Chapter 11

The rest of the night passed without incident. Jesse quickly noticed that Luke was joining into their conversations more and referring to some incidents in the past without even realizing that he was doing it. It was good sign and gave him hope that Luke's memory was returning even if he didn't realize it. Doc Applebee had already told Jesse that Luke's past memories would return first and then his memories of more recent events including what had happened that night. But Jesse wished those dang memories would hurry up a little bit, they really needed to know what had happened that night. Finally, they turned in for the night.

The next morning Jesse woke the boys as usual and they went about their normal morning routine. They were feeding the livestock when Luke suddenly got a strange look on his face and collapsed on a bale of straw as of someone had punched him in the stomach. “Luke?” Bo said anxiously, kneeling beside his older cousin who looked pale and distraught. “Luke, what's the matter?” When Luke didn't answer but just sat there with a stunned expression on his face, Bo jumped to his feet and ran towards the house yelling Uncle Jesse's name. Jesse and Daisy both came running out of the house when they heard Bo yelling.

“What's the matter?” Jesse demanded. He had his shotgun cradled in his arms and ready for trouble.

“It's Luke…something's wrong with Luke!” Bo said turning and running back to the barn with Daisy and Jesse right behind him. In barn, Luke was still sitting on the bale of straw with a stricken look on his face, hunched forward as if he were in pain and holding his stomach.

“Luke, what's wrong?” Jesse said in a gentle voice, kneeling in front of his oldest nephew and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Come on, son…” he coaxed “Look at me and tell me what's wrong…”

Finally, Luke raised his head to look into his Uncle's eyes. His eyes were filled with pain and wet with unshed tears. Concerned about Luke and not knowing exactly what was causing his strange reaction, Jesse instinctively reached out to pull his nephew into his arms. Luke fell to his knees and buried his face against his Uncle's shoulder as if he were a child. Gently, Jesse stroked Luke's hair and made soft soothing sounds to calm him so he could find out what was wrong. “Come on, Luke…” he said gently “Let's go into the house and you can tell me what's wrong….” Jesse helped Luke to his feet and put his arm around the young man's shoulders, slowly guiding him into the house.

Luke walked as if he were in trance, following Jesse through instinct. Inside the house, Jesse helped Luke to sit down at the table and ordered Daisy to give him a cup of coffee. Luke's hands were shaking visibly when he took the coffee from her and took a swallow. He seemed to be calmer than he had been in the barn but still obviously upset about something.

“Alright, son…” Jesse said quietly “Now tell me what's wrong….”

“I was there, Jesse….” Luke said in a barely audible voice “I was there when they raped and killed that little girl….I had to watch them do it…and I couldn't do anything to stop ‘em….” He closed his eyes for a minute and then added in a tightly controlled voice “I can still hear her screaming in my head….”

“Oh, my god…” Daisy said quietly, covering her mouth to keep from crying out in pain herself. Jesse struggled to hold onto his own rage as he listened to the pain and torment in his nephew's voice as Luke remembered the traumatic experience of being forced to watch a thirteen year old girl raped and murdered. In a carefully controlled voice, he said “Do you remember who the men were that did it….”

“No…I still can't remember that…..” Luke told him “Everything's starting to come back but its all in bits and pieces….”

“Alright,” Jesse said calmly, gently rubbing Luke's back to comfort and soothe him. “Why don't you tell us what you do remember so far…..”

Luke took a deep shuddering breath to calm his ragged nerves and looked at his Uncle for courage and support. Slowly, he started to tell him what he could remember about that night “I was on my way to pick up Mary Anne….and I saw Angie come running out of the woods…she was crying and I stopped because I knew she needed help…next thing I can remember…..I was tied up and I couldn't get loose…the ropes were too tight….and two men were raping her…over and over again….and I couldn't do anything but sit there and watch…..” Luke buried his face in his hands unable to go on.

Jesse glanced at Bo and mouthed silently “Call Doc” Bo nodded and went into the living room to call Doc Applebee. Jesse glanced at Daisy, who looked as pale as Luke and almost as upset. He nodded his head at her to sit down which she did without speaking. Jesse sensed that to ask Luke to deal with anything else he might remember right now could do more harm than good. So he wisely kept silent and just kept rubbing Luke's back gently.

