To Go Home Again
By
A thin little smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as Kelly Dalton passed the sign that read “Welcome To Hazzard County”. A picture of a fat man in white suit with a big cigar in his hand and a grin on his face decorated the sign . Boss Hogg, County Commissioner of Hazzard county , Kelly thought to herself. It didn't look like much had changed since she had been gone. At least she hoped it hadn't but then she had been gone for over ten years.
Nobody knew that she was coming back to Hazzard and that was the way that she wanted it. She needed at least a couple of days by herself to get used to the idea that she was really back in the only place she had ever felt at home. She hoped that she was doing the right thing. Maybe she should have just stayed in Nashville and accepted the recording contract she had been offered with RCA. She had always wanted to be a country singer but the secrets from her past would have to be dealt with before she could even think about that.
She turned off the main highway onto Cripple Creek Road . Another smile tugged at her lips as she remembered learning how to drive on these back roads behind the wheel of Jessie Duke's old pickup truck. A look of sadness filled her eyes, she didn't want to think about the Duke Family, not now. Not yet. She didn't care what anybody else thought about her being back in Hazzard but she was worried about how the Duke Family would react to her coming back after all these years.
She reached down and turned on the radio. The sound of Martina McBride singing “ Concrete Angel” filled the air. Softly Kelly sang along in a rich sultry voice that sounded like fine whiskey being poured over cracked ice at the end of a long, hard day. Ten minutes later, Kelly turned into a dirt drive that led to a small two bedroom log cabin with a wrap around porch and a large yard surrounded by a split rail fence.
Kelly had bought the property over five years ago with an inheritance that her grandmother had left her. She had seen pictures but had never actually been here until today. Her furniture and personal belongings had been delivered earlier in the week. And she had made arrangements to have the utilities turned on and a phone put in, so everything should be in order. She knew that everybody in Hazzard probably already knew that someone was moving into the cabin but she had taken all the precautions she could to make sure they didn't know who.
She parked her black 1990 Sable at the end of the drive and climbed out of the car. Unlocking the truck, she took out two bags of groceries. She slammed the trunk shut and carried the bags up to the porch. Unlocking the front door, she stepped inside of her new home for the first time.
There was a large living room with hardwood floors, exposed overhead beams in the ceiling, and a huge stone fireplace along one wall. To the left of the front door, a bar separated the living room from a large kitchen with plenty of cabinet space and a set of sliding glass doors that opened onto a deck overlooking the back yard. In the far right hand corner of the living room, a staircase led to the upstairs loft where the master bedroom was located. A second bedroom was located downstairs. It was a far cry from the three room shack where Kelly had lived with her parents when she was a child, not that she had ever considered that shack her home. As far as she was concerned, her real home had been the Duke farm.
She carried the groceries into the kitchen and started putting them away, trying to push aside the memories that threatened to overwhelm her now that she was really back in Hazzard. But it didn't do much good, relentlessly her mind drifted back to those bleak years when she was only a child.
Her father, Ben Dalton, had been a moonshiner. He had also been a vicious brutal man who had beat his wife and and his daughter whenever he felt the urge. They had moved from place to place when Kelly was a baby, finally settling in Hazzard when she was seven years old. They had lived in a rundown three room shack with no running water or utilities and an outhouse in the back.
Her mother, Maryanne, was an old woman far before her time, beaten down by the years of hard work and beatings. She was totally submissive to her husband and usually ignored her only child. Maryanne's parents had been wealthy but had disowned her when she ran away from home to marry Ben Dalton. Kelly had never know her grandparents. When she turned twenty one, she had been shocked to discover that they had left her a large inheritance when they had died. It had been enough for her to buy this house and her car and still have a substantial amount left over.
Accustomed to taking care of herself, Kelly had been independent and self reliant even at age seven. She knew when to stay out of her father's way and more than once had spent the night sleeping in the woods to avoid his rage, especially when he had been sampling his own shine. School was her only escape from her life at home. She was an indifferent student but still managed to get good grades.
It was at school where she had met the Duke cousins for the first time. Luke, Bo And Daisy lived with their Aunt Martha and Uncle Jessie on a farm just over the ridge from Kelly's shack. Luke, the oldest was 2 years older than Kelly, Daisy was the same age and Bo was a year younger. Daisy had instantly made friends with Kelly and the two girls started hanging out together at school. Before long, they were inseparable.
