The Nights the Lights Went Out in Georgia
by
Chapter 1
Hazzard County , Georgia was a little rural area about an hour's drive south of Atlanta . There was no place else in world quite like Hazzard. People did things their own way in Hazzard and what was normal for Hazzard would be considered downright weird or bizarre anywhere else. But, you can't ask for a better place to live or better neighbors. People stuck together in Hazzard and family, well family was what it was all about. To the folks in Hazzard, family came first and they stuck together through the good times and the bad times.
Now Boss Hogg ran Hazzard County . He was the County Commissioner and he owned most of Hazzard. What he didn't own, he held the mortgage on and if he didn't own or hold the mortgage on it, then he was figuring a way to own or to get a mortgage on it. He was the richest and the greediest man in Hazzard County . Heck, he even owned the Sheriff.
Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane was Boss Hogg's brother-in-law. Boss was married to Rosco's fat sister, LuLu. Now Rosco had been an honest and competent lawman for twenty years and had served Hazzard County well during that time. But when he lost his pension in a bond election two years ago, he had decided that being honest didn't pay very well, so he had joined forces with Boss Hogg in his money making schemes. And overnight, Rosco had become just as greedy, dishonest, and corrupt as Boss Hogg.
One of Boss Hogg and Rosco enterprises was their phony speed traps that they set up to catch unsuspecting drivers so they could give them a ticket. Of course, Rosco wrote tickets for some of the most outrageous things like a crooked license plate or a busted tail light that he broke out himself. And one of Rosco favorite pastimes was trying to nail the Duke boys for anything he find to frame them for.
Now the Duke boys were Luke and Bo. They lived with their Uncle Jesse and cousin Daisy on a farm about 18 miles outside of the town of Hazzard . The boys were on probation because they'd been caught running a load of Jesse's moonshine. Now ole Jesse had the reputation of being the best moonshiner in three counties. In over 40 of making shine, he'd never been caught once. He had worn out more revenuers than anybody. Ole Jesse was a legend in these parts.
Now Bo and Luke were local legends too because of their driving and their modified orange stock car the General Lee. The boys were known as the best drivers in three counties and could outrun anybody that tried to catch him. It was a pure accident that they'd ever been caught running shine. But a blow out going ninety miles an hour can put an end to a car chase in a hurry and they hadn't been driving the General at the time. There were people in Hazzard who claimed that the General Lee was half human the things that car could do with either one of them Duke boys behind the wheel.
Rosco was sitting in his car parked at one of his favorite speed traps near Hazzard pond when Boss Hogg's voice came over his CB.
“Rosco, you ninny, you got your ears on?”
Rosco snapped to attention at the sound of Boss Hogg's voice. He grabbed the mike and pushed the transmit button “This is Rosco P. Coltrane….” He said with his trademark high pitched giggle “Go ahead little fat buddy.”
“Rosco, get yourself out to County 97. Luke Duke is suppose to be on his way back from Atlanta in an old gray clunker he's bringing in for Cooter Davenport. I want you to stop him and make sure he ain't got no shine in that car.”
“I'm on it….hot pursuit…I love it, I Love it….” Roscoe said with another excited giggle “I'm gonna get Luke Duke and cuff him and stuff him….”
Rosco hung up the mike and shifted his police cruiser into drive, peeling out of his hiding spot and heading for Country Road 97 one of the roads leading into Hazzard County from the interstate that led to Atlanta . He found a place to park just inside the county line where his cruiser would be hidden from sight and waited, watching for Luke Duke to go by in a beat up gray clunker.
He had almost dozed off when he saw a gray sedan flash by. He caught a glimpse of the young man behind the wheel. A young man with brown hair and wearing a blue shirt. Luke Duke. He giggled as he pulled out behind the other car, flipping on his siren and his lights. Instantly, the other car sped up and Rosco did the same. One advantage Rosco had was that the other car sure wasn't the General Lee. But Luke Duke could still drive and he managed to stay ahead of Rosco as they tore down the highway.
In an attempt to lose him, Luke turned the wheel and took the car across county with Rosco following close behind. Both cars bounced and jerked as they drove over the rough terrain at a high rate of speed. Only an expert driver could keep a car under control at that rate of speed on that rough ground. Rosco knew that they were rapidly approaching Hazzard Creek and he knew that Luke planned on jumping it to get away from him. The Duke boys were experts at jumping cars over distances that most folks would never have had the courage to try jumping.
Rosco watched as the gray car hit the incline and flew into the air but then suddenly something went terribly wrong. It happened so fast that afterwards Rosco could never be sure exactly what had happened. He saw the gray sedan twist to one side in midair, then it landed on the other side of the creek on its roof, skidding almost twenty feet before coming to a stop. Rosco slammed on his brakes bringing his car to a halt at the edge of the opposite bank and jumped out of his cruiser just as the other car exploded in a fireball.
“No…no…no…” Rosco spluttered to himself. He reached in through his window and grabbed the mike to his CB. In an urgent, excited voice he said “This is Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane. I need an ambulance, a wreaker, and all available officers out to Hazzard Creek. There's been an accident.” He was careful not to give any more information over the radio. The Dukes monitored the CB channels and he didn't want Jesse or any of the other family members to hear about the accident over the air, at least not until he knew what Luke's condition was. And he had a terrible fear in his heart that Luke Duke was dead. He didn't see how anybody could survive a fiery crash like that. His hand was shaking as he threw the mike back into the front seat without bothering to put it back on the bracket.
Leaving his car where it was, he scrambled down the creek bank and into the water. Now Rosco couldn't swim a lick but he knew that the water in Hazzard Creek was only chest deep so he could wade across safely. He reached the other bank and ran to the scene of the crash. The car was still burning and he could see the driver trapped inside the vehicle and he wasn't moving. Not a good sign. Now Rosco didn't exactly like the Duke Boys but he didn't dislike them either. And he sure didn't want to see either one of them get hurt or killed.