Doc Applebee arrived a short time later. Jesse stepped into the other room long enough to fill Doc in on what had happened with Luke and his memory of the night Angie Baker was murdered. Doc nodded and agreed that Luke had suffered a severe trauma and that he shouldn't be questioned any farther at the moment. Doc told Jesse that he would give Luke a mild sedative to make him sleep for awhile so his mind and body could rest and recover from the emotional trauma he had experienced from remembering what he had so far.

Luke barely looked up as Doc came into the kitchen. He made no objection as Doc rolled up his shirt sleeve and gave him a shot in his upper arm. Jesse instructed Bo to help Luke back upstairs to their room so that he could rest for awhile. Bo nodded and helped Luke to his feet. Emotionally drained, Luke followed Bo docilely. When they got upstairs, Luke collapsed across his bed and closed his eyes and the sedative took effect.

Bo went back downstairs to join his Uncle and Doc in the kitchen. As he entered the kitchen, he heard Doc telling Jesse “He'll probably sleep most of the day…but that's the best thing for him right now. His body and his mind needs to rest.”

“But he'll be alright, right Doc?” Bo asked anxiously

“He'll be fine” Doc assured him “As a matter of fact, he'll probably start remembering things pretty quick once he wakes up. That's usually the way it works in cases like this…”

“Thanks, Doc.” Jesse said “Is there anything else we should do for him?”

“No, just let him sleep.” Doc said “He needs that more than anything else right now.” Doc smiled at the Duke family “I'll see myself out. If you need anything else, just give me a call.”

As Doc left the house, Daisy looked at her uncle and said “Poor Luke….I can't believe he had to watch them rape and kill that poor girl….”

“Whoever did it has to get rid of Luke before he remembers enough to identify them….” Jesse said solemnly “They've already tried twice….we better make damn sure they don't get a chance to try again.”

Chapter 12

Luke struggled against the ropes around his hands but it was useless, he was tired too tightly. His wrists were already rubbed raw from trying to get loose. Angie was lying on the ground a few feet away, staring at Luke with dead eyes as if accusing him of not helping her. Luke knew they'd kill him next, they had to. He could identify them. One of the men, the one with the gun, stepped out of the shadows and Luke felt the barrel of the gun pressing against his temple. “Time to die, Luke…” the man said in a cold voice as his finger slowly pulled the trigger. There was a sharp click but the gun didn't fire. It took Luke a minute to realize that he was still alive. The gun had misfired. But there was no time to feel any relief. The man growled and threw the gun to the ground, bending down to pick up a large rock. Luke turned his head just as the man brought the rock down, slamming it into the back of Luke's skull. There was flash of incredible pain and then nothing as the blackness surrounded Luke.

Luke awoke from the dream with a start. He was trembling and face was covered with a cold sweat. He lay there trying to slow down the frantic pounding of his heart as he remembered the details of the dream. He could vaguely make out a face on the man but it still wasn't clear enough for his patchy memory to put a name to it. With a groan, he shoved himself to the side of the bed and sat up, still trying to calm his ragged nerves. He still felt groggy and slightly disoriented from the sedative Doc had given him.

Finally, he shoved himself to his feet and made his way to the bathroom where he relieved himself and then splashed some cold water on his face. As he straightened up, he found himself remembering more about the night Angie had been murdered. He leaned his arms against the sink and lowered his head as the memories flooded through his mind.

He had been on his way to pick Mary Anne up for a date. He was driving along old Ridge Road when he suddenly a girl running out of the woods from the corner of his eye. He recognized her as a local girl, Angie Baker. She was crying and waving her arms, obviously, needing help. So Luke had pulled over and stopped, climbing out of the General Lee to find out what was wrong. She was screaming something but he couldn't understand her. He started to go to her when two men came out of the woods, one holding a gun in his hand and the other one holding a rifle. Luke recognized them too. They were two local roughnecks and troublemakers named Rusty Harrsion and his brother, Jamie.

Rusty, who was holding the rifle, cursed when he saw Luke and pointed the rifle at him. “You try anything, Duke and you're dead!” he snarled, as his brother, Jamie, grabbed Angie by the arm. Rusty motioned with the rifle for Luke to come with them. Knowing that he didn't have much choice, Luke slowly followed them into the woods.