When Kelly visited the Duke farm for the first time, she instantly felt at home. Uncle Jessie and Martha were so different from her own parents and the whole family was so close and loving that Kelly loved spending time there. She started going to the Duke farm as much as she could. Before long, it was if she was part of the family. Her own parents never seemed to care one way or the other. Her own home life was so different from theirs that she never told them how bad it was at her house. But somehow, Jessie seemed to know and went out of his way to give shelter to the little girl with such old and knowing eyes. Whenever she was unable to avoid one of her father's beatings, Kelly stayed away from the Duke farm for a few days until the bruises had faded so they weren't as noticeable.
~~~~~
Kelly shook her head to wipe away the old memories from the past that she had tried so hard to forget. But she could never really forget, they lingered buried deep within her mind just waiting for some event to trigger them again. And being back in Hazzard was like a powder keg just waiting to explode.
Kelly sat on the back deck of her new home listening to the sounds of the night. Crickets chirping, an owl hooting in the distance, a soft gentle breeze blowing through the woods that bordered the back yard of the property. Sounds she had missed living in Nashville . She could remember being lulled to sleep by those sounds as a child.
Sighing, she shoved herself to her feet and went back into the house. It had been a long and stressful day. A good night's sleep was in order. She locked the doors and turned out the lights, then climbed the open stairway to the upstairs bedroom. Walking into the adjoining bathroom, she stripped off her clothes and stepped under the shower. Closing her eyes, she adjusted the spray to a comfortable temperature and let the water flow over her body, washing away her tension and soothing her ragged nerves. Coming back to Hazzard was turning out to be a more emotional trauma than she had expected and she hadn't even began to revisit the ghosts of her past.
Stepping out of the shower, she quickly dried off and slipped on an oversized tee shirt. Looking into the mirror above the sink, she began to braid her hair, thick honey blonde hair that hung to her hips in a mass of touseled curls. The face looking back at her from the reflection in the mirror was that of a very beautiful woman. It was a face that could bring men to their knees. She had a natural deep golden tan, a flawless complexion and high cheekbones. Her eyes were brown and fringed with lashes so thick and dark they looked false. Her lip were lush and full, a mouth that was just made to kiss. The rest of her body wasn't bad either, with a slender yet voluptuous build, a tiny waist and legs that just wouldn't quit.
Kelly's beauty had been both a blessing and a curse. Men had been coming on to her since she was ten years old. But they soon found out that is was a mistake to underestimate her because of her gorgeous face and her slow southern drawl. Ask any man who had found himself cut to ribbons by the sharpness of her tongue when he got out of line. Kelly had learned at a tender age how to keep a man in line.
Sighing, she stepped away from the mirror and went into her bedroom. A king size waterbed with a black leather headboard stood in the middle of the room. Kelly crawled under the covers and closed her eyes. In a matter of minutes, she was sleeping soundly.
It was dark and cold. Kelly shivered and wrapped her arms around herself as she walked through the mist. Her heart was pounding frantically in her chest and the only thought on her mind was to run as fast as she could, to get away. Every sound in the darkness seemed to be magnified, ringing in her ears the way the gunshot had. She felt the tears on her face but barely noticed as she kept walking through the darkness. She stopped at the edge of the stream that ran through the woods and knelt down, crying as she washed the blood from her hands.
Kelly awoke with a start, her heart still pounding in her chest as the fragments of the dream lost its grip on her mind. It had been years since she had had the dream. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She supposed that it was to be expected that the dream would return now that she was back in Hazzard. After all, this was where the real nightmare had happened. It was several minutes before she calmed down enough to trust standing up and making her way downstairs to the kitchen. It was five thirty in the morning. She made a pot of coffee and drank a cup while standing at the bar, a far away look in her eyes. She knew that she had to face the demons from her past before she could go on with her life.
Jessie Duke was in the barnyard of his farm feeding the chickens. Jessie was a sturdily built man in his early sixties with shaggy white hair and full white beard. In spite of his age and the wrinkles in his face, Jessie was still as spry and active as ever. He was dressed in his usual attire, a pair of faded blue bib overalls and a red hunting cap.
The Duke family had lived on this land and in Hazzard County for five generations. Jessie lived on the farm with his niece, Daisy, and his two nephews, Bo and Luke. The three cousins had lived with Jessie since they were little things. Luke had come to the farm first when he was two years old after his parents were killed in a fire. Bo had come next, six months later, after his parents were killed in a car accident. He had only been 4 months old at the time. Daisy had been the last one to come to the farm. She had come 4 years after Bo and was six years old at the time. Her father had been killed in a mining accident when she was a baby and her mother had recently died from cancer. Jessie and his wife, Martha, had taken them in and loved and raised them. They had never been blessed with children of their own. When his darling Martha died, after over 35 years of marriage, Jessie would have gone crazy if it hadn't been for them kids.