Within minutes, he heard the scream of sirens in the distance as the other emergency vehicles he had called for arrived. An ambulance came bouncing across the field, followed by the wreaker driven by the local mechanic, Cooter Davenport, and two more police cruisers, one driven by Deputy Enos Strate and the other one driven by Deputy Cletus Hogg. As the vehicles skidded to a halt, Cooter and both deputies climbed out of their vehicles and grabbed their fire extinguishers. Between the three of them, they soon had the fire out and all of them stood there staring for a few moments at the smoking blackened hulk of the other car.
They all knew instinctively that it was too late to help the driver. He was already dead. Cooter suddenly gave a sharp cry of disbelief as he recognized the vehicle and realized who had been driving it. Stumbling backwards, he bent over and promptly lost his lunch. Enos and Cletus glanced at each other and then at Rosco. Enos was the first one to speak up, “Sheriff….who was driving?”
“Luke Duke…..” Rosco said in a choked voice.
“Oh, no…..” Enos moaned, his own face turning as white as a sheet. He was a close friend of the Duke family. He'd grown up with the three cousins and he'd had a crush on Daisy since the third grade. “What happened, Sheriff?” he choked out, trying to keep his emotions under control but he was badly shaken.
“I don't know, Enos…” Rosco told him “He went to jump the creek and somehow the car flipped over and just crashed and blew up….”
Having lost his lunch, Cooter had fallen to his knees and was staring at the wreaked car in total disbelief. He was also a close friend of the Duke family. Hell, he was more like an honorary Duke and the oldest Duke cousin was his best friend.
There was nothing any of them could do and they knew, except wait until the car cooled down enough to remove the body from inside. The paramedics got their own fire extinguishers out of the ambulance and sprayed down the car again to help cool it down faster, concentrating on the driver's side window and that side of the car. Finally, one of them checked the car and decided it was cool enough to try and get to the body.
None of the other men were in any condition to try and help them, so they simply stood there watching in shocked silence, each of grieving in their own way, as the paramedics crawled down on the ground and began the unpleasant task of pulling the burned body from the car. Enos turned his head away unable to look any longer when he saw how badly the body had been burned. He felt sick to his stomach knowing that it was someone he knew and considered a good friend. Without shame, most of the other men gathered there had tears in their eyes, including Rosco.
Chapter 2
Jesse Duke was in the barnyard feeding the chickens. He was a large man with a headful of white hair and a full white beard. Bright blue eyes still stared out from his deeply lined weather beaten face. Jesse was the patriarch of the Duke clan. His word was law and always obeyed, mostly out of love and respect but always obeyed. Jesse had been born and raised on the farm where he still lived with his two nephews and his niece. The Duke family had lived on this homestead and in Hazzard County for over 200 years.
Jesse and his wife, Martha, had never been blessed with children of their own. And Jesse missed that. He had come from a large family. He had 8 brothers and 2 sisters. They were dead now except for 2 of his brothers and his youngest sister. Three of his brothers had died, along with their wives, in a car accident and Jesse and Martha had found themselves with an instant family when they took custody of their children. Luke had been the oldest at 5, then there was Daisy who had been two and Bo, who had only been a baby, just six months old. Those kids had been raised as if they were their own and in Jesse's mind, they were his children just as much as if he had fathered them himself.
When Martha died, after almost forty years of marriage, Jesse would have gone crazy if he hadn't had those kids to finish raising. Luke had only been sixteen at the time, Daisy was thirteen and Bo was almost eleven. They had all been devastated by Martha's passing she was the only mother any of them had ever known. And she had been a good mother just like Jesse had been a good father. She was buried in the family cemetery on the hill behind the barn along with 5 other generations of Dukes. Luke, Daisy and Bo's parents were buried too.
Jesse looked up as two Hazzard County police cars pulled into the drive and parked next to his battered white pickup truck. He watched cautiously as Rosco climbed out of one car and Enos climbed out of the other one. Slowly, the two police officers walked over to where Jesse was standing. Sensing trouble, especially when they took off their hats and held them in their hands, Jesse sat down the bucket of grain and looked at them gruffly. “Rosco, if you're here to try and arrest the boys on one of your trumped up charges…they ain't here.” He growled
“That ain't why we're here, Uncle Jesse…” Enos said in a sad voice that instantly sent an alarm signal ringing in Jesse's head. Straightening up to his full six foot height, Jesse looked at the two men waiting for them to continue and bracing himself for the worst. But he had no idea how bad the worst was going to turn out to be.
“Jesse….there's been an accident…” Rosco said stumbling over his words. He hated to deliver news like this to anyone but especially to Jesse Duke. He knew how much Jesse loved those boys. He had even given up a lifelong family tradition of moonshining just keep them boys from going to prison. He'd made a promise with the U.S. of A. government never to make another drop of moonshine if they'd let his boys come home. And the government had agreed.
“Bo?” Jesse asked, automatically thinking of his youngest nephew who could get a little reckless sometimes when he got behind the wheel of a car, especially the General Lee. “Is he hurt?”
“It's not, Bo….” Rosco said, his voice cracking “It's Luke….I was chasing him and he tried to jump Hazzard Creek. He didn't make it….the car crashed and exploded…”
“Where is he?” Jesse asked quietly, his mind refusing to accept the unthinkable. “How bad is he hurt?”
“Jesse…” Enos said, tears gathering in his eyes “Luke's gone…..He died in the accident….” Enos hated to put it so bluntly but he knew that Jesse had to hear the words to believe them.
“No…” Jesse said, a stricken look crossing his face and seeming to age him 10 years in a matter of minutes. “Not Luke….not my boy…..” Enos and Rosco both immediately rushed to Jesse's side. Each of them took him by the arm and carefully led him into the house. Jesse slumped down at the kitchen table and stared blankly at the kitchen wall. Enos quickly grabbed the coffee pot sitting on the back of the stove and poured a cup of coffee, adding lots of sugar. He sat it on the table in front of Jesse. He knew it would help with the shock if he could get Jesse to drink it.