Rusty stepped up behind Luke and stuck the barrel of the rifle in the small of his back. “I can't miss at this range, so unless you want cut in two by this here rifle, you'll do exactly what I tell you too and don't try nothing funny.” Luke walked with them deeper into the woods towards Henderson Ridge. Luke tried desperately to think of a way to get out of the mess he'd suddenly found himself in. Luke was confident that he could take Rusty or Jamie either one in a fair fight. But as long as they had guns, they had the upper hand. Angie was screaming and crying as Jamie roughly pulled her along.

When they reached the small clearing at Henderson Ridge, Rusty had slammed the butt of the rifle into the small of Luke's back, stunning him momentarily and knocking him to his knees. Before he could catch his breath, he felt Rusty grabbing his hands and jerking his arms behind his back. Luke felt the rope being tired tightly around his wrists, so tightly that the rope cut into his skin. Once his hands were secured, Rusty tied his ankles just as tightly. Satisfied that Luke couldn't interfere in their plans for the girl, he grinned and walked over to where Jamie had Angie pinned to the ground, fondling her.

For the next three hours, Luke had laid there helplessly unable to do anything but watch as they raped Angie repeatedly. Her pitiful screams filled the air and echoed in Luke's head until finally she couldn't scream anymore and still, the Harrison boys continued to abuse her mercilessly. Luke tried to shut out the sound of her screams but it was hopeless, he knew he'd hear them echoing in his mind forever.

When they got tired of gang raping Angie, they sat hunched on the ground debating what they were going to do next. Luke knew in his mind that they would probably kill him. He could identify them and they couldn't leave a living witness who could put them in jail for a long time. Luke wasn't afraid of death, he'd faced death before in the Marines, but he didn't want to die like this, defenseless and unable to protect himself.

When Rusty came over to where he was lying with the gun clutched tightly in his hand, Luke knew he was about to die. He prayed that his family wouldn't grieve too badly and that someday the Harrison boys would pay for their crimes. He felt the cold hard steel of the gun barrel pressing against his temple and closed his eyes waiting for the shot that would end his life. He heard the loud click as the hammer slammed into the chamber but the gun didn't fire. It took Luke a minute to realize that for some reason the gun hadn't gone off. He opened his eyes in time to see Rusty throw the gun to the ground and pick up a large rock. Luke instinctively turned his head just as Rusty slammed the rock down onto the back of his skull. There was a moment of incredible pain, then nothing but darkness.

Luke would never know how long he lay before he finally forced his eyes to open. His head hurt so bad that he couldn't even think straight. He lay there for several minutes before he realized that Rusty and Jamie were gone but his mind still screamed with an irrational terror. Somehow, and he would never remember quite how he did it, he managed to get his knife out of the case he wore on his belt. He cut through the ropes around his wrists and ankles, then slowly crawled across the ground to Angie's crumbled ravaged body. He saw the rope embedded deeply in the soft flesh of her throat and her wide staring eyes, eyes that seemed to stare at him accusingly, blaming him for not helping her and saving her from her fate.

With a trembling hand, he reached out to touch her, jerking back his hand almost instantly when he felt how cold her skin was. Then he saw the blood smearing his hand. Staggering to his feet, he turned and stumbled into the woods. He didn't even notice that someone had moved The General Lee from down on the road and that it was now parked in front of Angie's body.

Guided more by instinct then any sense of direction, Luke had found his way back to the farm and collapsed in his bed just as unconsciousness claimed him again. The next morning when he woke up, his memory was gone until now. And now, he remembered everything and remembered it much too clearly.

______________

A strangled cry that was a combination of pain and rage tore from Luke's throat as his memory finally returned. His eyes flashed with a cold dangerous anger, as he lifted his head. It was time to go hunting. He had a score to settle with the Harrison boys.

Chapter 13

Jesse and Bo were in the barn doing chores and Daisy had left for work. When they finished in the barn and headed back to the house, Jesse told Bo “Why don't you go check on Luke and wake him up while I start supper. He's been sleeping most of the day.”

