In a time period that destiny never permitted, will a traumatic accident mark the end of Rosco's career as Sheriff?

Diane Duke was combining the ingredients to make her special potato salad when she heard the familiar thumping of her children messing around upstairs. There was a loud thump that shook the house and she put her spoon down and looked up at the ceiling.
"Bo James, Miranda Lee! How many times have I told you not to run around up there?"
The thumping noise stopped.
"Sorry Mom!"
"Well you will be if you two don't get your rooms cleaned, you know Daisy and Luke like to go into them!"
Diane sighed and shook her head as she continued to mix the potato salad.
A short time later, Bo and Min came running down the back steps that led into the kitchen, wearing tee shirts and jean shorts.
"Okay Mom, my room is spotless."
Diane was putting the potato salad away and had taken out a loaf of French bread, she was cutting it and she looked at her son.
"And you Bo, is your room cleaned?"
"Yes Ma'am."
"Good, now why don't you two go outside and help your father with the tables."
"Yes Ma'am."
Bo and Min went out the back door and Diane shook her head and laughed. They reminded her of their father.
Cooper Duke was moving three large picnic tables together and he smiled when he saw his twins had come out to help him
"Mom sent ya out here to help me right?"
"Yeah Daddy she did, she doesn't want you to hurt your back."
"I appreciate it Sweetheart but I don't need my kids to help me move three little tables."
"We know you don't need help Dad, but try telling that to Mom."
Cooper moved the last table in place and he started laughing at his son's remark.
"That is true Bo, your mother is very stubborn sometimes."
Bo sat down on the top of the table and looked at his father. "Dad why did you move them the hard way? Why not just levitate them?"
Cooper swatted his son on the rump to get him to move off of the tabletop, he picked up a folded tablecloth and Min helped him spread it out.
"Because Bo, we cannot let our powers make us lazy."
"But it wouldn't make us lazy."
Cooper stopped messing with the tablecloth and looked at his son. "Now Bo James, you stand there and tell me that you wouldn't use your powers to do EVERYTHING!"
"Well.. I.."
Min started laughing. "Oh you know you would Bo!"
Bo didn't say another word and Cooper started to laugh.
"That's what I thought! Come over here Bo and help us get these table cloths spread, company should be here any minute now."
Cooper, Bo and Min had just got the last table covered as Diane came out of the house bringing the plates and napkins. Min and Bo each grabbed some plates and began to set them on the other tables when they heard a car pull into the drive. They all turned to look and recognized the brown Ford pick up truck of Aaron Duke.
"Hey, there they are," Diane said.
"Alright!" Bo exclaimed as he and Min ran to the drive to greet their Uncle Aaron, Aunt Carol and older cousin Luke.
"Hey, hey!" Aaron said as he got a hug from his niece.
"Hi Uncle Aaron." Min said as she hugged her Uncle. "We didn't see you the last time we were at your place."
"I know it," Aaron said. "But I'm here now." He smiled.
Min giggled and then went to give her Aunt a hug.
"Aunt Carol," she greeted.
"Hello, Min," Carol said.
"It's good to see y'all again," Bo said as he shook his Uncle's hand and then gave a hug to his Aunt. He then turned to Luke. Luke smiled.
"How ya doin', cousin?" he asked, giving Bo a brotherly like hug.
"Great."
"You gonna be ready to play football this fall?"
"You bet!" Bo exclaimed.
"Alright," Luke said and smiled.
"Um, hey, what about me?" Min said as she stood before Luke with her hands on her hips. Luke looked at her and chuckled.
"I didn't forget ya," he said lifting her into a bear hug.
Min giggled. "It's so good to see you again. I can't wait for Daisy to get here and for Uncle Jesse and Uncle Thomas and Aunt Jean."
"Oh come on now Min, you act as though we all never see each other! I was here the day before yesterday. It is not like we all live in different states. We all live within 10 miles of each other."
Min pushed the dirt around with the toe of her sneaker. "I know that Luke, but we always have so much FUN when the whole family is together."
"Well, look, Uncle Jesse and Uncle Thomas and Aunt Jean should be here soon, so why don't you kids give me a hand with bringing out some of the food," Diane suggested.
The kids agreed and followed Diane into the house. Aaron went to join Cooper in the yard and Carol also went into the house to help out.
"Luke, honey, can you bring out the bread, it is in the fridge," Diane said as she picked up her bowl of potato salad.
Luke opened the fridge and picked up the French Bread. His mother had the green salad in a large bowl and she struggled with the screen door. Luke saw her and went over and pushed it open with his back. Carol stepped through it and smiled at her son.
"Thanks, Luke."
Luke nodded his head. "You're welcome, Mom."
Luke left the kitchen and Bo and Min grabbed some sodas out of the fridge and some glasses and ice, they took them outside and set them down on one of the tables.
"Dad, is it okay if I take Luke to the garage?" Bo said as he went over to where his father and Uncle were standing, filling the barbequer with briquettes.
"Sure son, just don't go for a joyride."
"We won't" Bo turned to his cousin and his eyes lit up. "Wanna go see the General?"
Luke picked up a soda and opened it. "Sure but don't you mean your General? Mine is at home."
"Well do you want to see it or not?"
"Sure cousin, let's go."
Bo and Luke walked around the house to the large garage that Cooper had built onto his barn. Bo pulled back the large doors and his medium blue General Lee was revealed.
"Hey Cousin, you did a nice job on the paint! That blue is the same color that is in the rebel flag isn't it?"
"Sure is Luke, we had to go to Atlanta to find it."
"Does he run?"
"Oh sure, he is ready to roll, I already got my license."
Bo's General Lee was identical to Luke's, except for the color; everything else was the same right down to the 01 and the name General Lee on the roof beside the flag. Luke slipped into the window and started it up.
"Wow listen to him purr, you did good on the engine."
Luke got out of the car and helped Bo close the doors of the garage. He spotted a large object beside the garage covered with a brown tarp.
"Hey what's this?"
Luke was about to peek when Min came racing over to the garage.
"Don't touch my car Luke Duke!"
"This is your car?"
"Yes it is, Daddy helped me with her."
"Can I take a look? Please?"
Min looked at her brother and he nodded his head, she crossed her arms and sighed. "Go ahead, but if you tease me you are going to get it."
Luke threw back the tarp and a cherry red 1966 Mustang gleamed in the sun.
"WOW! This is yours Min?"
"Ain't she a beauty? Her name is Li'l Darlin'."
Luke opened the door and slid behind the wheel, he started it up and smiled. "She's got a good engine, she is going to be a rip roarer on the road, Min."
There was the sound of two cars approaching and Luke got out of the car and covered it back up with the tarp. He recognized the white pickup of his Uncle Jesse and the bright yellow Plymouth that belonged to Cousin Daisy. Uncle Jesse parked his car behind Carol and Aaron's truck and Bo, Luke and Min went running over to him.
Jesse had just enough time to get out of the truck and close the door when he was suddenly tackled by the three kids.
Jesse laughed. "You kids keep this up, you're gonna knock me plum into the next county."
The kids laughed and then each gave Jesse a hug.
Aunt Martha had come around the front side of the truck to greet the kids as well. Uncle Thomas and Aunt Jean, along with Daisy were walking up the drive and were soon all being greeted by the other cousins and aunts and uncles.
"Hey Daisy!" Min said as she hugged her older cousin.
"Hi, Min," Daisy said, returning the hug. She then hugged Bo and Luke.
"Well, we're all here," Thomas said. He then looked at Bo and Min humorously. "Your father got them ribs ready or what?"
Bo and Min laughed. "Well, let's find out," Bo said and he and Min led the Uncles Jesse and Thomas and Aunts Martha and Jean and cousin Daisy to the yard. Cooper and Aaron were already at the grill were Cooper had just put the ribs and hamburgers on. Thomas and Jesse joined them while Martha and Jean helped Carol and Diane with the final setting up of the tables.
Luke found Bo's football by the barn and he tossed it to Bo. Luke ran back a few yards for Bo to throw it back to him but the ball never got there. Daisy jumped up and grabbed the ball and then tossed it to Min.
Luke laughed. "Too bad you've graduated, Daisy. Maybe you should've tried out for football in the fall."
Daisy laughed as she caught the throw back from Min.
Daisy threw the ball to Luke who then threw it back to Min. "Although, we may have more than just a prospect in Bo for football in this family."
"Grrrr," Min growled and then giggled. She then threw the ball to her twin.
Bo laughed. "From what I've heard of Coach Broman, he'll take anybody who can throw, run and throw and tackle at the same time."
Luke laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like Coach Broman. Thing is though, can Min tackle?"
Bo threw the ball to his cousin. Luke caught it just before being bowled to the ground by Min.
"Holy smokes!" he exclaimed after hitting the ground.
"Does that answer your question?" Min said with a laugh.
Luke laughed. "Yeah, I guess that does."
Daisy and Bo were laughing too. As Min and Luke were getting up off the ground, Cooper called to them. "C' mon kids, time to eat!"
They each cheered as they ran over to the tables where a country barbecue awaited, prepared for the celebration of the bicentennial of the United States.
"I love Fourth of July," Min said.
Her cousins and twin agreed as they sat down at the table.
As soon as everyone was seated, they all looked towards Cooper. Cooper folded his hands and placed them in front of him. Everyone else did the same.
"Lord, we thank thee for this bounteous table thou has placed before us and for all of us to be together to celebrate the 200th birthday of our great nation."
"Amen." Everyone chorused.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Hazzard, Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane pulled into the driveway of his house. He parked his patrol car next to the beige pick up truck of his Uncle Eli and got out of the car. As he walked towards the back of the house, he heard voices from the Coltrane family 4th of July cookout that was already in progress. As he came around the corner he saw the two picnic tables with green checkered tablecloths and could smell the hot dogs and hamburgers that were cooking on the grill. His mother, sisters Lulu and Hortence and Aunt Clara were fixing the salads while his 19-year-old cousin, MaryAnne, was arranging the plates and napkins. Her father, Eli, and Uncle Phillip were manning the grill with Boss Hogg looking on in anticipation. Out of the corner of her eye, MaryAnne caught a glimpse of somebody in a uniform approaching. When she turned to look her face lit up. She placed the napkins down on the table and ran over to Rosco.
"Yay! You're here," she exclaimed throwing her arms around him.
"Yeah, but not for long though," he said.
"Doh. You know, being Sheriff of Hazzard is a bum deal. You can't even spend time at a family cookout at your OWN house for 4th of July."
"Well, until the county can afford to hire some full time deputies, this is the way it's gonna continue to be." MaryAnne and Rosco walked towards the picnic tables.
"You can stay for longer than two seconds can't ya?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Good," she giggled.
Rosco paused and looked at all the food that was on the table. "Hmm, boy does that all look good."
"Well, sit down," 'Mama' said. "We can start eating now and then you can take some with you."
"Yeah," MaryAnne said.
"Alright," Rosco agreed
MaryAnne plopped down on the picnic bench next to her cousin. Rosco removed his hat and was about to place it on the other side of him when MaryAnne stopped him.
"Wait a second," she said with a giggle.
Rosco looked at her and smiled. He handed the hat to her. MaryAnne smiled and put the hat on her head. "Whatdya think? Fits a little better every year."
Eli brought the first round of cooked hot dogs and hamburgers to the table and placed them in the middle of the table.
"No hats at the table, MaryAnne," he said humorously.
MaryAnne removed the hat. "Yes, Papa." She handed it back to Rosco.
Eli then paused and eyed Rosco. "I keep tellin' ya, Rosco. You're badge is going to be next."
Rosco laughed.
Everyone took their seats at the picnic table and paused for Eli to lead the grace. When they finished, they began to pass the food around.
"Do you expect much trouble this weekend, Rosco?" Eli asked.
"No more than usual. Some hell raisers here, a few drunks there. The county jail will smell like a still site before it's over with."
"Well, you just remember if you need any extra help, you let me know," Eli said.
"And that goes for me, too," MaryAnne added.
"I appreciate that," Rosco said. "But I don't think there's going to be anything that I can't handle."

The Duke family barbecue broke just after sunset and they all headed on over to the Hazzard High football field to see the fireworks display. Cooper decided to let Bo drive his General Lee and they all climbed into it. Min and her mother were in the backseat while Bo and Cooper were in the front. Bo started it up and smiled at the deep roar of the engine. Cooper saw the gleam in his son's eye and he cleared his throat. "Now Bo don't get over excited about this."
"I won't Dad."
"Well let's go then."
Bo nodded his head and he put the car into gear and they were off to see the fireworks.
"So do you think Boss is going to do anything special for the 200th anniversary?"
"I don't know Diane, knowing Boss Hogg he will probably be selling special anniversary t-shirts when we get there."
"At special high prices!" Bo said as he drove his car through Hazzard Square.
"You got that right, brother," Min said.
Cooper had to chuckle. Even at only 16, his kids understood that the dollar was what Boss Hogg lived for and what Boss Hogg loved more than anything in the world.
Bo saw the first street past the town square and he turned down it, he rounded the corner and the big red brick building of Hazzard High School came into view. There was a large crowd already starting to gather at the football field and Bo parked his car at the closest spot he could find.
"Wow look at all the people."
"Well when Boss Hogg gives something away for free you better get it while you can." Cooper said as he helped his wife out of the car. The four of them started walking towards the field when they heard someone shouting. They turned to see Boss Hogg's cousin Cletus selling t-shirts. They walked along the fence that surrounded the field, it was decorated with red, white and blue streamers and there were balloons of that color hung up everywhere. They walked through the gate and were handed a small American flag by one of Boss Hogg's employees. The bleachers were draped with banners and they sat down on the bottom rows with a good view of the gate.
"Daddy do you think anyone else is going to come?"
"I don't know Min, Uncle Aaron and Aunt Carol said they might. We will keep an eye out for them."
Strolling in front of the bleachers keeping a steady eye on things, was Rosco. He looked towards the bleachers and spotted the Dukes sitting together in the front row and came to a stop before them.
"Howdy Cooper, Diane," he greeted, extending his hand to Cooper. "Hi Bo, Min."
"Evening Rosco." Cooper said as he stuck out his hand and shook it.
"Hi Rosco." Bo and Min said at the same time and smiled at him.
"Y'all ready for the fireworks? You certainly got great seats."
"Yeah we sure are, why don't you have a seat and join us." Cooper said as he and Diane scooted over.
"I wish I could," he said. "But, I gotta make sure some of the older kids don't start making trouble under the bleachers back there." He gestured back to the direction he had come from. "I've already shooed them out of there once. I'll probably be spending most of the evening trying to keep them out of there."
Diane smiled wickedly and leaned in close to whisper in Cooper's ear. "I remember a certain blond haired young man I used to sit with behind the bleachers."
Cooper turned and looked at her and she wrinkled her nose at him as his face turned a little bit red.
Rosco saw Cooper blush and eyed him for a moment. Cooper looked at Rosco. Rosco could guess what Diane had said and he nodded his head.
"Uh huh," he said and then chuckled.
Cooper cleared his throat and made a face at his wife. "Yeah that girl I used to take under the bleachers.... she was a WILD CAT! With long blond hair."
Diane's mouth formed a perfect circle and she elbowed him playfully. "Cooper Ethan Duke I was NOT a wild cat!"
She suddenly realized they were not alone and she looked up at Rosco and smiled.
Rosco laughed. "Oh man, I think I'll go away now. It would appear I've helped bring back enough memories for one evening. Y'all enjoy the show." Rosco shook his head and was still chuckling as he walked away.
Cooper and Diane were still laughing when the lights were turned out and everything went black. The large crowd suddenly got quiet and stood up as the National Anthem started to play. There was a whistling sound and the first of the fireworks went up into the sky and exploded into a shower of multicolored stars.
Rosco paused a moment and took his hat off as the National Anthem started to play. He watched as the fireworks exploded into red, white and green stars, start to fall and then disappear. The crowd cheered with each showering of color and Rosco wished he could just stop and enjoy the whole display. But duty called. He placed his hat back on and continued on.
Bo and Min were standing in their seats pointing up at the sky as the fireworks lit it up in an assortment of many colors. The loud bang made them jump every time but the beauty of those combined chemicals was worth it. The air began to get cloudy from all the fireworks and there was a strong smell of sulfur.
Rosco pulled out his flashlight from his gun belt and began to walk along the rear of the bleachers. He flashed the light around underneath as he passed he saw no kids were underneath and he kept going 'til he got to the end. As he came around the bleachers he saw a group of young men with cans of beer in their hands. When the light from his flashlight hit one in the face, the young man turned. Rosco stopped and clicked the light off.
"Sorry, Toby," he said although Rosco's sincerity in that statement was questionable.
Toby Jones gave no response, but eyed Rosco menacingly as the Sheriff turned and went back in the direction he had come from.

* * *

Cooper came inside from helping his daughter with her car and washed his hands in the sink. Diane had gone shopping with Carol and Jean, so only Bo and Min were home with him. He dried his hands and went over and opened the refrigerator. He looked at what was inside there and wondered what he could make for lunch. Nothing that he saw struck his interest, so he closed the refrigerator door and opened the pantry. He saw nothing there and he closed the door. He scratched his chin for a moment or two and picked up the phone.
"Sarah, this is Cooper Duke, can you get me Aaron's place please."

Luke was outside tuning his General Lee when the phone began to ring, he came out from underneath the hood and looked around for his father. He didn't see any sign of him so he took a rag out of his back pocket and wiped off his hands as he ran towards the house. He opened the back door to the kitchen and grabbed the phone.
"Hello."
Cooper recognized the voice of his nephew instantly. "Hey Luke its Cooper, where's your old man?"
"Hey Uncle Cooper, I think Dad is around here somewhere, want me to go find him?"
"Well, that could take days, I was just going to see if you and him wanted to meet me and your cousins for lunch at the Boars Nest."
"Sure, sounds good. Do you want me to call Uncle Thomas and see if he wants to join us?"
"Yeah that'd be great Luke, and we'll see you and your father there around noon."
"Okay bye."
Luke still held the receiver in his hand, he pressed the button and asked Sarah to connect him with his Uncle Thomas' house.

* * *

Daisy had just served her father, two uncles and three cousins something to drink while they waited for their lunch. She walked past the table that Toby Jones was sitting at and the young man had had a little too much to drink and he grabbed Daisy around the waist and pulled her onto his lap.
"Get your hands off of me Toby." She said as she tried to get up, but he held her pretty good. She stuck her high heel into his toe and he cried out in pain and let go of Daisy. She got away from him and was about to leave when he grabbed her arm. Min saw her cousin was in trouble and all of the men were busy talking and didn't see. Min decided to lend a hand and she got up and went over to the table.
"Let go of my cousin Toby." She said as she took his hand off of Daisy's arm.
Toby got up from his chair and knocked the table that was between him and Min out of the way. "Sure," he sneered. "Only if you'd like to take her place."
Min saw the table to go flying and she narrowed her eyes and stood toe to toe with Toby. He was a good half a foot taller then she was but it did not matter.
"You may scare the other girls in Hazzard County Toby Jones but you don't scare me."
Toby flashed a greasy smile at Min. "You sound like my kind of girl then. Sweet and young." He tried to grab her by the arm, but Min smacked his arm away.
Daisy saw that the situation was about to get really bad, she went over to the table where the men were sitting and tapped on Cooper's shoulder. He looked at her and saw the look in her eyes.
"What is it Daisy?"
"Uncle Cooper, I think you should see what your daughter is doing." She pointed to Min and Cooper looked, he saw his daughter nose to nose with Toby Jones.
"Oh lord!"
The conversation stopped at his exclamation and the rest of the men turned to see what had made Cooper say that. Bo and Luke got on their feet fast and went over to Min and Toby.
"What is going on here Sis?" Bo said as he and Luke stood on either side of Min and Toby.
"Nothing much Bo, just telling this snake what I think of him."
"It would appear your sister is quite found of me," Toby said.
Min made a sound of pure disgust and she grimaced. "That is a lie Toby, I'm more fond of a charging bull then I am of you."
"Really?" Toby then smiled. "Well, then, maybe the little Duke girl would like this.." Toby suddenly charged at Min, grabbing her around the waist and pushing her back away from Bo and Luke.
Min screamed as she went crashing to the floor.
Bo and Luke grabbed Toby by the back of the shirt and pulled him off of Min, they were about to start pounding him when Cooper, Thomas and Aaron went over there and stopped them.
"Let him go boys. Bo help your sister off the floor."
Bo looked at his father and shook his head. "But Dad he..."
"Bo, let go of him and help your sister off of the floor."
"Yes Sir." Bo sighed and let go of Toby; he went over and helped Min up. "You okay Sis?"
Min nodded her head and brushed herself off. "I'm fine Bo."
"Luke, let go of Toby and go back to the table."
Luke looked at his father and released his grip on the young man's shirt. "Yes Sir."
Luke stood beside Bo and Min and Thomas motioned with his head for his two nephews and niece to go back to the table. The boys and Min gave Toby death inducing looks as they walked back to the table and sat down.
Toby got up and fixed his shirt and brushed himself off. "Damn kids," he muttered. "Don't know better than to butt out of one's business." He started to walk back to his table.
Cooper, Thomas and Aaron all grabbed Toby by the arm and spun him around.
"You are damn lucky that we were able to call our sons off Toby, especially mine. My son is very protective of his sister."
"Yeah, I bet he is," Toby sneered. "He probably can't get 'it' no where else."
Cooper got extremely angry and grabbed Toby by the collar, Thomas and Aaron grabbed onto him in order to stop him from strangling Toby.
"Easy Cooper, remember what happens when you get angry, let go of him and go join your children, Thomas and I will handle this."
Cooper's blue eyes were blazing, but he let go of the young man and walked away. Aaron watched him go and turned his attention to Toby.
"You are lucky we stopped him Toby."
"Ooh, yeah, I'm REAL scared of Cooper Duke. What's he gonna do? Beat me with a towel?"
Aaron looked at Thomas and he backed away as Thomas stood in front of the troublemaker.
"No Toby, but don't you know that Cooper and his kids have powers? He could have melted you. Now I want you to leave my daughter Daisy alone and don't you EVER put your hands on my niece ever again."
Aaron leaned in close. "And that goes for me too, leave my nieces alone or you will have us and Cooper to deal with."
"Powers huh? Funny, I don't see no capes. Do they fly too?"
Thomas shook his head. "Fine Toby, try them, and they will be burying you in a bowl. Come on Aaron let's go see if our beer is flat."
The two men walked back to their table and joined the rest of their family.

