The ground around them seemed to explode, dust went flying. Bo and Luke stood frozen in place. Cooter worked the action of his shotgun, a shell falling out of it, and fired again, nearly missing the larger of the two men.
"Run!" Cooter yelled.
Bo and Luke took off for the hills and they didn't stop.
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By the time they did stop, they were somewhere between town and the Smith Mountains.
"Do you think," Bo said between gasps for air, "we lost 'em?"
Luke swallowed hard. "I ain't sure."
"So what do we do now? Turn back or keep goin'?"
Luke thought for a minute. "If we go back there's them guys to deal with." He gestured behind them. "But if we keep goin', we might as well lock ourselves in the jailhouse, Uncle Jesse'd never let us leave again. Not with them around."
"I'd take anythin' in between," Bo said jokingly. "Look, we've dealt with people like them before, I say we go back to make sure Cooter's alright."
"If we go back there, that man'll blow us to pieces, Cooter or no Cooter. I'd rather take my chances with Uncle Jesse, and besides, the guns weren't even loaded half the time. Listen, they don't know the territory like we do, odds are they ain't from around here, so that gives us an advantage."
"Alright we'll do it your way, but Uncle Jesse ain't gonna be too happy."
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"They did what?" Jesse yelled.
Bo repeated the whole story. Burying the truck, the fire, the $20,000, the man with the rings, the man with the gun, and how Cooter had shot at them.
"Twenty thousand dollars! For that kinda money, I'd turn myself in!" Boss Hogg exclaimed.
"And that's a fact," Rosco added, laughing.
"The problem is, they know you two are hidin' here, which is why they've been after us," Luke explained.
Jesse just shook his head. "We've really gotten ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place."
Just then, a horn honked outside. It was Cooter in his tow truck pulling behind him not one, not two, but three cars. The General Lee, the truck, and Boss Hogg's white Cadillac. They all ran out to meet him.
"Cooter? What in blazes are you doin'?" Rosco asked.
"Boss Hogg's car was takin' up too much space up at the station, so I brought it down here for y'all," Cooter replied.
"Yeah, ah, thanks Cooter, but what do you expect us to do with it?" Luke asked.
"Put it in the barn?"
"No, the General Lee's goin' in the barn. The Cadillac can go in the creek," Jesse argued.
"Not to my car you ain't! How about we bury the General Lee in straw, and my car goes in the barn," Boss Hogg suggested.
"Alright, straw it is," Luke said, not wanting to fight with him any further.
Bo was about to say something to protest, but Luke stopped him from saying something he might regret.
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That night, as they all ate together, everyone shared their uneventful days. Nobody spoke a word to Daisy about what had happened at Cooter's farm. When she asked about Bo and Luke's day, they made up an excuse about spending it with Cooter at his garage. Bo had gotten hit in the face by a jack that had broken. Cooter got the hint and backed them up.
Daisy frowned. She could tell something was up, Bo and Luke weren't often to lie to her. She just got up and cleared off her plate. She stormed off to her bedroom and closed the door.
The six (seven counting Flash) of them all leaned in close, all of them talking in low voices.
"What do you suppose they're plannin', anyway?" Boss Hogg asked.
"Beats me. Whatever they have planned, it ain't gonna work. We'll keep an eye on each other just to make sure they can't take us by surprise," Luke explained reassuringly.
"Unless, of course, you two are willin' to turn yourselves in," Jesse suggested, turning to Boss Hogg and Rosco.
Rosco made a noise and hugged Flash close to his chest.
"I'd die before they ever got a chance to lock me up." Boss Hogg said with a scowl.
Bo removed the cloth from his face. "Why don't we just fight back, been doin' it our whole lives."
"Now that's the last thing we want, you boys gettin' yourselves hurt tryin' to fix this mess. I'd rather be safe than sorry," said Jesse.
"Sorry about what?" Daisy, who suddenly reappeared in the kitchen, asked sternly.
They all exchanged nervous glances, all of them secretly asking the same thing, tell her or not?
"I'll tell her," Cooter said, getting up.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and took her into the other room, in case she had a sudden outburst.
"We're gonna go," Luke said.
"Good idea," Jesse replied, fishing for some cotton balls to use as earplugs in a drawer.
Boss Hogg started walking towards Bo and Luke's bedroom.
"Hey, what do you think you're doin'?" Bo asked.
"I'm gonna lock myself in there until this whole thing blows over."
Rosco scurried after him and shut the door behind them.
Bo and Luke stepped outside.
"Take your pick," Luke said, pulling a quarter from his pocket.
Bo thought for a moment. "Tails."
Luke flipped the coin. "Heads, I win."
It was a stupid game, and Bo fell for it every time. So, while Luke had the privilege of sleeping on the cushioned seats in Boss Hogg's car, Bo was in the hayloft trying not to stay awake for too long trying to get comfortable.
It was only an hour or so later when the Duke farm alarm system went off.
Now, how this works is that any fella trespassing on Duke land is dumb enough to rile the chickens. But, of course, these trespassers are wearing formal suits and have some badges. And with Daisy still fumin' at Boss Hogg and Rosco, well they're all in for a rough ride.
YOU ARE READING
General Lee's Revenge
أدب الهواة"Outta the car." He ordered. They got out quickly, and stood behind the car, trying to protect themselves from Clayton. "I'm giving you a choice here Jefferson. You can save yourself and these boys a lot of pain if you turn yourself in, along with...
