Boss ends up making a terrible mistake when he fires both Rosco and MaryAnne.

****

It was a perfect Hazzard mornin’. The sun was shinin’, the birds were chirpin’ and the General Lee was purrin’.

The General Lee went zooming down a dry dusty Hazzard road leaving a trail of dust in its wake.

And ol' Boss had the whole Sheriff's department workin’ on speed trap detail. Even MaryAnne.

Deputy MaryAnne Coltrane sat in her cruiser in the morning shade, her face taught with disgust for having to do speed trap detail.

Yep, it was just right...for everything to go wrong.

MaryAnne perked up at the sound of loud pipes. She knew it was the General before even seeing it and smiled as it went roaring past her. She turned the ignition and hit the siren and gumballs, tearing out of the woods and in pursuit of the General.

Bo looked in his mirrors. "What the--MaryAnne?!" he exclaimed. "Don't tell me she's gonna start in on this too."

Luke picked up the CB mike and changed it to the police channel. "MaryAnne, what are you up to? You're not gonna be a part of this speed trap business are ya?"

"No," she replied. "I'm bored. I've been sittin’ out at that stupid spot for two hours and then only thing that's gone by is Mr. Peterson's cow. I ain't gonna catch y'all, but my accelerator foot was startin’ to twitch."

Bo and Luke chuckled. Bo then took the mike from Luke.

"Even if you were trying to catch us you wouldn't be able to."

"Don't be so sure there, Bo Duke," MaryAnne said. "It ain't Rosco or Enos you've got back here. I've chased after y'all before in this very patrol car and I don't think I have to remind you of what happened."

Luke snickered. "I swear Bo, half the lead in your foot has gone to your brain."

Bo forced a sheepish smile. "Yeah, I guess I'll leave that one alone."

"Of course," MaryAnne continued, "the only reason I caught up with ya was because y'all stopped. So why don't you put that CB mike down and put that foot to the floor and get on with it."

The boys smiled.

"That's a big 10-4, MaryAnne," Bo said. He then swung the General off the road with MaryAnne right behind him.

She followed the boys across country with clouds of dust left in their wake. Bo jumped the General over Dry Creek with MaryAnne sticking right to him.

"Well, now we know it's not the car itself but who's drivin’ it," Luke said.

Bo returned the General to paved road heading towards town. "I take back what I said about her not being able to catch us if she wanted to," he said, seeing nothing but the front of the patrol car in his mirrors. "Is she really related to Rosco?"

"You forget, her daddy ran shine and according to Jesse, he wasn't too bad," Luke said.

"I know," Bo said, "that's why I ask if she's really related to Rosco."

MaryAnne stayed right behind Bo until he turned off the road. She continued on toward town picking up the radio mike.

"Thanks a lot fellas, that was fun!" she exclaimed.

"Anytime, MaryAnne," Luke said. "We'll see you later."

"That's a big ten-four y'all."

When MaryAnne arrived in town, Rosco and Enos had already returned.

"Hey, Enos," she greeted coming into the booking room.

"Hi, MaryAnne," Enos said. He was seated at the booking desk and smiled at her.

Flash was laying on the bench below the desk and got to her feet as MaryAnne kneeled to scratch the basset hound behind her long ears.

"Hi there, Flash. Do you forgive me for giving you the wrong doggy num nums this morning?"

Flash gave MaryAnne's face a lick.

MaryAnne giggled. "I'll take that as a yes."

Bandit was standing next to MaryAnne too, waiting to be petted next. She looked at the German Shepherd with a smile. "I know I don't have to ask for your forgiveness. You'll eat anythin’."

"Woof!"

She giggled and gave Bandit a hug and good ol' boy pat on his back. She then straightened up and looked at Enos. "Where's Rosco?"

"In Mr. Hogg's office."

She snorted. "I swear, Rosco spends more time in Boss's office then he does in his own." She then turned at the click of Boss's office door opening. Rosco came out with several greenbacks in his hand, counting them. He crinkled his eyebrows in disgust, apparently not satisfied with the total he arrived at.

He looked up when he realized MaryAnne was looking at him.

"Is that your cut?" she asked.

"Uh..."

"Rosco, I know you take a cut and you know I don't like it. But, there ain't much I can do about it. How much did you get?'

"A hundred and twenty-seven dollars."

MaryAnne looked at him dumbfounded. "That's it??"

Rosco nodded.

"How much did Boss bring in in total?"

"Three thousand. It's the shine money."

"What's supposed to be your cut?"

"Fifty percent of fifty percent of fifty percent of fifty percent."

MaryAnne cocked her head and then repeated it for clarification. "Four times?"

"Yeah."

She paused. "We got a calculator around here?"

"Yeah, there's one in the desk here," Enos said. He went to the desk behind him as MaryAnne and Rosco came up to the booking area.

Enos pulled a small calculator out of the desk drawer and handed it to MaryAnne.

"Okay," she said. "Fifty percent of fifty percent of fifty percent of fifty percent." She punched numbers into the calculator and then hit enter.

"Six and a quarter percent."

"Huh?" Rosco said.

"That's what all those fifty percents equal. What did you think you were getting? Two hundred percent?"

"Well...how the heck does that equal only six and quarter?"

"Well, it's..." MaryAnne paused.

MaryAnne realized that explaining the meaning of life to Rosco would be easier than explaining percents.

"Alright," she continued. "You've got the first fifty percent and fifty percent OF that is twenty five. See, every time you have an 'of' you divide the percentage by the percentage. Well, actually with percents you multiply and--oh, just trust me, Rosco, it equals six and a quarter. Now, how much did Boss bring in in total?"

"Three thousand."

MaryAnne punched some more numbers on the calculator. "At six and a quarter percent you should have gotten $187.50. So let's see what percent you did get..." She punched more numbers into the calculator. She shook her head when she got the final answer.

"Well, first off, Boss ripped you off fifty cents and cheated you out of two percent total." She looked at Rosco. "You know, Rosco, I don't like the fact that you take a cut, but the least Boss could do is make it worth your while."

"Errr," Rosco growled. "That little meadowmuffin. And to think about six years ago I got about twenty percent. At least that's what he was tellin’ me I was gettin’. Can you pull that calculator trick again?"

MaryAnne blinked. "Uh, yeah."

"Come on," he said heading toward's Boss's office.

"Wait a minute, Rosco, take it easy." MaryAnne followed after him.

Rosco threw open the door, startling Boss.

"What?" Boss asked.

"According to MaryAnne here, you cheated me out of two percent and fifty cents." Rosco held up the hundred and twenty-seven dollars.

"It's amazing you give him anything at all," MaryAnne said.