* * *

"....Well, you know the bridge over Choctaw Gully is out," Aaron was saying.
"Has been for years. Our best bet would be to go up Stone Quarry Road and then cut across country at Bear Brook."
The Duke men were all seated in the living room of Jesse Duke's farm, discussing the route they would take for their next moonshine run.
"The big challenge though, is getting into Choctaw County without being spotted," Cooper said. "We only have a choice a few back roads that cross the county line between Choctaw and Hazzard. You know smokies are going to be all over the main roads."
"Cooper's right," Jesse said. "We should pick one of the back roads, preferably one here," he pointed at the map that was sprawled on the coffee table before him, "or here."
Thomas leaned in and looked at the two roads Jesse had picked. "So that's old Highway 6 and Huntsville Road." He looked at his brothers. "Well, gentlemen, pick your poison."
The Duke men chuckled. "I'm afraid we did that a long time ago, brother," Aaron said with a smile. "It's called running moonshine."
"Ah, but 'tis not as poisonous as one may think," Cooper said.
"That's true. It's a hell of a lot of fun sometimes ain't it?" Thomas said.
"You got that right," Jesse said.
The men laughed.
As the laughter died down, the men returned to being serious.
"Okay, I think old Highway 6 is the better choice," Cooper said. "Anyone disagree?"
"Nope," Aaron said as Thomas and Jesse shook their heads.
"Alright then. Now who's going to help who?"
The Duke brothers all looked at each other for a moment. "Well, the first question is, who's car we taking?" Thomas asked.
"I think we should take Jesse's," Aaron said. "Mine's too colicky for a run."
"Okay, we'll take Jesse's," Cooper said. "But somebody's gotta run blocker."
"What about the boys?" Jesse suggested. "We could have Bo and Luke in one of their cars, or they could take your car Coop."
Min was coming in the front door when she saw the gathering of the Duke men in the living room, she heard her Uncle Jesse talk about the boys and she could not help but butt in the conversation.
"Hey can I help?"
Cooper looked up at his daughter. He shook his head. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. This is to dangerous for a young lady."
"But Dad how come you let Bo help?"
"Well, Min, running moonshine isn't exactly a lady like thing to be doing."
Min was getting frustrated and she could tell all her uncles agreed with her father.
"Who ever said it was ? It is a family tradition and I dont think it's fair that Bo gets to help you but I don't ."
"Yes, it is a family tradition, but none of our sisters were ever expected to run moonshine. It's always been something the men have done. I'm sorry, Min."
"So the fact that I probably drive BETTER then my brother does not matter? I am a Duke as much as he is!"
Min stomped out of the house and slammed the door hard behind her.
Cooper, along with all the Duke men, flinched when the door slammed. He shuddered at the incredible anger he felt from his daughter and took a steady breath.
"Oh boy..." he said.
"Yup, she's a Duke alright," Aaron said. "She's got the Duke temper."
"Well, Duke temper or no, she ain't going with us on a moonshine run," Cooper said defiantly.
Min went down the front steps and out towards the barn, she was extremely angry and her arms were crossed over her chest. She heard the sound of laughter and Bo and Luke came out of the barn.
"Hey, Min," Luke said.
She mumbled a greeting to her cousin and when she looked at her brother she stuck her nose in the air.
The boys watched her walk by and then looked at each other.
"What's with her?" Luke asked.
Bo could feel his sisters anger but it was so strong though that he couldn't pinpoint what had triggered it.
"She's mad at something. Ain't sure what though."
Luke shrugged. "Well, come on, let's see how the uncles are doing."
"You go ahead. I'm going to see what's buggin' her."
"Good luck."
As Luke headed toward the house, Bo ran after his sister.
"Min," he called. "Min! Wait up!"
Min turned around and faced her brother, her arms still crossed. "What?" She said with a tinge of coldness in her voice.
"Woah, what's the matter, Sis?"
"I dont want to talk about it Bo! Why dont you go with the other MEN in the family and leave me alone!" She said and took off running towards the back forty.
"Min!" Bo watched her as she ran towards the back forty. He sighed heavily and then turned and headed to the house, hoping to find out from Cooper what had happened.
When he came into the farmhouse, Bo went straight to the living room.
"Okay Dad," he said. "What's Min all upset about?"
Cooper was foldiing up the map and he looked at his son. "Oh, I'm not sure. Why do you ask?"
Bo folded his arms across his chest. "You're lying, Dad. Now I just tried to talk to Min, but she went running off towards the back forty. Don't tell me you don't know what's bothering her."
Cooper sighed heavily and put the map down on the coffee table. "All right Bo, I do know why she is upset. She heard us talking about the next shine run. She wanted to help and I told her no and she didnt like that answer."
Bo chuckled and dropped his head a bit, shaking it back and forth with his blonde hair swaying in the same direction. "Oh man, now she wants to run moonshine? What's next?"
"Well it isn't that she can't drive good enough, she drives almost as good as you, but it is dangerous. She just doesn't understand that, so she is pretty upset with me."
"Pretty upset? Dad, she's furious with you."
"Oh, give her a little while, she'll cool off," Luke said.
"I don't think so, cousin," Bo said.
"Your cousin is right Bo, Min has been angry before, she'll come around."
Bo pressed his lips together. "I don't know, Dad. I ain't so sure about that this time."
That evening came and Cooper and his kids got home shortly after Diane did. Min went through the door and went straight to her room, no even saying hello to her mother. Diane was cooking supper and she saw the way her daughter zipped up the stairs.
"Coop, is something wrong with Min?"
Cooper sighed. "Your daughter wants to run moonshine," he said. "I told her no, and now she's madder than a wet hen about it."
Diane stopped stirring the stew and looked at her husband. "My daughter wants to run shine?"
Cooper chuckled. "Oh yeah. She heard me, Jesse, Thomas and Aaron talking about the next run and she wanted to help. She did NOT like the answer I gave her."
"Well you told her it was too dangerous right? And then you and the other men patted her on the head and told her to be a good little girl and run along? Right?" Diane said as she added some seasoning and a few vegetables to her bubbling pot.
"Well, I did tell her it was too dangerous. I'm afraid she went storming out of the house before we could pat her on the head."
Diane shook her head as she covered the pot and wiped her hands. "Well I cant say I'm surprised that she got angry. I mean you let Bo help you but you don't let her."
Cooper regarded his wife for a moment. "Wait a minute. Are you saying that you would approve of Min running moonshine?"
Diane went to the cupboard and got out the bowls and glasses and began to set the table. "I am not saying that she should run moonshine. But you make her feel left out when you let Bo help you. How would you feel if you were in her place and saw how much time your father and brother get to spend together and you were told to run along?"
Cooper paused in thought. He sighed and said, "Yeah, I see what you mean."
Diane finished setting the table and turned off the stew, she put on her oven mits and set it down on the hot pad she had put in the center of the table. "Well maybe after dinner you can talk to your daughter."
"I hope so."
Diane got the pitcher of ice tea out of the refrigerator and filled the glasses, she set it down on the table and walked into the living room. "BO! MIN! Supper!"
Bo and Min came into the dining room and joined their parents at the table. They all paused for the grace and then began to eat.
Cooper picked up a bowl and began to fill it with the stew. When the bowl was full he passed it to Bo.
"Thanks, Dad."
Cooper filled another bowl and then passed it to Min.
"Thank you," she said cooly.
Cooper looked at Diane for a moment. He then filled a bowl for his wife and passed it to her. He then finally filled a bowl for himself.
"Min, would pass the bread please?"
Min picked up the small dish that the slices of bread were on and then put it by her father, slaming the plate down as she did so.
"Uh, thank you," Cooper said, taking a slice.
"Well, Min," Diane said. "Did you and your father get a lot of work done on your car?"
Min didn't look up at her mother. "Yeah."
Bo looked at Min. She was still very furious with her father and her anger had not subsided much since earlier in the afternoon.
"Will you stop acting like a baby, Min."
"Oh shut up! I don't need your opinion right now," Min said as she looked up from her stew and stared coldly at her brother.
Bo rolled his eyes. "This is ridiculous, Min. Are you going to act like this everytime you can't get your way?"
"Will you SHUT UP!" Min yelled out suddenly and stood up. She glared coldly at Bo. "I have every right in the world right now to be angry! I don't need you telling me to stop acting like a baby. Maybe you should tell Daddy here to stop TREATING ME LIKE ONE!!!"
Min threw her napkin down on the table and grabbed the back of her chair. She pushed it back and stormed out of the dining room and went running up the stairs. When her bedroom door slammed, it shook the glasses on the table.
After a moment of silence, Cooper looked at his son.
"Bo..."
"Well, for crying out loud Dad, I think she's over reacting."
"I heard what you said to her. Your sister is not acting like a baby about this."
"Dad, you told her she can't go, and she can't go. What part of that does she not understand?"
Diane put her spoon down and turned her attention to her son. "Bo, you are not considering your sister's feelings in this. She isn't angry because she can't run shine, she is upset because you and your father make her feel let out."
"No, we don't."
"Yes, we do, Bo," Cooper said.
"Well, why does she feel left out? Dad, you've been helping her with Lil' Darlin' just as much as you've been helping me with the General."
Diane sighed and reached out nd touched her son's hand. "Honey, how would you feel if I spent a whole lot of time with JUST Min and when you came around I told you to just run along?"
"Well, I...I suppose I wouldn't like that, Mom."
"Exactly and that's how Min feels when you and your father spend a lot of time together running shine."
Bo sighed. "Yeah, but running moonshine don't seem the kind of thing a girl would want to do."
"Well, your sister wants to," Cooper said.
"Are you going to let her?" Bo asked.
"No, Bo, I do not want your sister running shine with you and your Dad, but that wasn't the entire issue, being left out is." Diane turned to her husband and took his hand. "Honey, isn't there some way you could let Min help you both without doing the actual running?"
Cooper paused a moment. "I don't want her running shine either, but I suppose she could help us load up and help check that the cars are running right."
Diane smiled at her husband. "I'm sure she will be glad to hear that, why dont you go tell her."
Cooper returned the smile. He then got up from his chair and headed towards the stairs.
When he got to the top of the stairs he went to Min's bedroom door and raised his hand to knock.
"Go away," Min said, before Cooper even knocked.
"Sweetheart, I want to talk to you."
Min made no response immediately.
"Min?"
"I'm sorry Dad, but I don't want to talk to you now."
Cooper opened the door. "Well, that's too bad, you're going to talk to me now whether you like it or not."
Min sighed as her father came into her room. She was lying on her bed with a pillow under her chin and her arms wrapped around it. Cooper sat down on the bed next to her.
"I said I didnt want to talk." Min said as she turned on her side.
Cooper sighed and ran his fingers through his short cropped blond hair. "I know that's what you said but we need to talk about this shine running anyways."
"What's the point, I'm just a little girl that is to weak and delicate to do anything."
Cooper started to laugh but he cleared his throat before it could escape."Oh Min you are anything but weak and delicate, but you have to understand that it is the RISK that is too dangerous for you to handle."
"I know, if I get caught I will go to jail." Min said as her voice became muffled as she buried her head in her pillow.
"Yes you will, and that would break my heart if that happened to you. But I tell ya what, you cant make a run but I would like it if you helped me and your brother get the cars ready."
Min turned back over and sat up. "Really? I can help you?"
"Sure, you are great with cars."
Min looked at her father sideways. "Mom put you up to this didnt she?"
"Well sort of, she did point out that I don't spend enough time with you whenever Bo and I get ready for a run. I'm sorry about that honey, I never meant to ignore you."
"I'm sorry Daddy, I guess I was acting like a spoiled brat."
Cooper smiled at his daughter and hugged her. "Come on ya brat, your stew is getting cold." He said as he got off of her bed and put his arm across his daughter's shoulder and together they left the room.

The next day, the Duke men gathered at Aaron's place to prepare for the run. Jesse and Aaron were underneath the hood of Jesse's shine car, Black Tilly, while Bo and Luke were checking on Cooper's car. They decided that using Luke's General would stick out a little too much, and Bo's General wouldn't be what ATF agents were looking for. Cooper's car, a dark grey 1967 GTO, pretty much had moonshiner written all over it.
Min was sitting in the driver seat of the GTO and on command from Luke, turned the engine. She then got out of the car and came to the hood where the boys were watching the engine run.
"Sounds good to me," Bo said.
"Yup," Luke said. He then looked at Min. "Good catch on that fan belt."
"I knew that wasn't sounding right," she said. "Last thing you two would need is for it to let go while you're trying to run blocker for Dad, Jesse and Aaron."
"Yeah," Bo agreed. "Speaking of them two, let's go see how they're doing."
Luke nodded and the three Dukes came out from under the hood before Luke brought it down. Min went back and shut the engine off and then joined her brother and cousin and walked over to Jesse, Aaron and Black Tilly.
Aaron was smiling and nodding. "Alright," he said. "She's roaring to go, Jesse."
"That she is, Aaron."
"Black Tilly's sounding real good, Uncle Jesse," Bo said.
Jesse smiled. "Why don't you boys and Min give me and Aaron here a hand loading her up?"
"Sure," Min said, with the boys agreeing as well. As Jesse opened up the trunk, the boys, Min and Aaron went into the barn to get the bottles of moonshine. The moonshine was located at the back of the barn in crates and they each grabbed two bottles and walked back to Black Tilly. They carefully put the bottles in the cardboard boxes that were already in the trunk and then they would walk back into the barn to grab more bottles.
When the car was fully loaded, Jesse closed the trunk carefully and then looked at everyone.
"We ready to go?"
"You bet," Luke said. "C'mon, Bo." Luke and Bo started to walk back to Cooper's car.
"Y'all be careful now!" Min called.
"We will, Sis," Bo called back.
The boys climbed into the GTO as Jesse, Aaron and Cooper got into Black Tilly. After the two cars started up they tore out of the yard, leaving a cloud of dust behind. Min waved and stood for a moment watching the dust cloud settle. She really wished she could have gone with them.
Just once! she thought. Just one, meesly, pidly time I wish I could go.
"Min?" Aunt Carol called from the front door of the house. "Do you want to come in for some lemonade?"
Min's thoughts were broken and she turned back to her aunt. "Sure, I'll be right there." She turned back and looked at the road for a moment and then started to walk towards the house.

Rosco was driving down Ridge Road when he saw the grey GTO and Jesse Duke's Black Tilly coming toward him.
"Ha!!" he exclaimed. "You Dukes is running moonshine, I know it!"
In Cooper's car, Luke watched the police car. "Rosco cometh," he said.
Jesse, Aaron and Cooper saw Rosco too. Cooper picked up the CB mike. "Break off, boys. Make him think you're carrying the load."
Luke picked up the mike. "Ten-four." He looked at Bo. "You heard the man."
Bo smiled and he swung the GTO off at the next road. Rosco and Jesse, who was driving Black Tilly, passed one another and Rosco swung the Fury around and went after the black car.
Jesse glanced in his mirrors. "Dang it, he's chasin' us!"
Cooper turned in the passenger seat and looked out the back window. "I don't believe it," he said. "I swear he's half hound dog. Thought for sure he'd fall for it." He settled back into his seat. "Step on it, Jesse."
"Way ahead of ya, Coop."
Rosco kept up as much as could with Jesse. Bo and Luke, meanwhile, were realizing Rosco wasn't behind them.
"He must've gone after dad, Jesse and Cooper," Luke said. "Let's get back there and give them a hand."
"You got it." Bo slammed the breaks and swung the GTO around in a 180 and sped back down the road. When they returned to Ridge Road, Bo kept the pedal to the floor and after a moment they caught up to the patrol car and Black Tilly.
Luke picked up the mike. "We're right behind Rosco, Dad," he said. "Any ideas how we shake him off?"
In the patrol car, Rosco looked at the CB set. "Go ahead," he said with a smile. "Come up with an idea."
"We might be able to slow him down if you boys can cut infront of him and stall a bit?" Cooper said.
"You got it," Luke said.
Bo pulled the GTO to the side to try to pass Rosco, but Rosco moved the patrol car in the same direction at the same time. Bo moved the car to the other side, and Rosco blocked him again.
"What the heck?!" Bo exclaimed. He brought the GTO back to the middle of the road and stayed there for a moment, hoping to make Rosco think that he was going to stay there. But Rosco kept his eye on the grey car in his rearview mirror. When he saw it move again, he steered the Fury to block him.
Bo slammed his hand against the steering wheel. "He ain't gonna let us by, Luke--" He stopped suddenly. "Nevermind, I know how to get him to move." Bo stepped on the accelerator and brought the GTO right up to the back bumper of the Fury.
"Bo, what are you doing?" Luke asked, surprised.
Bo nudged the patrol car. He then backed off and nudged it again.
"Bo!"
Rosco gripped the steering wheel when the car started to hitch. He looked at the GTO behind him and saw it was right on his tail.
"Bo Duke, are you nuts!" Luke exclaimed.
Bo then cut the GTO to the left side, which Rosco promptly cut him off. Bo anticipated the move and jerked the car to the right and floored the accelerator. The GTO caught on the corner of the fender of Rosco's patrol car and ended up sending it off the road.
Cooper saw it all happen. The Fury turned a 180 and came to a stop in the dust on the side of the road as the GTO passed finally. Aaron started laughing.
"Coop, that boy of yours drives just like you!"
"I told him to cut him off, not run him off," Cooper said. He grabbed up the CB mike. "Bo, I told y'all to try to cut him off, not send him into a ditch."
Bo picked up the CB mike in the GTO. "I'm sorry, Dad, but he kept blocking me from passing!"
Cooper chuckled a little and was about to say something more when Rosco's voice came over the CB.
"And he would have passed too, if you Dukes would learn to change your CB channels once in awhile."
The Duke men were all quiet for a moment and then looked at each other. Cooper made a face and then started to laugh. "Ooops."
Rosco was standing out of his patrol car watching the two cars disappear down the road. "Listen," he continued, "do me a favor will ya?"
"What's that?"
"Don't get caught, huh? The last thing I need is for some needlenosed Sheriff in some OTHER county, gloating to me because he caught the famous Duke family moonshiners and I couldn't."
Cooper laughed. "You got it, Rosco."
Bo and Luke laughed as well. Of course, the real question was, was it that Rosco couldn't catch the Dukes?
Or that he wouldn't?