“Jesse…where's Bo and Daisy?” Enos asked, knowing that the family needed to all be together at a time like this.
It took a minute for Jesse to respond to his question and then he looked at Enos and said “At the Boars Nest. Daisy's at work and Bo was waiting there for Luke to meet him as soon as he got back from Atlanta ….” Jesse lowered his head, burying his face in his hands.
“Enos, you stay here with Uncle Jesse.” Rosco said quietly, blinking rapidly to fight back the tears that burned his eyes “I'll go and fetch Daisy and Bo.” Enos nodded as the Sheriff left the farmhouse.
Rosco walked back out to his car and climbed behind the wheel. He sat there for a few seconds before starting the engine to get his own emotions under control. As bad as it had been to tell Jesse about Luke, he knew it would be even harder to tell Daisy and Bo. Especially Bo. Those two boys were closer than brothers. They were almost always together. Sometimes it seemed as if they were opposite sides of the same coin, almost the same person in two different bodies. Rosco knew that the youngest Duke cousin wasn't going to handle his oldest cousins passing very well at all.
Fifteen minutes later, Rosco pulled into the dirt parking of the Boars Nest, the local honky-tonk and hang out for everybody in Hazzard. He parked his car between Daisy's jeep, a white CJ7 with a golden eagle painted on the hood and the name Dixie written on either side of the hood in elegant script. On the other side of his car was the infamous General Lee, Bo and Luke's stock car that they had built themselves. The General was as much of a legend in Hazzard County as the boys were. With it's distinctive bright orange paint job, the big black 01 trimmed in white on each door and the rebel flag painted on the roof with the name General Lee painted above each door, the car could not be missed or forgotten. It was hell on wheels under the skillful driving of either one of the Duke boys.
Rosco climbed out of his car and slowly walked into the bar, debating on how best to handle the situation he was about to encounter. He decided to simply tell Bo and Daisy that there had been an accident involving Luke and that they needed to get home right away. He couldn't bring himself to be the one to actually tell them that Luke was dead.
The bar wasn't very busy since it was still fairly early in the day. Daisy was behind the bar washing glasses and Bo was sitting at the bar talking to her and nursing a mug of the watered down beer that Boss Hogg sold to his customers. Bo glanced up as Rosco stepped up beside him. The youngest Duke boy was quite good looking with baby blue eyes and feathered golden blonde hair. Six foot four, he had a lean muscular build from years of doing heavy manual labor on the farm. And Daisy Duke was the prettiest girl in Hazzard County with big blue eyes, long chestnut colored hair and a figure that could make any man drool, especially since she was usually dressed in a tight tank top and short shorts that barely covered her backside. All three of Duke Cousins were popular and well liked in the County, except by Boss Hogg but he didn't really count.
“What are you doing here, Rosco?” Bo said with a grin “Slumming?”
“Yeah, Rosco…if you're looking for the boys to try and pin something on ‘em, you're out of luck. Bo here has been with me all morning and Luke's not even in Hazzard.” Daisy said with a grin of her own.
“Daisy, Bo…” Rosco said “Y'all need to get back home….there's been an accident.”
“Luke?” both cousins said at the same time, the smiles fading from their faces. Rosco could only nod his head, not trusting himself to speak. Without hesitating or waiting for any more information, Bo and Daisy both ran out of the bar to head back to the farm.
Chapter 3
Back at the farm, Jesse had gotten his emotions firmly under control He knew that he had to. Bo and Daisy still had to be told about Luke. He had started to drink the coffee Enos had poured for him, then made a face and stood up, dumping it in the sink when he realized how much sugar it had it. Poor Enos. He looked like he needed it more than Jesse did. His eyes were filled with tears and he kept blinking rapidly to keep them from falling.
Jesse looked up as he heard a car pull into the driveway. He knew from the sound of the engine that it was Daisy in Dixie . Seconds later, the sound of the General Lee's powerful engine could be heard as Bo pulled in right behind her. The back door burst open and they both ran into the kitchen. They stopped looking at Jesse with wide frightened eyes.
“Uncle Jesse….” Bo said in a ragged voice barely able to talk “Luke…..” he stopped unable to say anything else as he waited for Uncle Jesse to say something.
Jesse slowly shook his head and said in a quiet grief stricken voice “Luke's gone….” Daisy instantly burst into tears and ran to her Uncle's side, kneeling beside him and burying her face against his shoulder. He put his arm around her and held her close. Bo stood there just staring at him like a deer caught in someone's headlights until Jesse held out his other arm. Bo stumbled across the room and collapsed to his knees, burying his face against his uncle's other shoulder. Jesse held them close as they both cried broken heartedly. Feeling that he was intruding on a very private and personal family moment, Enos shoved himself to his feet.
“I'll be going now, Uncle Jesse.” Enos said in broken voice “Do you want me to call anybody for ya?” Jesse shook his head without speaking “Well, you let me know if you need anything….anything at all……” Turning, Enos fought back his own tears as he showed himself out of the house.
Jesse's own tears fell without shame as he held his niece and nephew as they cried in his arms. They had always been an exceptionally close family and now that family was ripped apart by Luke's death. Jesse knew there things he needed to do and calls he would have to make. But all of that could wait. For now the most important thing was comforting Daisy and Bo as they gave in to the overwhelming grief they were both experiencing. Jesse would grief later but for now he had to stay strong to hold what was left of his family together.
It was almost an hour before Daisy and Bo were able to move out of the comfort of his embrace. They sat down at the table but both of them were still in shock, their eyes vacant and staring sightlessly at nothing. Finally, Bo looked at his Uncle and said in a broken voice that didn't even sound like him “What happened?”