For years Jessie had supported his family by supplementing the meager income from the farm by making and selling the best moonshine in three counties. Making moonshine was a Duke family tradition, a trade he had taught the boys at a young age. As they grew older, the boys had helped more and more with the “family business”, finally helping deliver the shine to their loyal customers. When the boys were busted making a run and were looking at some serious time in prison, Jessie made a deal with the U.S. of A government. He would stop making his shine if they would just let his boys come home instead of sending them to prison. The government agreed and Jessie had kept his word. He had never made another drop of shine since then. And everybody in Hazzard County knew that a Duke's word was binding. If a Duke gave you his word on something, you knew he would keep it.
Jessie glanced up from feeding the chickens when a black car pulled into the dirt driveway from the main road that ran in front of the farmhouse. Now Jessie knew every car in Hazzard County . And he knew that this was a car he had never seen before. He watched as the car parked beside his battered white pickup. The car door opened and a young woman in her mid twenties stepped out from behind the wheel. She was dressed casually in a pair of denim jeans and a plaid shirt. Her golden brown hair hung down the middle of her back in a single braid. Even from the distance that separated them, Jessie sensed something familiar about the young woman.
As she walked towards him and he got a closer look at that gorgeous face and those eyes, eyes that had seemed so out of place in the face of a little child but eyes that fit perfectly in the face of the young woman before him, Jessie realized with a start who she was.
“Well, I'll be…” he said, a huge grin on his face “Kelly Dalton!”
“Hi, Uncle Jessie” Kelly said, a nervous edge creeping into her voice as she smiled bravely.
Jessie didn't hesitate. He sat down the bucket of chicken feed and pulled her into his arms, giving her a huge bear hug. “Welcome home, child.” He said softly. For years the Dukes had been afraid that Kelly was dead, just like her mother, and buried somewhere in the woods that had surrounded the shack where she had lived with her parents. It had been over ten years since she had disappeared, the same night that both of her parents had died. Jessie stepped back; placing his hands on her shoulders “Let me take a look at you.” He grinned broadly “You definitely have grown up.” Kelly laughed. Jessie always did have a way with words. “Well, let's go inside so we can visit.”
Kelly followed Jessie through the back door and into the kitchen of the three bedroom farmhouse. Nothing had changed. Everything was exactly the way she remembered it. It still felt like home. She sat down at the kitchen table while Jessie got a pitcher of lemonade out of the refrigerator and two glasses out of the cabinet above the kitchen sink. “So,” Jessie said, as he poured a glass of lemonade and sat it on the table in front of her “You just here for a visit or are you home to stay?”
“To stay, I guess. I bought a place over on Cripple Creek Road .” Kelly told him
“So you're the one who bought that place. Everybody in Hazzard has been wondering who bought that place and when they were fixing on moving in.”
“I didn't know for sure myself until a few weeks ago that I was really coming back.” Kelly said “And I didn't really want anybody knowing right away that I was back.”
Jessie nodded, understanding just as he always had. Jessie didn't push. Whatever story Kelly had to tell, she would tell it her own way and in her own time when she was ready. “Well, I know them kids of mine are sure gonna be tickled to see you.” He told her with a chuckle.
“You mean they're not all married with a house full of kids by now?” Kelly asked with a laugh
“Not them young ‘uns” Jessie scoffed “Daisy's got more beaus then she can count and I don't know when them boys are ever gonna settle down.”
“Sounds like not much has changed around here.”
“Not much” Jessie agreed “Can you stay for awhile? The kids should be back soon.”
“I can't I have some things I need to do.” Kelly told him. It was a little white lie but she knew if she didn't leave soon she was gonna bust out bawling like a little kid. And she wasn't sure if she was up to seeing Daisy and the boys right yet.
“Well, then you'll just have to come back for supper and I won't take no for an answer.” Jessie told her, as she stood up and prepared to leave. He smiled mischievously “Be a nice surprise for them young ‘uns to have some unexpected company tonight”
Jessie walked Kelly back out to her car and stood there watching as she drove away. He wondered what it was going to be like in Hazzard now that she was back. He had a feeling she was definitely going to stir things up.
Bo and Luke Duke were bent down under the hood of their stock car, the infamous General Lee, giving the engine some minor tune-ups. The General Lee with its bright orange paint job, black O1 painted on the doors, and the rebel flag painted on the roof, along with the name “The General Lee” was as well known in Hazzard County as the boys were. It was the fastest car in the county and the boys were considered the two best drivers in three counties. Both boys owned half of the General and it was as much a part of the family as Daisy was.
