloody scene. Harlonds partner had long since passed, but Harlond himself lay on the black top bleeding to death slowly. The aged man looked at the scared jaw of Harlond, a scare left behind from his trecherous child hood. The ground around him a puddle of his own blood, the elderly man out for his evening walk called the police and both officers were taken away. The elderly old man slipped on his jacket to protect himself from the evening chill and followed the ambulance to the hospital. This elderly man had a fimilar glint in his eye, he spent 4 hours in the chair next to Harlond’s bed until the young officer awake still grogy with sleep and pain.

“Who are you..?” Harlond groaned aloud talking to the old man and blinking the sleep and pain from his eyes.

“I found you and your partner lying there on pavement…” The man paused reaching into his pocket and recovering something he had possed for many years.

A real silver half dollar with a chain on it so it could be worn around the neck like a necklace. The large coin was edged in gold and badly tarneshed.

“It reminded me of another horrid day many years ago, I found a boy with a broken jaw and he was surrounded by his deceased parents…” The elderly mans voice trailed off.

Harlond’s eyes went wide open and he half sat up in the hospital bed, although it hurt to move he sat up completely and looked the old man up and down. Then with his hand that was free from the IV, he touched the scare on sides of his jaw and chin.

“I never got to meet the person who found me that night, I was shiped to an orphanage soon as I was well enough. But I was told that the local Fire Cheif had found me…with my parents.” Harlond said almost unable to bite back the ach in his throat.

The old man nodded and pulled his jacket into his lap to show the patch on the sholder, the patch of the fire chief. He looked up at Harlond, wondering how he had survived such a cruel beating and not only suvived but grown into such a man as he was.

“The officer that was with me when I made my mad dash for the hospital with you in my arms never thought that you would live, but there was a fight about you…I just knew.” The elderly Fire Chief handed Harlond the coin, it had belonged to his parents. Then held out his hand for a long over due introduction.

“Retired Fired Chief Tom Morton.” He said and shook Harlonds hand.

“DEA Officer Micheal Carson.” This seemed so unreal to Harlond, he had to stop and wonder if he was dreaming.

It all passed by as quickly as a dream, the fire cheif returned to his retirement cottage to live out the rest of his years peacefully and knowing what he had done for the next generation. Micheal returned to his DEA job after only two months of recovery, he took up a girl friend named Pearl Mazada.

A beautiful red head, known all throughout Las Angels as the red-headed-devil and only because she drove a red Mazda with red hair. It wasnt until one night when she was returning from her secretary job would her life change his. Another girls scream echoed through the street that Pearl was walking through, she never thought anything of it until she turned the corner at the light. There standing only yards away was a dark man holding a gun in his hand and a young women falling to the ground. Pearl took a good look at him and turned and made a mad dash in the other direction. She would make it back to her apartment where Micheal awaited already asleep from his long day at work.

The murder had followed her back to the apartment, taking note of her name and Micheal’s on there mail box. It wasnt long until the murder found that Micheal, an officer of the law knew important codes capable of getting into the main frames of half the police computers in Las Angels. The killer left and returned with four of his companions, they would all wait until Micheal and Pearl left for work in the morning. They would be sperately kidnapped, Micheal would be the first then Pearl.

There plan worked perfectly, at 5:30am Micheal stepped out of the apartment and turned the corner where his old car was parked. He was looking down at his car keys in his hand, it wasnt until he looked up that he saw the gun barrel pointed in his face. The attacker droped the barrel of the gun fast and pulled the trigger, the gun shot was silent because the gun was rigged. The man shot him in the chest, not a mortal wound but if not cared for it could become serious. The other men dragged Micheal off and put him into there car, the young deputy once again in a terrible jam. His hands cuffed together with his own hand cuffs, they took him to an empty apartment building and hung him by one arm to the wall. Micheal sat on the floor, his arm streched far above his head and his sholder wound bleeding down his chest on the inside of his jacket.
The murder and his gang left Micheal there and went out to get Pearl, they returned with her an hour later. Pearl came in screaming and fighting in her captives arms, Micheal fought against his weakness. He pushed away the pain and became enraged at them fighting against the cuffs. But his attempts were futil, it was impossible to breck the steel cuffs and free himself, he stood on his feet eyes trained on his girl friend. What were they going to to do her? He asked himself with watery eyes, she ment the world to him and more.

Micheal pulled himself together quickly and staired blanky at them and her. They sat her down on the floor forcefully, the elected leader slapping her acrossed the face for her crying pleas.