“Rosco said he was chasing Luke….he tried to jump the creek….” Jesse said struggling to keep his own voice was cracking too badly “The car crashed and exploded.”
“That's impossible!” Bo cried still trying to deny the reality that he didn't want to face “Luke and me have jumped that creek a hundred times….” He lowered his head and buried his face in his hands, his body shaking violently.
“And this time something went wrong….” Jesse said. He took a deep shuddering breath as his grief settled over him like shroud. He'd lost so many loved ones in his time. His darling Martha, 6 of his brothers, one sister and his parents but none of those losses (except his Martha) could compare to the pain of this loss. Luke was the oldest just the same as if he were Jesse's first born son.
There was a light tap on the door. Then it opened and Cooter came in. His own eyes were red as if he had been crying and his grief was clearly etched on his face. “Hey, y'all…” he said in a husky voice. Bo stood up and grabbed Cooter in a fierce hug which Cooter returned just as fiercely. Bo was almost like a little brother to Cooter just like he had been to Luke. Bo slumped back down at the table and Cooter quickly moved to give Daisy a comforting hug too and then Jesse. “I figured y'all might need a hand for awhile.” Cooter said “So I came by to help with whatever you need me to do.”
“Thanks Cooter.” Jesse said, roughly wiping the tears from his face. “We appreciate that. I need to start making some phone calls.” Jesse shoved himself to his feet and disappeared into the living room to start calling family members to tell them about Luke's passing. Some of the family, like his sister Pauline, would have to come from out of state so the sooner they were notified the sooner they could make arrangements to come to Georgia .
Cooter dumped out the coffee on the stove and made a fresh pot. There was an eerie silence in the house, the silence of a grief stricken family. Cooter knew that as soon as word got out about the accident, friends and neighbors would start calling and stopping by to offer what comfort and support they could. Cooter had already notified his cousins, B.B. and L.B. and they had both promised to stop by later that afternoon as soon as they finished the construction job they were currently working on for Mrs. Masterson. And he knew that Enos had already told some of the people in town including the pastor of the church that the Duke family attended every Sunday.
Daisy stood up and wandered out of the kitchen. A few minutes later Enos heard the sound of a door shutting upstairs. She had obviously gone to her room. Bo remained sitting at the table just staring at the wall almost totally out of it. Like everyone else who was close to the family, Cooter knew that Bo was going to take Luke's death the hardest. Luke was his hero, the one he'd looked up and wanted to be like all of his life. He was also his protector, the one who had always looked out for Bo and took care of him. And now Bo had lost the most important person in his life. He had also lost a part of himself that he might never get back again. And Cooter had lost the best friend he had ever had.
Cooter had towed the burned out wreak back to his garage and after things settled down a bit, he intended to go over every inch of it. He was going to find out one way or another what had happened to cause Luke to lose control and crash like that. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't get the image out of his mind of those paramedics pulling Luke's burned body out of that car. And he knew that he never would. He'd seen enough to know that they would not be able to have an open casket at the funeral.
Cooter turned his attention to Bo. Gently putting his hand on the younger man's shoulder, he said quietly “Hey, Bo…why don't you go sit on the couch? Be more comfortable than sitting here.” It seemed to take a few minutes for Cooter's words to sink in and even longer for Bo to respond. Even then he didn't say anything, he just stood up and went into the living room, where he flopped down on the couch and threw his arm over his eyes.
Jesse came back into the kitchen, walking slowly with his eyes downcast. He seemed to aged years in a just a few hours. The spring was gone from his step and the light from his eyes. He helped himself to a cup of coffee and sat down at the table.
“I called most of the immediate family…” he said “They'll be getting here as soon they can…we're gonna need to set up some cots in the barn for the ones that'll be staying over….”
“Don't worry, Uncle Jesse….I'll take care of that.” Cooter told him
“I called Earl down at the funeral home.” Jesse continued in a subdued voice “He's gonna get back to me as soon as he finds out when he can pick up…..” Jesse paused and swallowed hard “Pick up Luke and bring him home….” He finished, choking out the last words past the lump in his throat.
“Uncle Jesse, if you wanna go lie down for awhile….I can take things for ya….” Cooter told him, putting a comforting hand on the older man's shoulder.
“I believe I'll do that…” Jesse said, shoving back his chair and leaving his untouched coffee sitting on the table. Cooter sighed deeply as he watched Jesse walk into the living room and disappear up the stairway. A few moments later he heard the sound of Jesse's bedroom door opening and then closing.
Within the hour folks started arriving at the farm house. The first to arrive was Jesse's brother Albert, his wife Maxine, and their three young children. They were followed almost immediately by Jesse's brother, Ben, his wife Jeannie and their son, Jeb Stuart Duke. They were the closest family members living in the area. They just lived two counties away in Placid County .
The two women immediately took over the kitchen, checking the refrigerator and cupboards for supplies. In the south quantities of food was prepared by friends and neighbors to tide the family over. Usually enough to last for days or even weeks after the funeral. It was one less thing for the family to worry about during their time of mourning. Cooter and Jeb went out to the barn to start getting the cots down from the hayloft and setting them up for the overnight guests that would be staying at the farm for at least the next week.
Chapter 4
By nightfall more friends and neighbors had shown up crowding into the farmhouse. Several of them had brought food with them which Maxine and Jeannie found room for in the refrigerator. Jesse, Daisy and Bo had rejoined their friends and family graciously accepting their condolences and their sympathy. Jesse seemed to be holding up fairly well and Daisy seemed to be doing okay but Bo still seemed to be pretty much out of it. It helped that Jeb Stuart was there. He was close to Bo and Luke in age and was their favorite cousin. He stayed close to Bo comforting him with his mere presence. Jeb would be sleeping in Bo's room while he was there using Luke's bed. Jesse didn't want Bo to be sleeping alone not yet. He would have to be doing that soon enough.