Later that afternoon, all of the Dukes gathered at the Boar's Nest. Three tables had been pushed together for all of the men, their wives and kids to sit at. It actually wasn't very busy, so Daisy was able to hang out at the table with her folks a little more than she normally would have.
Cooper, Aaron and Jesse told everyone about the run and what Bo had done. Min didn't necessarily laugh with everyone when the boys finished telling the story and she just casually took a sip of her soda.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he made you pay for any damage to his patrol car, Bo," Cooper said.
Bo looked at his father with a hint of fear. "You're kidding?"
Min quietly laughed to herself now.
"Nope. I remember one time just after Rosco was elected Sheriff. He was chasing after me and to make a long story very short, I end up sending him into Hazzard Lake. I stopped to help him out and let me go on my way, provided I gave him some of the shine money to pay for the damages to his patrol car."
Aaron laughed. "I remember that. Pa was furious with you too."
"But, Dad, I ain't got no money! Besides, I ain't my fault we were on a CB channel he was listening to."
"The boy's got a point there, Coop," Jesse said.
Cooper was about to say something when the door to the Boar's Nest opened and in stepped the good Sheriff himself.
"Well, here he is now," Cooper said.
Rosco took his hat off and walked over to the Dukes. "I see y'all made it back safely," he said with a smile.
"Of course," Cooper said. He moved his chair over a bit. "Why don't you pull up a chair?"
"Alright," Rosco said. He grabbed an empty chair behind him and turned it around and placed it close to the Duke table. He sat down, placing his hat on the edge of the table and resting his arms on the back rest of the chair.
"Can I get you something, Rosco?" Daisy asked.
"Sure. You got any of that root beer left?"
"Sure do." Daisy smiled and walked over behind the bar.
"I just telling Bo, well, actually warning him, that you might make him pay for the damage to your patrol car," Cooper said.
Rosco laughed. "Normally, I would. But seeing as y'all got away," he looked at Bo, "I'll let ya get away with a freebie this time."
The Dukes laughed.
"Rosco, I really didn't mean to push ya off the road like that," Bo said apologetically.
"Sure ya did. I wouldn't let you pass, just like you told your dad here." He smiled. "Don't worry about it. I've scuffed and wrecked more patrol cars in my time then I'm willing to admit. Ain't gonna make no difference how another one gets added to that list."
Daisy came back and placed the mug of root beer infront of Rosco.
"Thanks, Daisy."
"You bet."
"Did my Daddy really send you into Hazzard Lake?" Min asked, looking down the table at Rosco.
Rosco looked at Cooper. "Oh you told them THAT story huh?"
Cooper laughed.
Rosco turned to Min. "Yeah, he did."
"And it wasn't the last time!" Jesse said.
Everyone laughed.
Rosco made a face and then chuckled too. He then picked up the mug of root beer and took a sip as the door to the Boar's Nest opened again. Rosco turned his head slightly to see who had entered and saw it was Toby Jones.
He turned back to the table, his shoulders slumping a bit. "Doesn't he have anything better to do?" he muttered.
Toby went to an empty table that was closer to the Dukes table then Rosco would have liked. He plopped down in the chair and looked at Daisy.
"Hey, sweetheart how about a beer here?"
Daisy had her back to Toby and she rolled her eyes and then walked to the bar to get the beer.
Toby was chuckling. "Hey, Rosco, when's that pretty cousin of yours gonna come back for a visit?"
Rosco only glanced back at Toby, acknowledging that he heard the question but was not going to dignify it with an answer. He turned back and picked up the mug again.
"Yeah, she sure is pretty. She sure didn't get it from your side of the family."
Rosco actually laughed at that. "That's because she got most of it from her momma's side," he said before he took a sip.
"I'm sure she did." Toby watched Daisy as she put the mug of beer down in front of him. She then quickly walked away. "Of course, who knew her momma better? Eli?" He paused. "Or you?"
The Duke women gasped and Rosco let the mug fall hard on the table. Everyone saw his eyes suddenly cloud over in fury and he turned to Toby.
"Shut up."
"Heeeyy, I'm just trying to make some conversation."
"What you're making is trouble, boy."
"Easy, Rosco," Cooper said. "He's just trying to get you riled."
"I seem to remember you used to go over to that house all the time," Toby continued. "Then after she died, Eli moved out of Hazzard. I always wondered why he did that."
Rosco couldn't take it anymore. He stood up suddenly and turned to Toby, grabbing him by his shirt and lifting him out of his chair.
"She was dying of tuberculosis, Toby. Apparently your peasized brain forgot that. I was over there to help them out and after she died, Eli moved out of that house because everything in it reminded him of her and he couldn't stand it. They built that farm together, they were always together." He shook him. "I NEVER did what you're insinuating and if you keep this up, I'm gonna nail your hide to the jailhouse wall permently!"
Toby paused looking Rosco square in the eye. "Go ahead and try," he sneered and then suddenly grabbed his mug of beer and threw the liquid in Rosco's face.
The Duke men were out of their chairs as Rosco let go of Toby. Toby then slugged Rosco right in the stomach. Cooper and Thomas grabbed a hold of Rosco as Jesse and Aaron pulled Toby away.
"That's enough, Toby," Jesse said.
Rosco recovered from the punch and tried to go after Toby, but Cooper and Thomas held him back. "Take it easy, Rosco," Cooper said. Just by holding on to Rosco's arm, Cooper could feel the incredible extreme of anger that was building up inside of Rosco. Toby had certainly stepped over the line this time.
Cooper looked at Jesse and Aaron. "Get him out of here, before Rosco starts shooting daggers from his eyes."
Toby smirked as Jesse and Aaron turned him around and led him towards the door. "I can't wait for the day when I can finally get you off my back, Rosco," he said.
"You won't see the last of me," Rosco said. "Unless you're finally sent to the state pen, or they cut a tombstone for me."
Jesse and Aaron hustled Toby out of the Boar's Nest and Cooper and Thomas let go of Rosco. He took a breath and rubbed his hand over his stomach as Daisy came over to him with a towel.
"Here, Rosco," she said.
"Thank you, Daisy," he said and took the towel. He put his face in the towel and paused a moment, collecting himself once again.
"You alright, Rosco?" Cooper asked.
Rosco wiped his face and took the towel away. "Yeah, I'm fine." He glanced toward the door. "That damn punk. I wish I could duct tape that mouth of his."
"Don't worry about it, Rosco," Cooper said. "Nothing he said was the truth and we all know it."
"That's right," Diane said as Jesse and Aaron came back into the Boar's Nest. "He was just being his usual jackass self."
"Maybe you should make it a law," Aaron said. "That way you could keep him in jail and out of your hair."
Rosco sighed. "If I could keep him in jail just for jaywalking, it would be fine with me. Thing is, everytime he's arrested, his daddy keeps bailing him out and when the dang thing gets to court Toby drags out his military record in Vietnam as an excuse for his actions."
"Well, at some point he's going to go too far and end up in jail permanently," Cooper said.
"I can't wait," Rosco said. "Maybe then I'll finally get some peace in this county."

After Rosco finished his root beer and calmed down enough after listening to Toby's load of bull, he headed back to town. He parked his patrol car behind volunteer deputy Enos Strate's and walked up the steps and into the courthouse.
Enos was coming out of the Courthouse, about to go out on patrol. He saw the less than happy Sheriff and he smiled widely.
"Hi Sheriff! How are ya?"
Rosco looked at Enos. If the kid smiled any wider he'd probably break his face, he thought. Rosco actually chuckled a little but it faded pretty quick. "Well, I could be better," he said.
Enos saw his unhappiness and his smile dropped from his face and his brow creased. "Something wrong Sheriff?"
"That jackass Toby Jones was at the Boar's Nest, as usual, causing trouble, as usual." Rosco sighed. "He said some things that just really ticked me off that's all. I'd like to take that smartass mouth of his and press it against a metal pole on a cold day and then pull it off just as quick."
Enos swallowed hard and nodded his head, making a mental note not to ever anger the Sheriff. "Yes sir well I better go on patrol now. Bye Sheriff." He said as he practically ran from Rosco's sight.
Rosco watched Enos drive away, realizing he probably just scared the living daylights out of the twenty-year old. Enos Strate, you're not Toby Jones, so I wouldn't worry. Rosco then turned and went into the courthouse and down the hall to the booking room.
"25 hundred, 26 hundred, 27 hundred..." Boss said as he licked his thumb and counted through the stack of hundreds he was counting from his weekly shine run.
Rosco walked over to the doorway of Boss Hogg's office, which was already open and he walked in. He spotted the stack of money on the desk and stopped, looking at Boss.
Boss stopped in mid-lick and looked at the face of the Sheriff. "What's wrong with you? You look like someone just backed over your foot."
"Um...that's not what I think it is, is it?" Rosco asked, pointing to the money Boss held in his hand.
"This? This is shine money, did me a few runs this morning. Pretty good don't ya think?" Boss said as he waved the money under Rosco's nose.
Rosco covered his eyes and turned away. "I'll pretend I didn't see that. And I'll ESPECIALLY pretend that I didn't see it being counted by the county commissioner in HIS OWN OFFICE."
"Oh for the love of..." Boss said as he exhaled loudly and stuffed the money into a nearby desk drawer and slammed it shut. "You can look now Rosco!"
Rosco turned his head to look and then turned around completely when he saw all the money was gone. "You can't count that somewhere else? You have to do it HERE? Right next door to the Sheriff's office?? Spare me."
"Spare me!" Boss said as he took out a cigar and lit it. "I ain't never been in the presence of such an honest law man and frankly its making me sick to my stomach! Go get the lame brain volunteer deputy to go get me something to eat."
"I would, but he just left to do his patrol." Rosco sat down in the chair infront of Boss's desk. "And if I'm making you sick to your stomach, I wouldn't think you'd be to particular in eating."
"Well my stomach is making noise, either from the presence of a law man that can't be bought or hunger. How come you don't give the Dukes this much lip? They got a whole family full of moonshiners. Lord knows what I would give for kin like that."
"Oh I chased after them this morning. I even knew all the tricks they were gonna try because they left their CB channel on one that they've used before. Bo, however, ended up running me off the road." Rosco shook his head. "Drives just like his Daddy. Which is all I need. Another Duke driving like that and giving me more grey hairs."
Boss took the cigar out of his mouth and looked at the Sheriff and wrinkled his nose. "You were outdrove by a 16 year old boy?"
Rosco suddenly looked embarassed. "Uh...yeah." He made a face. "Then again, it's getting to the point where just about ANYBODY can outdrive me," he mumbled.
"Well I suggest you get out there and practice."
Rosco knew that was his cue to leave. He knew his brother-in-law wanted to finish counting that money and wanted the Sheriff to be out of the building while he did it. "Yeah," he said as he stood up. "That sounds like a good idea." He placed his hat on
his head and started towards the door. He then stopped and turned his head back towards Boss.
"Oh Boss? If I find you counting that money on county property again?" He turned and looked him in the eye. "I'm gonna conviscate it." He then walked out the door.
Boss saw he meant business and he slid the drawer opened carefully, looking to see if he was gone. He heard a noise and slammed it shut again. He went over to the window and watched Rosco pull away. He breathed a sigh of relief and went back over to his desk.

A few days later, when Rosco finished his early afternoon patrol, he backed his Plymouth Fury patrol car into the woods off County 21, about two miles from Mill Pond Road. It wasn't even a few minutes when he saw Bo and Luke Duke in Luke's orange Dodge Charger go zooming by. A grin came across Rosco's face and he proceeded to chase after the boys.
Bo was at the wheel and couldn't believe that Rosco was behind them. "Luke!"
"Take it easy, Bo. Just step on the accelerator."
Bo did. General One stayed far ahead of the 1975 Plymouth.
Rosco couldn't believe it. He glanced at the instrument panel of the patrol car half expecting to see either the fuel gage on E or the oil light to come on or SOMETHING to indicate that there was something wrong with the car. But there was no such indication and the Dodge remained a good distance ahead of him.
Bo swung the General around the corner and took off with dust. Rosco tried to make the turn but the patrol car slipped and ended up sliding off the road. After it came to a stop, Rosco watched the car as it disappeared down the road.
"Damn," he muttered. He then shook his head and chuckled a little. Those boys were becoming just as good at driving as their fathers and uncle Jesse. Rosco figured those boys would never get caught running moonshine.
Rosco brought the patrol car back onto the road and swung back around heading to where he had been parked originally. Before he got there though, his radio crackled to life.
"This is Henry Riley calling the Hazzard County Sheriff. Rosco, you better be listening."
Rosco picked up the mike. "This is the Sheriff. What is it, Henry?"
"You better get yourself over here to the Boar's Nest right quick. We gotta fight going on and it's Toby."
"Toby Jones? Oh for Pete's sake."
"Yeah. Please, hurry."
"I'm on my way." Rosco dropped the mike and stepped on the accelerator and sped off toward the Boar's Nest.
In the Nest itself, meanwhile, a second table was being broke by the weight of the unfortunate soul who had unknowningly crossed Toby Jones. Toby was a 26-year-old ex-Army soldier who fought in Vietnam and returned home bitter and mean. His short fuse had landed him in so many fist fights that most folks had lost count. He knew the inside of the Hazzard County Jail almost as well as Rosco and it was the Sheriff's patience and authority that Toby seemed to enjoy testing. When Rosco came through the door of the Boar's Nest, Toby stopped after landing another thundering blow to his opponents face and lunged toward Rosco.
Rosco had no time to react as Toby's shoulder slammed into his midsection and pushed the Sheriff back to the wall of the double entrance. The hit knocked the wind out of Rosco and he slid down the wall to the floor as Toby darted out of the door.
"Oh Rosco!" Daisy exclaimed as she ran over to him. She gently put her hand on his arm as he sat up. "Are you okay?"
Rosco nodded, trying to breathe normally. "Help me up, please. I've got to go after him."
"Rosco, you're in no condition to drive!" Daisy said as Rosco got to his feet.
"I've got to, Daisy. He has to be stopped before he hurts somebody really bad." Rosco looked out the window and caught a glimpse of Toby's black 1970 Chevelle SS as it tore out of the parking lot of the Boar's Nest. He went out the door and still struggling for breath, Rosco got into his patrol car and followed out after Toby.
Toby stayed ahead of Rosco for awhile, but didn't shake Rosco off. Not that he wanted to. As he tore onto Ridge Road, he suddenly realized he had an opportunity to stop Rosco from bothering him once and for all. He allowed the Chevelle to slow down and for Rosco to come up on the passenger side. When Rosco did, and the two cars were running even, Toby jerked the steering wheel hard to the right, slamming the Chevelle against the Plymouth.
Rosco gripped the steering wheel. "Toby! Knock it off! Now pull over!"
"Go to hell!" Toby jerked the steering wheel again, slamming into the Plymouth a little harder. Rosco still had control of the car but Toby refused to give up. He slammed the Chevelle against the patrol car one more time and continued to push it towards the side of the road.
Rosco couldn't stop the car. The Plymouth hit a small incline on the side of the road, sending it turning on it's right side as the wheels lost their grip with the ground. The car flew forward on it's side and came to a violent stop when the roof crashed against a large oak tree. Rosco blacked out before the car finally came to a rest on the ground.
Toby brought his Chevelle to a stop and looked back at the patrol car. He smirked. "So long, Sheriff." Toby then stepped on the accelerator and continued on down the road.

When Rosco came to about 15 minutes later, his ears were ringing. Despite the pain, he opened his eyes, but his vision was blurred. He had no idea where he was, only that he was laying on his side. His back and legs felt like pins and needles and it felt like his uniform was sticking to him. He tried to move, but the sensation failed to penatrate to his limbs.
"Oh God," he choked. His head swirled in dizziness and before he could come to the concious realization that he couldn't feel his legs, he fell unconcious again.

It was almost forty minutes later when the boys were driving down Ridge Road in Luke's General on their way to town. When they saw the patrol car, they stared in shock at it on its side and crunched against a tree.
"Luke, my god," Bo said. Luke stepped on the accelerator and brought the General off the road and near the patrol car. The boys scrambled out of the windows and ran around to where they could see the windshield, which had popped out, and the roof of the car that had caved in.
They stopped at the sight of Rosco on the ground. He was half way out of the car, laying on his left side facing the tree. He had either been partially thrown or had tried to crawl out, but could move no further. He appeared to be pinned in between the tree and the collapsed roof.
Bo reached into the car and turned the ignition off. The boys then knelt down by the Sheriff.
"Rosco?" Luke said, placing a hand on Rosco's neck carefully to check for a pulse.
"Is he alive?" Bo asked, his voice shaking.
"Yeah, but we gotta get some help, I think he's pinned in. I'm gonna go get Dad, Uncle Cooper and Uncle Jesse and see if we can get Doc and Cooter. You stay here, keep an eye on him."
Bo was shaking. "Luke..."
"It's okay, Bo, we're gonna help him. If he comes around, talk to him, keep him awake okay? But don't move him."
"O-Okay. Alright, Luke."
"That's it. I'll be back as fast as I can."
"Okay."
Luke got off his knees and ran back to the General and tore off back to Aaron's farm. Bo looked at the Sheriff. He was so pale and Bo wondered just how badly he was injured. If he was bleeding, Bo couldnÌt tell with the black jacket Rosco wore.
"Rosco?" Bo queried, looking at his face. It was just a couple of hours ago that Bo and Luke had Rosco chasing after them. Bo thought Luke was crazy, but Luke had wanted to test the engine in his General Lee after he and Cooter had done some tinkering around with it and what better way than a high speed chase. Of course, Luke didn't inform Bo of this until the redlights were reflecting in the mirrors and Bo was at the wheel about ready to puke. He had just got his driver's license a few months before and even though he'd been driving since he was fourteen, that little card in his wallet gave him official permission to be behind the wheel and everything be damned he was going to lose it. He had managed to out run Rosco, then chewed Luke out about it, but they ended up laughing at it anyway. But now, now just a few hours later, Rosco was possibly on death's door step.
"Oh Lord," Bo pleaded. "Oh Lord..." Bo looked up to the clear blue Hazzard sky then back down at Rosco, who moved his head slightly.
Bo gasped. "Rosco?"
Rosco moaned and slowly opened his eyes. He couldn't see the face of who was kneeling infront of him and tried to turn to get a better look. The sudden sharp pain that shot from his back to his neck made Rosco stop suddenly and he closed his eyes.
"It's me, Rosco. Bo Duke. Luke's gone to get help. You're gonna be okay." Bo shifted how he was sitting so that when Rosco opened his eyes again he could see him
Rosco opened his eyes and looked up at Bo. His vision was still blurred, but who could mistake that blonde hair.
"Bo...?"
"Yeah, Rosco, I'm here."
"It's...no use."
"What?"
"Help." He closed his eyes. "No use."
"Rosco, you're wrong, you're gonna be allright."
"No..."
"Yes, you are."
Rosco was slightly shaking his head. "You don't...understand." He then swallowed hard. "I can't...I can't feel my legs."
Bo felt this sickening ache come over him. "No. No, Rosco, you're gonna be allright. You'll see."
Rosco still shook his head. "Luke...shouldn't have...left you ...here."
"What do you mean?"
"You're...too young...to see something....like this."
"And you're too young to die."
Rosco managed a partial smile. "Bo, I'm....ancient history compared to you."
"But you ain't gonna die. You're gonna be okay, you gotta believe that."
"Allright, Bo..." Rosco said, not really wanting to argue it anymore. "I believe ya."
"Alright. Now can you tell me what happened?"
Rosco paused. "Toby."
"Toby? Toby Jones?"
"Yeah."
"And his big black Chevelle?"
"Yeah...Ain't got no respect...for the law."
Bo had to agree with that. Toby Jones was getting to be more than Rosco could handle. Everytime Toby walked into the Boar's Nest, a table would fly and a fight would break out. Toby seemed to enjoy testing Rosco's authority and his patience and Bo wondered if it had gone to far now.
Where the heck is Dad, Luke and Uncle Jesse? he wondered.
"Was that...you driving this morning?" Rosco asked.
Bo looked at him. He smiled a little. "Yeah, that was me."
"I knew...it was gonna be a bad day....when I couldn't catch....that ol' Charger."
"Yeah, Luke's been workin' real hard on that car. He and Cooter did something to the engine."
"Must've. Didn't you just...get your license?"
"Yeah, a few months ago."
"Why in the world...would you risk losin' it now?"
"Luke failed to inform me of what was going on until you were already behind us. I drove so fast more or less out of fear."
Rosco smiled a little. "I'll let you in on a little secret. If you end up....being as good a driver....as your Daddy or....any of your uncles....you won't have to worry about me....catchin' ya. Unless...your car breaks down."
Bo smiled.
"I always....wanted to be that...good a driver. But, now...."
"You'll drive again, Rosco. You will."
Slowly, Rosco's eyes closed.
"Rosco?"
Rosco didn't stir.
"Rosco!" Bo checked his pulse, but found it was weak. "Oh Luke, where are you?" Bo got up and went around the car to see if anyone was coming along the road. But the road was bare. And all Bo could think of was that if somebody didn't show up now, Rosco would die.
He started to shake again, and wished Luke had stayed here instead of him. Rosco was right. He was too young to see something like this. Rosco was sure he was going to die and Bo didn't know how to convince him otherwise. But it was no use now, with Rosco unconcious again.
Bo stood for awhile ringing his hands, trying to stay calm and stop the churning in his stomach.