"Well, considering what I have to work with," Boss shot back.

"I never did like the fact that you were the one responsible for making Rosco crooked," MaryAnne continued, "but the least you could do is give him what you promised, puny though it is."

"Oh? And what are you gonna do if I don't?"

"Well," MaryAnne thought for a moment. "Well, then Rosco here will retire and collect his $20,000 pension."

"Oh no, he can't retire. On account of he's fired! And so are you. Turn in your badges."

"Fired? MaryAnne," he whined.

MaryAnne was wide eyed with shock. "Boss, wait a minute--"

"I don't wanna hear it. Turn in you badges and your gun belts."

MaryAnne and Rosco did so, with Rosco whimpering the whole time. Without another word, the two cousins left Boss's office with the door being slammed behind them.

Wouldn't you just know it. MaryAnne didn't like the fact that Rosco took a cut and then when she finds out it ain't worth much she tries to help so he can get a better cut. And ends up losin’ her job. Sounds about right for Hazzard County.

Rosco and MaryAnne came out of the courthouse with Flash and Bandit. MaryAnne plopped down on the steps and rested her head on the heel of her hand. Rosco sat down next to her with Flash resting in his lap.

"Well," she said, "what a day this is turnin’ out to be. First, I give Flash the wrong doggy num nums this mornin’, now, I get you fired. I mean, I suppose I can understand Boss firing me for suggestin’ such a horrendous thing as a better cut, but I thought the worst that would happen to you is he would take the two percent out of your pay." She paused and looked at him. "Can you forgive me?"

"It ain't your fault, MaryAnne," he said. "I should know better than to ask for more than Boss is willing to give out."

"Yeah, but, I'm the one who pointed out how much you'd been snookered. I should've just kept my mouth shut."

"Bah." He waved it off. "Forget about it. If I could do the math like you can, this probably would've happened years ago."

MaryAnne smiled. "Well, what are we gonna do now? Boss most certainly won't want me showin’ up at the Boar's Nest and I still owe Cooter a hundred and thirty dollars. And, if we don't fix the planks on the back porch, the whole thing's gonna fall off the rest of the house."

"I know," Rosco said. "I don't think the termites can hold hands much longer."

“Yeah.”

The two cousins were silent for a moment. Rosco then held his hand that had the money in it out to MaryAnne. “Here, you might as well give this to Cooter.”

“Rosco, I can’t take that.”

“Why not?”

“ ‘Cuz it ain’t mine.”

“So? We’ve been poolin’ our money together to pay for various things all along, why is this any different?”

“ ‘Cuz it’s my debt for my car.”

“Oh, I see. The old Coltrane pride, huh? Well, tough. I like Maverick. He’s a great car and he’s my favorite color, so if you won’t take this then I’ll just go over and give it to Cooter myself.” Rosco grabbed up Flash and started to walk across the street to Cooter’s.

“What? Rosco, wait just a pea pickin’ minute,” MaryAnne said following after him along with Bandit.

Well, while Cooter was improvin’ his cash flow, and finding out about Rosco and MaryAnne havin’ been fired, Boss was goin’ through his little black book to find a replacement sheriff.

Boss had dialed the number and was waiting for an answer.

Over in Choctaw County, a man answered the ringing telephone. Three other men were in the office as well.

"Wrong number," the man answered.

"Don't shuck and jive me, Clancy, I've got the right number."

The man paused. "Is that you, Hogg?"

"Yeah, it is."

"I'll be danged. A lot of moonshine has flowed since I last did a job for you."

"I know. That's why I'm calling. I've a got a job for ya."

"What kind of job?

"Sheriff of Hazzard County."

Clancy paused in shock, looking at his associates. "You're kiddin'?

"Nope. I had to let my other Sheriff go because of irreconsilable differences."

"What's the cut?"

"Oh, how about ten percent?"

"Why don't you make that twenty."

Boss fudged. "Fifteen."

"Twenty and I'll put them Duke boys you always have the fits about in jail."

Boss perked up. "Alright, twenty percent it is, but only if you put those boys in jail. Otherwise, it's ten."

"Deal. When do I start?"

"Right now. The sooner you get your butt over here to Hazzard the sooner them Duke boys will be in jail."

"I'm on my way."

"Alright." Boss chuckled before hanging up.

Clancy hung up the phone and looked at his three associates. "This is the break we've been waiting for. Boss Hogg just offered me the job of Sheriff of Hazzard County."

"You're kiddin'," one of the men said.

"Nope. Tell the boys we're moving the whole operation to Hazzard," Clancy said. "With me as Sheriff, nobody can stop us now."

All four men laughed.

Well trouble was on it's way to Hazzard. But just before Clancy arrived, Rosco decided to try to convince Boss to give him his job back.

"Well, you can try," MaryAnne said. "If it doesn’t work out, I’ll be over lookin’ at the job board."

Rosco went into the courthouse and to Boss’s office. He knocked on the door and when Boss called for him to enter, he carefully opened the door.

"Boss?"

"Oh. Somethin’ I can do for you, Mr. Coltrane?"

"Well, Boss, I was wonderin’ if there was a chance I could get my job back?"

"What job?"

"My job as Sheriff."

"Sorry. That position has already been filled."

"WHAT?!?"

"I’ve already hired another sheriff. He should be here any minute."

"Jit, jit! You little meadowmuffin! I oughta knock you into the middle of next week!"

"Unless you have some other business here, I want you off the premises."

"You can’t throw me out. This is public building."

"I can if you want me to regard that previous comment as a threat."

Rosco had to clench his teeth to keep from saying something that could really get him into trouble. He glared at Boss for a moment then turned and left the office.

When he got outside, he was still fuming.

"Boss said no?" MaryAnne asked, coming up to her cousin.

"Errrrrr."

"I’ll take that as an affirmative."

"He replaced me already! Ain’t been more than an hour and he went and hired someone already!!"

"Sheesh. Well, maybe this will make you feel better. The State Police are lookin’ for auxiliary troopers for Hazzard County. Two auxiliary troopers."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Wanna try for it?"

"Ain’t got nothin’ else to do, do we?"

"Nope, we don’t."

Well, while Rosco and MaryAnne headed to Capital City in MaryAnne’s Maverick to apply to be auxiliary troopers, Clancy had arrived and was bein’ sworn at the courthouse.

Clancy, Boss and Enos stood in the booking room with Clancy in the blue Hazzard County Sheriff's uniform. He was about as tall as Enos with dirty blonde hair and distrusting brown eyes. He looked about as right in a sheriff’s uniform as a wolf did in sheep's clothing.

Boss raised his right hand, as did Clancy.