The family turned in around eleven o'clock even though they all knew that none of them would be getting much sleep that night. Most of the neighbors and friends had left, except for Cooter's cousins, L.B. and B.B., who would be staying at the farm with Cooter to help out. The three Davenport cousins sat around the kitchen table drinking coffee and trying to make small talk to keep their minds off the tragic events of the day.
“I sure never thought anything like this would happen to Luke. Them boys was just too a drivers….” B.B. said solemnly
“Even good drivers can make a mistake or have an accident.” Cooter said grimly
“What do you think happened, Cooter?” L.B. asked
“I don't know. Maybe the take off was just a little wrong….maybe something broke…or maybe it was just bad luck…it could have been anything.” Cooter said flatly. He shoved himself to his feet and started rummaging through the cupboards. “I know Jesse's got some shine around here some place. I don't know about you two but I sure could use me a little drink about now.” He grinned in satisfaction when he found the old pint fruit jar stuck back behind some dishes on the top shelf of the cupboard. Pulling it down, he twisted off the lid and took a whiff. “Oh…yeah…” he said “That's some of Jesse's finest alright.” He took a long deep swallow and passed the jar to his cousins, who each took a drink too.
Moonshine is powerful stuff, a lot more potent than regular whiskey. At 150 proof it packs one hell of kick and can really knock you for a loop pretty quick if you're not used to it. It burns like fire going down but sure makes you feel good pretty quick. Cooter and his cousins, just like the Dukes boys, had grown up around moonshine and so had almost everybody else in Hazzard County . It was almost rite of passage for a young boy's first drink of hard liquor to be a swig of shine. By the time the Davenport cousins had finished the fruit jar of shine they were ready to turn in. They made their way out to the barn to sleep in the loft.
Jesse was up at his usual time the following morning but breaking from his normal routine, he let Daisy and Bo sleep. Someone else could take care of the chores. Downstairs he discovered that Maxine and Jeannie were already up and starting breakfast. Jesse helped himself to a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. His eyes burned and his head hurt from a lack of sleep but he knew from bitter experience that it would pass.
Maxine sat a plate of bacon, eggs and grits on the table in front of him. Jesse knew that he had to eat so he forced himself to take a few bites even though his heart wasn't in it. He had no appetite for food. Finally, he pushed the plate away and slowly shoved himself to his feet. Grabbing his cap, he put it on his head and went outside for some fresh air. In the barn he found Cooter, his two cousins and Jeb busy doing the morning chores.
“We got things under control out here, Uncle Jesse.” Jeb told him “Why don't you go on back in the house?”
“In a bit, Jeb….in a bit.” Jesse told him. He slowly walked back out into the barnyard and around to the front porch where he sat down in the swing. He began rocking gently back and forth. He found himself remembering all the times he'd rocked the boys and Daisy in this swing when they were children, soothing away their hurts, telling them stories or just rocking them to sleep. Everywhere he looked there were memories of those kids of his. They had made this house a home and given Jesse a reason to live after he lost Martha.
He lost track of how long he'd been sitting, glancing up when the front screen opened and Enos came out onto the porch. He had a large yellow envelope in his hand. “Morning, Jesse.” He said “I just wanted to let ya know that I just got back from going with Earl over to Capital City to bring Luke back home….” He hesitated and then handed Jesse the envelope he was holding in his hand “The medical examiner over there asked me to give this to you” he paused to regain control of his emotions and added “And Earl said to tell ya to give him a call as soon as you're ready to come in and talk to him about the arrangements.”
“Thank you, Enos.” Jesse said somberly. The young Deputy touched the brim of his hat and turned, going back inside the house. Jesse looked at the envelope in his hand almost afraid to open it and see what was inside. Finally, he took a deep breath and ripped it open. Instantly tears welled up in his eyes when he realized that it contained Luke's personal possessions. One by one, Jesse took the items out of the envelope and looked at them with pain filled eyes and an aching heart. There was Luke's ring. The plain silver band that he always wore on the pinkie finger of his right hand. The ring that he never took off. His mother's wedding band. The only thing he had to remember her by. The last item in the envelope was Luke's wallet. It contained his driver's license, his social security card, his military ID as a member of the Marine Corps reserves, a picture of the family and five dollars. There was handful of change lying loose in the bottom of the envelope.
Jesse found himself wondering how any of these things had survived the crash and the fire but he had seen stranger things in his life. Jesse slowly replaced the items in the envelope and stood up, carrying it into the house with him. He climbed the stairs and went into his bedroom. Opening the closet door, he put the envelope on the shelf over his head. He knew that it would safe there and that he would not be opening it again. He stood there for a moment fighting back the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes again as he thought about all the things his oldest nephew would never do now. He would never know the joy of finding that one special girl and falling in love, he'd never get married, he'd never discover the joy of having his own children and raising them to adulthood. He'd never celebrate his thirtieth birthday.
When he went back downstairs, he discovered that two more nephews, Coy and Vance, had shown up. They each gave Jesse a fierce hug and offered their sympathy. Jesse thanked them for coming and asked them to help Jeb keep an eye on Bo. With the three cousins watching over his youngest nephew for the next few days, Jesse wouldn't worry so much. He noticed that her aunts had Daisy in the kitchen keeping her busy helping them. Jesse knew he had to call Earl to set up a time to go to town and talk to him about the arrangements for Luke but he just wasn't up to that quite yet. He also needed to make a trip to the barn and bring in a couple of jugs of his moonshine that he had hidden out there. Cause he knew that there were going to be a lot of people besides himself who were gonna need a few stiff shots over the next few days.
Chapter 5
Later that afternoon Jesse finally called Earl Davenport, the local undertaker, who also happened to be another one of Cooter's cousins. Jesse arranged to meet with him at seven o'clock that evening. He decided not to tell Daisy or Bo about the meeting with Earl to discuss the arrangements for Luke's funeral. They didn't need to be put through that. And this was something that Jesse wanted to handle alone. It would be the last thing that he would ever be able to do for Luke.