“Wonder who Uncle Jessie invited to supper and why he's being so secretive about it?” Bo said, as he wiped his hands on a rag lying on the General's fender. Bo was a handsome man in his early twenties with a lean, muscular build. He had baby blue eyes and light blonde hair worn moderately long.
Luke straightened up and slammed shut the hood on the General. Slightly shorter then his cousin, he was just handsome with the same lean, muscular build. Where Bo was blonde, Luke had thick curly brown hair and sapphire blue eyes. “Don't know” he said “But I reckon we'll find out soon enough. He's sure got Daisy busy cooking up a regular feast so it must be somebody pretty special.”
“Hey, ya don't think ole Jessie has himself a lady friend, do ya?” Bo asked with a grin.
“Maybe.” Luke said, grinning back. “After all, he's a Duke” Both Duke boys were considered the best two catches in the county, at least by the female population. Their Daddies, on the other hand, weren't always so crazy about their little girls dating one of the infamous Duke boys. Laughing, the two boys went into the house to clean up before supper.
Their cousin, Daisy, was busy fixing supper and ignored the boys as they walked through the kitchen. Daisy was one of the prettiest girls in Hazzard County with a figure that drove a man wild and the face of an angel. Long reddish brown hair hung around her shoulders in soft waves and her bright blues sparkled with life. She could shoot like Annie Oakley, drive like Richard Petty, and knew the words to every Dolly Parton song. And when she put on a dress, tongues hung out all over Hazzard.
Jessie smiled as he watched the boys amble through the kitchen towards the stairs that led to the second floor where the bedrooms and bathroom were. Kelly should be here soon and he knew that they were all going to be surprised and delighted to see her.
Bo and Luke had just come back downstairs and Daisy had finished setting the table, when there was a knock at the back door. Daisy went to answer it. A few moments later, her excited squeal filled the air and Jessie grinned broadly. Kelly had arrived. The boys hurried into the kitchen to find out who their supper guest was and what had Daisy so excited. They both skidded to a stop, stunned looks on their faces, when Kelly entered the kitchen with Daisy. Bo was the first to recover. With an exited yelp, he rushed forward and grabbed Kelly around the waist, lifting her into the air, and whirling her around, both of them laughing.
As Bo sat her back on her feet, Kelly looked at Luke and smiled faintly. “Hi, Luke” she said softly.
“Hi, Kell” Luke said with a lopsided smile. Stepping forward at last, he took her in his arms and gave her a hug, then stepped back somewhat self consciously. Nobody seemed to notice Luke's reaction, they were all too excited to see Kelly after so many years, especially since they hadn't known for sure if she was alive or dead.
“Well, let's eat before it gets cold.” Jessie said, motioning for everyone to sit down at the table. Automatically Kelly sat in her old spot at the table, with Daisy on her right and Luke on her left. Daisy had gone all out, fixing a salad, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade biscuits, green beans and fried chicken. Daisy was one of the best cooks in Hazzard County . Jessie had made sure the boys could cook too but they couldn't even come close to being as good as Daisy. They both had a tendency to burn things if they weren't careful. And Jessie's crawdad Bisque was considered a rare treat, so was his rattlesnake Chili.
Daisy and Bo kept talking at the same time, both of them asking Kelly questions, until a stern look from Jessie warned them to give her time to answer them one at a time.
Daisy perked up with interest when Kelly told them that she had been living in Nashville for the past three years.
“ Nashville ? Did you meet anybody famous?” she asked in an excited voice.
“Actually, I opened a couple of shows for Randy Travis and I was a regular at Tootsie's Lounge.” Kelly replied “And I was offered a recording contract with RCA just before I left.”
“Are you going to take it?” Daisy asked, growing even more excited at the idea of someone she knew being offered a recording contract with a major label.
“I don't know.” Kelly said “I'm not sure that's what I really want. I already have a writer's contract and I've had some of my songs published. I even had one recorded by Loretta Lynn.”
“Why wouldn't you want a recording contract?” Bo asked “You were always a fantastic singer.” Both Bo and Luke played the guitar and sang. When they were teenagers, they had even had a band for awhile with Kelly as their female vocalist. They'd been quite popular at church socials and such.
“I guess it because I'm not sure I wanna give up that much of my life, being on the road all the time trying to make it and then being on the road all the time if I do. It's a hard life and you give up a lot to be a star and there's no guarantee that you'll make it big, no matter how good you are.” She smiled faintly as she put her thoughts into words “Besides, I still like the old stuff the best and now days Nashville don't want none of that if they can help it.”