"Do you swear to enforce all the laws of Hazzard County and keep desperate criminals, mainly them Duke boys, off the streets so help you?"

"I do."

"Alright then. Now get out there and don't come back until you've got Bo and Luke Duke in cuffs."

"Be back before you know it," Clancy said as he placed the black cowboy hat atop his head. He then turned and left the booking room. Enos stayed behind.

"Well?" Boss said. "You too. Get goin'."

"Yes, sir," Enos said, lacking any conviction.

When Enos got out to his patrol car, Clancy had already left the square. Enos changed the channel on his CB and picked up the mike.

"Bo and Luke are y'all out there? This is Enos. Please come back."

The boys were out at the perimeter of Duke property mending a fence. When they heard Enos call for them over the General's CB they stopped and went to the car.

Luke grabbed the mike. "Yeah, Enos, this is Luke. What's up?"

"Listen y'all, Mr. Hogg fired Sheriff Rosco and MaryAnne this morning and has hired a new Sheriff."

"He did what?"

"He fired 'em but I ain't got time to explain why. This new Sheriff is out to find y'all and put you in jail. He's a pretty tough looking customer and I'm gonna have to help but I thought I should warn y'all."

The boys looked at each other than Luke pressed the talk button on the mike. "Alright Enos, thanks for letting us know."

"That's a ten-four y'all. Be careful."

"Yeah, we will. We're gone." Luke tossed the mike into the car.

"Great," Bo muttered. "I wonder what brought all this about?"

"I don't know but we better get on the road and tell Uncle Jesse what's goin' on."

"Yeah," Bo said. "Leave this stuff here?"

"Yeah, we'll come back for it later."

"If we can come back for it later."

The boys climbed into the General with Luke at the wheel and tore off down the road.

Well, the boys were on the run for nothin' at the moment. Clancy was out checkin' with his boys as they were bringin' in their equipment--

For making moonshine.

Rosco and MaryAnne, meanwhile, were handin’ in their applications for the auxiliary positions.

MaryAnne and Rosco sat in front of the desk of State Police Captain Edward Kendale as he looked over their applications.

"That posting's been out for almost two weeks," he said. "You two are the first to apply."

"How many auxiliary troopers are you hoping to get?" MaryAnne asked.

"Just two and I think I've found them." He smiled. "You two have excellent law enforcement experience and you both are from Hazzard County. Just one question though. How come you're no longer Sheriff and you're no longer a deputy?"

"Uh..." MaryAnne and Rosco looked at each other. "Uh, salary dispute," she said.

"Oh. Well, no difference. Now, if you’ve done your qualification for firearms in the last six months you can start right now.”

"Oh," MaryAnne said. She looked at Rosco, who shook his head. "I think it’s been about a year. For both of us."

"That’s no problem. We can do your qualification now. Do the both of you know where the target range is here?"

"Yes, sir," MaryAnne said.

"Alright. How about I meet you there in half an hour?"

"We’ll be there," Rosco said.

Back in Hazzard, the General left dust behind him as the he sped along the road.

"Yeah, that's right Uncle Jesse," Bo saying into the CB mike. "We don't know why Boss fired 'em but Enos says we should be more worried about this new Sheriff."

"That tub of lard, I swear we wouldn't even have a Sheriff's department if he thought he could get away with it."

"Well, we've still got Enos, but you never know how long that might last," Bo said.

"Well alright, you boys be careful out there. I'm gonna head to town and see if I can find out what's goin' on."

"That's a big ten-four, Shepherd. We're gone."

* * *

Rosco and MaryAnne waited at the front entrance of the police target range for Captain Kendale. When he arrived, they went inside and down the stairs to the target range.

"Okay, which of you is going to go first?" the Captain asked.

Rosco and MaryAnne looked at each other and shrugged.

"Why don’t you go? Ladies first," Rosco said.

"Oh, but age before beauty," she teased.

Rosco made a face, not exactly amused.

"Okay, okay, I’ll go," MaryAnne said and giggled. As the Captain and Rosco took their places behind the railing, MaryAnne prepared and loaded her gun. She put it back in her holster and then grabbed a pair of ear protectors and protective eye glasses and put them on. When she was situated, she stood and faced the target.

MaryAnne let her right hand dangle by the gun for a moment and wiggled her fingers. Then suddenly she whipped out the pistol and held the gun with both hands, rapidly firing off the five shots in the gun.

When she finished she remained still for a moment, a slim string of smoke coming off the barrel of the gun. Four bullets hit the target and the fifth one landed just outside of the circle. She then relaxed her stance and turned to empty the cartridges in the bucket next to her.

The Captain let out a whistle.

"Yeah, she’s good, ain’t she?" Rosco said and giggled.

"Are you that good?"

"Uh..."

MaryAnne laughed. "Oh, don’t under estimate yourself, Rosco. Go on, show him what you can do."

Rosco came through the railing and stood in front of the target that was next to the one MaryAnne had just used. He prepared and loaded his pearl handled pistol and then put it back in the holster. He put on the ear protectors and the eye glasses and then pulled the gun back out of the holster and let it and his hand rest by his side. He knew if he tried to whip it out like MaryAnne did, he’d probably trip it up on the holster. So, to prevent from embarrassing himself in that regard he opted for having the gun out of the holster.

He stood there for a moment, slightly fluttering his hands and his arms, and constantly readjusting his grip on the gun. He took a series of deep breaths, getting himself ready for the task at hand. Having a little ritual before target shooting was normal, but with Rosco, the longer he continued with it, the more of an idiot he started to look like.

MaryAnne rolled her eyes. "By the time he shoots that gun, I’m gonna be a grandmother," she muttered in a teasing tone.

Rosco paused a moment longer and then suddenly aimed the gun and gripped it with both hands. He unloaded the five shots, three of them hitting the target, one just outside of it and the fifth one ricocheted off the stand that held the target up.

"Doh!" Rosco exclaimed as he, MaryAnne and the Captain ducked to the floor. The bullet whizzed and pinged off the walls and finally came to a stop somewhere.

After a moment the Captain and the cousins raised their heads. Rosco gave the Captain a sheepish smile.

"Uh, sorry about that," he said.

The Captain sighed and then chuckled. "We won’t count that one." He then got up off the floor as did Rosco and MaryAnne.

"Well, that was good enough for me. If you two can start right away that'd be great."

MaryAnne smiled and looked at Rosco, who nodded vigorously.

"Yeah!" they both exclaimed then MaryAnne giggled.

"Thank you so much," she said. The cousins exchanged hand shakes with the Captain.

