General Lee's Revenge

Chapter Ten: The Four of Spades

The last straw. Jesse couldn't see his nephews suffer like this any longer. That day had been the last straw.

It all started that morning when Jesse couldn't find Luke. He looked everywhere. Through the whole house, through the lower half of the barn, in all the vehicles, the back forty, and even the nearest still site.

It wasn't until Jesse climbed up into the hayloft that he found his oldest. Luke was sitting against the wall. He looked so scared. Jesse knelt down on the floor in front of him.

"Are you alright boy?" Jesse asked.

"I... I'm fine," Luke replied.

"You know you can tell me what's botherin' ya, Luke. Don't be afraid to say what's on your mind."

Luke shrugged. "It's just... Hollow Hill brought back some bad memories. Memories from Vietnam."

"Do you... want to talk about it?"

Luke sighed. "It's just, all the scars healed but one. Back when we were runnin' away, we lost six men to the Viet Cong. I tried to make sure no man got left behind, but now it's my fault they had to die in that God-forsaken place."

"None of it was your fault."

"Sure it ain't."

Vietnam. Hollow Hill wasn't what Luke was worried about, it was the trauma from Vietnam. Jesse knew none of it was Luke's fault. He was hurt that he'd even think that. He needed to help his nephews, but how could he get them to a psychiatrist or something if they'd just keep refusing to go? Just then, an idea popped into his head.

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It was getting worse every day. He was hearing voices in his head, seeing things that weren't actually happening. It wasn't something he was ready to deal with for the rest of his life.

The voices had been the most brutal. It wasn't like he'd ever admit he believed a word they were saying or that he was hearing them, but he did believe and hear them. Even though this was becoming such a problem, he still wouldn't go for any psychiatric help. He knew what they did to people like him. They deemed them crazy and locked them up. He'd rather live with it than live locked in a box.

He'd been able to overcome the trauma from Vietnam long ago, but Hollow Hill had left him so vulnerable that all of it came rushing back to him. He didn't care about what Russell'd done to him, he'd endured the worst of it from the Viet Cong no doubt. It was this that sometimes made him feel sick in the head. What he'd seen, what he'd been through, it was enough to make a man lose his sanity. Maybe there wasn't anything he could really do about it, but maybe if he just kept it bottled up it would start to get better. At least, that's what he hoped.

Bo, Luke, and Jesse all ate before going into town. They stopped by the law office to talk with Rosco. Everything went smoothly until both Duke boys were hit with a sudden dizzy spell. When Jesse saw this happen, he turned to both of them regardingly. "I'm sorry," was all he said.

With that said, Bo and Luke's worlds faded to black.

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They woke up in the downstairs jail. It was early afternoon by now. Sunlight reflected off the General Lee and shone in through the barred window. Luke had been the first to wake up, to the screaming voices in his head.

Bo woke up a short time later. He looked into the cell next to him, where Luke sat on the bench. He had his head in his hands. Luke looked up at him, an unsettling expression on his face, a haunted, pain-filled glare.

Bo shuddered uneasily. He looked around, wondering if there was a way to get out. They were both locked in separate cells and handcuffed to the chains holding the benches up.

He brought himself up on one knee and craned his neck, trying to see outside. He could, just barely, no thanks to his chained wrist.

Just then, a white Jeep rolled up, and Daisy got out. She started walking toward the law office doors.

"Daisy! Hey, Daisy!" Bo called out.

Daisy turned her head sharply at the sound of her cousin's voice.

Bo stuck his free arm out and waved her over.

Daisy complied, kneeling down by the low window. "Bo? What're you doin' in there?"

"Long story," Bo replied.

"Is Luke in there too?"

"Sort of."

"What do you mean 'sort of'?"

"Physically yes, mentally no."

"Okay then."

A ways away, another car rolled up to the law office. Four men got out. Daisy looked in their direction.

"Oh my God," she gasped in a hushed voice.

"What? What's wrong?" Bo asked.

"It... it's Russell. He's back. He's headed inside!"

"Go, get outta here, we'll deal with him."

"Are you sure?"

"Just go, we'll be fine."

Daisy nodded and ran back to the Jeep, climbing in and speeding off.

Bo turned to Luke. "Alright cousin, try to get with it, Russell's here."

"Wh-what?" Luke exclaimed.

A large commotion could be heard upstairs, followed by footsteps coming down the stairs. Four men appeared in the stairwell. Three of them were younger, the fourth one was older.

The older one was Russell, accompanied by the three younger men. There was a Texan, a Latino, and a Yankee.

Russell walked out of the stairwell and out into the open. The Texan followed him out and stood in the middle of the room. He ordered the Latino and the Yankee to free Bo and Luke, which they did. As the six of them stood in the room, Bo and Luke could see the Texan formulating a plan.

"What d'you want with us?" Bo asked angrily.

"Oh, nothin' in particular, just Hazzard County," the Texan, Texas, replied with a sneer.

"What kinda stupid wish is that?"

Texas looked to Russell. "Leave a message for the commissioner, let him know what'll happen if he don't go through with our demands."

Russell nodded and grabbed Bo by the throat, lifting him off the ground. Russell threw him against the desk. Bo fell to the ground but Russell grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him out to the middle of the floor. He threw him vigorously onto the floor. Bo tried to get back up. Russell slammed his fists down on his back with full force, before stepping back for his comrades to see.

Bo lay motionless on the concrete floor. Blood pooled underneath his head, flowing steadily from his partially opened mouth.

"No!" Luke exclaimed.

Texas laughed evilly at his prisoner's distress. "Come on, we're killin' time here, and we's got things to do."

He turned and led his posse back up the stairs and out of the law office.