“Shut up!” The leader burst out at her. “Were gonna have our way with you until your boy friend over there tells us the security codes for the department down town.” He spat at her grinning as he gazed at Micheal with yellowish eyes.

Micheal shook his head in disbleif, he had made a vow when he became a cop, he couldn’t tell them the codes. Being one of the most trusted of officers in the department he knew codes that not even the officers of higher status knew. Now what would they do to her, he couldnt tell them the codes.

“Come on boys this little girl is gonna enjoy us.” They swooped in like voltures, ripping at her clothing and touching her.

Pearl screamed and fought, she hollard for Micheal to help her. He fought against the cuffs even though her knew it was poinless. Watching them have there brutal way with her, he broke down inside as the blood came from her body with there wrape and torture.

“Enough!” The leaders voice echoed over his men. “We want her alive enough to see her boy friend here suffer.”

In truth they wouldnt have let Pearl go when they were done, she had seen them murder and all along had plans of killing her. Releasing her to the grasp of one man the rest approached Micheal with grins of there past pleasure, they could see the anger and hurt they had brought to him.

“Uncuff him.”Again the leader demanded as he pulled a blade from his jacket and ran it along the edge of Micheals jaw not cutting the skin but threatening.

“You have quite and women on your hands, tell us our five digits we want and both of you will live.” Micheal knew what the filth said was untrue but he didnt back down, inraged at what they had done to Pearl.

He didnt answer but staired deeply at them, angery, his eyebrows low and his eyes dark. The cuff fell from his wrist and he bolted at the lead man. One of his men standing by with a club struck Micheal acrossed the abdomen with it, his ribs creaked and his breath escaped from his lungs. Stumbling back Micheal found himself grasped in the arms of his attackers as he gasped for breath and huged his ribs as they ached in pain.

“You watchin this girly?” The leader chimed grinning at her as his men pinned Micheal to the wall.

“Give it to him Gordon!” The man holding Pearl said from behind the lead man.

The leader, Gordon, took his advantage on Micheal and barried his fists in the young officers abdomen. Again, and again he punched him, Pearl shouted with her failing energy at them to stop. They hit him in the face and in the chest again and again until his body rested in the grasps that Gordons men held onto him.

“Enjoying this little lady? Ha Ha! I thought so.” The man holding Pearl cooed in her ear.

“Watch this your gonna love it.” Gordon snarled and grabbed a hand full of Micheals hair and pulled his head up so that he could see Pearl through his blurred vision.

Gordon nodded to the man holding Pearl and he bagan the beating again, alone. Until her body fell limp to the ground.

“Finish it Jackson!” Gordon demanded.

The cruel man holding Pearl pulled his gun from his jacket and fired three rounds into her limp body. Micheal fought against the cruel grasp on his hair and Gordon released him, he stumbled to her side. She was dead, he knew but he pulled her limp body into his arms and hugged her tight and did everything he could to keep from crying.

Hurt stricken he layed her down on the floor and leaned over her body so hurt he just shook. The men standing around him laughed, Gordon went to the poarch of the building and pulled a steal rod out of the ground. He returned inside and to the room where the scene was going on, a cruel grin on his face. Gordon raised the rod above his head and strut up behind Micheal. With both hands on the iron rod he struck Micheal on the back of the head and neck.

“Good night lover boy!” Gordon said watching Micheal fall to the ground, blood quickly pouring over the back of the young deputies head where he had been stricken.

“Throw them in the back of the truck, we’ll drop them off in the boonies of G.A.” Gordon said and left the room.

Micheal and Pearl were thrown in the back of a van, Pearl wrapped in a blanket her clothes thrown in with her. They emptied Micheals pockets, rubbing his police badge on the concrete until it was practically destroied they left C.A.

Unconcious Harlond lay in the back of the van, the 6inch gash on his head wide open and drizzling blood onto his jean jacket. The bullet would becoming more suveer as the clock ticked by, the gang drove into G.A. In mid hours of the day. There they threw Pearls body down an embankment refered to as Razor Back Ridge, they droped Micheal’s unconcious body into a ditch and in a hurry left.