"You're welcome." He handed MaryAnne a slip of paper off the clipboard he had. "You can go over to the uniform shop two blocks down from here and get fitted for uniforms. I'll put a call into the troop barracks in Central City and have a couple of patrol cars ready for you."

"Alright," MaryAnne said.

A little while later, as they walked back to Maverick from the uniform shop, MaryAnne watched Rosco as he tugged at the gray jacket of the State Police uniform he had on. He looked nice in it, but she could tell he hated it, and would probably rather be wearing his old black sheriffs jacket. She would rather he be wearing that too.

"You hate it don’t ya?" she asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Well, I don’t particularly like it either, but at least one of us has to draw an income."

"I’ll stick with it," he said.

She smiled. "Maybe we’ll be lucky and it’ll only be temporary. I’m sure Boss will soon learn he made a mistake."

"I hope so," he looked down at the uniform. "I just don’t think gray is my color."

MaryAnne giggled.

After Rosco and MaryAnne got their new uniforms and Rosco’s new black and white patrol car, they went back to Hazzard so MaryAnne could put Maverick in the barn. They then returned to Central City for MaryAnne to get her patrol car. Considerin’ the trouble that has yet to arrive, I don’t know why she didn’t just have them repaint Maverick in black and white.

Clancy, meanwhile, was back on the hunt for Bo and Luke and Jesse had found Enos in town, who explained to him how Rosco and MaryAnne had been fired. Enos also told Jesse about how Clancy came to be Sheriff.

"Sounds to me like it's more than the boys who are in trouble," Jesse said. "Have you seen Rosco or MaryAnne since this morning?"

"No, sir." Enos shook his head. "I don't know where they are now."

"They might be at the house. I'm gonna drive over and check. I think we're gonna need all the help we can get."


* * *

MaryAnne and Rosco, meanwhile, were heading back to Hazzard in their black and white Plymouth Furys. Over their radios came the voice of the commander from the troop barracks they had just left.

"Calling Hazzard Auxiliary One and Two. Hazzard Auxiliary One and Two."

"This is Hazzard Auxiliary One," Rosco replied.

"And this is Hazzard Auxiliary Two," MaryAnne said.

"Commander LaPierre over in Chickasaw County has some information for you regarding an assignment. Apparently a known group of individuals who produce moonshine have suddenly up and moved their operation from Chickasaw to Hazzard County. He wants you two to go to the barracks in Chickasaw City to get your instructions."

"That's a big ten-four," Rosco said. "We're on our way."

"Ten-four," MaryAnne said.

* * *

Jesse pulled up to the Coltrane house and got out of his truck. He went up on the porch and rang the doorbell. After several moments, no one opened the door.

Jesse left the front door and walked around to the back of the house. He went by the barn with chickens scattering out of his way. MaryAnne's Maverick was parked front first in the barn with a dirty white tarp covering three quarters of the car, leaving the back end exposed. Rosco's brown Pontiac sedan had been parked on the side of the gray barn.

Jesse had seen MaryAnne's and Rosco's former patrol cars in town and with Maverick and Rosco's car at the house, he couldn't help but wonder what had happened to them. And where they were.

When he had driven away, Jesse picked up the CB mike.

"Shepherd to Lost Sheep, Shepherd to Lost Sheep, you boys out there?"

In the General, Bo picked up the mike. "Yeah, go ahead Uncle Jesse."

"How you boys doin'? Have you run into that Clancy fella yet?"

"That's a negative so far. We're doin' all right."

Jesse told the boys what he'd learned from Enos and that MaryAnne and Rosco had suddenly disappeared.

"That's strange," Bo said. "I've never known MaryAnne to travel anywhere in anything but Maverick or her patrol car. You don't suppose something's happened to them do you?"

"I hope not, but if something has, J.D.'s gonna have a lot of explaining to do."

"I'm sure they're all right, Uncle Jesse. They've gotta be in Hazzard County somewhere."

"Well, I'm gonna get a hold of Enos and see if we can find 'em. Meanwhile, you boys be careful out there ya hear?"

"We will, Uncle Jesse. We'll talk to ya later."

* * *

A little later, MaryAnne and Rosco came back into Hazzard from Chickasaw County.

"Now, remember Rosco, the Commander says we're just supposed to watch these guys. As soon as they start moving that battery acid they call moonshine we calls Enos and then we cuff 'em and stuff 'em all."

"I know," Rosco replied. "We especially gotta keep an eye out for the leader of the whole operation. Clancy Riggs."

"Right. We get him, it'll shut down the whole thing once and for all." MaryAnne paused as she looked up the road past Rosco's patrol car. She recognized Jesse's pick up truck.

"Look out, Rosco, that's Jesse Duke heading towards us."

Jesse saw the two black and white patrol cars coming toward him. Every time he would pull to one side of the road, one of the two Furys would pull to the same side.

"Rosco! For Pete's sake, pick a side of the road and stay with it!"

But every time Rosco would pull to one side, Jesse would pull to the opposite side which didn't make much difference because MaryAnne would be on that side of the road.

The two patrol cars were coming at Jesse from both lanes leaving only a small opening in between the cars for Jesse's truck.

You don't think Jesse's gonna try to do like the boys do and squeeze through on two wheels do ya?

MaryAnne pulled off the road first, turning left. Jesse and Rosco passed each other and then Jesse brought the truck to a sliding stop. MaryAnne swung her car around and drove towards Jesse's truck. Rosco did the same.

After they came to a stop, MaryAnne and Rosco ran to the dirty white truck.

"Are you allright, Jesse?" MaryAnne asked.

"That could've been horrendous," Rosco added.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jesse replied getting out of his truck. "Where in tarnation have you two been? And what are you doing in State Police uniforms?"

Well, Rosco and MaryAnne explained to Jesse how they were fired by Boss and then saw the posting for the Auxiliary Troopers for Hazzard County and had been hired. Jesse then told them that the new sheriff Boss had hired was out to put the boys in jail.

"Sounds like Boss is trying to blow the whole county wide open," MaryAnne said. "Between that and these moonshiners that have come in we're gonna have our hands full."

"What moonshiners?" Jesse asked.

"Moonshiners from Chickasaw County," Rosco explained. "They suddenly up and left Chickasaw this morning and have set up shop here in Hazzard. And it ain't even good sippin' shine they're making. The stuff they're brewing can kill ya. Literally."

Jesse looked at them in concern. "Pure-dee poison?"

MaryAnne nodded. "When I was in Atlanta I remember hearing about this stuff leaving people permanently blind, if not dead. I was disgusted. When Papa was making moonshine he was making a sippin' liquor, not battery acid to kill people."

* * *

Bo and Luke, meanwhile, had been found by Clancy. They saw the white patrol car down the road and briefly exchanged glances.