“Yes, sir.” Bo said as they went into the house. Bo climbed the stairs to his room and opened the door, surprised to find the room empty. Thinking that Luke was probably in the bathroom, he walked down the hall and knocked on the bathroom door. When he didn't get any answer, he opened the door and looked inside but Luke wasn't there either. Quickly, he checked Uncle Jesse's room and Daisy's too but still no sign of Luke. Hurrying back down the steps, he went into the kitchen where Jesse was gathering the ingredients to make supper.

“Uncle Jesse,” He said anxiously trying to keep the worried tone out of his voice “Luke's gone. He's no where in the house.”

“What?” Jesse said in a startled voice “Are you sure?”

“I'm sure…I looked everywhere.”

“Dang it! Now where in tarnation did that boy take off to?” Supper forgotten, he barked “Come on, we have to find him! It's too dangerous for him to be wandering around somewhere by himself.” The two men hurried out of the house and climbed into the cab of Jesse's truck.

Bo immediately got on the CB “Breaker, breaker….This is Bo Duke calling everybody on the Hazzard net…listen up…Luke's missing and we need help finding him. If anyone sees him…..give me a shout.” He tried to keep the fear and concern out of his voice but was only partially successful.

Cooter's voice immediately came back over the radio “This is Crazy Cooter coming at ya, Bo. Tell me what you want me to do…”

“Jesse and me are out by the farm; we'll check the roads out here.” Bo told him “Can you check around in town and see if you can find Luke anywhere?”

“You got it, buddyroo….I'm down and gone…”

As soon as Cooter got off the air, Enos Strate's voice said “Bo, this is Enos. I'm out here by Hazzard creek….I'll check the roads out here.”

Other calls started coming over the air from more friends and soon most of the county was covered with people trying to find Luke. Daisy called in from the Boars Nest wanting to leave work and help look for Luke but Jesse ordered her to stay put in case Luke showed up there. Systematically, a search began for the missing Duke boy. Unknown to anyone, the Harrison brothers had also been monitoring the CB and had heard the calls about Luke. And cowards that they were, they armed themselves heavily and decided to go and look for Luke themselves because they had a hunch that he was looking for them.

But nobody realized that Luke wasn't anywhere near the main roads or any of the roads for that matter. He was cutting cross country, keeping hidden from sight, as he began his own search for the Harrison brothers. Relying on his Marine training, Luke had let his mind slip back into combat mode and he was the perfect killing machine once more hunting through the jungles of Viet Nam looking for the enemy. At the moment, Luke was more dangerous then he had ever been before to anyone who might accidentally cross his path.

Luke had no idea that most of Hazzard County was looking for him and it wouldn't have really mattered if he had. Luke only had one thing on his mind. Finding the Harrison Brothers and settling the score with them for killing little Angie Barker and trying to kill him. Taking his time and staying out of sight, he returned to the scene of the murder. Somehow, instinctively, he knew that eventually the Harrison Brothers would return here looking for him and he would be waiting for them when they did.

Luke found a place to hide behind some rocks and made himself comfortable. Then he waited. Patience was an admirable trait in any hunter no matter what kind of game they were hunting. He leaned his head back against the rock behind him. Although he seemed to be staring at the horizon, he was actually highly attuned to everything around him. Watching and listening, ready to spring into action at any second.

Chapter 14

Rusty pulled his battered blue sedan onto an old dirt road not far from Henderson Ridge. As he and Jamie got out of the car, Jamie looked at his brother and said “What makes you think Luke will go back up on the ridge?'

“Just a feeling, that's all….” Rusty said, as he opened the car trunk. Both boys took out high powered rifles with long distance scopes. Rusty also took out a wicked looking hunting knife that he stuck in the case attached to his belt. “We're gonna split up. You go in from the west and I'll go in from the east. If he's watching for us, he won't be able to take us both out at the same time if we come at him from different directions.”

“What if he ain't here?”

“Then we keep looking till we find him. We need him dead unless you wanna spend the rest of your life in prison for killing that little girl….”

“Yeah…I know that….but you're asking for trouble messing with a Duke.” Jamie declared in a nervous voice “The rest of them Dukes will after us once they find his body….”