Micheal would lay there until the next mourning when one of Hazzard Countys finest ladys would pass by. But would she be too late to save the young deputy from a painfilled death…
***Hazzard County G.A. 7:30am***

It wasnt the niceset of mornings in Hazzard County, it was foggy and thretening to rain. If it rained it would wash every bit of seed out of the farms feilds and render them for the rest of the season. On this morning Daisy Duke was on her way to work at the Boars Nest. She was earlyer then usuall, hopping to get a jump on the morning’s breckfast.
She drove slowly down old Razor Ridge Road, it was one of the roughest roads in the county and could really put a beating on a vehcal if not treated right. Out of the corner of her eye while driving Daisy spotted a red baseball cap on the side of the road. She stopped wondering how a hat so new and clean could be from anyone near by. As she picked up the hat and began to check it for a name or indication she just happened to glimsp up, she did a double take hopping to god that her eyes were playing tricks on her. But they werent, just the same she wanted a closer look and crept towards the ditch on the side of the old rough road still hoping some how that she was dreaming.

Daisy steped down into the ditch and her fears were confirmed by the body laying there.It was a young man lying in the ditch on his side, his hole shirt that had once been white now red with his own blood. The back of his head showed a huge gash wide open from the middle of his skull to bottom of the back of his neck, down towards the collar of his shirt. Daisy slowly crept towards him, she couldnt see his face but by the looks of his hair color and size she guessed that he was not from Hazzard.

Getting close enough to touch she nudged him with the toe of her boot, but he didnt stirr or make any movements and if he was breathing it was too shallow to tell. The young man was dressed in blue jeans smeared with mud and stained freshly with his own blood, a white sleeveless shirt that now was stained with blood and torn. A blue jean jacket that it loose but not too big and matched his jeans.

Bringing her courage together and not feeling threatened Daisy rolled the man over onto his back. He groaned lightly but made no phyiscal movements, Daisy looked at his face, it was blood smeared from cuts and deep laserations. Feeling a little uncomfortable about doing so she put her hand on his chest and felt slow strained breathing.
“Oh gosh your barely alive.” She mumbled to herself with wide eyes.

Daisy wished that she hadnt found him, but now that she had she had to call for help and try to save his life like a good Duke would out of nature, but how he would live was out of her mind. She hurried to her jeep called “Dixie” and picked up the CB microphone relising that her own hands were smeared with his blood.

“MADA!!!MADA!!! This is Daisy Duke I need an ambulance on Razor Back Ridge, I found a guy in bad shape and he needs help fast. Does anyone read me?.” Daisy shouted into the mic for the first time becoming alittle upset about the hole situation but forcing her self to stay cool.

“Daisy this is Cooter, I’ll call in an ambulance for you. Hang in there!” Cooter Davenport had been traveling with his toetruck on Hazzard road and he called in to the Sherriffs office and let them handle the amubulance. But going in that direction Cooter decided to lend Daisy a hand until help could arrive.
He arrived there 5 minutes after Daisy had made her call on the radio, when he arrived she was standing by Dixie whipping her hands on a rag.

“Ya’ll right?” Cooter asked approaching her. She nodded and pointed towards the young man, she had calmed down mostly.

“Lets check his pockets see if we can find out who he is.” Cooter said kneeling down beside the mans still body.

“I aint never seen this boy before, hes not from around here.” Cooter mumbled checking the mans jean pockets as Daisy went through his jacket pockets.

“Cooter…” Daisy’s voice trailed as she pulled something from the mans inside jacket pocket on the left.

Cooter looked up to see what Daisy held in her hand, his mouth droped wide open. It was a officers badge, covered with blood and badly damaged to where the numbers and any kind of letters that were on it were unreadable.
“Oh lordy…that complicates things.” Cooter said whipping the new swet from his face.

“His pockets are empty, no wallet or anything.” Cooter shook his head, this boy was a dieing cop.

Cooter looked the man over again, taking notice that the left side of his jacket in the upper chest area was soaked in blood and it suddenly didnt make sence. The young man had cuts on his face that were bleeding but not enough to soak his jacket like that, Cooter opened the left side of the cops jacket to reveal and gun shot wound pooring fresh blood. Cooter retrieved a rag from his pocket and pressed it firmly over the wound bringing a cry from the young cop.

The young cop breathed in a yelp, exhauling with a small squeek of pain as Cooter tried to slow the bleeding. Cooter shook his head, things looked even worse for the young fella and he could sence him slipping away quickly.

Daisy looked at a piece of crumbled paper that had been in the pocket with the cops badge. The paper was blood stained and some of the letters written ink were washed out from getting wet by the blood. The paper was a coffee add, the readable letters put together spelled “Harlond”. Daisy wondered for a minute then put it out of her mind as an ambulance pulled up and the medics jumped out. It only took them minutes to cut the officers blood soaked shirt off and pack him into the vehical.

“Cooter stop by and tell Bo and Luke that I’m going the hospital, I’ll be home when I can.” She said and got into Dixie.