Min was in her bedroom writing in her journal when she suddenly felt something very strong. She saw a glimpse of her brother and her stomach felt as though she was going to be ill. She got off of her bed and ran out of her room and down the stairs.
Cooper, Aaron, Thomas and Jesse were in the kitchen along with their wives drinking coffee and talking.
Min came barreling down the stairs and into the kitchen.
Cooper looked up at his daughter. "What's the matter, Min?"
Her face was white and her breath was coming out in fast pants, she was unable to voice what she was feeling.
Cooper was out of his chair in a flash. He gently took his daughter by the arms. "Min, what's the matter? Are you..." He stopped suddenly looking at her. He could see Bo and could feel the nausea that his son was experiencing.
"Daddy something has happened, something awful." She stopped and turned towards the road. "Luke is coming to get all of the men."
All of the uncles turned towards the road and Aaron looked at his niece. "What happened Min? Why is Luke coming?"
"Rosco...he rolled his car...Luke left Bo with him."
Cooper was about to ask if she could tell if Rosco was okay, when he and everyone suddenly heard the Dixie horn of Luke's General Lee as it came down the road and into the yard.
"There's Luke." Min looked at her father. "Please Daddy let me come with you."
"Min, I don't know---"
"Daddy, please."
"I'm going as well, Cooper," Diane said.
Cooper looked at his wife and daughter for a split second. "Oh, alright. Come on." They all hurried out of the house and met Luke by his General.
"Where is Rosco, Luke?" Cooper asked before Luke could say a word.
Luke looked at his Unlce for a moment. "He's--He's on Ridge Road. Not far from the Boar's Nest." Luke looked at everyone. "He's pinned into the car."
"All right, Aaron, Jesse and Thomas take your cars and me, Diane and Min will ride with Luke. I'll CB the ambulance on the way."
They all ran towards their vehicles and were on their way to help Rosco.

"Bo?"
Bo just barely heard Rosco. He ran back around the patrol car.
"Right here, Rosco. I was looking to see if anyone was coming up the road. Now don't pass out on me again."
"I'll try...not to."
"Alright. It won't be long now, Luke'll be back." Bo paused at the distinct sound of tires crunching against the gravel of the road.
"I hear somebody," Bo said and stood up. He looked over the car and saw Cooter's tow truck flying down the road. Cooter brought the truck off the road and to a sliding stop. He jumped out and ran to the other side of the patrol car to Bo.
"Luke called on the CB," Cooter said. "He and your daddy, Aaron, Thomas and Jesse are on their way and there's an ambulance coming from Tri-County."
"Thank God," Bo said. He kneeled down to Rosco, along with Cooter.
"There's an ambulance coming, Rosco. Everything's gonna be okay."
Rosco gave a nod.
"How'd this happen?" Cooter asked, looking at the car.
"He says it was Toby."
"Toby? Jeez, hasn't he caused enough grief for Rosco?"
"Apparently not."
"This...won't be..enough..." Rosco said.
Bo and Cooter looked at him.
"Rosco, you're gonna be okay. You gotta have faith," Bo said.
Cooter felt like he was missing something. He looked at Bo.
Bo paused, having a hard time trying to tell Cooter. "He can't--He can't feel his legs, Cooter."
Cooter looked at Bo in shock and then down at Rosco. "My Lord..."
"He's gonna be allright, Cooter. He's just stunned or something. I mean, he's pinned in, yeah, but he's gonna be okay...ain't he?"
"Bo, there's no way to know."
"But, Cooter--"
"He's right, Bo," Rosco said. "I can only...assume the worst."
"But--" Bo was shaking his head. "But there's a chance he'll be okay, ain't there?"
Cooter paused a moment, looking at the young Duke boy. He nodded. "There's always a chance."
"Well, alright then." Bo turned his head as he heard the sound of an ambulance siren in the distance. He and Cooter got up and stepped around the car. After a moment they saw the ambulance and Bo breathed a sigh of relief.
As the ambulance parked and the paramedics got out, Bo heard the sound of Luke's General Lee and he saw the other cars that belonged to his uncles. Cooper came out of the car and Bo was not that surprised to see his mother and sister come out of it also.
"Dad!" Bo exclaimed as he ran over to his father.
Cooper hugged his son and breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," Bo said and then swallowed. "Yeah, I'm allright, but Rosco--Daddy, he--he can't feel....his legs."
"I'm going to go see if I can lend a hand, I want you to stay here with your mother and sister." Cooper let go of his son and Diane came up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders.
Bo turned to his mom. "Mom, do you think Rosco's going to be okay?"
Diane sighed and looked at her son's face. "I don't know honey, we all are going to have to pray for him."
Bo nodded and looked back at the busted patrol car. He then looked at his twin. "Are you okay, Min? I'm sorry you had to experience all of that too."
Min was still a little chalk faced and her stomach was still in knots. "Yeah I'm okay, I'm just a little shaky. Your feelings were very strong."
It took the medics over an hour to get Rosco out of the car. Luke, Cooper, Aaron, Thomas and Jesse helped in trying to free Rosco from the twisted metal grip of the car. "I think they are going to have to use the chainsaw, he's stuck in there like a sardine in a can." Cooper said as he looked at the car.
Jesse nodded his head in agreement and spoke to one of the paramedics. He agreed and went to get the chainsaw that was called the Jaws of Life.
Then using the Jaws of Life, the medics cut around Rosco, taking the car apart piece by piece, not wanting to the tip it so it went back on it's wheels, and slinging Rosco back with it, but wanting to eventually tip it enough to get Rosco stabilized so they could move him.
Cooter heard the paramedics discussing how they were going to move the car enough away from the tree to get Rosco out. He then suggested using his tow truck and one of the other vehicles as a wedge and pulling the car away from the tree. The medics agreed and Jesse volunteered his truck as the wedge.
Cooter hooked up the chains on his tow truck to the patrol car and slowly pulled it away from the tree and letting it lean on the old truck. The metal of the patrol car moaned as it the weght was shifted. The medics quickly were able to stabilize Rosco and lift him out of the car.
Rosco opened his eyes long enough to look towards the sky and then his world went black and he passed out for one last time, not to wake up again for several hours.
The Dukes and Cooter stood watching as the medics lifted Rosco into the ambulance. Bo had barely listened when the medics were talking, and trying to talk to Rosco before he passed out. He heard something about possible internal injuries or bleeding and when they radioed to Tri-County they described Rosco's condition as 'comatose.' Although Bo didn't know much about medicine, he knew that internal injuries were not good and that being comatose was more serious then just being passed out.
As the ambulance drove away, Bo suddenly had Cooper beside him.
"You okay, Bo?"
Bo paused a moment. "I think so," he said. He looked at his father. "Daddy, what if--what if Rosco doesn't--"
"Now, Bo, we have to think positive," Cooper said as he placed his hand on Bo's shoulder. "Although Rosco's life is in the hands of the Lord now, we have to trust that whatever happens, it is part of God's plan for Rosco. But we can pray that everything will be allright."
Bo nodded. "It hasn't been a very good past couple of years for him, has it?"
Cooper shook his head. "No, it hasn't. With his father's death four years ago things just haven't been going well for him at all."
After a moment of pause, Jesse spoke. "We're going to have to let Lulu and J.D. know about this."
"And Eli," Aaron added. He then sighed and looked at his brothers. "MaryAnne's gonna fall apart when she finds out though."
"Who's MaryAnne?" Min asked.
"She's Rosco's cousin," Jesse explained. "She's about the same age as your cousin Daisy and she and Eli live over in Finchburg County. She and Rosco are as close as all you cousins are."

The Dukes and Cooter followed the ambulance up to the hospital. When they got there, Jesse was delegated the difficult task of calling Boss and Lulu to tell them what had happened.
With everyone standing by him at the payphone, Jesse dropped the change in and dialed the number. He listened to the ringing for several moments and shook his head at his brothers, the boys, Min and Diane.
"He ain't in town."
'Try the Boar's Nest," Luke suggested.
Jesse hung up then picked up and put more change into the slot. He dialed the number for the Nest.
When somebody on the other end of the line picked up, Jesse spoke.
"Let me speak to J.D. This is Jesse Duke. It's very urgent."
When Boss came on the line, he was somewhat exasperated. "What is it, Jesse? I've got nearly two-hundred dollars in damage here at the Boar's Nest from another one of Toby Jones's fights and I ain't got time for chit-chat."
"This is serious J.D. Toby's done more than just cause property damage to the Boar's Nest. He ran Rosco off the road."
"Is Rosco all right?"
Jesse paused. "No," he said. "No, he's not, J.D. I think you better get Lulu and get yourselves up here to the hospital."
"Jesse, what happened to Rosco? Is he alive?"
"He's alive, but he was very badly injured. Very badly."
"How badly?" Boss demanded.
Jesse hesitated. "When his patrol car went off the road, it turned on its side and the roof slammed into a tree. Rosco was pinned in...and..." Jesse suddenly realized that he wasn't talking to the county commissioner but to Rosco's brother-in-law and if it was this hard to tell Boss what had happened, how were they going to tell Lulu?
"Jesse," Boss said. "Jesse, how bad is it?"
Jesse looked at his brothers, sister in law, niece and nephews and Cooter for support. "He--He can't feel his legs, J.D. He might be...paralyzed."
Boss was silent for a moment. "Oh my Lord," he whispered. "Does--Does Lulu know?"
"Not yet," Jesse replied. "I thought you'd want to be the one to tell her."
Boss was silent again. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, I suppose I should be the one to tell her, Jesse. We'll be up as soon as we can."
"Alright J.D. Me and my brothers are here with Diane, Min, Luke, Bo and Cooter. We'll stay here until you get here."
"Thank you, Jesse."
Slowly, Jesse hung up the phone. He looked at his family and Cooter and took a breath.
"How did he take it?" Diane asked.
"Okay, I guess. He's going to tell Lulu and then they'll be up here."
"That leaves Eli," Aaron said. "Who's going to call him?"
Cooper sighed and stepped forward. "We both know Eli pretty well Jesse, but I'll call him."
Cooper picked up the reciever and took out some change, he dropped it in the slot and dialed the operator.
"Finchburg County, please. Yes, I would like to be connected to Eli Coltrane please."
As Cooper waited for the operator to place his call he looked at the faces of his family, his son and daughter especially were blank.
Finally, the number was connected and the phone began to ring.
After the third ring, Eli picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Eli, this is Cooper Duke. Listen I uh..I have some bad news for you and MaryAnne."
"Bad news?" Eli repeated. "What is it, Coop?"
Cooper hesitated and looked at his wife, Diane nodded for him to go on and he took a breath. "Eli, Rosco has been in an accident."
Eli paused a moment. "Is he--" Eli stopped suddenly. "Coop, is he alright?" Even as he asked the question, Eli dreaded hearing the answer.
"No, he's not dead but he's hurt pretty bad, he can't ..." The words seemed to get stuck in Cooper's throat but he cleared it. "He can't feel his legs. I think you and MaryAnne should get out here as soon as you can."
Eli was silent for several moments. "My Lord..." he whispered. He was quiet again and then said, "Oh dear Lord, MaryAnne...." How was going to tell her? "Um, okay, Coop, we'll be there as soon as....as soon as we can."
"All right Eli, there is plenty of room for you and MaryAnne to stay at my house. We'll see you both when you get here."
"Thank you, Coop. I know MaryAnne won't want to be to far from Rosco."
"Okay bye Eli."
"Bye, Coop." Eli hung up the phone just as MaryAnne came bouncing into the kitchen.
"Hi, Papa. Who was that?"
Eli turned to her.
MaryAnne saw the ashen look on his face and her expression became serious. "Papa? What's wrong?"
"It's Rosco..."
MaryAnne's eyes became concerned. She stepped closer to her father. "Papa....?"
"He was in an accident. He's alive...but..."
Father and daughter just stared at each other for a moment. Eli then closed his eyes and softly said, "He can't feel his legs..."
MaryAnne brought her hands to her face, covering her mouth. She then started to shake and the tears welled up in her eyes. She shook her head. "Papa...oh no!" she wailed just before she broke into sobs.
Eli pulled his daughter close to him and held her as she cried.
"No," she said into his shoulder, "No, no, no, no...."
"Do you want to go to the hospital?"
MaryAnne lifted her head off Eli's shoulder. "Yes. Please, Papa."
"Alright. Cooper Duke has invited us to stay at his place as well."
MaryAnne nodded and wiped some of the tears off her face. "I'll pack some things."
Cooper had hung up the phone and had sat down with his family. Daisy had come right from the Boars Nest when she heard of what had happened to Rosco and she broke down when they told her how bad it was.
"I told him not to go," she cried.
She sat down in the waiting room alongside her parents and silently prayed.
A little bit later, Boss and Lulu came into the waiting room.
"What happened to him?" Lulu sobbed. "What happened to my baby brother?"
"And where's Toby Jones?" Boss demanded.
"Just take it easy JD, the doctors haven't told any of us anything since we got here except they dont know what's wrong with Rosco yet."
"Well, Jesse, they must have some idea by now if his injuries are really serious or not!"
"They are running tests, they said they would tell us something as soon as they knew anything. So just quit giving everyone a hard time and sit down."
Boss was about to continue to protest but stopped. He sighed. "I'm sorry, Jesse. I'm sorry, it's just..."
"I understand, I know how hard it is to just sit and wait, but for night now that is all you can do."
Boss nodded. "Alright," he said. He turned to Lulu and gently took her by the arm and led her to two chairs near where the Dukes were sitting. Lulu had a handkerchief clutched in her hand and she brought it to her eyes. "Oh why Rosco?" she wondered.
A couple of hours later, long after the sun had set and still no word from the doctors on Rosco's condition, Eli and MaryAnne arrived at the hospital. Eli had his arm around MaryAnne as they came into the waiting room and they approached the Dukes.
Cooper and his family got up and he hugged MaryAnne.
"How are you holding up?"
MaryAnne's eyes filled with tears. She couldn't find her voice to reply and could only shrug.
"I know honey but it's going to be all right." He looked at the faces of his wife and kids and he realized they had never met MaryAnne. "I want you to meet my wife Diane and my son Bo and his twin sister Min."
MaryAnne pulled herself together as much as she could and wiped the tears off her face. "Hello," she said.
Bo cracked a tiny smile and shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you MaryAnne, Dad has told us a lot about you."
"Has he?" Her mouth turned up into a partial smile. "All good I hope."
"It is, right Min?"
Min smiled a little and nodded, she stuck out her hand and shook MaryAnne's. "He has told us good things about you. Are you and your father going to stay with us?"
"Yes, I believe we are." She looked at her father who nodded. "And I want to thank y'all for lettin' us stay with you."
Diane smiled and put her hand on the young woman's shoulder. "No need to thank us MaryAnne, it's part of being a good neighbor."
MaryAnne smiled and nodded.
MaryAnne was then introduced to Luke, Daisy and Cooter as well. Daisy could remember MaryAnne from kindergarten, just before MaryAnne moved out of Hazzard to Finchburg County.
"You used to wear these long pigtails," Daisy said.
MaryAnne nodded. "I seem to remember you wore pigtails too."
Daisy giggled.
Luke smiled and put his hand out to MaryAnne. "It's nice to meet you, MaryAnne," he said. "I'm Luke Duke."
"Nice to meet you, Luke," she said shaking his hand.
Luke couldn't help but notice her. She was quite attractive and the tears had dried enough that he could see she had very blue eyes.
But he pushed the thought aside. Now was not exactly the time for a boy meets girl situation.
Eli turned to Cooper. "Have you heard anything about Rosco?"
"We haven't heard much Eli, they are running tests but that's all we know, I doubt we will know anything until morning."
"Papa, I want to see him," MaryAnne said.
"Sweetheart, I don't think they'll let us see him yet."
"Your Papa is right MaryAnne, they won't let us see him yet." Cooper looked at Diane and the rest of the kids. "I think it would be a good idea if all the wives and kids went home and got some rest."
"I want to see him," MaryAnne said. "I'd rather stay here until they'll let me."
"MaryAnne," Eli started.
"Papa, please," MaryAnne said. "Let me stay here."
"MaryAnne, they could be running tests all night. By the time they let any of us in to see him it could be nine o'clock tomorrow morning. Now I want you to go with Diane and Bo and Min here and get some rest okay?"
"But--"
"No buts. You do as I say, young lady. It ain't gonna do no good if you're half asleep in the morning when you do finally see him, so you go and try to get some rest."
"Are you staying?"
"For awhile."
"Will you call if you hear anything new?"
"I will. You know I will."
"Okay." She then gave her father a hug. "See you soon, then?"
Eli nodded.
The Dukes took a very upset MaryAnne Coltrane back to their farmhouse. Diane rolled the spare bed into Min's room and set it up for MaryAnne.
"This bed is pretty comfortable MaryAnne, just ask Min's father. He's had to sleep on it before." Diane said as she winked at her daughter.
Min looked at her mother and smiled at the joke she had made.
"Thanks," MaryAnne said, missing the joke completely, more or less because she was too busy thinking about other things.
Min shrugged her shoulders at her mother who nodded. "Well I want you both to try and get some rest." Diane said as he hugged her daughter, she started to leave the room but then turned and gave MaryAnne a hug as well. "It's going to be all right Honey, get some rest." She said before she turned off the the lights and left the room.