“One…they ain't gonna find his body…we'll make sure of that. And two…we're gitting as far away from this jerk water town as we can once we get rid of him….” Rusty said firmly “Now let's go…and for god's sake be careful….that Duke is an ex-Marine….that means he could kill ya with his bare hands if he wanted to. He'll take you out in heartbeat if he gets the chance.” Jamie nodded solemnly. He never questioned what Rusty told him to do, he just did it. The two brothers spilt up, each one going in a different direction. They were almost two miles from the ridge so it took them awhile to work their way through the brush and overgrown weeds before they reached the trail to that led to the clearing at Henderson Ridge.

Luke had been waiting for hours but he knew that his patience had been rewarded when he heard the faint snapping sound of someone stepping on a twig off to his left. Silently, he rose to his feet and disappeared into the trees. He doubled around so he could come out behind whoever was coming up the trail towards the ridge. Moving silently, he soon saw a man just a few feet away and immediately recognized Jamie Harrison. Luke frowned when he saw that he was alone. Rusty must be approaching from another direction which meant he had to take Jamie out as quickly as possible.

“Hey…” Luke said in a loud whisper, stepping out onto the path behind Jamie. The other man jumped at the sound of Luke's voice and spun around, bringing his rifle up to shoot. Since he fired without taking aim, the bullet missed Luke ricocheting off a nearby tree. Luke spun and kicked out with his left leg, slamming his foot into the side of Jamie's knee, breaking it. Jamie screamed in pain and fell to the ground, curling up into a ball and clutching his injured leg.

Unfortunately, while Luke was distracted by Jamie, he didn't realize that Rusty had managed to sneak up behind him. Unknown to Jamie that had been Rusty's plan all along. He had used his own brother to bring Luke out into the open. Luke screamed in pain and surprise when he felt a sharp burning pain in his left side. As Luke fell to his knees clutching a hand to his side where his shirt was rapidly soaking through with blood, Rusty smiled maliciously and swung his hunting knife at Luke again, this time ripping a deep gash in his left shoulder and disabling that arm. Grinning triumphantly, Rusty advanced towards Luke intent on finishing him off. But Rusty had underestimated Luke's courage and his fighting skills.

In a move that caught Rusty completely off guard, Luke swept out his leg, knocking Rusty off his feet, He fell heavily to the ground and lay there stunned. It gave Luke the few precious minutes he needed to slip away into the woods. Suddenly the tables had turned and the hunter had become the hunted.

Chapter 15

Luke knew he had to get help. He was bleeding heavily from the wound in his left side and the shoulder wound as well. He didn't have anything with him to make a field dressing but he knew that if he could just make it to the nearby stream he could use an old Indian remedy to help control the bleeding. But he had to stay far enough ahead of Rusty to give himself time to take care of his wounds when he got to the stream. And to do that, he would need to go in a different direction to throw Rusty off his trail and then double back to the stream.

Luke had a distinct advantage over Rusty. One he knew these woods better than Rusty did and two as a well trained hunter (trained both by Uncle Jesse and the Marine Corps) Luke knew how to hide and stay hidden, even if he was hurt. With darkness falling, he knew that it would be difficult for Rusty to follow any blood trail he might leave behind.

Luke made his way through the woods, going almost 5 miles in the opposite direction. He could hear Rusty in the distance shouting and yelling and Luke knew that he was following his trail. That was what Luke wanted and he was making the trail easy for even someone like Rusty to follow. Finally, he shifted directions and disappeared back into the woods, slowly and carefully backtracking to the stream which was where he really wanted to go. He knew that even after he lost the trail, Rusty could keep going in the same general direction at least for awhile, hopefully long enough for Luke to take care of his injuries.

When he reached the stream, Luke carefully stripped off his shirt and threw it to the ground. Using his right hand since his left was temporarily disabled he scooped up some mud from the river bank. Wincing and clenching his teeth against the pain that just touching the wounds caused, Luke used the mud to cover both wounds. He knew that the mud would help slow down the bleeding, hopefully long enough for him to get help. He was already weakened from losing so much blood. Leaving his discarded shirt behind, he used a low tree branch to help pull himself to his feet and started walking south towards the Duke farm.

With darkness falling, he had to move slower and more carefully. The last thing he needed to do right now was catch his foot in a twisted tree root or slip on some rocks and fall. He listened intently but so far didn't hear any sounds that indicated that Rusty had picked up his trail again. He cursed himself for allowing Rusty to get the drop on him to begin with. But he had never expected Rusty to use his own brother to bring Luke out into the open where Rusty could attack him. Rusty didn't seem that smart, although he was considerably smarter than Jamie.