“Tell them whats going on Cooter. Thank You.” She said and started the ol’ jeep.

Cooter looked into her eyes deeply and nodded to what she said, he could tell that this was emotionally getting to her. He watched her drive away behind the ambulance, Cooter couldnt help but wonder if the young cop would make it. Cooter got inot his toe struck and drove away, the officers badge still him his hand, he wrapped it in his reg hanker-cheif and put it into his pocket and drove away.

Daisy followed the medics into the hospital as far as she could, she was questioned by everyone around her what his name was and where he came from. Daisy looked at them with a sorry frown.

“I dont know who he is, we found him.” Daisy said and took a seat in the waiting room until word came of the officers condition.

The doctor that had taken in the officer came out to the waiting room and asked for the gal that had brought the nameless man in. Daisy rose to her feet, purse in hand with alittle bit of a shy and worried look on her face. The doctor asked her to follow him and she did alittle caustiously until they came to a room door and he stoped in the hallway.

“Where did you find this unfortunet young man?” The doctor asked looking at her intensely.

“I found him in a ditch on Razor back ridge about 3 miles from the end.” She answered looking at the doctor with much worry.

“Hes lucky to be alive, he lost alot of blood.” The doctor paused. “And I have to tell you Miss, the hit he took to the head did some damage. He doesnt know who he is or where he is, and has no idea where he came from. He is consicous and he will survive.” The doctor pointed her into the room and disapeared down the hallway.

Daisy slowly steped into his room approching his bed, she could hear him breathing in and out with perfect rythmn to the race of her own heart with fear. She took a seat next to his bed, the chair ceaking aloud when she sat down. The young deputy had been dozing and opened his eyes when he herd the chair squeek. Daisy looked at him, forcing herself to relax in the hard wooden chair and let her eyes stair into his deep brown eyes as he looked at her with his head turned in the bed.

“I owe you my life…” His deep but clear voice lingered, it came out softly and alittle hesitant.

He layed his head back and staired up at the ceiling, knowing that he would forever be indoubt to her.

“What is you name…” He paused and gazed down at her hands that rested on the arms of the chair. “Miss?” His light brown hair glinted in the late afternoon sun light as he turned and looked at her once again.

“Daisy…Daisy Duke.” She shook his right hand, it was free of IV’s and wires that monitered him.

The deputies eyes fell low, he did not know his own name or where he had come from but he had a good idea how old he was. About 21, some how that just seemed right to him or so it felt right. He suddenly felt her hand gentally squeeze his arm and he looked up at her from his deep thoughts.

“Its alright…I know the shoes that your about to walk in arent gonna be hardly thick enough for the road your now forced to take. But I found a piece of paper with your badge, your an officer of the law, we know that for fact.”

Daisy paused from her statement and retrieved the badge from her pocket and the now dried piece of paper that was eledgable except for a few numerious letters. She placed the badge in his hand and he brought it up closer so that he could see it, it occured to him that it was gonna be useless.

“The readable letters on this piece of paper I found in your pocket spell out a name, but the rest of it is as elegable as the badge in your hand. I think it would be suitable, with your aprovale of coarse, that I and whoever else you converse with call you by that name sugar.” Daisy looked at him, handing him the paper at the same time.

“H..A..R..L..O..N..D..” He mumbled out the letters as he looked at them on the paper. “Harlond?”

“Yes, Harlond. The name is not listed in a dictionary, or in the listed in the book of names. I havent been able to find it anywhere, you’d be a one of a kind person.” Daisy smiled widely and awaited his answer.

He nodded at first, it did sound like the proper thing to do. “I like it, and the idea.” He said and shook her hand with confidence.

“Alright, Harlond. Its gret to meet you.” Daisy nodded.

About four days later Daisy walked with her new friend out of the hospital, he limped and labored to walk but in no time at all the pain would leave him and his body would fully heal. The nameless deputy would fully recover, left with a constant wonder of the world he was forced to leave behind and maybe someday redescover. Until then he would enjoy his time in Hazzard county and become a deputy of the law there, called by all who met him Harlond.

THE END…9/18/2003(finished*)

(*Note from author*:

The name Harlond was actually a misunderstanding, thats how it came to be. The name was suposed to be Harlan, but I miss pronouced it and obvisiouly misunderstood it. It suddenly occured to me one day when I was working on the novel that Harlond originated from that I had created a hole other name and I left it. For those of my friends and fellow readers and writters who wondered how the name came about it was quit by accident. P.S. The novel was never finsihed and has long since been lost.
~Harlond’s author: D.W.*)