At the hospital, Cooper walked down the hall from the waiting area to the pay phone. They had heard, finally, of Rosco's condition and he knew that MaryAnne and everyone would want to know as well. So he told Eli he would call home.
After dialing the number, Cooper listened to the ringing on the other end.
Bo came down the stairs in his pajamas shortly before the phone started to ring. Diane was sitting on the couch with a book when she saw her son.
"What are you doing up?"
Bo pointed to the phone. "It's Dad...he's going to be calling." He said as he sat down on the couch.
Diane was about to speak when the phone started to ring, she looked at her son and shook her head as she got up to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Hi, it's me."
Diane raised an eyebrow and turned around and looked at her son's smiling face. "I know...Bo told me. What's up?"
"We finally heard about Rosco." He sighed. "He's in a coma, Diane. They think it might be a few days before he comes around." Cooper paused and it seemed as though there was more to said, but he didn't continue.
Diane sighed and closed her eyes briefly. "Oh no...all right I'll tell MaryAnne. When are you and Eli going to be coming home?"
"We're heading home right now. Diane, you may also want to tell her that from the tests they've run so far, it looks like he's..." Cooper paused and then continued softly, "he's paralyzed for sure."
Diane bit her lip and covered her forehead with her hand as she started to tear up. "Poor Rosco." She whispered. "Cooper please be careful on your way home, okay?"
"I will. I'll see you soon."
"I love you."
"I love you too. Bye." Cooper slowly hung up the phone and looked at it for a moment. He sighed and then went to find Eli.
Diane hung up the phone and Bo could hear his mother sniffling.
Bo got up off the couch and walked over to his mother. "Mom? Are you okay?"
Diane had her back turned to her son and she shook her head.
He walked around to face her and gently touched her on the arm. "What did Dad say?"
Diane looked up at her son, her nose was red and her eyes full of tears. "He said that Rosco is in a coma and the tests they ran said that he is paralyzed."
"Oh no..." Bo whispered, closing his eyes for a moment. "Oh man..."
"I know..." Diane said as she hugged her son.
Bo hugged his mother. He had wanted so much to believe that Rosco would be okay, and that he wouldn't be paralyzed, but it just wasn't meant to be. He sighed heavily and after a moment looked at Diane, his own eyes becoming red.
"We should tell MaryAnne," he said.
"I know we have to Honey but right now I don't know if I have the courage too." She said as he moved a piece of hair out of her son's eyes.
"Do you want me to? I will if you want."
"Maybe it would be a softer blow if you told both MaryAnne and your twin. You can go to bed after you do, I'm going to wait up for your Father." She kissed her son on the forehead. "Good night."
"Okay," he said. "Good night, Mom."
Diane watched her son walk up the stairs and she smiled as she thought about what a brave son she and Cooper were raising.
Bo climbed to the top of the stairs and walked down the hall to his sister's room. He reached up to knock but his hand stopped before it made contact with the door. He took a deep breath and knocked.
Min sat up in her bed and she could feel her brother behind it. "Come in Bo."
Bo opened the door and saw both of the girls were sitting up in their beds, MaryAnne especially looked anxious.
"Dad just called..."
"About Rosco?" MaryAnne asked uneasily.
Bo nodded and looked down at the floor.
"Why don't you sit." Min said as she pointed to the end of the bed.
Bo sat down at the end of his sister's bed and looked at MaryAnne, not wanting to tell her the news.
MaryAnne looked at Bo. "What did he say, Bo?"
Bo played with his hands and sighed. "Dad said that Rosco is in a coma and that they got the test results."
MaryAnne sudenly went white and she brought her hand to her face. She paused a moment almost on the verge of tears. She held them back long enough to ask, "What were the results?"
Bo swallowed and looked at his sister before shifting his eyes to MaryAnne. "He's paralyzed MaryAnne." He said in a low voice.
MaryAnne brought her other hand to her face and buried her head in them. She cried quietly for a moment and then took an audible breath before she started sobbing.
"Oh God...."
"Are you sure that's what Daddy said Bo?" Min asked as she got off her bed and hugged MaryAnne.
Bo nodded. "Yeah..."
MaryAnne just continued to cry, shaking each time she tried to take a breath. "Oh Rosco..."
Min held her tightly, trying to soothe her friend , she looked at her brother, asking for help. Bo got off the bed and sat down beside MaryAnne and touched her back.
"It's going to be okay MaryAnne."
"No..." she sobbed into her hands. "No it ain't."
"Yeah it is, Rosco's going to be all right, you'll see." Min said as she patted her friend's back.
MaryAnne lifted her head and looked at Min. "How can you say he's gonna be okay? Didn't you hear Bo? Rosco's in a coma and he's...paralyzed. He ain't okay, Min. He ain't okay at all."
"He's alive MaryAnne, if nothing else that should give you comfort. He could be dead."
MaryAnne paused, wiping some of the tears off her cheek. "I--I suppose," she said, her voice cracking. She sniffled. "I wish they had let me and Papa see him."
"Mom said that our Dad and your Papa is on their way home and maybe tomorrow they will let you see him."
MaryAnne looked at Bo. "I hope they do," she said.
"Is Mom okay?" Min said suddenly thinking of her mother.
"Yeah she's okay, but very anxious for Dad to come home. Why don't we try and get some rest."
MaryAnne sniffled and nodded. "I don't know if I'm gonna get much sleep, but I'll try."
"Give it a try MaryAnne. Goodnight." Bo said as he got off the bed and left the room.
"Bo, wait," MaryAnne said suddenly, getting up from the bed and stepping toward the door.
Bo came back in the room and looked at her. "Yeah?"
She stepped toward him and gave him a hug. She then looked at him. "Bo, I heard one of your uncles at the hospital say that you and Luke had found him?"
"Me and Luke did and I stayed with him until Luke got help." He said softly, not looking at her.
"Oh Bo..." she said, hugging him again. "You're pretty upset by all of this too aren't you?"
"He wanted me to leave him, he said I was too young to see something like this but.. I couldn't leave him."
A new tear rolled down MaryAnne's cheek. She held Bo tightly for a moment and then stepped back to look at him.
"What you did was very grown up," she said. "I'm glad you and Luke did find him, even though I know it wasn't pleasant." She paused. "We better get some sleep."
"Okay, good night." Bo said as he reached out and gave her hand a squeeze before closing the door.

MaryAnne stood in the middle of the waiting room, defying her father.
"Please, Papa, I have to see him."
"MaryAnne, if they were gonna allow us to see him they would come tell us."
"Well, why won't they? Why haven't they told us anything?"
Eli could only shrug. "They're probably working on him. Now, come sit down."
"No," MaryAnne said firmly. "I want to see him." She turned and walked towards the doors of the ER.
Eli took a hold of her arm. "MaryAnne--"
"No, Papa!" She yanked her arm away. "I'm going to see him." She pushed through the doors and entered into the ER.
No one really noticed her as she came in. She slowly walked forward, peering into the rooms and bed stalls looking for her cousin.
When she came around the corner she saw the foot end of a gurny sticking out the door of one of the rooms.
"Miss?" a nurse spoke coming up beside MaryAnne. "Are you looking for someone?"
"My cousin," MaryAnne replied. "Rosco. Sheriff Rosco Coltrane."
"I'm going to have to ask you to wait in the waiting area."
"Why?"
"Please, you must return to the waiting area." The nurse tried to turn MaryAnne around to go back to the waiting area. MaryAnne protested by not moving.
"No! Now tell me where he is."
The gurny that was part way out the door started to move. MaryAnne looked up and watched as it was completely wheeled out with two men in dark suits coming out with it. The body on the gurny was completely covered with a crisp white sheet. Then MaryAnne saw it.
The black sheriff's jacket that was hanging off the arm of one of the dark suited men.
MaryAnne gasped. "No..." She tried to step toward the scene but the nurse held her back.
"No!" MaryAnne exclaimed, causing the men to look her way. When the man holding the jacket turned, she saw he was also holding a black hat.
Rosco's black hat. Rosco's jacket.
"NOOO!!!" she screamed. "NO HE AIN'T DEAD!!! IT'S A MISTAKE! SAY IT'S A MISTAKE!!"
But no one offered her any sympathy. The nurse continued to hold a firm grip on her, not letting her go near the gurny. The two dark suited men just walked away with the gurny and Rosco's jacket and hat.
"NO!! COME BACK HERE! YOU CAN'T TAKE THAT HAT AND JACKET!! HE AIN'T DEAD!!!!"
But the men just continued on. The rest of the doctors and nurses were completely oblivious to the young woman screaming hysterically in the middle of the hall.
"ROSCO!! Oh God please, no...." she crumbled to the floor and wailed loudly....
MaryAnne turned fitfully on the bed. "No..." she moaned. "He ain't...dead.."
Min's eyes flew open as the images of a hospital and a screaming MaryAnne, came into her mind. She heard MaryAnne moaning and she got up and went over to the spare bed. She saw the young woman moving around, calling out her cousin's name.
"MaryAnne.." She said as she reached out and gently shook her shoulders, trying to wake her from her dream.
"Rosco...."
"Wake up MaryAnne." Min said as she shook her again.
MaryAnne turned a couple of more times and then suddenly her eyes flew open. "Oh God..." she breathed. She then looked at Min. "Min..."
"It's all right MaryAnne, it was just a dream, he's not dead."
"Oh Min...it was so real...they wouldn't let me see for sure." MaryAnne wrapped her arms around herself and suddenly feeling cold. She shook her head trying to get the awful image of the two funeral directors taking Rosco away. She then looked at Min. "How did....how did you know what I was dreaming about?"
Min looked at her badly shaken friend, could she handle another shock right now? She decided that she better tell her about the things she and Bo could do.
"MaryAnne, I don't know quite how to tell you this but...see me and Bo were born with abilities. That is how I knew about your dream, I saw it."
"Abilities?" MaryAnne said. "You mean like..like pyhsic abilities?"
"Yes, we got them from our father."
MaryAnne looked at Min and then dropped her gaze to the floor, a little surprised to hear this. "Ain't that something," she said. She then chuckled. "And my friend in highschool thought she was something because she could read tarot cards." She looked at Min. "You saw my dream."
Min nodded her head. "I saw everything."
"Awful wasn't it? They took his hat. They took his jacket. They wouldn't let me see him. They didn't even tell me and Papa that he had died so we could say goodbye." MaryAnne shivered again.
"I know it was but it was just a dream. Listen MaryAnne, you have to do me a favor, you can't tell anyone what I told you."
MaryAnne nodded. "I won't tell anyone. I promise."
"Thank you. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that no one outside the family really knows. In fact, you are the first."
MaryAnne smiled a little. "Well, I'm honored," she said. "I won't tell a soul."
"If you want to talk about Rosco, I am a very good listener.."
MaryAnne bit her lip. She hesitated a moment, the images from the dream still floating in her mind. "I'm so scared for him, Min," she said as her eyes started to tear up. "I'm just so scared."
Min took her friend's hands and squeezed them gently. "I know you are honey, what are you feeling?"
"I--I don't know, it's hard to put into words," she said. "I mean, he's in a coma now, he couldn't feel his legs when they found him. What if he never wakes up? Or what if he does, only to find out he'll never walk again?" Her voice broke at that point and she took one of her hands from Min and brought it to her face and cried for a moment.
"Shhh, it's okay MaryAnne. He is going to be all right, you have to believe that. He'll wake up from the coma and I really do think that he will walk again, it may take a little time but he will."
"Oh Min, I hope you're right. I just hope...he...doesn't think...." She stopped, not wanting to say it.
Min put her arm around her friend's shoulders. "I know, he doesn't think he will walk again, but you have to believe for him."
"What if it's not enough? What if he doesn't even want to try? Min, Rosco's the kind of person where not being able to walk again is going to be like the end of everything for him. I mean, he was the kid who used to get picked on on the playground at school and he grew up to be Sheriff. Being Sheriff's all he's ever lived for and all he ever wanted. I don't know if I can convince him that it's not the end of everything."
Min sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "I know what kind of man Rosco is, and you are right. But he is also the kind of man that would not give in easily. He has been a fighter all his life and you have to remind him of that MaryAnne, somehow."
MaryAnne swallowed as another tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm sure gonna try," she said softly. "He and Papa are all I got left."
"He's going to be just fine MaryAnne, okay? How about we try and get some sleep?"
"I'll try. I ain't sure I can sleep after that dream, but I'll try."
"Just think good thoughts and before you know it, morning will be here."
"Alright," MaryAnne said. She then looked at Min and smiled a little. "Thanks."
"Anytime." Min laid back down in her bed and pulled the covers up, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.
MaryAnne sighed and laid back down in her bed. She hugged the cool pillow tightly and waited for sleep to come. She said a silent prayer for Rosco and before she knew it, she fell asleep once again.

Min opened her eyes and turned over to look at her alarm clock. It ready 7 am and she sat up slowly looking around. MaryAnne was still asleep and she wondered if she should wake her. She could smell her Mom's cooking drifting up the stairs and she got out of her bed and walked over to MaryAnne's.
"MaryAnne?" She asked as she gently touched the young woman's shoulder.
MaryAnne stirred slightly and sensed somebody was near her cot. She inhaled
deeply, the smell of the breakfast cooking in the Duke kitchen waking her up more. She opened her eyes and looked at Min. "Good morning," she said, with a tiny smile.
"You are half right, considering what time it is. I think we should get
dressed and see what's cooking."
"Is it late?" MaryAnne asked as she pushed the covers off her and sat up.
"It's 7." Min said as she went to her dresser and opened a couple of the
drawers, getting her clothes for that day. A pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt.
MaryAnne got up and pulled her suitcase out from under the cot. She opened
it up and looked at the folded t-shirts, shorts, jeans and other clothes she had managed to stuff into the case in a hurry. She sighed heavily and pulled out a red and white checkered sleeveless blouse and jean shorts. She let the lid slam down.
"Why don't you use the bathroom across the hall, I'll use my folks."
"Alright."
Min opened her bedroom door and went down the hall. She passed her brother's
room and saw that the door was open. "Well I'll be the lazy bones is out of bed." On most occasions Bo had to be awakened, his tendency to oversleep was well known. She went to the end of the hall and slipped inside her parents' room, closing the door.
MaryAnne walked across the hall to the bathroom. She looked towards the
stairs and wondered where her father had slept during the night. If he slept at all, she thought as she quietly closed the bathroom door behind her. Images from her dream came back to her and she closed her eyes, forcing it out of her head, even if it was just for a few moments at a time.

"Honey can you pass me the salt and pepper please?" Diane asked her husband
as she cracked open two eggs.
"Sure." Cooper grabbed the plastic salt and pepper holders with one hand and
placed them down by Diane.
"Thanks, why don't you go outside and see where that son of yours went?" Diane said as she put salt and pepper on the cooking eggs.
Cooper placed the last plate down at the table and turned to look out the window that looked towards the back yard. Cooper saw the barn doors were opened and figured that was where Bo most likely was. He looked at his wife and nodded and then headed outside. As he walked towards the barn, Cooper called out Bo's name.
Bo was aiming for his target tied to a bail of hay. "I'm in here!" He called out before letting his arrow fly. It struck in the upper left-hand corner.
Cooper stepped in through the doorway and saw the arrows already stuck to the target. "A little early to be practicing your archery, isn't it?"
Cooper could sense why Bo was really out in the barn, but he knew it would
be better for Bo to talk about it.
"No, not really." Bo walked over to the target and jerked the arrows out roughly.
Cooper sat down on one of the hay bales at the side of the barn and watched his son as the boy placed the extra arrows down on the table beside him and prepared another arrow to shoot. Bo's lack of a sunny disposition was clear, enough that Cooper wouldn't have needed empathic abilities to pick up on it. It was in his face, his eyes. He glared at the target as he aimed the arrow and gritted his teeth. When he let it go, the arrow landed off target again, this time in the lower right hand corner.
Cooper heard Bo sigh heavily and watched him turn to pick up another arrow.
"You're not concentrating on hitting that target are you?" Cooper asked, finally breaking the silence.
"I don't know what you're talking about." The young man snapped as he took aim and let another arrow go. It missed the target completely and stuck in the wooden wall behind it.
Cooper raised an eyebrow. "Um... I believe THAT'S what I'm talking about."
He glanced toward the arrow in the wall. "Bo, I know you can hit that target. Something's weighing on your mind or otherwise you'd be ripping a hole in the center of that target." He looked at his son. "What's bothering you, Bo?"
"The only thing bothering me is you! I just came out here to shoot some arrows." Bo slammed his bow down on the ground and stormed out of the barn.
Cooper sprang off the bale and went after Bo. He caught up to him in the middle of the yard and grabbed him by the arm and turned him around to face him. "Beauregard James Duke be lucky I don't turn you over my knee right now for that! Now you did not just come out here to shoot arrows and I sure as heck ain't the only thing bothering you. However, I could be quite a bother to you if you want." Cooper narrowed his eyes a bit, but let go of Bo's arm. "Now you either straighten out your attitude yourself or I'll do it for
you."
Bo swallowed hard, he had pushed his father a bit too far this time and he knew it. Two sets of matching blue eyes peered into one another. "I...I don't want to talk about it." He tried to turn away but Cooper grabbed his arm so he couldn't.
"Bo..." Cooper spoke softly and with concern now. He looked at Bo, but Bo
wouldn't look at him. "Bo... is it Rosco?"
The young man nodded his head. "MaryAnne was so...upset last night. I'm the
one that told her about Rosco not being able to walk. Mom was too upset to do it so I did."
Cooper put his hands on his son's shoulders. He took a deep breath, not
knowing that Bo had taken on such a task. "Bo, I had no idea.... it was hard enough telling your mother, I can only imagine what it was like to tell MaryAnne. To be honest, I had figured your mother would wait until Eli was there." He paused. "You did a good thing, Bo, but how's it affecting you?"
Cooper's son shrugged his shoulders. "It could be any one of us in that bed.
Luke or Uncle Jesse or...even you." He looked up at his father's face. "I mean we drive fast when we run shine, one day it could be any one of us wrapped around that tree." Bo saw the patrol car sandwich with Rosco in the middle and he covered his eyes with his hands.
Cooper pulled his son close to him. "I know," he said. "I've thought of that myself since yesterday. But what happened to Rosco wasn't his fault. Toby Jones purposely ran him off the road. He meant for Rosco to be hurt, maybe even killed. You never know what life's going to deal out to you, Bo, and unfortunately you're learning at a young age what can happen when you get dealt a crappy hand. But we're going to get through this, all of us, as a family. And we're going to help Eli, MaryAnne and Rosco as much as we can because they're our friends." Cooper looked at his son. "I know it hurts Bo, and that's okay. But we'll get through this."
Bo put his arm around his father and hugged him. "I didn't sleep that much last night thinking about all this. We gotta help him walk, and we gotta get that jerk Toby Jones, that's all there is to it."
Cooper nodded and returned the hug. "That's right," he said. "Toby's caused
enough trouble for Rosco, and the rest of us for that matter. He's not going to get away with this, that's for sure." Cooper let go of Bo. "Let's go see how breakfast is coming and if Min, MaryAnne and Eli are up. MaryAnne's gonna need some encouraging words, I think."
"She's going to need a lot of them." Bo whispered as he walked back towards the house with his Dad.

The girls were sitting at the table as Diane scooped out over easy eggs onto their plates. Cooper and his son came in and she pointed at their places.
"Have a seat, the bacon and toast is self service, I'll have eggs for you both in a second."
MaryAnne picked up her fork and was about to poke at her eggs when she
stopped suddenly and placed it back down, shaking her head at forgetting her manners momentarily. She looked up at Bo and Cooper as they took their seats. "Mornin'," she said softly.
"Morning." Bo said as he gave her a little smile. "Go ahead and eat MaryAnne it's okay."
"I wasn't sure if y'all did a grace or anything," she said, glancing at Eli. They'd been saying a grace every morning since MaryAnne was learning how to talk. They'd always believed it gave them strength to get through the day, but with recent events, MaryAnne began to doubt the power of the simple morning thanks to the Lord.
Diane scooped eggs for her husband and son and set the skillet down on the
stove. She took her seat between Cooper and Eli and cleared her throat. "I think grace would be lovely, will you do it for us MaryAnne?"
"Um..." MaryAnne looked at everyone and then at her father. He nodded slightly, encouraging her to go ahead. He knew their faith was being tested and now was not the time to stop believing. "Alright," she said. She folded her slim hands in front of her and rested them on the edge of the table and then watched for everyone else to do the same. When they did, she began.
"Lord, we thank thee for this bounteous table thou has placed before us and ask for your love and strength to guide us through this difficult time..." She glanced up at the ceiling and then back down to her hands. "Amen."
"Amen." The gathered family echoed and breakfast had begun. Cooper poured
himself a cup of coffee and filled Eli's cup. "Are you and MaryAnne going to
the hospital?"
"Yeah," Eli said. When the coffee cup was full, Eli nodded. "Thanks."
"We're hoping they'll let us see him," MaryAnne added. "Even if he still in a..." she looked down at her plate, "coma."
"I'm sure they will." Min said as she had a sip of her milk. "Right Bo?"
"Yeah," he said.
Cooper nodded to his son and looked at his wife. "I'll go with you, if you want me to."
"We appreciate that Coop," Eli said. "But I think this is something MaryAnne and I have to do ourselves."
MaryAnne nodded with her father.
"Well I can understand that, but if you change your mind, we can be there pretty fast."
Both MaryAnne and Eli managed to smile a little. "Thanks," Eli said.
The air seemed much lighter as they all continued with their breakfast, although two of the table party dreaded the task that came afterwards.

After breakfast, Eli and MaryAnne drove to the hospital. They waited for nearly half an hour outside of the intensive care unit before they were finally allowed to see Rosco. The doctor told them that he was still in the coma and that they'd only be allowed to see him for a few minutes. They nodded and proceeded down the hall. When they got to his room they both paused a moment by the door.
"It's ok," Eli said, touching his daughter on the back and then opening the door. Slowly they stepped inside. They looked towards the lone bed where Rosco lay and they paused again. Eli then took MaryAnne by the hand and led her over to her cousin.
When they were close enough to see him, MaryAnne inhaled sharply. She trembled at the site of him, his face pale and lifeless, his hair a mess. He was on oxygen and hooked up to a heart monitor. MaryAnne brought her hand to her face and turned to Eli.
"Oh Papa..." she whispered. Eli put his arm around her and drew her close, letting her cry for a moment on his shoulder.
"He's gonna die, isn't he?"
"No, no," Eli said. "No, sweetheart he's not gonna die. He's strong, he'll make it through this. We all will."
"But Papa, why did this have to happen?" she sobbed. "Why did somebody have to do this to him?"
"I don't know, honey," he said, thinking of Toby Jones and wondering where the punk was now. "I don't know," he said again.
MaryAnne lifted her head from her father's shoulder and wiped the tears off her face. She took a deep breath and turned back to Rosco. Hesitantly, she reached out and gently she touched her fingers to his hair, trying to set it all straight. He had a mess of it, black as night with a few small patches of grey starting to show. She smiled a little, thinking of how whenever he was without his hat, he would always run his fingers through it, trying to keep it somewhat presentable. She then leaned over and gently kissed him on the forehead.
"Wake up soon, huh?" she said. "We miss you already, Rosco."
He remained still, however. MaryAnne knew it was foolish to think that he'd open his eyes at that moment, but she wished he would. She looked at him a moment longer and then gently touched her hand to the side of his face, before she straightened up. She turned to her father, who put his arm out to her and put it around her shoulders. They started to turn towards the door, but Eli continued to look back at his nephew.
"He'll be awake soon," he said. Even as he said that he knew, as did MaryAnne, that when Rosco did wake up, the nightmare would just be beginning.