He found Cooter out in the barn and pulled him aside so that nobody would overhear them. In a quiet voice he said, “I have to talk to Earl at seven o'clock tonight.” Jesse told him “But I don't want Daisy or Bo to know. I wanna spare them that.”
“You want me to drive ya? You really shouldn't be driving yourself.” Cooter offered “You're bound to be upset afterwards.”
“I'd appreciate that, Cooter.” Jesse said in a grateful tone. “We'll leave around six thirty.” While he was in the barn, Jesse grabbed a couple of jugs of his shine from his hidden stash and carried them back into the house with him. He put them in the kitchen pantry out of sight.
Pauline and her husband, Joshua, arrived from Ohio just before supper with their three children, 16 year old Michelle, and her eight year old twins, Kacey and Stacey. Pauline immediately sought out Jesse and gave him a big hug. Pauline was Jesse's youngest sister and his favorite and the boys were her favorite nephews. Her eyes were red and it was obvious that she'd been crying ever since she got the news.
“I'm so sorry, Jess….I still can't believe it…” she cried, fighting to hold back her tears.
“I know….neither can I…” Jess said blinking back his own tears.
“Where are the other kids?” she asked
“Daisy's upstairs in her room and Jeb has Bo outside somewhere.” Jesse told her
“How's Bo holding up?” Pauline asked, she was well aware of the closeness between the two boys. She had lived in Hazzard until three years ago when her husband was transferred to Ohio . When they were kids, the boys and Daisy used to spend a lot of time at Pauline's house. She was their favorite aunt.
“Not very well.” Jesse admitted “I'm really worried about him….I'm sure how he's gonna handle Luke being gone.”
“I know…they were so close.”
“Maybe too close.”
“At least he still has you and Daisy.”
“But he'd rather have Luke.” Jesse said in a broken voice.
“We all would, Jesse.” Pauline said, tears running down her cheeks. “We all would.” The brother and sister embraced, comforting each other and sharing their grief for the young man who had meant so much to both of them.
Jesse slipped out of the house around six thirty. Cooter was already outside waiting beside Jesse's truck. Unnoticed by anyone, they slipped into the cab of the truck and Cooter drove them into Hazzard. The Hazzard County Funeral Home was located in a long red brick building near the edge of town. Cooter pulled into the parking lot and told Jesse that he would wait in the truck while he talked to Earl.
Earl met Jesse at the door and escorted him into his private office. As they sat down, Earl said “I'm so sorry for your loss, Jesse. Luke was such a fine young man.”
“Thank you, Earl.” Jesse said “I appreciate that…”
“I know this isn't easy for you so I will try to make this as brief as possible. First of all, I hope this will help ease your mind a little….according to the medical examiner Luke was dead before the car exploded. He broke his neck on impact.”
“Thank you….” Jesse said choking back his tears “That's a comfort to know…I couldn't bear the thought of him being burned alive….”
“That brings up another subject we need to discuss. Obviously, we can't have an open casket. Do you want a photograph of Luke placed on the casket for the service?”
“Yes…”
“Than I'm gonna need you to drop one off that we can use…..I'll also need clothes to dress him in.” Jesse nodded “There's also one more detail I need for you to verify and this is for the medical examiner's records simply to confirm Luke's identity. Did Luke have a birthmark?”
“Yes…” Jesse said, nodding his head “On the inside of his left thigh next to his privates…”
Earl gave Jesse a moment to compose himself before continuing. “Alright, now I'm simply going to ask you a few questions that I will be using to put the obituary in the newspaper….What was Luke's full name?”
“Lukas Kristopher Duke”
“His Birthday?”
“ September 9 th , 1952 ”
“His father's name.”
“Robert Duke. Deceased.”
“His mother's name?”
“Elizabeth Duke. Also deceased.”
“Any brothers or sisters?”
“One brother. Jud Kane. He's two years younger than Luke.”
“Do you need a break before we go on, Jess?”
“No…I just wanna get this over with.”
“Are there any special songs or bible verses that you would like used at the service?”
“Luke liked Amazing Grace and I'll Fly Away. And he was always partial to the twenty-third psalm.”
“I assume that Pastor Jennings will be officiating at the service.”
“Yes.”
“Will anyone be delivering a eulogy?”
“I'm sure there'll be some friends that'll want to say a few words.”
“And you want him buried in the family plot on the farm?”
“Yes”
“Will Saturday afternoon at one be too soon for the service or do we need to wait for any other family members to come in from out of state?”
“No, Saturday will be fine. Everybody should be here by then.”
“Do you want visitation Friday night or just the service Saturday?”
“Just the service. There'll be a wake at the house.” He looked at Earl “And I want Luke there for that.”
“That's rather usual…it's been a long time since anyone's requested that…but that's your decision. I can arrange to have the casket brought to the house tomorrow afternoon and pick it back up Friday night.”
“That'd be fine.”
“Well, there's just one more thing we need to take care of…” He rose to his feet “If you'll follow me….you can decide on a casket for Luke.” Jesse nodded and followed Earl out of the office.
Cooter was watching for Jesse to come out of the building. When he did, Cooter jumped out of the cab and walked over to him to help him back to the truck. Jesse was obviously badly shaken but holding together pretty well. He was tough old bird but Cooter figured he'd have himself a few stiff shots of shine when they got back to the farm. Planning a funeral was never a pleasant experience.
Chapter 6
Early the next morning Jeb, Coy, Vance, Cooter and his two cousins, rearranged the furniture in the living room to make room for the casket that Earl had promised to send to the house later that afternoon so it would be there for the traditional 3 day wake. Jesse wanted it set in front of the fireplace, so they had to move Jesse's favorite chair and the sofa. They solved the problem by simply moving them against the far wall and moving the coffee table and Jesse's desk into the spare room temporarily.