Luke suspected that if Rusty couldn't pick up his trail again, he'd just hightail it out of here and try to disappear before Luke could report this latest attempt on his life. Especially since now Luke could identify the two brothers. And Rusty was enough of a coward that he would simply leave Jamie behind to take the fall for everything. People like Rusty only cared about themselves. His brother's welfare wouldn't matter that much to him. Suddenly somewhere in the distance, Luke could hear someone coming and they were closing in on his location rapidly. He had to get out of sight he was too vulnerable out here in the open.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Duke family and most of Hazzard County was out searching for Luke without much luck. And Uncle Jesse was fit to be tied worrying about his oldest nephew. Finally, Bo suggested heading up to Henderson Ridge.

“Do you think he'd go back there?” Jesse asked

“He might…if he thought it'd help him remember something…” Bo said

“Well, he ain't no place else to be found so it's worth a try.” Jesse said gruffly as he turned the truck towards Henderson Ridge. A few minutes later, he turned onto the rutted dirt road that led through the woods and up to the ridge. Pulling into the clearing where Angie's body had been found a few days before he parked the truck and the two Duke men climbed out of the cab. Jesse grabbed two lanterns from the back of the truck and lit them, handing one to Bo, so they could see in the rapidly falling darkness.

“Luke?” Bo yelled “Hey, Luke! Are you here?”
Jesse walked over towards the woods that bordered the clearing, stopping to listen

intently. “Bo!” He yelled to his youngest nephew “Over here. I think I hear something. It sounds like somebody could be hurt.” When Bo had joined him, they went into the woods. Pausing to listen again, Bo heard the soft moaning sound coming a short distance away from where they were standing.

“Luke?” he cried, hurrying towards the sound. He was startled when he found the man lying on the ground, curled up in a fetal position and moaning softly. As Jesse came up behind him, he looked at the young man on the ground and said “That ain't Luke.”

“No, it's Jamie Harrison.” Bo said, recognizing the younger man. He frowned “What's he doing here?”

“I don't know…..but somebody's hurt….” Jesse said, kneeling down and reaching out to touch the blood on the ground near Jamie's body. “And hurt bad from the looks of it.”

“Luke?” Bo asked anxiously

“Maybe,” Jesse said letting his eyes scan the surround area carefully, the experienced eyes of a master tracker. “There were at least two other men and they went off in that direction.” He nodded towards the east. “I'll call Rosco and Enos to get them up here to watch this one here until we know what's going on.” Jesse said “You try following that trail and see if you can find anybody else. But be careful….we don't know who's out there.”

“Yes, sir.” Bo said, turning to move deeper into the woods. He soon picked up the trail following it easily, almost too easily. Then it hit him, if Luke was the one who was hurt, he would try and lead the other man on false trail and then double back so he could lose him. Bo paused then remembered about the mountain stream that ran through the woods. If Luke was hurt, he'd head there. Bo was sure of it. Ignoring the trail he'd been following, Bo turned in the direction of the stream.

When he reached the riverbank, he started walking slowly along the water's edge, shining his light on the ground and looking for any sign that Luke had been there. His heart caught in his throat when he saw the blue plaid shirt lying on the ground. As he knelt down to examine it, he saw the blood, too much blood. It was Luke that was hurt and he was hurt badly from the looks of it. Hearing a sound approaching in the distance, He yelled “Uncle Jesse! Over here!”

A few minutes later, he was joined by Uncle Jesse and Cooter, both of them carrying lanterns. “It's Luke's shirt…” Bo said with a catch in his voice, as he showed them the shirt he had found on the ground “And he's hurt ….”

“We gotta find him.” Jesse said grimly “Spread out…we need to pick up his trail. Let's find my boy…”

Chapter 16

Luke moved out of the clearing and back into the relative safety of the trees. It was dark enough that he knew it would be hard to see him in the heavily shadowed woods. He was exhausted but he couldn't take any time to rest. He had to either think of a plan or stay ahead of whoever was following him. But he also knew that he couldn't go much further.