The boys nodded in agreement. They had all grown up listening to, and later singing, songs by Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Cash, Kitty Wells, and Ernest Tubb. None of them cared much for most of the singers they heard now days, except for Randy Travis, Alan Jackson and the more traditionalist artists. The boys leaned more towards the “country outlaws” like Willie, Waylon and Hank Jr. And Daisy was a devoted Dolly Parton fan. Uncle Jessie still liked his blue grass music and Hank Williams Senior. Of the four of them, Kelly and Bo had always been the best singers. Daisy didn't sing except in the shower but she did write songs and dreamed of having them recorded someday.
The rest of the evening passed just visiting, with the subject of why Kelly had left Hazzard so many years ago being carefully avoided. When she got ready to leave, Luke offered to walk her out to her car. It was the first time they had been alone the entire evening.
Once they were outside and out of the earshot of the others in the house, Luke looked at her and said softly “I'm glad your back, Kell.”
“I am too.” Kelly admitted, looking deeply into his sapphire eyes. “I guess we need to talk.”
“Yeah, I guess we do.” Luke said “Will you meet me tomorrow? Around noon , I'll buy you lunch at the Hazzard Café.”
Kelly nodded in agreement. “See ya then” she said, as she slid into her car and started the engine. Luke stood there and watched as she backed out of the drive. He stood there watching until her taillights disappeared in the darkness, then he turned and slowly walked back into the house.
Luke arrived at the Hazzard Café just after eleven A.M. the next day. He knew that he was early but he wanted to a little while alone before Kelly arrived. He had spent a restless, sleepness night, filled with anxiety about this meeting. He could hardly believe that Kelly was back, or that she was even alive. After the bodies of her parents had been found in the old shack where they had lived, he had been so scared that Kelly was dead too. Her father had threatened to kill her before, maybe this time he had carried through on those threats. As the days, then the weeks, then the months passed with no word from Kelly he had convinced himself that she was dead and he would never see her again. Her arrival at the farm the night before had been like seeing a ghost.
. Luke was the one who had known just how violent and cruel her father was and how badly he had beaten Kelly and her mother. He was the one she had shared her darkest secrets with, including the secret that her father had been molesting her for years. And he was the one she had made love to for the first time when she was fifteen and he was seventeen. He had loved her, with all the passion and the commitment of a young man's first real love.
They had hidden their relationship from everyone, sneaking away whenever they could to spend time alone. It wasn't because they were worried about Jessie's reaction to their relationship (Luke kind of suspected that Jessie had it figured out anyway) It was Kelly's father that they were hiding their relationship from. He was too violent and dangerous and too possessive of what he considered his. And as far as he was concerned, Kelly was his property. They had talked about getting married as soon as she turned 18. Luke's eyes darkened with pain as he remembered the last night he had seen her.
~~~~~
Kelly was cradled in his arms, crying after another beating by her father. They were in the hayloft in the barn, hidden away behind a stack of hay. “I hate him! I hate him!” Kelly had cried “I wish he was dead!”
“Shhh” Luke said in a soft, soothing voice. “I won't let him hurt you again. I promise. We'll talk to Jessie, tell him the truth. He'll find a way to help, I know he will.”
“He's really crazy this time, Luke.” She cried “He said he'll kill you if he finds out I saw you again or anybody in your family.”
“Then we'll run away.” Luke said in a determined voice “We'll go someplace safe where he won't find you and can't hurt you. And in a couple of months, we'll let Jessie know where we are.”
Kelly choked back a sob and pulled herself out of the comfort of his embrace. “I can't let you do that, Luke. He'd find us, no matter where we went. He wouldn't stop looking until he did.” She shoved herself to her feet, her jaw set in the determined, stubborn way that Luke had come to know so well over the years. “This is my problem. I'll handle it.” Before Luke could reach out to stop her, she turned and ran from him, climbing down the ladder to the ground below. By the time Luke reached the bottom, she was already outside and running over the ridge that separated the Duke farm from her shack.
~~~~~
The waitress' voice pulled Luke's mind away from the dark memories of that night. He ordered a cup of coffee and told her that he was waiting on someone else to join him. As she walked away, Luke found himself wondering if Kelly would show up or not. It was almost noon now and there was still no sign of her. Then through the plate glass window, he saw her car pull up and park behind the General Lee.
Heads turned as Kelly walked through the door and walked to the back of the room where Luke was sitting in a booth by itself. Kelly didn't notice, she was used to being stared at. Luke smiled to himself. God, she was so beautiful it almost hurt to look at her. He could almost hear the whispers of the other customers in the café as they tried to figure out who the woman was that was meeting Luke Duke. Today she was dressed in jeans and a yellow tank top that showed off every inch of her fabulous body. (A body that Luke had known quite intimately at one time)
“Glad you could make it.” Luke said, as Kelly slid into the booth across from him.