"Enos?" Bo asked.

"I hope so," Luke replied.

The General and the patrol car were on a collision course. Clancy suddenly turned the patrol car to block road.

"Dang it," Luke exclaimed. He turned the steering wheel hard to the left and turned the General around, kicking dirt and gravel at the patrol car. Clancy turned the patrol car and chased after the Dukes with siren blaring and gumballs flashing.

"Maybe this guy's a lousy driver," Bo said looking out the back window of the General. The patrol car was just a few feet behind them.

"I don't think so," Luke said. He swung the General off the road and led the chase across country.

Clancy stayed with the General. Jumping over Henderson gorge had no affect on shaking the new Sheriff off.

"Where did Boss find this guy?" Luke wondered. "I can't shake him." Luke returned the General to the road. Clancy tried to come up beside the General but Luke cut him off. The new Sheriff gave up in fighting fair and withdrew his gun. He aimed out the window at the General's tires and pulled the trigger.

The boys flinched at the sound of the shot.

"This guy really means business!" Bo exclaimed. He flinched at another shot. Clancy fired two more shots and then the General's back left tire blew out. Luke gripped the steering wheel. "Careful, General..."

The General came to a stop with Clancy pulling in front of the car. He jumped out of the patrol car and pointed his gun at the boys.

"Out of the car!"

The boys looked at Clancy then each other. They carefully climbed out of the windows of the General.

Well, Clancy's got the boys and the General, his boys are gettin’ ready to cook up that lethal moonshine and things are only fixin' to get worse.

Boss was as happy as a hog at the trough when Clancy returned with the boys and the General.

"Alright," Boss said as he and Clancy came back upstairs after putting the boys in a cell downstairs. "You did good, Clancy. Certainly earned your twenty percent." He chuckled.

Over at the garage, Cooter was on the CB looking for Uncle Jesse.

"Breaker one, breaker one, might be crazy but I ain't dumb, Uncle Shepherd, you got your ears on out there on the Hazzard Net? Come on."

Jesse was back in his pick up returning to the farm when he heard Cooter's call.

Cooter told Uncle Jesse that the boys had been caught and Jesse immediately headed for town.

MaryAnne and Rosco, meanwhile, had split up and were lookin' for the moonshiner's hideout. Despite the State Police knowin' the operation moved they didn't know where in Hazzard the operation was, but, knowin’ almost every old still site location in Hazzard, the cousins Coltrane didn't take long to find it.

“Nice job, Rosco,” MaryAnne said coming up behind him. They were hid in the bushes on the perimeter of the still site where Clancy’s boys were set up. The men had picked one of Boss’s old sites that was fairly well hid. The clearing was surrounded by a hill on one side and trees and shrubs around the rest of it.

“How do you want to work this?” she asked.

“Well, I figure one of us could watch from here and the other could watch from the otherside there.” Rosco pointed directly across the clearing.

“Alright.” They paused and watched the men work to set up their still. It was huge compared to stills they’d seen before. “We better not sit too close though. I’ve got a feelin’ they’ll be patrolling the perimeter around here.”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, I’ll go find a spot over there and I’ll give ya a call on the radio.”

“Okay.”

While MaryAnne and Rosco were watchin’ Clancy’s boys, Jesse was in town tryin’ to get the boys released from jail, which was turnin’ out to be as easy as gettin’ blood from a stone.

“Bail is what?!?!” Jesse roared.

Boss sounded out each syllable for him. “Twenty-five thousand dollars.”

“You’ve gotta be kiddin’. You’ve never had bail that high.”

“Well, things are gonna be different from now on, Jesse. Them boys are gonna stay in jail, and the charges are gonna stick. Of course, if you did want to pay the bail, the collateral of your farm and the value of that orange clunker car of them boys of yours would adequately cover it.”

“You walkin’ white ball of marshmallow!!”

“Easy Jesse, or I’ll have my Sheriff here toss you in jail along with your boys for threatenin’ a public official and bail will be fifty-thousand dollars.”

Ol’ Boss better be careful. If he pushes Jesse to far...well, it won’t be pretty.

Meanwhile, MaryAnne had followed a group of the shine boys to the Boar’s Nest. She was hesitant to go in in her trooper uniform more or less because she didn’t want to spook them.

Ever since she dumped a whole pitcher of beer on herself during her first week as a waitress at the Boar’s Nest, MaryAnne had tucked away another pair of shorts and an extra shirt in the store room. Including shoes. That girl’s pretty slick. She can type too.

MaryAnne made a super quick change and then went back outside and back into the Boar’s Nest through the front door. She spotted the four guys from Clancy’s group sitting at the booth near the bar with beers. Before MaryAnne could take a step towards the bar, Daisy spotted her and rushed over.

“MaryAnne! Where have you been?”

MaryAnne placed a finger to her lips. “Boss fired me and Rosco this morning. We now work for the State Police and I’m watchin’ those guys that just came in and are sittin’ at the booth by the bar there.”

“I had heard about Boss firing you guys. Boy, he’s really on a roll.”

“What? Did he fire Enos too?”

“No, he’s got Bo and Luke in jail.”

“Doh! Well, that’s it. He is blowing the whole county wide open.”

“Why are you watching those guys?”

“They’re part of a group of lethal moonshiners that came in earlier today. The shine they make is deadly. Pure-dee poison.”

Daisy gasped.

“Yeah. Listen, I was gonna just sit at the bar but since Boss isn’t here can I tend it? It’ll give me a better excuse to be at that end of the bar.”

“Sure.”

“Okay. Thanks, Daisy.”

“Yeah.”

MaryAnne stepped behind the bar and grabbed the apron. As she wrapped it around her, she nonchalantly walked to the end of the bar near the moonshine men.

“...this has to be the easiest set up we’ve ever had,” one of the men was saying.

“You got that right. With the boss as the Sheriff of this jerkwater county we could end up taking over the whole town!” The four men broke up into laughter.

MaryAnne’s stomach turned. She wondered if Boss knew of his new Sheriff’s connections. Even though Boss would jump at the opportunity to take a rake off any moonshine leaving the county, MaryAnne was sure he wouldn’t invest, let alone allow, the pure-dee poison these guys were making to be made in Hazzard.

“The boss says he’s got a car we can use. He impounded it this morning. He says it’s orange so we’ll have to repaint it.”

Doh! That’s the General!

The men didn’t discuss much of the operation itself, only that Clancy wanted them to wait for his word before they started moving any of the shine. MaryAnne had to get back to her radio to tell Rosco what she’d heard but she didn’t want to spook any of the men by disappearing from the bar after just showing up. So she waited until they left and she ducked back into the storeroom to get her uniform and then slipped into the bathroom to change. When she came out, Daisy was waiting.