Farther back on the trail, Rusty had finally figured that Luke must have doubled back on him. And he also figured that he might have tried to head back to the Duke farm, so Rusty had started searching in that direction. He was furious and determined to find Luke and finish him off once and for all.

A thin smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he came into a small clearing and saw Luke's body lying face down on the ground. Drawing his knife, he slowly walked towards the fallen Duke. Although he still carried his gun, he wanted to finish Luke off with the knife, he wanted to see his eyes as he plunged the knife into his heart. When he reached Luke's body, he kicked him in his injured side with the toe of his boot but didn't get any response. To on the safe side, he kicked him again, harder this time. When Luke still didn't move, Rusty laid his gun down on the ground and reached for Luke's shoulder to roll him over onto his back.

Suddenly, without any warning, Luke rolled over on his own and shoved Rusty to the ground, straddling him and punching him several times in the face with his fist. Caught off guard, Rusty was too surprised to fight back at first, but then he swung the knife at Luke again this time slicing a gash in his right arm. Luke ignored the new injury and kept punching him fueled by adrenaline and his own rage.

Luke pressed his forearm down across Rusty's throat putting his full weight against the other man's throat. Realizing that he was suddenly fighting for his life, Rusty punched Luke as hard as he could in his injured side but Luke still didn't let up. Unnoticed by either man, Bo and Jesse followed by Cooter had come out of the woods behind them.

Bo took in the sight in front of him in one glance and ran towards his older cousin, yelling his name, followed closely by Cooter and Uncle Jesse. When Bo reached Luke's side, he grabbed his cousin's arm trying to get him to break his choke hold on Rusty's throat but Luke refused to stop. He didn't even seem to be aware of Bo's presence or hear him yelling his name.

“Come on, Luke!” Bo yelled, grabbing Luke's arm again “Let up! You're gonna kill him!”

By that time, Jesse and Cooter had reached them. Cooter and Jesse both grabbed Luke from behind and pulled him backwards. It took both of them to finally pull Luke off of Rusty, who immediately started coughing as he struggled to regain his breath. Bo grabbed his arm and roughly pulled him to his feet, glancing anxiously at his older cousin who had collapsed in Uncle Jesse's arms. Luke was breathing heavily and his eyes were closed but at least he was alive. Cooter pulled his portable CB out of his jacket pocket and quickly called for Rosco and an ambulance.

Enos arrived at the same time as the ambulance and took custody of Rusty. Luke opened his eyes as the paramedics lifted him out of Uncle Jesse's arms and put him on the stretcher. As they loaded him into the back of the ambulance, Bo climbed in beside him and held his hand on the way to the Tri-County Hospital . Jesse told Bo that he would meet them at the hospital.

At the hospital, Bo had to wait in the waiting room while a doctor looked at Luke. He was soon joined by Cooter, Jesse, Daisy, and some other friends who had been helping in the search for Luke. It wasn't long before Doc Applebee came out to find them.

“How's Luke?” Jesse asked anxiously

“He'll be fine. It took 12 stitches to close the gash in his shoulder, sixteen to close the one in his side and 6 in his forearm, but luckily the knife missed all the vital parts.” Doc told them “He did lose a lot of blood and I gave him 2 pints to build his blood volume back up. I wanna keep him here for a couple of days just as a precaution to make sure those wounds don't get infected. But, he should be good as new in a week or so.”

“Thanks Doc.” Jesse said gratefully “Can we see him?”

“Of course. He's in room 216, third door on the left just down the hall.” Doc told them “He might be a little groggy….I gave him something for the pain.”

The rest of the Duke family along with Cooter went down the hall to Luke's room. He was propped up in bed with two pillows behind his back and dressed in a hospital gown. He grinned when he saw his family. “Hey…” he said softly

“Doc says you can go home in a couple of days.” Jesse told him “And you'll be good as new in a week or so.”

“I know. He told me.”

“Rosco said to tell ya that they got Jamie and Rusty both in jail and that Jamie confessed to everything.” Cooter told him. He grinned and dug a set of keys out of his pocket, tossing them to Bo “By the way, the keys to The General. He's ready to come home. He misses ya….”

They all laughed. It looked like things were finally back to normal in Hazzard County . At least for now.

THE END