Eli and MaryAnne spent the next two days traveling back and forth between the hospital and the Duke farm. Rosco remained in the coma during this time and MaryAnne and Eli would sit in his room with him for as long as they could, talking to each other and talking to him. When they would return to the Duke farm, they tried to keep busy by helping out around the farm, even when Diane and Cooper told them didn't have to.
"You don't understand," Eli told Cooper, when the Duke father found Eli working in the barn one afternoon. "If I don't keep busy, I'm gonna go nuts. Same with MaryAnne. Besides, we won't allow ourselves to not feel that we can't some how repay you for allowing us to stay here."
"Eli, you don't have to do any of this. And you don't owe us anything for staying here either. We wanted to help you. There's no debt for being a good neighbor."
Eli smiled. "I know, Coop. Just consider this our token of appreciation."
Diane received pretty much the same explanation when she and Min came home from picking up a few groceries to find the kitchen floor recently washed, all the bed sheets that Diane had brought in off the clothes line just before leaving the house folded and placed in the wooden chair that was next to the wall in the kitchen and the smell of pecan pie cooling on the window sill.
"What in the world...?" Diane said as she put the brown groceries bags down on the kitchen table. Min put down the bag she was carrying and inhaled the sent of the pie.
"Hmm...boy that smells good."
"Yes it does," Diane said, "but who the heck made it?"
"I did," MaryAnne piped in as she came into the kitchen. "It's great-great grandma Coltrane's recipe." She smiled. "Papa used to make it all the time when I was a kid and I would watch him as he did it. I learned pretty quick." MaryAnne admired her work for a moment and then glanced at the sheets. "Oh, I folded these for you too. And I even washed the floor."
"MaryAnne, you didn't have to do all that," Diane said.
"Well, I kinda had to do the floor, cuz I spilt the butter on it. And I folded the sheets because I didn't want to get pie ingredients all over them while I was making the pie." She stepped towards the grocery bags on the table. "Can I help you put these away?"
"Oh, that's okay MaryAnne, Min and I can do that. You've done a lot already."
"I don't mind helping out. Heck, I gotta do something seeing as y'all are being so nice in lettin' me and my Papa stay here."
"MaryAnne, really," Diane said with an appreciative smile. "You and your father don't owe us anything for letting you stay here. We wanted you to stay with us."
"Yeah," Min said. "And I got to make a new friend in the process."
MaryAnne smiled. "Well, if you won't take it as repayment for letting us stay here, will you accept it as me just trying to keep myself from going crazy?"
Diane and Min chuckled.
"Okay," Diane said. She put her arm around the young woman's shoulders. "I think we can understand that."

The next day, MaryAnne and Eli were still in the hospital building when Rosco opened his eyes. While they were riding down the elevator, he was sensing that someone had just recently been in the room. There was a scent, sweet and light that was familar but he couldn't place it right away. He turned his head to look around the room and saw his hat, jacket and gun belt were on the counter at the far side of the room.
Before his eyes flashed the image of a black Chevrolet Chevelle.
Toby Jones....fight at the Boar's Nest....chased after him....damn punk what's he trying to do, bumping my car...
Rosco suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He could still see the earth turn sideways as the patrol car flew towards the tree. The horrible crunch of the car crashing into the tree still rang in his ears, despite his memory going blank after that.
The Dukes...they found me...Bo....I couldn't move....
"I can't move...." he whispered, now realizing he couldn't feel anything past his legs. He tried to move his legs, but nothing happened. It was the most bizzare and frightening feeling. He could see the form of them under the sheets, and he stared at them while still trying to move. But nothing happened. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
"Oh God....please no, don't let it be real...."
But it was real, and Rosco knew it. He brought his hands to his face and cried, remaining like that until Doctor Riggs came in with a nurse about ten minutes later.

Eli and MaryAnne had no more than just returned back to the Duke farm when the telephone rang. Cooper and Diane were in the kitchen and Diane answered it. She then suddenly looked at MaryAnne and Eli.
"Yes, just a moment," she said and held the phone out to Eli. "It's Doctor Riggs," she said.
Eli walked to the phone and took the receiver. "Hello?"
Diane stood next to MaryAnne as she watched her father listen to the doctor. It had to do with Rosco, she knew and she tried to read her father's expression as to whether it was good news or bad news.
"Okay...." Eli said. "Yes, I understand....certainly....yes, MaryAnne and I will be back up there right away....thank you, Doctor Riggs." Eli hung up the phone and turned to MaryAnne and Diane.
He paused a moment and then softly said, "He's out of the comma."
MaryAnne gasped as Diane placed a hand on the young woman's shoulder.
"When?" she asked. "We were just there."
"Apparently just a few minutes after we left," Eli said.
"Oh Papa, if we had just stayed for a few minutes longer..."
"MaryAnne, I wanted to be there when he woke up as much as you did. But he's awake now, so let's get back up there."
"Eli, let us come with you," Cooper said.
"Yes," Diane agreed. "You're both going to need some moral support."
Eli was about to protest but Cooper was already heading up the stairs to get Min and Bo. He sighed and nodded. "Alright."
Cooper climbed up the flight of stairs like a big cat, he rounded the corner and came to the two identical doors, across the hall from each other. He looked at them each, trying to decide which to knock on first. Oh ta-heck with it! He thought as he put both hands to the doors and knocked. "Bo, Min...come on we are going with Eli and MaryAnne to the hospital, Rosco is awake."
Both doors opened, Min's a bit ahead of Bo's. "Rosco's awake?" she repeated. She then drew a breath. "Wow..." she breathed. She looked across the hall at her brother who was looking down at the floor, biting his lip. He felt his sister's gaze upon him and he looked up.
"Um..." he started.
Father and daughter looked at each other and Min shrugged her shoulders as she walked down the hall and went down the stairs. "Don't you want to go Son?" Cooper asked his son curiously.
Bo looked up at his father with sadness and bit of fear in his blue eyes. "Dad...I don't know if I..." he hesitated. "I don't know if I can...see Rosco like that..."
"I know it ain't going to be easy Bo but you have to remember that MaryAnne and Eli need us, all of us."
"I know, Dad, but..." Bo paused. He felt awful about not wanting to go, and he knew Eli and MaryAnne needed the support, but he just didn't feel he could face the situation.
"Remember what I said in the barn, we'll get through this together, as a family." Cooper put his arms around his son's shoulders. "Come on..."
Bo sighed heavily but went with his father. "Yeah," he said. "I guess you're right."
"I know I am." Cooper fluffed his son's hair as they headed down the stairs.

When they all got to the hospital, Doctor Riggs greeted everyone in the waiting room.
"I can only have the relatives of Sheriff Coltrane see him right now," Doctor Riggs said. "You're welcome to stay here, tho', I know that MaryAnne and Eli here do need the support."
Cooper nodded. "We'll be waiting for you here," he told father and daughter. They nodded and then followed Doctor Riggs down the hall to Rosco's room. Just before they got to the door, he stopped them and turned to them.
"I must prepare you for what you're about to see," he said. "He's very emotional right now, he's scared and frightened, he's angry..." He paused. "He's very vulnerable and volatile. I'd be cautious in what you say to him and be prepared for him to not even want you in there. But he needs to know that his family is willing to help him."
"Of course," MaryAnne said. "Would it be best if we went in together or seperately?"
"That's up to you. I did tell him that I would be calling you both here, despite him telling me not to." He looked towards the door to Rosco's room. "I'm going to let you go ahead and see him. I'll wait in the waiting room for you both, because afterwards I want to have a conference with the two of you regarding Rosco's condition and how we can try to get him back to something of normal and how to help you as well."
"Okay," Eli said. "Thank you, doctor."
Doctor Riggs nodded and then turned and walked back to the waiting room.
"Let me go in first," MaryAnne said.
"MaryAnne, I think we should go in together, you can't face this alone."
"Papa, please. I gotta. I just gotta do it by myself. I know you'll be right out the door here."
Eli sighed. "MaryAnne..." His shoulders slummped a bit and he didn't feel like arguing with her, knowing it would be a wasted effort. "Alright," he said. "Just don't forget that that's not just your cousin in there. That's my nephew as well."
"I know." MaryAnne hugged her father and then turned and headed to Rosco's room. When she got to the door, she paused a moment. She was afraid of what she was going to see when she opened the door, but she had to see her cousin. Heaving a sigh in order to get her courage together, she pushed the door open.
She peered in and saw Rosco lying on the hospital bed. As she came into the room, he didn't stir but he spoke.
"Go away."
"Rosco, it's me. MaryAnne."
He didn't respond as she walked toward the bed. He looked at her when she came into his line of sight.
"MaryAnne, I don't want you to see me like this," he said.
"Rosco, I wanted to see you."
"Not like this. I don't want anybody to see me like this."
"Rosco, I can only imagine what's going through your mind right now. But Papa and I, we're here to help you."
Rosco shook his head. "I don't want your help. I don't want anybody's help. I don't want to be in a wheelchair either and it'd be better if I wasn't even here."
MaryAnne stared at him, shocked by the way he was talking. "Rosco...."
"You wanna help?" he asked. He then looked over at his gun belt. "Give me my gun."
"NO!" she cried. "That is NOT an option that you have, Rosco!"
"What options do I have?" he demanded. "What options? I ain't got any. I'm gonna spend the rest of my life as an invalid. Can't be Sheriff no more, and I don't know no other trade. Those damn Duke boys should have left me by the side of the road. Atleast then I would have died in the line of duty, which would have been fine with me."
MaryAnne was shaking her head. "No," she said. "Rosco..." She paused as the lump in her throat prevented her from saying more.
Rosco looked at her. "MaryAnne, you have to understand--"
"No," she said. "You ain't asking me to understand, you're asking me to agree with you and I sure as hell don't! Rosco, you're my cousin. You and Papa are all I got left for family. You're like a brother to me, maybe even a second father. You can't just throw everything away now."
"MaryAnne, I'm never going to walk again," he said softly yet firmly. "There's nothing left for me to hang on to."
"There's still life," she said as a tear rolled down her cheek. "You have to hang on to life."
"But MaryAnne, I....can't...."
"Yes, you can." She leaned over the bed railing and stroked his black hair by his ear. "There's so much you'd leave behind if you...did what you're...thinking of doing." She paused as her eyes filled with tears. "There's Papa, and Lulu and Aunt Abby. And me. It would kill me if you weren't here." She looked at him as her vision started to blur. "Rosco, please," she whispered, closing her eyes and causing the droplets to fall down her face.
Rosco suddenly felt ashamed that he had made her cry. Although painful to move, he lifted his arm up to MaryAnne and brought down her head on his chest and just below his chin. She shook as she silently sobbed and Rosco nearly started to cry with her.
"MaryAnne, I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so sorry...but...what am I supposed to do now?"
MaryAnne lifted her head enough to see him eye to eye. "Not wanting to die might be a good place to start."
He looked at her, seeing his own reflection in her blue eyes. He then dropped his gaze and closed his eyes and nodded slightly. "Alright," he whispered, looking at her again. "But it's not going to be easy. I ain't gonna be easy to deal with."
"Of course not. No one expects this to be all sunshine and lollipops for you, Rosco. The thing is, you're going to get through this, and Papa and I are gonna help you, along with a lot of other folks. But you have to promise me, Rosco, promise me you won't think that awful thought ever again."
Rosco didn't answer right away. He just looked at his cousin, while thoughts of the past, present and future ran rampant in his mind. The once tiny baby that he helped bring into this world was now trying to prevent him from exiting out. In 19 years she had become more than a cousin, and the bond between them was undescribable.
And inseparatable.
"Promise me," she said again, holding on now to his upper right arm and the fingers of her right hand still lightly touching his hair.
"I--" he stopped and hesitated for a bit. "I promise," he said softly. "I promise, MaryAnne."

Eli looked up when MaryAnne came out of Rosco's room. She had his gunbelt in hand and after she closed the door behind her, she leaned against it, staring at the .38 in the holster.
Eli stepped over to her. "MaryAnne? Are you okay? What happened?"
She looked at the gun a little longer and then up at her father.
"He wanted to die..." she said softly. "He wanted me to give him his gun so he could end it all right now."
Eli stared at his daughter. He gently touched the side of her face and brushed away the new tear drop that fell from her eye. "My God..." he whispered.
"I think I talked him out of it," she said. "I hope I did..." She paused and looked her father in the eye. "I don't want him to die, Papa. Not that way. Not any way."
Eli nodded. "I know, I don't either." He looked at the door and sighed. "You wait right here. I'm gonna talk to him."
"Don't be angry with him, please."
"I'm not gonna be angry with him," Eli said gently. "I'm just gonna talk to him."
MaryAnne nodded and stepped aside so Eli could open the door. When Eli disappeared inside, MaryAnne brought her hand to her head and sighed.

Rosco looked over at the door when it opened again. When he saw it was his uncle he closed his eyes.
"Eli..." he groaned, knowing that the older Coltrane knew what had taken place just a few moments ago.
Eli approached the bed and looked at his nephew. "Rosco, I can understand your feelings. What you're going through right now is living hell." His voice softened. "But MaryAnne...how could you ask her such a thing?"
Rosco kept his eyes closed, not wanting Eli to see his tears of shame and frustration. He said nothing, knowing that no words could possible convey what he was feeling right now.
"Do you really think that Abby could stand it if after losing a husband to then loose her only son?"
Rosco still kept his eyes closed, but the tears were starting to become too much.
Eli paused, watching Rosco. Then softly he asked, "What if Raleigh was here now?"
Rosco lost it at the mention of his father's name. His eyes flew open and he cried out.
"Oh God..." he sobbed. "Dad...." Rosco turned and looked at Eli. "Help me....Eli, please..."
Eli grabbed a hold of Rosco's arm gently. He then took a hold of Rosco's hand and nodded. "It's alright, Rosco, it's alright. We're gonna help you, you know that. Me and MaryAnne are gonna help you. You're not in this alone."
Rosco turned his head back so that he looked at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and brought his other hand to his face and just cried. Eli held on to the fallen Sheriff's arm and hand tightly and Rosco shook a little with each sob.
Outside, MaryAnne had heard Rosco call out and she stood close to the door, trying to listen. The sound of Rosco pleading for help made her start to cry again. She pulled open the door and went into the room. She came around the foot of the bed and saw Eli hanging on to Rosco's hand and arm as her cousin let everything he was feeling that couldn't be expressed into words, come pouring out of him in the tears. MaryAnne stepped closer to the bed and gently pulled Rosco's other hand away from his face. He looked at her when she did.
"MaryAnne..." he whispered.
She kept his hand in hers and leaned over to hug him. "You know we're gonna help you," she said. "No matter what happens, Rosco, we're gonna help you. We know your taking a trip through hell, but you're not alone. You'll never be alone, you understand?"
Rosco took a moment before he nodded. "Yeah," he whispered and closed his eyes. "I understand..."
"You will never be alone, Rosco," she whispered. "Never."

* * *

Cooper, Diane, Bo and Min all looked up when Eli and MaryAnne came back into the waiting room. The four Dukes got up from their chairs and approached father and daughter, who looked very visibly distressed. Both Coltranes tried to put on brave faces and Eli gave MaryAnne's hand a gentle squeeze before letting go.
"Are you two okay?" Diane asked.
"We're alright," Eli replied, as MaryAnne nodded.
Cooper watched MaryAnne as she looked at the gunbelt and gun that she had in her hand. Something was wrong, he knew, and he looked at her eyes when she looked up again.
"How was he?" he asked.
"Very scared," MaryAnne said. "And very mad..." She closed her eyes briefly and then blinked several times, trying to keep her composure. "Which is understandable, given his situation."
There's something about that gun... Cooper thought. He glanced at Bo and Min who looked at him, having heard the thought.
Min looked at the gunbelt and than back at Cooper. Daddy, you don't think he...?
Cooper slightly shook his head. It's none of our business to know, he told her.
"We're going to be going into a conference with Dr. Riggs," Eli said, breaking the silent conversation between Cooper and Min. "We're not sure how long it's gonna be tho' so y'all can go ahead back home. You don't have to wait here for us."
"You sure?" Cooper asked. "You two have been facing a lot of this by yourselves."
He placed his arm around his wife. "We just don't want you to feel overwhelmed by anything. You know we're here if you need us."
Eli smiled a little. "We know, Coop," he said. "We know. It's just that we honestly don't know how long we're going to be in this conference." He chuckled. "Do you really want to hang around here at the hospital for possibly several hours?"
Cooper smiled. "Okay," he said. "I see your point. We'll see you later at the house then?"
Eli nodded.
"Alright. Come on, kids."
The Duke family left the hospital and started to walk back to their car.
"Dad?" Bo said. "What was bothering you in there?"
Cooper sighed. "I think MaryAnne had Rosco's gun for a reason." He stopped walking and looked at his family. "A safety reason. Rosco's safety."
Diane gasped. "Cooper..."
"But, Daddy, if Rosco's gun was on the other side of the room, how could he get to it?" Min asked.
"If he really, really wanted to, he could have got to it, eventually."
Bo was looking at his father confused. "Dad...you're not saying...what I think you're saying?"
Cooper nodded. "I could be wrong," he said. "Hopefully, I am wrong, maybe it was just all the emotions from MaryAnne and Eli about what's happened to Rosco and it's all just jumbled together." He paused. "But that gun...I don't know. There was just something very disturbing about it." He looked at his family. "I think it'd be best that we not say anything to them," he said. "If I am right, I don't think they would want us to know about it."
"But Daddy, how can they keep all this bottled up?" Min asked. "It's going to end up hurting them in the end, isn't that what you were trying to tell them just now?"
"Yes, I was. But you can't force stuff out of people, honey. They'll keep it inside them and find other ways of getting it out of their system." He glanced at his wife. "Like washing the floor. Or baling hay. Sometimes they'll talk about it, sometimes they can't find the words to express it, so they do other things. About all we can do is continue to let them know that we're all here for them."
The kids and Diane nodded. Cooper let his family continue towards the car. Bo glanced back at the hospital and then walked to Min's Mustang with his family.

* * *

Doctor Riggs was very patient and understanding as he listened to MaryAnne and Eli tell him what took place when they first saw Rosco. MaryAnne broke down in tears as she told him what Rosco asked of her. She still held on to the gunbelt with the loaded .38 and pleaded with Doctor Riggs not to let anything happen to Rosco while he was still in the hospital. The doctor promised that nothing would happen to Rosco, and that he would personally keep a watch on the Sheriff himself.
Doctor Riggs told them that starting the next day, he would have physical therapists working with Rosco to help him learn, pretty much everything, all over again. A counselor would also work with Rosco while he was still in the hospital to help him confront his feelings and sort them out. Eli and MaryAnne would be welcome to sit in on the sessions with the counselor and with the therapists so that they would be able to help Rosco when he was finally able to go home.
And they did. Rosco seemed to get a little better a few days later. The therapists didn't take 'no' for an answer and pushed Rosco to do as much as he possible could on his own. He did, at first because there was nothing else he could do, but soon he started pushing himself because he knew it was what he had to do. He learned to manuever around in the wheelchair, he learned to lift himself from the chair to the bed and visa versa. He even learned to move himself from the wheelchair to a regular chair and for once actually felt normal when he could sit with Eli and MaryAnne at a table in the hospital cafeteria and not have to move a chair to make room for the wheelchair.
He complained only that his arms hurt, which was normal, now that his entire body weight had to moved by two arms and not two legs.
"Lucky for you you're a pretty slim guy," one of the therapists said. "Otherwise, we'd be puttin' you on a diet too."
Not that Rosco had that much of an appetite. He couldn't bring himself to eat everything he was served at dinner time, despite the food actually being pretty good for hospital food. When he was alone in his room at night, after visiting hours were over and Eli and MaryAnne were gone for the day, the feelings of fear and uncertainty would return. Before he fell asleep, he would say a prayer to the Lord and his eyes would cloud with tears briefly before he drifted away.