“Didn't you think I would?” she asked with a sweet smile.
“I wasn't sure.” Luke admitted with a grin “Would you like something to eat?”
“Of course, you said you were buying me lunch” she told him with a laugh. It felt so good to hear her laugh again. Luke had missed that.
He signaled the waitress that they were ready to order. She came over to their table, eyeing Kelly with open envy and more than a little jealously, as she took their orders. They both ordered coffee, burgers and fries.
“I need to know what happened that night, Kelly” Luke said as the waitress walked away. Luke always had been one to get right to the point. He needed to know and Kelly was the only one who could tell him what had really happened after she left him that night..
Kelly took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, her eyes darkening with pain as she let her thoughts carry her back to that terrible night so many years ago. A night that had haunted her in her nightmares and changed the course of her life forever. Slowly, she began to tell Luke the truth about that night.
~~~~~
It had been after midnight when she got home and her father was in a full blown drunken rage. Kelly could hear him screaming at her mother as she slipped in the front door. He had turned when he heard the door and looked at her with that murderous rage in his eyes that Kelly knew so well. “So” he sneered “The whoring little slut finally decided to come home.”
Kelly backed up as he stepped towards her, reaching for the door. Before she could run, he grabbed her by the arm and slapped her across the mouth, once, twice, three times. She could taste the blood in her mouth where she had bitten her tongue. “I told you to stay away from those no good Dukes, didn't I?” he demanded hitting her again, this time with his fist.
“Leave me alone!” Kelly screamed, trying desperately to push him away “I hate you! I hate you!”
“I hate you too, you little bitch” he yelled, he shoved her to the ground and straddled her waist, pinning her down. Kelly raised her arms to protect her face as he began beating her again with his fists. It seemed to go on forever, as he punched her in the arms, the legs and the stomach, concentrating most of his punches on her stomach and chest. He didn't stop until she passed out.
Kelly had no idea how long she was out, she slowly clawed her way out of the darkness to the sound of her father's voice still screaming and ranting in a full blown rage. Kelly doubled over with pain, clutching her stomach in agony. As she forced herself to her feet, she saw the blood on the floor and her clothes. She knew he had almost killed her and if she didn't get out of here, he just might finish the job.
Through the fog of pain that clouded her mind, she heard her father's words. “I'll kill the little bastard, then she won't be able to go running back to him no more.” Kelly saw her father heading towards her with his shotgun in his hand.
“No!!” she screamed, lunging at him and grabbing for the gun. She knew he was drunk enough and crazy enough to try and hurt Luke. He swung back and hit her across the face with the barrel of the gun, knocking her to the ground. Relentlessly, Kelly shoved herself to her feet in spite of her pain and lunged at her father again, determined to keep him from going out the door with the gun. As she grabbed the gun again, it went off, the sound of the shot echoing loudly in the room. Her father fell to the floor at her feet, the side of his face covered with blood.
“Look what you done now!” her mother screamed at her from her huddled position on the couch “You better git girl, he'll kill you for sure when he gits up!!”
Kelly didn't hesitate, she turned and she ran, out the door and into the darkness. She knew she couldn't go back to the Duke farm, that was the first place her father would look. So she just kept running, deep into the woods and away from the horror she had left behind her in the shack.
~~~~~
Tears were falling from Kelly's eyes as she finished telling Luke about the nightmare of that night. Luke could feel her pain as he listened to her account of what had happened. Still, there was one more question he needed answered. “Then why didn't you call or write after you found out that he was dead?' He asked the hurt showing plainly in his voice “You were safe, he couldn't hurt you anymore. We all thought you were dead too. We just figured your dad had killed you first and hid your body somewhere.”
“Maybe it would have been better if he had.” Kelly told him in a sad, forlorn voice devoid of much emotion. She hadn't told Luke the whole story, not yet and when she did, she knew that he might never forgive her.
“What are you talking about?” Luke asked in a puzzled voice.
Kelly looked at him with eyes so full of pain and sadness that Luke wanted to take her into his arms and comfort just like he used to do when they were kids. In a barely audible voice, she said “He didn't just kill himself and my mother that night, Luke.” She took a deep shuddering breath “He killed a part of me” she hesitated then continued in a trembling voice “And he killed a part of you too. He killed our baby.”
Luke stared at her in disbelief, his mind struggling to make sense of what he had just heard. Finally he said in a soft, broken voice “You were pregnant?”
“Yes,” Kelly told him quietly “Almost three months. I never told you because I knew you. I knew you'd insist on doing the right thing and getting married. And I knew my dad would kill me if he found out. He hated you and Uncle Jessie and your whole family for being there for me, for being the family I never had.”