“What’s happening?”

“Everything. The new sheriff Boss hired is the leader of that gang of moonshiners, and they’re gonna try to get the General to use as a runner.”

“Oh no.”

“Yeah. I gotta get on the radio and tell Rosco and then I’m gonna go to town to get Cooter. See if we can figure some way to get the General out of the impound, legally. Then put the General and Maverick in hiding. If they’re lookin’ for fast cars, we gotta make sure they don’t find any.”

Friends and neighbors, hang on to your hats because things are gonna start rollin’ now.

MaryAnne radioed to Rosco the information she had heard at the Boar’s Nest and then told him she was headin’ to town to get the General and along with Maverick, put them in hidin’.

“That’s big ten-four, MaryAnne,” Rosco said. “I’ll keep an eye on things here.”

“Ten-four. I’ll check back with ya in awhile.”

Before she went to town, MaryAnne stopped at the house to change clothes again, switch her patrol car for Maverick and cover the black and white Fury with the old tarp. She also left Bandit at the house too, seeing as she was switching cars all the time. As she tore on toward town she picked up the CB mike.

“Crazy Cooter you gotcha ears on? This is Songbird singin’ at ya, come on.”

“This is Craaazy Cooter comin’ back at ya, Songbird. What’s on that pretty little mind of yours?”

“Trouble. A lot of it and I’m gonna need your help to try to fix it. Is your garage open and clear?”

“That’s an affirmative. What’s goin’ on?”

“I’ll explain when I get there. Just leave them doors wide open ‘cuz I’m coming in. Fast.”

“Ten-four.”

A few minutes later Cooter saw the blue Firebird as it came zooming around the back side of the courthouse, started to squeal as it turned to go into the garage and then zipped in and slid to a stop. Cooter ran and began pulling the doors shut.

“Hoowee, don’t tell me there’s a Coltrane runnin’ shine again?”

MaryAnne smiled at Cooter as she got out of her car. “No,” she said, “but the trouble has to do with moonshine.”

“What’s goin’ on?”

MaryAnne quickly explained to Cooter about her and Rosco endin’ up as State Troopers, Clancy’s gang, Clancy bein’ the Sheriff and what she overheard at the Boar’s Nest.

“I think things are gonna start movin’ pretty fast,” MaryAnne said. “And if Clancy’s willin’ to use the General as a runner, he may be on the lookout for other fast cars too. I need you to help me get Maverick into hidin’ and to get the General out of the impound.”

“Well, that’s no problem. We can jump him out.”

“I mean legally. By paying the impound fee, whatever that is. Thing is, Clancy may put pressure on Boss to get the boys to forfeit the General for bail. So you and I are gonna go and temporarily “buy” the General from the boys.”

“Ah, and then we put him in hidin’.”

“Right.”

Well, MaryAnne and Cooter went to visit the boys to tell them what was goin’ down and to make their offer to temporarily buy the General.

MaryAnne and Cooter were standing by the cell the boys were in looking at Luke. He nodded thoughtfully at what MaryAnne had just told him and Bo.

“That way Boss can’t make us give him up for bail,” he said.

“Right. Thing is, I’m not sure if Boss knows about this gang of Clancy’s and what they’re up to,” MaryAnne said.

“Yeah,” Cooter said. “Ol’ Boss has done some low down things before, but I don’t think he’d support this.”

“Which only means the whole county is in more trouble than it can imagine,” Bo said. “We’re gonna have to get out of here, Luke.”

“You guys will be out soon enough, don’t worry,” MaryAnne said. “Things are gonna start movin’ very fast when Boss and Clancy find out you boys no longer own the General. By that point y’all be out.”

I just hope things don’t move too fast before the boys can get out.

Well, Bo and Luke gave MaryAnne the pink slip to the General in exchange for one dollar, the dollar makin’ things fairly legal. MaryAnne and Cooter then went to pay the impound fee to Enos to get the General out, which meant they had to explain what was goin’ on. They then asked Enos to follow them to where they were hidin’ the
General and Maverick (in the barn on Cooter’s place) and give them a ride back to town.

After MaryAnne got back to the house and changed back into her uniform she hightailed it back toward the look out spot, checking in with Rosco at the same time.

“You were right, MaryAnne,” he said. “That new Sheriff was out here a few minutes ago.”

“Well, now we know it is Clancy.”

“Listen, maybe we should tell headquarters.”

“I don’t think now’s a good time. They may think Boss is somehow involved along with you and me. You know, that Boss conveniently fired us to bring in this new Sheriff and to have us work for the State Police to try to mess up the investigation. No, I think we should wait until we can distinctly prove that you and I and Boss are not in any way directly involved or directly respons--” she stopped in thought. “--ible.”

“What’s the matter?”

“I’m directly responsible for this. Rosco, you realize all this started because I opened my mouth about how much Boss had snookered you?”

“MaryAnne, listen to me, this ain’t your fault. Neither one of us had any idea what was gonna happen.”

“Yeah, but--”

“Hush, now,” he said gently. “It ain’t your fault okay? None of this is.”

MaryAnne paused. “Yeah, okay,” she said, allowing herself to smile. Leave it to Rosco.

“Alright. Now listen, maybe we should tell Boss. If he knew about Clancy being’ the leader of this operation he wouldn’t have allowed it to move into Hazzard. I know he’s done some crooked things, but allowing lethal liquor to be make ain’t one of ‘em.”

“Yeah. Alright, I’ll turn around and go back and tell him. He’s bound to have found out by now that Cooter and I took the General Lee out of the impound and he’s probably curious for an explanation.

Well, MaryAnne was right about Boss just findin’ out about the General. Clancy too and he sure wasn’t happy to hear it.

“You boys did what?” Boss exclaimed. Clancy stood beside him.

“Sold General Lee,” Luke said. “Seeing as we’re apparently gonna be in jail for a long time on charges you still haven’t specified to us, we thought we’d let him be with somebody who’s gonna take care of him.”

“Well, who’d you sell him to?” Boss asked.

“MaryAnne,” Bo replied.

“MaryAnne?!”

“Who’s MaryAnne?” Clancy asked.

“MaryAnne Coltrane. She’s an ex-deputy. I fired her at the same time I fired Rosco.”

“And they now both work for the State Police,” Bo added.

“They what?” Boss asked.

“Work for the State Police,” Luke said, noticing the change that had come over Clancy’s face. Clancy was obviously putting two and two together and realizing that the two troopers may know of the existence of his gang and their current location.

Ol’ Clancy started to panic when he heard that Rosco and MaryAnne were now with the State Police and a little later he got on the radio to his boys.