When they had finished, Jesse spoke privately with Jeb, Coy, Vance and Cooter. He asked them to keep a close eye on Bo when the casket arrived and was put in the living room. He was concerned about how Bo would react when he saw the casket and it hit him that Luke was inside of it. Jesse was afraid that he would fall apart completely.
More family members arrived throughout the morning and early afternoon. Around two o'clock Coy found Jesse and told him that Earl was there with the casket. Discreetly everyone moved out of the living room and into the kitchen or went outside while the undertaker and his two assistants moved the casket into the house. Jesse had chosen a simple white casket with gold trim. After they had set it up in front of the fireplace Earl sat the framed picture of Luke that Jesse had given him on top of the closed lid.
It was Jesse's favorite picture of Luke. An eight by ten photo of him wearing his favorite blue shirt and a black cowboy hat and smiling that crooked smile that everyone who knew him loved the best. Luke had given Jesse the picture the previous Christmas. In the picture, his sapphire blue eyes were sparkling with life and with spirit. Now those eyes were closed for all eternity and Jesse would never see them sparkling with life again.
Most people stayed out of the living room until after Earl and his assistants had left, giving Jesse some private time alone with his oldest nephew. Then slowly, they began to filter back in. Everyone that is except for Bo. He never did come into the living room. Cooter found Jesse and told him that Bo just wasn't ready yet to face the reality of seeing the casket sitting in the house. Jeb and Coy had him out in the barn giving him a few shots of Jesse's finest. Jesse nodded. He understood perfectly. Daisy had come into the living room and stood by Jesse with silent tears running down her face as she gazed at the casket and the picture of Luke sitting on top. But she kept her distance, refusing to get too close.
Other family members and friends went up to the casket and gently ran their fingers across the smooth surface of the lid or touched Luke's picture. And more than one of them cried. For three days they would sit with the dead, paying their respects. Following the age old southern tradition, one person would remain awake all night sitting with the casket for the next three nights. Cooter had volunteered to do for the first night, Coy would do it the second night, and Jeb would sit up with Luke on the final night that he would ever spend in the house where he had grown up.
Jesse slipped away to find Bo. He hadn't spent much time with him since they learned about Luke and he knew that Bo needed him the most right now. Coy and Jeb glanced up as Jesse walked into the barn and discreetly left him alone with his youngest nephew. Bo was sitting on a bale of hay staring at the ground. Jesse sat down beside him and slipped his arm around the young man's shoulders. Bo leaned against his Uncle, resting his head on his shoulder.
“I miss him so much, Uncle Jesse….” He whispered in a husky voice. “I just want Luke back so bad….”
“I know you do, son...we all do.” Jesse told him quietly, he put his other arm around Bo and held him close. He gently stroked his hair comforting him as best he could.
“You're not gonna make me go in the house yet, are ya?”
“Of course not. You don't have to go in till you're ready….”
“Can I sleep on the couch while Luke's here?”
“If that's what you want. But why?”
“Because it's the last time I'll ever be able to sleep in the same room with him…”
“Bo…” Jesse said gently unable to trust his voice to say anything more. He tightened his embrace. If he could have taken Bo's pain away, he would have. It would have been easier than being forced to watch his youngest suffer like this. Bo had always been more emotional than his older cousin and his feelings had always been hurt so easily. He tried so hard to be strong, just like Luke, but he wasn't Luke. And, secretly, Jesse had always thought that Bo's way of reacting to any kind of trauma was more healthy than Luke's tendency to just keep it all bottled up inside of himself and not share his innermost feelings with anyone.
Jesse sat there for a long time just holding Bo in his arms. He sat there for so long that Jeb finally came out to the barn to check on him.
“Everything okay out here, Uncle Jesse?”
“Just fine, Jeb. Just fine. I'll be there in a little bit.”
Jeb nodded and turned to go back into the house. Finally, Bo straightened up and looked his Uncle in the eyes. His blue eyes were red and swollen from crying and a little glazed from all the shine Jeb had given him. His mouth trembled as he said “I wanna go in the house now and see Luke. Will you go with me?”
“Of course I will.”
Jesse stood up and helped Bo to his feet. He swayed unsteadily for a moment but quickly regained his balance. Slowly the two of them walked into the house together. When they walked into the living room, Coy and Cooter quickly stepped in beside them to offer additional support to Bo as they slowly approached the casket. Bo's lips trembled and his eyes flooded with tears. Jesse had his arm around his waist and he could feel Bo's body trembling as he reached out his hand and gently touched Luke's picture. “I miss you already, cuz…” he whispered in a barely audible voice “I love you, Lucas…..”
Jesse glanced at Cooter and nodded slightly. Cooter slipped his arm around Bo's waist from the opposite side and they gently moved him away from the casket and over to the couch where they helped him to sit down beside Pauline. Satisfied that he was in good hands with his favorite aunt, Jesse and Cooter went into the kitchen for some coffee.
Maxine and Jeannie had set up a buffet style meal on the kitchen table although not that many people were interested in eating. Jesse forced himself to fix a plate and tried to eat something. But nothing seemed to have any taste so he gave up after a few bites. There seemed to be a lot of half eaten plates of food sitting around the house.
As the night wore on and it got late, folks began to leave until only family members remained along with Cooter and his cousins. L.B. and B.B. decided to turn in around ten o'clock and Jesse did the same. Daisy had gone to bed much earlier. Bo went up to his room just long enough to grab his pillow and a blanket which he brought back down and put on the sofa. He was exhausted both emotionally and physically. He decided to lie down for just a little. His body demanded rest even if Bo's mind resisted the idea of sleeping. Cooter sat down in Jesse's chair and stretched out his legs. He watched as Bo's eyes grew heavy and finally closed. Cooter sighed and began his long lonely vigil of sitting up with Luke while everyone else slept.