“You should have told me.” Luke said, trying to keep the edge out of his voice but only partially succeeding. “I had the right to know.”
“I did what I thought was best for both us, Luke. Maybe it still is.” She said, as she slid out of the booth and turned away. Luke didn't try to stop her from walking away. Not this time. He was too stunned by the things he had just learned. He needed time to sort it all out in his mind. He needed to talk to Uncle Jessie.
Luke pulled some bills from his pocket and left them on the table for their food, then shoved himself to his feet. Slowly, he walked out of the café, deep in thought. He hoisted through the open window on the driver's side of the General Lee and settled beneath the wheel. Turning on the engine, he pulled away from the curb and headed for home.
The Duke farm was located on Old Mill Creek Road , a ten minute drive from Hazzard. The drive was long enough to give Luke more time to think. He was hurt because Kelly had never told him about the baby. Yet, in a way, he understood. Still, he found himself mourning the loss a child he had never even known about until now. Part of him had always felt guilty because he had not overruled Kelly's objections that night and insisted that they tell Jessie the truth. He had taken it hard when she disappeared and it was even harder because he couldn't talk to Jessie or Bo or anybody about how much he was really hurting because nobody had known about his real relationship with Kelly.
Luke knew that Jessie would be alone at the farm. Daisy was at work at the Boar's nest and Bo had left early that morning to go Boar hunting. When Luke arrived back at the farm, he found Jessie sitting at the kitchen table, reading the paper and enjoying a cup of coffee. He looked up as Luke came into the house.
“Where'd you take off to this morning?” he asked his nephew, as Luke poured himself some coffee and sat down at the table.
“I went to Hazzard to talk to Kelly” Luke told him
“Did you find out what you wanted to know?”
“I found out more than I wanted to know.”
Jessie raised his eyebrows quizzically but remained silent. He knew that Luke would say what he had to say in his own way. Briefly, Luke told Jessie what Kelly had told him about that night, about the beating and the fight with her father over the gun. He avoided mentioning the baby, at least for the moment.
“There wasn't anything you could have done to stop what happened.”
“I could have made her stay here instead of letting her go back home that night” Luke said, finally revealing the secret he had kept about that night for so many years.
“You saw Kelly that night?” Jessie said
“Yes, sir.” Luke admitted “I was with her out in the barn. She was hiding in the loft.” Luke took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, there was no easy way to say what he had to say next “She was pregnant, Jessie. She lost the baby that night. I never knew about it until today.”
Jessie sat in silence for several minutes. When he spoke, he chose his words carefully. “I'm sure Kelly had her reasons for not telling you back then. But it sounds like she came back to Hazzard to try and make things right.”
“I don't know what I'm supposed to feel right. ” Luke said in a confused voice, looking to his uncle for reassurance and guidance.
“I reckon you'll figure that out for yourself soon enough.” Jessie told him. Luke always had been the one who was more reluctant to show his emotions, more reserved than his two cousins. “Did you love her back then?” Jessie asked a question he already knew the answer to but he wanted Luke to say it out loud for his own sake.
“Yes,” Luke admitted, the slight waver in his voice the only indication of his true feelings. “And I guess there's a part of me that still does.”
“Love can do funny things to a man.” Jessie said sagely “And no man ever forgets his first love, no matter how many years its been.”
“I better get to them chores.” Luke said, standing up and cutting their conversation short. Jessie nodded. That was Luke's way. He'd shared as much as he was able to share at the moment and now he needed time to think. Jessie knew that Luke was a mature and responsible young man. He would make the right decision for himself and for Kelly.
Smoke. There was always a lot of smoke in the Boar's Nest. Smoke, loud music, customers playing pool and lots of good ole boys drinking the watered down beer that Boss always served. Hardly a night went by that someone didn't start a fight with somebody else. And, once in awhile, things could get really rough when some irate husband (or wife) came in looking for a straying spouse.
Bo and Luke had come in earlier, just like they did every night. Daisy knew as long as they were there, she didn't have to worry about anyone getting too out of line. Anyone who tried to mess with Daisy knew they'd have to deal the Duke boys if they did and none of the good ole boys in Hazzard wanted to do that.
Daisy smiled to herself, she knew something that the boys didn't. Kelly was singing tonight with the band that played at the Boar's nest on the weekends. As a matter of fact, Daisy had been the one to suggest having Kelly sing to the band. Toby Smith, who had the sweets on Daisy, agreed readily. He had gone to school with the Dukes and he remembered Kelly. Then all Daisy had to do was talk Kelly into it. At first, she hesitated but she finally agreed. She'd been in the back with the band for over two hours working up a set schedule and they were due to go on in ten minutes.