Clancy left the police station and ran to his patrol car. He changed the channel on the radio and picked up the mike.

“Roadrunner this is Bossman. You better be listenin’ ‘cuz we’ve got big trouble.”

“This is Roadrunner. What’s goin’ on?”

“Listen, I want you and the boys to be on the look out for two state troopers. They may be scoping us out ‘cuz they’re both ex-sheriffs here and one of them bought that orange car and took it out of the impound. If you find them, remove them before you start movin’ our stuff, you got that?”

“Ten-four.”

Clancy was about to get out of the cruiser when he saw the black and white Fury come into town and approach the courthouse.

“Roadrunner, one of ‘em is here in town.” Clancy watched MaryAnne bring the car to a stop, get out and go into the courthouse. “It’s the chick that bought the orange car. Get a couple of the guys and get here on the double.”

“You want us to waste her in town?”

“No you idiot! Somewhere outside of town when she leaves. Run her off the road or something. For Pete’s sake, use your brain.”

Guess they’ve been inhalin’ those fumes too long, huh?

MaryAnne, meanwhile, came into the booking room.

“Hey, Enos. Is Boss here?”

“He just left for his office out at the Boar’s Nest.”

“Doh. Okay, I’ll have to see him out there. Thanks, Enos.”

“Is somethin’ wrong?”

MaryAnne stopped at the door and turned back to Enos. “Yeah, but I don’t have time to explain. Just stay close by the radio okay?”

“Alright.”

Outside, Clancy watched MaryAnne come out of the courthouse. He picked up his radio mike.

“She’s leaving now. Heading out Old Mill Road.”

“Ten-four. We’re on the way.”

A few minutes later, three of the gang members Clancy called for were coming down the road toward MaryAnne. She recognized the black sedan from earlier and kept her eyes straight ahead on the road as they zoomed by. She glanced in the rearview mirror in time to see the car swing around and come back after her.

“Uh-oh,” she said stepping on the accelerator.

The passenger in the sedan leaned out the open window with a semiautomatic pistol and started shooting.

MaryAnne flinched when the back window of the Fury exploded. One bullet traveled through the broken glass and slammed into the front window. She kept her grip on the steering wheel and her foot planted to the floor as she brought the patrol car into the turn.

The shots continued to come fast. MaryAnne couldn’t tell if there was more than one gun involved, only that the sedan was coming closer and the bullets were not letting up on their assault on the patrol car.

Suddenly the back tire blew out. The patrol car swerved and MaryAnne slammed the brakes. The car wouldn’t stop and was heading straight for the fifteen foot embankment and the pine trees. The black sedan was right behind to shut the door on her. She knew she couldn’t hang on for this ride. She grabbed the latch of the door and pushed it open, jumping out just as the Fury lept off the road.

MaryAnne landed on the embankment and rolled and tumbled down before her back and head smacked into one of the trees, knocking her into unconsciousness.

The men didn’t see her bail out of the car. The Fury broke several branches and tore off some bark on the trees that tried to catch it. The man with the pistol continued to pump bullets into the back of the Fury until one bullet ripped through the gas tank and the black and white car blew apart in a ball of flames.

The sedan tore off with it’s occupants laughing in supposed victory.

Coming down Highway 7 from the Boar’s Nest, Daisy had heard the explosion and brought her Jeep to a stop to listen. She watched the black sedan go flying past down Old Mill Road. Sensing something was up, Daisy continued to the intersection with Old Mill Road and drove in the direction the sedan had come from.

Daisy could smell the smoke before she even got around the corner. The burning patrol car greeted her when she arrived.

“Oh my Lord,” she said. The patrol car was far enough down the embankment that it and the flames didn’t block the road. Daisy guided the Jeep past the car and before coming to a stop about a yard away she spotted MaryAnne laying on her side with her back sprawled against a tree.

Daisy jumped out of her Jeep and climbed down the embankment.

“MaryAnne?” Daisy gently touched her fingers to MaryAnne’s neck. She was relieved at the feel of a pulse but was concerned about the way MaryAnne was laying against the tree. Daisy then turned and climbed back up the embankment and went to her
Jeep.

She picked up the CB mike. “Shepherd. Shepherd, this is Bo Peep, you out there?”

Uncle Jesse was sitting at the kitchen table when he heard Daisy’s distressed voice come over the airwaves. He got up and grabbed the mike.

“This is Shepherd. What’s wrong, Daisy?”

“Oh, Uncle Jesse, MaryAnne’s been hurt. She’s unconscious and her patrol car’s down the embankment here on Old Mill Road and it’s on fire.”

“Good Lord,” Jesse breathed.

“She’s not in the car but she’s leaning against a tree kinda funny.”

“Okay, Daisy I’m on my way. You better call the hospital too.”

“Ten-four.” Daisy changed the CB over to the police channel.

“Mayday, mayday. This is Daisy Duke callin’ the Tri-County Hospital. State trooper MaryAnne Coltrane has been injured in a....an accident here on Old Mill Road.”

Rosco looked at his radio, his heart skipping a beat. He listened to the hospital reply that and ambulance was on the way. He grabbed the mike.

“Daisy, what’s wrong? What happened to MaryAnne?”

“Oh, Rosco, I’m not sure. I found her patrol car down the embankment here and it’s on fire. I can’t tell if she was thrown from the car or if she jumped out.”

“Is she conscious?”

Daisy hesitated. “No.”

Rosco’s stomach turned.

“Where are you on Old Mill Road?” he asked.

“Near Highway 7.”

“Okay, I’m on my way too. I’m gone.” Rosco dropped the mike and turned the ignition. He threw the transmission into reverse and started to back out of the bushes. When he turned to look over his left shoulder he saw two men pointing rifles at him.

Rosco jerked the car to a stop. He turned to look at the front of the car and saw two more men come out of the bushes pointing rifles at him.

“Goin’ somewhere?” the black haired man on the left side of the car asked. Heaving a defeated sigh, Rosco put the patrol car back in park as the four men came to the driver door.

* * *

Jesse, meanwhile, had arrived where Daisy was. Daisy had had a small fire extinguisher in her Jeep and was spraying the white foam toward the still burning Plymouth. The fire had weakened and she stopped and turned to Uncle Jesse.

“Where is she?” he asked.

“Over here.” Daisy led Jesse to the edge of the embankment. Jesse stopped at the sight of MaryAnne’s small frame leaning against the tree.

“The ambulance is on it’s way,” Daisy said. “Rosco heard me calling and is one his way too.”

“I hope the ambulance gets here before he does. I wouldn’t want him to see her like this.”