Chapter 7
Jesse was in the kitchen when the door opened and Rosco came into the farmhouse. The Hazzard County Sheriff looked terrible, as if he hadn't slept in days and his usually neat uniform was wrinkled and creased as if he hadn't changed it recently.
“Hello, Jesse….” Rosco said “I just came by the pay my respects….”
“Thank you, Rosco.”
His eyes flitted nervously towards the living room but he made no attempt to go into the other room. “I'm real sorry about what happened, Jess…if I hadn't been chasing him…..”
“It's not your fault, Rosco. It was an accident.”
“It was terrible, Jesse, just terrible…I see that car blowing up whenever I close my eyes…”
“Why don't you sit down, Rosco?” Jesse suggested “You look like you could use some coffee.”
Gratefully, Rosco slumped down at the kitchen table and accepted the cup of coffee that Jesse poured for him. He'd been in a state ever since the accident. Guilt can eat a man alive if you let it and Rosco was consumed with guilt over Luke's death.
“Jess…I just wanted to tell ya that…..I know Luke was a good boy….and I never meant for nothing to happen to him…..it was like a game we played…ya know…hot pursuit….I think the boys liked as much I did sometimes…” Rosco stammered, stumbling over his words
“Rosco, it's alright….” Jesse said, gently reaching out and patting the sheriff's hand. Jesse had always known that Rosco was a good man at heart, even if he was in Boss Hogg's hip pocket. “We all know that you'd never do anything intentionally to put either one of my boys in danger…nobody is blaming you for nothing.”
“That means a lot, Jesse…..I just feel so bad about Luke….”
“I know you do, Rosco.”
Just then Vance came in from the other room. He scowled when he saw Rosco and his eyes darkened. In his mind, the Sheriff had no business being here at a time like this. He glared at Rosco and then glanced at his Uncle and growled “What's he doing here?”
“It's alright, Vance.” Jesse said in a mild reproach. “Rosco just came to pay his respects like everybody else.”
“I'm sorry, Uncle Jesse.” Vance said suddenly looking contrite as he realized that he had no right to judge Rosco's motives for being there. “I spoke out of turn. I'm sorry, Rosco.” Vance went on out the back door, closing it softly behind him.
“Well…I…uh….guess I'll go pay my respects….” Rosco said, slowly shoving himself to his feet. He stepped into the living room and walked over to the casket. He felt choked up as he looked at the framed picture of Luke. Gently, he reached out and touched the closed lid. “Rest in peace…..” he said in a quiet voice. Lowering his head, he turned and walked back into the kitchen. Without another word to anyone, he left the house.
Enos arrived shortly afterwards. It was his day off and he had come to set with the family to show his respect. He saw that Bo was being watched over by Coy, Cooter and Jeb and so he sought out Daisy. He found her on the front porch, sitting in the porch swing. She looked so sad and forlorn. “Hey, Daisy…” he said as he sat down in the swing beside her.
“Oh, Enos….” She said leaning towards him and resting her head on his shoulder “I'm glad you came….”
“You knew I would….I loved him too, Daisy…” Enos told her gently as he slipped his arm around her shoulders.
“I miss him so much already…”
“I know you do. I do too….” They sat there in silence, comforting each other, as they slowly rocked back and forth in the old porch swing. They watched some of the younger children playing in the front yard. They were too young to fully understand what was going on; to them this was just a big family get together where they got to see cousins they hadn't seen for awhile. Seeing them playing and laughing only reminded Daisy of playing with Bo and Luke when they were kids and made her start crying again.
She was grateful to Enos for being there. She knew how he felt about her and deep down she felt the same way about him. She buried her face against his shoulder and he held her tightly as she cried.
Suddenly, one of the youngest children, a five year old named Susie, stopped playing and came up to the porch where Daisy and Enos were sitting on the swing. Tilting her head to one side, she looked at Enos and said with a childish lisp “Why's Aunt Daisy crying?” Although Daisy wasn't actually her aunt, it was an old southern custom for young children to call other male or female cousins Aunt or Uncle. It seemed simpler for them to understand the family connection that way.
“Because she's sad, darling.” Enos said with a gentle smile for the child
“Why's she's sad?”
“Because Uncle Luke went away and he's never coming back.”
Susie's eyes lit up “I remember Uncle Luke. He took me for a ride in his car the last time I was here. We went fast.” She said with a grin. Then she frowned thoughtfully “Where'd he go?”
“To heaven, honey….to be with the angels.”
“Oh…” Susie seemed to think that over for a minute, then she grinned and said “Then everybody should be happy not sad cause he's with Jesus. Right?”
“That's right, baby..…he's with Jesus.” Enos said fighting back his own tears at the child's innocent comment. Satisfied with his answers, Susie ran back to play with the other children.
After awhile, Enos realized that Daisy had cried herself to sleep. Not wanting to wake her needlessly, Enos sat there, gently rocking back and forth. He hoped that the Duke family would be strong enough to survive this loss. They were all so close to one another. Enos had always envied them for that. An only child, he missed not having a brother or sister to play with and share secrets with when he was growing up. And you couldn't ask for any better friends or neighbors than the Dukes. If you were their friend, you were their friend for life. And they'd go out of their way to help someone in trouble without expecting anything in return.
Enos knew that Rosco and Boss Hogg tried to frame Bo and Luke for something all the time so they could put them in jail. And he knew that wasn't right but he was sworn police officer for Hazzard County and he had to obey Sheriff Rosco's orders even when he didn't agree with them. Being a policeman was all Enos had ever wanted to be and he was a good, honest cop (even if he was a little naïve at times) But in spite of his allegiance to Hazzard County and to his job, more than once Enos had helped the boys to get out of the trouble Boss and Rosco tried to get them into. Things just weren't going to be the same around Hazzard County no more with Luke gone.