Fifteen minutes later, the band members ambled on stage and began the show. Most of the crowd ignored them, although a few people paused now and then to listen to a word or two if they liked the song. They played covers of the more recent county hits with a few “golden oldies' thrown in for good measure. They sang for almost an hour, then the lights dimmed slightly and Toby introduced Kelly to the crowd.
That sure got the crowd's attention. A lot of them recognized Kelly's name but most of them had no idea that she was back in Hazzard. She had been keeping pretty much to herself in the two weeks since she had come back. Several gasps and more than a few wolf whistles echoed throughout the crowd when Kelly came on stage. As usual, she was gorgeous. She was dressed in suede boots, blue jeans and a red silk cowboy shirt with white fringe on the yolk. Her hair hung loose, falling around her shoulders and to her hips in a mass of tousled curls. Daisy knew that there was more than one good ole boy who'd be going to bed tonight imagining that hair spread out of the pillow beside them.
Kelly was comfortable and at ease on stage, instantly taking control. For the next hour, the crowd yelled and cheered and went crazy as she sang songs that had been made famous by Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Tanya Tucker and Dolly Parton. Kelly's voice was rich and full, and sultry, all at the same time. Without any problem, she had that audience in the palm of her hand. Daisy still thought that Kelly should accept the recording contract in Nashville , she was fantastic. She could make it big. Kelly closed the show with one of her own songs, a sassy little number called “ Take out the Trash”
Daisy noticed that Bo and Luke had found a table right next to the stage, enjoying the show like everybody else. She found herself wondering what was up with Luke. She knew he had talked to Kelly the day after she came back to Hazzard but they hadn't talked since then. Kelly hadn't been over to the farm either, although Daisy had stopped by Kelly's house several times to visit. Daisy had always known that there was a deep emotional bond between Luke and Kelly when they were younger. Luke had taken it hard when she disappeared. He had joined the Marines shortly after her disappearance and had left Hazzard for almost 4 years.
After the show was over, Kelly disappeared into the back with the rest of the band. A short time later, she came back out, now dressed in jeans and a lime green tank top with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. Daisy saw Luke stop Kelly and whisper something to her, then the two of them left the bar together. As a new bunch of customers entered the bar, claiming her attention. Daisy forgot about Kelly and her cousin as she went about her work.
“Where are we going?” Kelly asked Luke as she settled back into the front seat of the General Lee.
“Some place quiet.” Luke said without taking his eyes off the road. It had been almost two weeks since Kelly had told him about the night she left Hazzard. A long two weeks during which Luke had done a lot of thinking and soul searching. He hadn't talked to Kelly since that day but seeing her singing with the band tonight at the Boar's nest, he knew that he had to get some things off his chest.
Neither of them spoke again as Luke turned off the main highway and followed a rutted dirt road to Hazzard Pond. Luke parked the General near the edge of the pond and turned off the engine. Staring through the windshield into the darkness that surround them, he said, “I've had time to do a lot of thinking and I still wish you had told me about the baby back then. Maybe we could have worked something out.” He turned to look into her eyes “But I guess I can understand why you didn't think you could.”
“Does that mean you forgive me?” Kelly asked softly
“There's nothing to forgive.” Luke told her, smiling faintly. “Neither one of us can change what happened that night.”
“Luke, I never meant to hurt you.”
“I know that.” Luke turned in his seat so that he was facing her and rested his right arm on the seat behind her. “And I'd never hurt you, you know that.”
“No,” Kelly said with a impish grin “You were the one who was always protecting the rest of us and taking care of us.”
“I didn't protect you very well that night.” Luke said darkly
“You couldn't have stopped me, Luke. Nobody could have. I didn't intend for it to end the way it ended and I never intended to stay away from Hazzard for so long.” Kelly said, struggling to find the right words. “To tell you the truth, I was afraid to come back. I was afraid that you'd hate me when you found out the truth.”
Luke reached out and gently touched her cheek with his fingertips. “I could never hate you, Kelly.” he whispered. “I loved you back then………and I still do.”
Kelly felt her heart starting to pound in her chest as Luke said the words she had waited so long to hear again. “So where do we go from here?” she whispered, almost afraid to hear his answer.
“I guess we just take it one day at a time and see what happens.” Luke told her. Leaning closer, he gently kissed her lips. They tasted as sweet and warm as he remembered and he felt the flames of forgotten passion burning inside of him. Reluctantly, he pulled away before he got carried away. It was too soon. He could wait.
Kelly smiled, tears glistening in her eyes. She understood, just like she had always understood. The bond between them was firmly back in place as strong as it had ever been.