Three and half weeks passed and Rosco finally started to feel a little comfortable with his condition. The therapists and counselors contiued to encourage him and told him he was doing great. Every once in awhile, the doubt would creep in, but Rosco managed to fight it and just pushed himself harder.
In that time, things seemed to brighten for just about everyone. MaryAnne and Eli's spirits were a little lighter, even Rosco's. The Dukes were glad to see things were settling into a routine for the Coltranes. But one Duke was still having a hard time coming to grips with what happened.
Bo.
One afternoon, three days before Rosco was allowed to go home, Min and MaryAnne walked out to the barn to see if Bo wanted to take a little trip.
The sounds of a socket wrench busy at work could be heard and a pair of blue jean clad long legs were sticking out from under the hood of the General Lee.
"Bo? You under there?" Min asked as she knocked on the hood.
"What?" Bo bolted out from under the hood, a little startled at the knocking on the metal. "Oh, hi Min. MaryAnne." He took a moment to catch his breath.
"Hey bro, ya wanna go pay Rosco a visit? We were about to go."
Bo's expression clouded over a bit. "Um..." He looked at the engine and tapped the socket wrench in the palm of his hand. "I don't know, Min, I really gotta git this done." He bent over the engine and went about continuing to tighten the bolt.
"Get what done? You tuned your car the other day. You are the only Duke that hasn't gone to see Rosco, Bo. Don't you think you should?"
Bo stopped turning the wrench but he didn't straighten up immediately. He paused in thought for a moment and then stood up straight and looked at his sister and MaryAnne.
"Yeah, I know," he said softly. "Look, I'm sorry, but I just don't think I can do it. I just don't want to go."
"But Bo-" Min started to say but MaryAnne touched her arm.
"Wait a minute, Min," she said and then looked at Bo. "Let me talk to him alone for a minute."
Min nodded as she walked out of the barn and headed for the house. Bo gave MaryAnne a quick glance as he bent over his car and began tightening another part of the engine with his socket wrench.
MaryAnne walked around the to the front of the General and leaned on the front part of the engine block, not allowing Bo to hide behind the hood.
"Bo, it's okay if you don't want to go. But Rosco's been asking about you. He wants to know how you've been doing since the accident." She paused and watched the young Duke continue to turn the wrench. "He would like to see you."
"Yeah well maybe I dont' wanna see him. I'd rather not see him stuck in that dang chair."
"Oh really? Well, my heart really bleeds for you, Bo, because what the hell do you think I've been looking at for over three weeks??? Frankly, I'd rather see him in a chair than in a PINE BOX!"
Bo straightened up fast and slammed his hood down. "What do you want from me MaryAnne? Huh? What? You don't know how he looked when Luke and me found him! You don't have a clue! He was wrapped around that tree like a ribbon! And he was stuck! And he wanted me to go! Do you know what that did to me? Do you?" There were tears in his eyes, a combination of anger and sadness. He wanted to remember Rosco the way he had always been, behind the wheel of his patrol car. That wicked grin on his face.
MaryAnne stared at Bo hard, her eyes becoming red with tears and a touch of anger. "Yes, Bo, I do know," she said evenly. "And yes, Bo, I do have a clue. I didn't see him wrapped around that tree, but I saw him laying damn near lifeless in a hospital bed. And I saw the expression on a man's face who was ready to..." she trailed off. She bit her lip and paused a moment to collect herself. "Bo, if you want to continue to carry that lasting impression of Rosco, you go right ahead. But the Rosco that's up the hospital right now actually looks pretty damn good and he knows what hell you went through and he's sorry for it."
Bo sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "Why is he sorry? It wasn't his fault. It was that jerk Toby Jomes' fault." If it was me, he would go see me, he said to himself. "Okay...I'll go."
MaryAnne did a bit of a double take. She smiled a bit and then stepped towards Bo and gave him a hug. She then stepped back and looked at him. "I think you'll feel a little better after you see him. Granted, you won't like seeing him in that chair because I don't either, but I'm gonna get him out of that chair, if it's the last thing I ever do."
"I think we both can get him out of that chair." Bo said as he offered her his arm. "Shall we?"
MaryAnne's smile grew a wider and she hooked her arm around his. She nodded. "Let's."
Together, they marched out of the barn.

A short time later, all of the Duke kids, one Coltrane and one Strate, all drove over to Tri-County hospital. It was nice not to have any adults around as they took the elevator to room 228. All the kids looked at MaryAnne, suddenly turning to her to lead the way inside her cousin's room.
MaryAnne glanced at everyone and then went ahead and opened the already ajar door. "Hey, cousin," she said as she led everyone into the room. "Feel up to some visitin'?"
Rosco was sitting in his wheel chair on the other side of the bed by the window and he looked towards the troop coming in. His expression brightened a bit and he wheeled himself around the end of the bed. "Yeah," he said. "Hey, y'all." He paused and noticed that there were no adults. "Y'all here by yourselves?"
"Our folks are out doing stuff." Min said as he looked at her brother who nodded. "Yeah so are ours, they are busy with something." Luke said as he gave Rosco a smile. "It's good to see you up and around."
Rosco smiled. "Well, it's nice to not be laying flat out on my back that's for sure." He watched all the kids as they found places to sit. MaryAnne sat down on the edge of the bed with Daisy and Min, while Bo and Luke sat in each of the two chairs and Enos leaned against the window sill.
Rosco looked at Bo. "I'm glad you finally came, Bo."
"It wasn't easy but your cousin convinced me to." He smiled sheepishly as he scooted his chair closer to Rosco. "So ya doing okay?"
"A lot better than I was," Rosco replied. He hesitated and then asked, "But how are you doing? I know that finding me on the side of the road the way you and Luke did wasn't pleasant."
"Same thing for me...doing better. It's just hard seeing a friend hurt. It makes you start looking at your own life."
The kids nodded.
"Yeah," Daisy said. "It's a pretty bitter taste of reality."
Rosco nodded to Daisy and then looked at Bo. "I am sorry you had to experience that, Bo. I wish you didn't have to."
"My Dad says its part of life Rosco, I'm glad we found you because that road you was on doesn't see a lot of cars."
"That's right," Enos said. "If Bo and Luke hadn't found you, there's no telling how long it would have been until somebody did."
"Yeah," MaryAnne said. "And if that had been the case, we probably wouldn't all be here now having this conversation."
"Well..." Luke said and made a face. "If a certain individual hadn't run ya off the road, we may still be having this converstaion, but it wouldn't be HERE."
"Well I'm glad that Bo and Luke found you Rosco." Min said as she touched his hand and smiled. "And I for one would like to see that snake Toby Jones get his for doing this to you."
"Yeah," everyone growled.
"There ain't no way we're gonna let him get away with this that's for sure," Luke said defiantly.
"That's right," Daisy chimed in. "He's gonna be VERY sorry for what he's done."
"Damn straight!" Bo said as he smacked the arm of his chair. "I want to go get him!"
"Whoa, hold on kids," Rosco said, spreading his hands infront of him to signal everyone to calm down. "Now, what Toby Jones did does have legal consequences, but I don't want y'all acting like vigilantes. He'll get his, but it's gonna be legal. Atleast, when y'all go after him, you're gonna have some one with you that has a badge."
"Like who?" MaryAnne asked.
Rosco looked at his cousin and then turned his eyes to the young volunteer deputy leaning against the window sill.
"Like...Enos maybe?"
All eyes shifted to the young volunteer lawman. "Enos?" They all asked.
"Me?!" Enos squeaked. "Sheriff, are you sure?"
"Yes, Enos," Rosco said in a slightly scolding tone but then he smiled. "You been doin' this since you were eighteen, and frankly in my opinion you're the best one to take over as temporary sheriff." Rosco looked at MaryAnne. "Can you get my jacket out of the closet there?"
MaryAnne got up off the bed and pulled Rosco's black uniform jacket out of the closet. She handed it to her cousin. Rosco pulled off the Sheriff's badge and looked at it for a moment. Enos caught the reflective look on the Sheriff's face and he stepped closer to him and put his hand on his shoulder.
"Sheriff, you don't have to do this if you don't want to."
Rosco looked up at Enos. "You don't understand," he said. "Somebody has to take over, Enos. I can't be..." Rosco took a breath. "I can't be Sheriff no more, so I want you to do it." Rosco looked back down at the badge and held it in his hand for a moment. He then looked up at Enos. "Enos, raise your right hand."
MaryAnne signaled for everyone to stand up out of respect. They were all witnessing a historical moment: Enos Strate was about to become the youngest Sheriff in Hazzard history.
Timidly, Enos raised his right hand.
"Do you solemly swear to uphold and enforce all the laws of Hazzard County, so help you God?"
Enos swallowed. "I do."
Rosco turned the badge toward Enos. "Congratulations," he said softly, "Sheriff Strate."
"Oh no Hazzard is doomed!" Bo said smiling, he couldn't resist teasing his friend.
Everyone broke up in laughter.
Luke and Bo each gave their friend a slap on the back and then Daisy, Min and MaryAnne all gave him a hug.
"Congratulations, Enos," MaryAnne said.
"Thanks," he said. He looked at Rosco. "Thank you. This means a lot to me you know."
Rosco nodded. "I trust you'll be a good officer and Sheriff."
MaryAnne put her arm around Rosco's shoulders. She knew this was hard for him to do but at the same time she could see he was proud of Enos.
"Well, Sheriff Strate," Luke said. "What's your first order of business?"
Enos paused in thought and then a gleam of determination came to his eyes.
"We're gonna git Toby Jones."
"Absolutely!" Bo said as he clapped his hands together. "If I may Sheriff...the 5 of us got the fastest cars in Hazzard and we would be more than happy to assist you."
"You got that right," MaryAnne said.
Enos nodded and gave a bit of a wicked grin (as wicked at Enos could achieve). "Toby Jones is gonna be sorry for what he did. Ain't no doubt about that."

Later that evening, all of the Duke families, Eli and MaryAne and the new Hazzard County Sheriff were all the Boar's Nest, shooting the breeze and taking their minds off the day's toil and troubles. The big news was of course, Enos's promotion but everyone was there for another reason. They were awaiting the arrival of Toby Jones.
"So what are we going to do? Gang up on him?" Cooper asked as he paced back and forth.
Eli was standing by the bar and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, I'd love to give him a taste of the same medicine he gave Rosco, but I know better than that."
Luke suddenly snapped his fingers. "That's it!"
"Uh...Luke," Enos started.
"No, no hear me out. We gang up on him with our cars. We just chase the heck out of him. Give him a little of what he gave Rosco, then we let Enos arrest him."
"Well I think he's going to run anyways Luke, especially seeing everyone here." Min said as got on her feet and stood beside her cousin.
"Yeah, I'm figuring on that."
"What he's figuring on is big ol' Hazzard County car chase," Jesse said.
Everyone chuckled.
"With some surprises," Luke added. "I was thinking if we make him think he only has one or two of us after him and then everyone else shows up it oughta scare the heck out of him. Well, sorta."
"Let me go get Papa's shot gun. THAT'LL scare the heck out of him!" MaryAnne excalimed.
"No no we can't do that sorta thing, he could get off on that sorta mischief. It has to be all nice and legal in order for the charges to stick." Cooper said with a grin. "I say we play Hazzard baseball with him. We got 9 cars."
"Hazzard baseball?" MaryAnne queried.
"It's simple MaryAnne, it's like a 9 person version of keep away. One person is the ball and the other 9 people go after them."
"Ahhh," she said and nodded.
Thomas was over by the entrance to the Boar's Nest and he suddenly turned towards everyone. "Get ready for fun and games y'all. Our last player is here."
Thomas came into the middle of the Boar's Nest and sat down at the table with his brothers. Everyone else acted non chalant as the door opened and Toby came in. Toby walked to an empty table which was strategically surround by tables where either Dukes or Coltranes were sitting. He thought nothing of it, even when Luke, Bo, Min, Daisy and MaryAnne along with Enos all stood up and approached the table.
"Hey sweetheart, wanna get me a beer?" Toby asked Daisy, ignoring the other Duke cousins and MaryAnne and Enos.
Daisy grinned at Toby, knowing that he was about to get what was coming to him and then some. "Sure Darling, anything else?" Her eyes were pleasant and polite, but they held a secret. A secret that spelled big trouble.
Toby smiled. "I'm afraid what else I'd like isn't necessarily on the menu," he said looking Daisy up and down.
"And what I'd like to give you isn't on the menu either, so I say we are even Sugar." Daisy winked at her family as she passed them on the way to the bar. She filled a frosted mug of beer for Toby and brought it back to him. He reached for his wallet to pay her and she put up her hand. "Oh no Darling, it's on me."
Toby looked at her surprised. He put his money back in his wallet. "Okay," he said. The sudden turn around in Daisy's attitude towards him was quite a surprise, but Toby certainly wasn't going to complain. He gave Daisy another smile. "Would you like to join me for a moment?"
Daisy sighed and glanced at her family. The men all shook their heads. "Sorry Honey, I got work to do." She gave Toby another smile and went back behind the bar.
Toby watched her go and then glanced at the Duke men. At that point he realized he was being watched by all the Dukes in the bar and then he recognized MaryAnne, who was still standing by his table.
"Hi Toby. Remember me?"
Toby smirked at little. "How come you ain't up at the hospital spoon feedin' your cousin?"
MaryAnne's smile remained but the meaning was not to be taken at face value. She pulled back the chair that was directly across from Toby and sat down. "Well, you see, that's why I'm here. Rosco doesn't need to be spoon fed, but..." Her blue eyes went full circle, glancing at the boys, Min and anyone else who was in eyesight of her. She then settled them on Toby and they turned icey. "...you may need to be."
Toby stared at her hard. He had his beer mug in his hand and he slowly put it down on the table. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, silly me, I forgot you only have a first grade education. What I mean is, you are going to pay for what you did to Rosco."
"I didn't do nothin'. Not my fault he don't know how to drive." Toby lifted his mug and took a sip of the beer.
"No, no. You made sure he went into that tree. His driving had nothing to do with it."
Toby shrugged. "So what?" He put his mug down and looked at MaryAnne with just as cold a stare. "It's been nice not having him around."
MaryAnne grinded her back teeth. She pressed her lips together and turned her eyes away from the jackass. She held her emotions in check and nodded her head. "Okay, Toby. Okay. You have been warned. You are going to go down for this. And I'm going to enjoy every minute of it!!" She grabbed his beer mug and threw the amber liquid straight into his face.
Toby coughed and gagged as beer streamed down his face and got into his eyes, stinging them. He wiped them with his hands and got up fast to stare down at the young woman that had bathed him. "You are going to pay for that little girl!"
MaryAnne stayed sitting for a moment, not batting an eye. "Oh yeah? You gonna have me pay the same price as Rosco? You go right ahead an' try!" She then grabbed a hold of the table and turned it on it's side, throwing it out of the way. She jumped up and bolted to the front entrace. Toby followed after and as he came out of the Boar's Nest he saw MaryAnne's Oldsmobile Tornado already making dust as it sped backwards. He ran to his Chevelle and tore off after her.
"Come on y'all!" Eli exclaimed, heading for the door. Bo and Luke followed out after Eli and everyone else did as well. Two Dodge Chargers led the parade of cars, followed by the cherry red Mustang of Min, grey GTO of Cooper, Enos in his patrol car with Eli and Daisy's yellow Plymouth.
MaryAnne glanced in her rearview mirror at the black Chevelle behind her. She smirked
and then heard Luke's voice over the CB radio.
"We're right behind ya, MaryAnne."
"Ten-four, Luke. Let's get this son of a---"
Eli snatched up the mike in Enos's car. "Ahem!"
"Uh....revenuerer," MaryAnne finished and then laughed.
"You got it, MaryAnne. Bo, Min and Daisy, y'all read to make Toby dizzy?" Luke asked with a snicker.
"Sure are MaryAnne, just give the signal and we'll start the merry-go-round!" Min said as she snickered into her CB mike.
"That's big ol' ten-four!" MaryAnne exclaimed. "I figure as soon as we get over the old RidgeRunner bridge, we can start in on the festivities."
The voice of Min's twin suddenly came in on the CB. "You got it MaryAnne, me and Luke will take the left while Daisy and Min will take the right. The uncles will drive him from the rear."
"Sounds good to me. I'm gone." MaryAnne placed her mike down and looked at the Chevelle behind her again. The black Chevy was only a few feet behind the Oldsmobile, which MaryAnne kept that way. The old RidgeRunner bridge was just ahead of her and she gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, the adrenline starting to run high now. We're gonna nail him! Hahahahaha!!
Min saw the bridge off in the distance and she grabbed her CB mike. "Daisy you ready to do what Bo said?"
"Sure am! Let's do it cousin!"
"You heard Daisy, MaryAnne, we are ready, just tell us when and Toby is going to get what's coming to him!"
MaryAnne giggled and the front wheels of her Oldsmobile hit the bridge. The Tornado and Chevelle thunder over the bridge and MaryAnne glanced in her side mirror and saw the parade of high performance cars starting to come over the bridge. She picked up the CB mike. "Okay y'all, let's give it to him!!"
"You got it! You get in front of me Luke." Bo said into the CB mikeas he blew the Dixie horn of his General Lee. Luke stuck his hand out the window and gave a thumb's up as he pulled in front of Bo. Daisy pulled in front of Min's red Mustang and the 4 Duke kids prepared to straddle either side of Toby's car.
Toby looked at the cars coming up on either side of him. "What the hell--?" He glanced in his rearview mirror and saw he was blocked in from the back as well, and the site of the Hazzard County Sheriff's patrol car and Cooper Duke's GTO all but sealed his fate. In front of him MaryAnne was still ahead of him by the same few feet. He slammed his hand on the steering wheel.
"God damn kids!" he exclaimed. He served the steering to the left, ramming into Daisy's big Plymouth.
"Oh no you don't!" Daisy said and hit him right back.
"Hey cousin," Bo called over the CB. "How about a little ping pong game?"
Daisy giggled. "Gladly!"
Bo nudged his General up to the Chevelle, pushing Toby around. Daisy then did the same with her car. Toby found himself caught in a vice grip at 55 miles an hour.
Min watched her brother and cousin playing with Toby like a pair of cats wouldd play with a mouse. "Hey you two," She said over the air, "When do me and Luke get to play?"
Bo laughed. "Jump in whenever ya like! I think we've got plenty to go around here. Why don't we pull up a little bit Daisy, let Luke and Min get their licks in."
"Ten-four," Daisy said.
Toby was still trying to figure out what was going on. He watched the blue Charger and yellow Plymouth pull ahead and he thought they were done.
Until he felt his car buck again.
Luke slammed into Toby's rear a few times while Min stayed in her place. "That was good Luke, very nice, but watch how a girl does it." Min turned the wheel hard and the nose of her car was suddenly buried deeply into the passenger side of Toby's Chevelle.
Cooper cringed when Min's Mustang slammed into Toby's car. "Oh man, I'm gonna have to run a second mortgage to pay for the repairs on those cars!" He picked up the CB mike. "Hey kids, you think you can keep the damage to your own cars at a minimum here?"
"Oh relax Daddy, Bo and I are willing to hammer out all these dents and retouch the paint." Min put her mike down and jerked the wheel hard again crashing into the passenger side of Toby's Chevelle.
"Repairs?" Bo said. "Dad I'm having too much fun right now!"
"They'll have help from me anyways," MaryAnne said. "Besides, y'all gotta leave something of that car for me to mangle!"
"Well go ahead girl we ain't stopping you!" Luke said as he hit his brakes and backed down so MaryAnne could take his place. "By all means Lady, slam away!"
"Yeehaa!" MaryAnne exclaimed. She pulled her Oldsmobile over to the left side and slowed down so that Toby came up beside her. She gave the meanspirited ex-army man a disgusted look and then jerked the steering wheel hard and pierced the nose of her car into the fender of the Chevelle.
Eli cringed now. "Oh Lord..." He covered his eyes with his hand. "I can't watch."
"She'll be okay, Mr. Coltrane," Enos said.
"That ain't what I'm worried about."
MaryAnne slammed into Toby a few more times, leaving the fender a crumpled mess. She then glanced up the road and saw a big oak tree that looked perfect for the finishing touch she needed. She picked up the CB mike.
"Daisy, Min? Look out y'all, I'm gonna send this guy right into the that oak tree that's on your side of the road.
<get line from Jackie>
Toby thought he had a chance to make a break, but MaryAnne was right back into the side of his car again. As they sped closer to the oak tree MaryAnne forced the steering wheel of the Oldsmobile and metal screamed as the two cars rubbed against each other. She stepped on the accelerator and pushed Toby's Chevelle towards the side of the road.
"Let's see how you like it, Toby Jones!!" MaryAnne spat and continued to push on the Chevelle, sending the black car head on into the oak tree.
The front end of the Chevelle shrunk like an accordian and the back end of the car jumped off the ground a bit on impact. MaryAnne sped up the road a bit and swung around, speeding back to where everyone else was pulling off the road around the battered black Chevy.
Everyone watched as MaryAnne got out of her car, all eyes were fixed on the crumpled remains of Toby Jones' black car. The front end was steaming and there was gas pouring out of the side of the car. Everyone waited to see if Toby was alive or not.
MaryAnne stepped up to the driver's side and peered into the car. The side of her that was filled with anger towards Toby and what he had done to Rosco was hoping to find that troublemaker was dead. But MaryAnne knew better than that and she carefully reached in and touched Toby on the neck. He was draped over the steering wheel and was bleeding from a cut on his head, but he was alive. She pushed him back against the seat and then pulled open the driver door. The crumpled metal groaned and MaryAnne had to pull more than once to get the door completely open.
Toby's head rolled a bit and he opened his eyes. He looked up at her, staring at him with cold blue eyes. The smell of gasoline filled his nose and things were becoming fuzzy in his mind.
"Told you you wouldn't get away with it Toby," he heard her say evenly. "They're gonna put you away for a long time now."
Toby closed his eyes just as MaryAnne turned to Enos. She started to walk away from the car and jerked her thumb back to Toby, telling Enos to go ahead and arrest him.
MaryAnne didn't look back to watch. She heard Enos jingling his hand cuffs and tell Toby he was under arrest. She brushed away the tear drop from her cheek when she reached her car and stopped and stood there, thinking of her cousin. The hardest part would just be beginning.

* * *

The day Rosco finally came home from the hospital, Eli and MaryAnne encountered their first hurdle before they even got Rosco into the house. They had antcipated not being able to get Rosco in and out of Eli's truck easily so they went to Finchburg to get MaryAnne's Oldsmobile. But when they returned to Rosco's house with him, they realized that both the front and back door of the house had porches with stairs, making it impossible for Rosco to get in on his own. So, Eli and MaryAnne had to carry him into the house, which Rosco clearly disliked, mumbling something about 'having to be carried like a baby.'
Things went a little down hill after that point. The first few days were the worst of it. Eli and MaryAnne had to move furniture around so that Rosco could manuever through the first floor of the house. They tried to set up the guest room for Rosco to use as a bedroom, but the doorway was too narrow for him to get the chair through. When the foot rests banged the edges of the doorway, Rosco slammed the palm of his hand against the door frame in frustration and swore under his breath. The living room ended up becoming his bedroom.
He hated every minute of it and seemed to regress a little as a result. He no longer had the therapists to push him to do more, he no longer had the daily talk with the counselor. All he had was an uncle, a cousin and a house where he could only go into three rooms.
MaryAnne could see he didn't like it, but she was at a loss of what to say to him. She tried to tell him that it was a good possibility that he could walk again, but he wasn't very receptive to that. Emotions were tense those first two or three days. Rosco wasn't very talkative and would sit watching the scenery out the front window. He thought a lot about the accident, about being the Sheriff, about life in general. He would do the therapy excersises more or less out of habit, not that he had the drive to do it. MaryAnne and Eli continued to encourage him but they couldn't help but feel their words were wasted sometimes.
Everything finally exploded on the third day when Rosco asked the simple question of where his gun belt was. MaryAnne retrieved the belt and gave it to him, but there was no gun in it.
"Where's my gun?"
She shrugged. "I don't know."
Rosco looked at her, not happy with the answer.
"I don't know!" she said again.
"MaryAnne, where'd you put it?"
"I don't have it!"
"Don't lie to me! Now where is it?"
"Alright, fine, I have it! And I'm gonna keep it! You ain't getting nowheres near a gun or anything else that you can use to hurt yourself with, you understand? You ain't givin' up on me. You're gonna walk again and I'm gonna be right there when you take that first step. I don't know when it'll be, but it WILL happen!"
Rosco tossed the gun belt on the floor. "Get out," he snapped.
"No. It's a free country I can stand in whatever room I want in this house."
"Free country huh? Well then I guess I have the right to not have to listen to you."
"Tough. I'm gonna keep saying it, Rosco. And you ARE gonna listen to me. You may wish not to hear me, but mark my words cousin, you will listen to me. " She stepped close to him and leaned close to his face. "And you're not getting your gun back. Period."
Rosco paused a moment his blue eyes looking into hers piercingly. "Stop trying to be my savior," he said.
"Why don't you stop being such a jackass."
Eli came into the living room at that point. "What's going on here?"
MaryAnne looked at Rosco for a moment longer and then turned to her father. "Oh nothing. Just having a spirited discussion with my cousin is all," she said as she stormed out of the living room. Eli looked at Rosco for some kind of explanation, but his nephew just stared down at the floor.
Rosco and MaryAnne were cross with each other a lot after that. She came close to slapping him across the face, he came close to telling her to go to hell. Eli found he was now a referee, having to keep the two of them apart and keep them shushed up whenever they were in the same room. But it wasn't hatred towards each other that was fueling it, it was hatred toward the situation. Rosco hated being in the wheelchair, MaryAnne hated seeing him in it and being so miserable.
The next day, Rosco was sitting at his usual spot, looking out the front window when he saw Cooper Duke, followed by Thomas, Aaron and Jesse all arrive in their pick up trucks and be greeted by Eli. In the back of Aaron's pick up were a few sheets of plywood and Cooper's truck was carrying several two-by-fours.
MaryAnne came into the living room to put clean linens away in the guest bedroom.
"Hey, what are all the Dukes here for?" Rosco asked.
"Papa asked them to come to help build a ramp for the front door."
"Great," Rosco muttered.
MaryAnne put the sheets she had in her hands down in one of the chairs. "Rosco, don't you want to be able to get in and out of the house by yourself and not have me and Papa carry you, quote, like a baby?"
"Yeah, I guess," he said as he propped his elbow on the arm rest and put his chin in his hand. He watched the men for a moment as they started to unload the trucks. "Do I have to watch it and listen to it?"
"No, I suppose not. You wanna go somewhere?"
"Yeah. Nowhere specific but I don't want to stay here." He looked at her. "Can we maybe just go for a drive or something?"
MaryAnne knew why he didn't want to stay. One, he didn't want to watch the Dukes build the ramp because they all could move with their legs and he couldn't. Two, the fact that they were going to build the ramp reminded him too much of the fact that he couldn't move with his own legs.
"Okay," she said, "just let me put these sheets away and I'll get Papa."

A few minutes later, MaryAnne was outside talking to her father.
"He wants to what?" Eli asked.
"He doesn't want to watch y'all build the ramp, so he wants to go for a drive."
Eli looked at where Cooper had parked his truck and then at the porch. "Okay," he said. "Um, Coop I gotta have you move your truck so MaryAnne can get her car up to the porch."
"Sure," Cooper replied and got into his truck. MaryAnne went back into the house and got Rosco to come out onto the porch and then she came out and walked over to her car.
After she and her father got Rosco into the Oldsmobile, she settled into the driver seat and drove away and the men went about their work.
"Is he alright, Eli?" Cooper asked.
Eli paused and looked at his friend. "Not since he got home," he said. "He was doing better when he was in the hospital, now all he is is quiet and angry and...." Eli waved his hand not being able to find a word to add to his list. "He and MaryAnne have done nothing but yell at each other. I can't believe they just drove off in the same car."
Cooper cracked a tiny smile. "It may turn out to do them some good," he said.
"I hope so. I'm getting tired of playing referee that's for sure." Eli looked at the wood scattered over the front lawn. "Well, let's get this started."

* * *

"Can I say something to you? Hopefully without yelling at you?" MaryAnne asked, after she had driven only a couple of miles and Rosco had done nothing but stare out the side window.
"Yeah, go ahead."
"You're never gonna know if you're gonna walk again if you don't try. What the hell do you have to lose? I mean, you can sit all day staring out that damn front window thinking about past glories and whatever when you're letting the chance for a lifetime's glory pass you by. Rosco, we've been yellin' at each other for three days and it ain't doin' neither one of us a bit of good. Frankly, I'm sick and damn tired of yelling at you which is why I ain't yellin' at you now. Ain't you sick of it?"
"Yeah."
"So why do we keep doing it? I mean, good Lord, if anyone other then Papa had been around to hear us they'd be calling Enos! They'd think we was ready to kill one another."
MaryAne heard Rosco give a short snort. She glanced at him and he stopped, but the evidence of amusement and potential laughter was still on his face.
"It ain't funny," she said. "Can you imagine the headline in the Hazzard Gazette? 'Former Hazzard Sheriff and 19-year-old Cousin Kill Each Other in Fit of Rage.' Damn, they'll be writing books about us and making movies. Papa and Aunt Abby will make a zillion bucks off our names."
Rosco chuckled again and couldn't stifle it this time. MaryAnne looked at him and smiled, happy to see him starting to smile again.
"What da heck you laughin' at?" she teased.
Rosco continued to laugh and shook his head. MaryAnne giggled a little bit with him. But before too long his laughter turned to tears.
MaryAnne saw the change when he blinked his eyes briefly.
"Oh no, Rosco don't cry. I didn't mean for ya to cry. I wanted to get ya smilin' again."
"No, it's all right," he said, wiping his eyes. "It's just that I should be apologizing to you." He reached out with his other hand and took hers.
"Oh Rosco, it's okay," MaryAnne said, returning the gentle squeeze.
"No, it's not okay," he said. "MaryAnne, you're right. I'll never know if I don't try. The thing is, I keep thinking that it ain't gonna make any difference if I try or don't."
"And how are you gonna know for sure?"
"That's just it. I ain't gonna know."
"Exactly. Rosco, you gotta stop feeling sorry for yourself all the time. It's not like you. You've always been one to rise above whatever bad situation you're in. You're a fighter, Rosco, even tho' I know you probably feel like you're in a losin' battle. But it ain't. It's a hell of an adjustment I know, but I'm right here beside you through this whole thing, same with Papa and all your friends. Don't you forget that."
"I know," he said softly. He sighed. "I'm just so unsure about everything now. I don't even know what to do with myself anymore."
"All you can do is take things one day at a time for now. I'll bet you'll find new things to try before you know it. You may find you have some hidden talents that you never knew of."
"Maybe." He watched MaryAnne for a moment. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry," he said softly.
MaryAnne slowed the Oldsmobile down and looked at her cousin. "Rosco, it's all right," she replied and gave him a smile. "It's alright. I'm sure we'll be yelling at each other a few more times before this is all over with, but I'm only yelling at you because I care about you."
"I know."
They drove around for almost an hour and then returned back to the house. Rosco's spirits were a little more lifted. The Duke men and Eli had a good portion of the ramp completed, but it wasn't functional yet. After MaryAnne moved the wheelchair to the passenger side of the Oldsmobile and Rosco moved himself into it, the Duke men all offered to carry him into the house.
"No, that's okay," Rosco said. "I think I'll stay out here a bit. It's too nice of a day to be inside."
MaryAnne smiled and then clapped her hands together. "Hey, who wants some lemonade?"
"That sounds good," Eli said.
"Yeah," Cooper agreed. "I'll have some."
Jesse, Aaron, Thomas and Bo and Luke all agreed too. MaryAnne headed into the house to get the lemonade and the men decided to take a break.

Rosco started pushing himself more and MaryAnne and Eli encouraged him. When they had a private moment, Eli asked MaryAnne how the sudden change came about. She told her father about the conversation in the car and that Rosco was willing to try and to make an effort to get out of the slump he was in. Eli was glad to hear that and the physical therapy became more productive, with Eli playing more the part of a supportive and encouraging uncle, instead of drill sargent.
With the ramp completed Rosco practiced pushing himself up and riding down it. MaryAnne bought a pair of suede driving gloves and cut the fingers off, to keep Rosco from getting blisters on the palms of his hands. He actually liked the look of the gloves and wore them all the time.
One early afternoon, MaryAnne was cleaning up the kitchen after making pecan cookies when she heard the sound of the piano in the living room. Somebody was tapping on one or two notes at a time, not really putting a melody together or a chord. She picked up her towel and wiped her hands off and walked down the hall from the kitchen to the living room.
What she saw was Rosco was the one hitting the notes. She smiled.
"Well great balls of fire, it's Jerry Lee Lewis."
"Ha!" Rosco laughed. "Do you know we've had this dang thing for as long as I can remember and I don't know how to play it? Heck, I think this is the first time I've touched it in thirty years."
MaryAnne walked over and ran her fingers up and down the ivories, just like Jerry Lee always did.
"Can you play?" he asked.
MaryAnne made a face. "Eh, not really. I can do the begining of a Mickey Gilley song tho'."
"Which one?"
"'The Power of Positive Drinkin'.'"
Rosco started laughing. "You're kidding?"
"Nope. Here, take a listen..." MaryAnne found the notes and pounded out the beginning, hitting a wrong note here and there, and not exactly playing it like Mickey Gilley did.

"I only come here once a day at hurtin' time.
Pay day, Charlie knows I'm good for every dime.
And I ease up on the bar stool,
Where I ease my pain.
Until I'm strong enough to face that lonely night again."

Rosco joined in on the chorus:

"Oh the power of positive drinking,
It helps put an end to all my negative thinkin'.
And it hurts so good I never notice me sinkin.'
Thanks a lot, for positive drinking."

MaryAnne roared in laughter along with Rosco. She pouded out a little more and then tickled the ivories up and down, just like Mickey. She stopped playing when the giggling got to be too much.
"Oh man," she said. "What a riot of a song ain't it?"
"Yeah," he giggled.
"I'm partial to Patsy Cline, Jessi Colter and Jerry Reed myself," she said. "And Tammy Wynette and Walyon and Willie and..." she giggled.
"Just turn on the radio and you'll listen to it, huh?"
"Yeah, pretty much. What about you?"
"Oh I like all them. I like Loretta Lynn too, and George Jones and...uh...oh she sang that song a couple of years ago, 'Delta Dawn?'"
"Tanya Tucker?"
"Yeah. For a young girl, she can sing! I didn't know she was only 13 when that song came out!"
"Yeah, she is a good singer. I like her too."
"You ain't too bad yourself."
MaryAnne gave her cousin a look. "Yeah, right."
"I'm serious. That rendition of 'The Power of Positive Drinkin' aside, you do have a nice voice."
MaryAnne smiled. "Well, thank you. I guess." She laughed. "Listen, I've got pecan cookies cooling in the kitchen. I'm gonna run into town to get some groceries, is there anything you need me to get for ya?"
Rosco thought for a moment. "No, I think I'm all set."
"Okay," MaryAnne said and then chuckled. "I'm sure as soon as I drive out of the driveway, you'll think of something."
Rosco smiled. "Yeah, probably."
"Well, I'll have to go again this weekend anyways. I'll be back in awhile."
"Okay."
Rosco watched MaryAnne as she left. He chuckled again as he remember the sing-a-long.
That crazy cousin of mine...
Rosco paused for a moment and realized he was alone in the house. He took a moment to enjoy the scent of the pecan cookies and then his eyes drifted over to the stair way.
He hadn't seen his own room in several weeks. He wondered if he could even remember what it looked like. He paused a moment, deep in thought, wondering...
Rosco looked down and undid the brakes on the wheel chair and pushed himself over to the stairway. He looked at the lower stairs and then at himself, trying to visualize what he wanted to try to do. He could move from his wheelchair to a regular chair easily and had learned how to do it very quickly. But this was different. And even if he did figure out how to get from the wheelchair to one of the steps, how would he get himself back into the chair?
Well, the worse that can happen is I'll be stuck sitting on the stairs until MaryAnne or Eli get back. Which ain't all that bad, it's not like I have any where important to go.
Rosco turned the wheelchair around and backed it up so that the front of the stairway was directly at his right. He locked the brakes and lifted the right arm rest. He looked at the stairs and then looked up to the top of the stairs. It was an old world up there, one that he missed seeing. Rosco placed his right hand on the closest step and grabbed a hold of the banister with his left. He hesitated and then pulled himself out of the chair and leaned towards the stairs. He turned enough to land sitting on the step and he paused, surprising himself.
"Alright," he said softly. He took a deep breath and then adjusted his hands on the step behind him and lifted himself up to that step. He made it up four steps before having to stop to rest. He turned to look up the stairs, the top of which seemed like a million miles away, and wondered just what, exactly, had he got himself into.
Just keep goin'...
Rosco eventually made it all the way to the top of the stairs. He sat and looked down at his wheelchair, heaving another sigh and then turned his head to look down the hall way. Everything still looked the same and Rosco smiled. He sat for a few minutes and then dragged himself across the hall floor and to his room. He couldn't venture too far inside it, but he was glad enough to have reached the doorway.
He stayed there for almost a half an hour and then figured he'd better try to get back down the stairs. He was half way down when he heard footsteps on the porch. He stopped and looked up in time to see the front door open and MaryAnne stepped into the house.
She immediately saw the empty chair and her heart nearly stopped. "Oh God...Rosco!!"
"I'm right here, MaryAnne," he said.
MaryAnne stepped towards the wheelchair and looked up the stair well. "Rosco, what in the world are you doing??" She put her grocery bag down and stepped around the wheel chair, coming up the stairs.
"I'm okay," he said. "I just wanted to see if I could go up and down the stairs. I went up pretty well, now I'm seeing if I can get down."
"But, Rosco..." She was concerned that he was going to some how get hurt and she gently took a hold of his arm.
Rosco smiled and patted her hand. "MaryAnne, I gotta do more on my own. Atleast I gotta try."
"I know, Rosco, but going up and down the stairs? What if you get hurt or something?"
"Do you know how long I've wanted to see my own room again? I mean, I've felt like nothing more than a prisoner in my own home. And I made it up the stairs fine. Now I just gotta see if I can make it back down. Just let me see if I can make it back down?"
MaryAnne looked at her cousin. He was determined, she could tell, his blue eyes looking at her clearly. She hesitated a moment and then gave him a hug and nodded.
"Okay," she said. "But I'm gonna watch you."
Rosco smiled. "Alright."
MaryAnne stepped back down the stairs and stood and watched her cousin. Rosco then went about resuming his motion of getting down the stairs. Knowing he couldn't go straight down (as in reverse of how he went up) because he couldn't move his feet or his legs to get them on to the next step. So instead he sat across the step and would push his legs off to the next step and then move the rest of him down to that step. It took longer than going up, but atleast he was accomplishing the feat.
When he got to the third to last step he stopped and looked at his chair.
"How do you get back in?" MaryAnne asked.
"That's what I was just thinking," Rosco replied. He looked from the chair to the banister and back to the chair again.
"I know," he said suddenly. "Can you unlock the brakes and move it up a little bit?"
MaryAnne nodded and did what he asked. She then locked the brakes again on the chair.
"You gonna use the banister to pull yourself up?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"I'll spot ya."
Rosco chuckled. "I appreciate that."
MaryAnne laughed and stood prepared to catch her cousin if she had to.
Rosco pushed his legs down to the last step and scooted over to grab a hold of the banister. He held on to it for a moment and then pulled himself up and reached out for the chair with his other hand. He steadied himself on the left side armrest and shifted his weight to land in the chair with a "umph."
"Alright!" MaryAnne cheered.
"Khee! I knew I could do it!" Rosco giggled. He put the right armrest down and picked up each leg to settle his feet on to the footrests.
"Great! Hey, maybe we can get a second chair for upstairs maybe?"
"Yeah." He looked at her. "It was nice to see the upstairs again."
MaryAnne smiled. "Well, I bet we can figure something out so you can be back in your own room again and get you out of the living room."
"That'd be nice," Rosco said with a smile. "That'd be really nice."
When Eli returned to the house, MaryAnne told him what Rosco had accomplished. Eli almost couldn't believe it, but was proud to hear that Rosco was trying to do things on his own. After some brainstorming, they figured they would just carry Rosco's wheelchair up and down the stairs until they could get a second one. If they could get a second one.
For three weeks, things started to fall into a routine. Rosco continued to attempt to do things on his own, with MaryAnne and Eli standing by. Rosco whipped both MaryAnne and Eli at games of Gin Rummy and Five Card Draw that they'd play while sitting on the back porch in the early evening, but met his match against MaryAnne when playing checkers. A couple more impromtu concerts took place at the piano, this time with Eli as an audience.
"Well, y'all are entertaining, but George Jones and Tammy Wynette you ain't!" he told them and laughed.
"Ha!" MaryAnne laughed. She then stood up and put an arm around Rosco and extended the other one. "Stand by Your Man!" she sang.
"Yeah, see Eli, you're wrong," Rosco said in between chuckles. "She IS Tammy Wynette!"
And she was standing by her man. Well, by her cousin.

* * *

Part Two