If it meant gettin’ out of his current situation, ol’ Rosco might be the first to disagree with Jesse.

Rosco had been ordered out of his patrol car and stood near it eyeing the four men.

“Who were you talkin’ to on the radio?” the black haired man sneered.

“Somebody tellin’ ya about the female trooper?” the blonde one added. He then smiled. “She was lucky. I don’t think she knew what hit her.”

“She ain’t dead,” Rosco said. “She either jumped or was thrown from the car before it went into the ditch.”

The blonde one looked at the scraggily brown haired man. “You idiot! You were supposed to finish her off.”

“I didn’t know she bailed out of the car. Besides, if she did roll down the ditch she probably slammed into one of them trees.”

Rosco suddenly remember that Daisy said MaryAnne was unconscious, which could mean she did hit one of those trees. He also remembered he said he was going to be there.

He looked at his four captors. They were still arguing about how MaryAnne was supposed to have been killed.

“If she slammed her head you better hope it was hard enough for her to not remember any of us or what we had going on here,” the black haired man said.

“Or that Clancy was the Sheriff,” Rosco suggested.

“Yeah,” the blonde one said, not realizing who had made the suggestion. “Nobody was supposed to know we were here. Including Hogg.”

Rosco noticed the four men had relaxed their grips on their rifles and that they were no longer pointed at him, but lazily directed toward the ground.

“’Cuz Boss Hogg wouldn’t have allowed it,” Rosco said.

The black haired man glared at Rosco. “Shut up. Nobody was talkin’ to you.”

“Oh. Well then, I guess I’ll be leavin’.” Rosco lunged toward the blonde man who was on his left and pushed him to the ground as he bolted toward the trees.

The black haired man swung around and opened fire. The bullets ripped through the leaves behind Rosco but missed him.

“Get him!” the man yelled as the blonde one got up off the ground. He, the scraggily one and the fourth man darted into the woods. The black haired man looked back at the patrol car and saw the brown face of Flash peeking out the window.

“Wait a minute!” he yelled back towards the woods. “Tell the trooper that unless he wants to see his dog turned into packaged meat, he better get back here.”

The blonde man relayed the message. Rosco stopped dead in his tracks.

“Flash,” he said. He hung his head for a moment. The idea had been to lead all four men away from the patrol car so he could sneak back and then take off. He shook his head in defeat and turned and went back.

When he came back to the patrol car the black haired man had a firm grip on Flash’s collar, and his rifle slung under his right arm, pointing at the dog. Flash whimpered at the pull on her neck.

“Alright, I’m ain’t gonna do nothin’,” Rosco said. “Leave her alone.”

“You really care about this dog?”

Rosco nodded. “I do.”

The man nodded. “I don’t like dogs.” He adjusted his grip on the collar and Flash whimpered again.

Rosco took a step toward the man but was stopped by two rifle barrels crossing in front of him. “You’re hurtin’ her. Let her go. Please?”

All four men started laughing. The blonde one mimicked Rosco. “Yer hurtin’ her,” he whined in a voice an octave higher than normal. “Stop it, Jake, yer hurtin’ her.” He bubbled in laughter again.

Rosco felt like a walking time bomb at the moment. MaryAnne was injured by these scumbags and now one of them was manhandling his dog. He tried to take another step toward the car and Flash but was reprimanded with the two rifle barrels sticking into his side.

Suddenly, Daisy’s voice came over radio.

“Rosco, the ambulance is here. If you’re coming you may as well just head to the hospital.”

Rosco looked at the men. “If I don’t answer that, they’re gonna wonder where I am.”

Jake thought for a moment. He forcefully let go of Flash, sending her scurrying back down into the drivers seat.

“Answer it. But nothin’ funny. Just tell her you got a flat or somethin’ and your gonna be late.”

Rosco nodded. The two rifles withdrew from his sides and he stepped toward the car.

“Rosco, you there?”

When he leaned in, he placed a reassuring hand on Flash. “It’s okay darlin’, I won’t let him do that to ya again.” Flash rubbed her face against his arm and he reached for the radio mike.

“Yeah, I’m here, Daisy. Listen, uh, I’ve run into a little trouble--” Jake’s rifle barrel jabbed into Rosco’s ribs. Rosco grunted and dropped his hand with the mike below the door panel. He kept his finger on the talk button.

“For Pete’s sake,” he spat. “If I have to have another rifle barrel jabbin’ me again, I’m gonna shove it down your throat. Along with that bum shine.”

“No jive. You tell her you got a flat.”

“I’m gettin’ to it.” Rosco released the talk button, brought the mike back up and pushed the button again.

“I’ve got a flat, Daisy. I’m gonna be awhile.”

Daisy had heard everything on the CB. She responded as though she didn’t but had to let Rosco know that she did.

“Do, uh, do you need any help?”

Like the Hazzard Confederate Calvery?

“No, I’ll be all right. Just watch out for MaryAnne for me, okay?”

“Okay, Rosco. If anyone asks, I’ll just tell ‘em you...have a flat.”

“Thanks, Daisy. I’m gone.” He placed the CB mike on the seat and straightened up from the window, looking at Jake.

“Alright, let’s go,” Jake commanded, grabbing Rosco by the arm and leading him toward the still site.

Daisy, meanwhile, changed her CB back to the channel the Duke family used.

“Uncle Jesse, I think Rosco’s in trouble. I called him on the CB to tell him we were headin’ to the hospital and he said he had a flat. Thing is, he left the channel open for a moment and I heard him say something to somebody about a rifle and bum shine.”

“That’s gotta be them moonshiners he and MaryAnne have been watchin’. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had somethin’ to do with what happened to MaryAnne.”

“Yeah. Oh Uncle Jesse, what are we gonna do?”

“Well, we’re gonna have to get the boys out of jail. I’ll get Cooter and Enos and see if I can talk some sense to J.D. Will you go with the ambulance, make sure MaryAnne’s okay?”

“Sure thing. You be careful now.”

“I will. I’ll check back with ya later.”

“Ten-four.”

Enos was way ahead of Uncle Jesse. He overheard Daisy callin’ Rosco, then Rosco leavin’ the channel open. And, rememberin’ what Cooter and MaryAnne had told him when they took the General out of the impound, he called Boss on the CB to tell him what had happened and who may be behind it.

Ol’ Boss was only a little skeptical about Clancy being connected to the gang, but he hightailed it back to town anyway to find out what was goin’ on.

Jesse got a hold of Cooter and asked him to go get MaryAnne’s patrol car, figuring that as soon as Boss saw that, they’d need no other proof.

Jesse arrived at the courthouse first. He found out from Enos that Boss was on his way back to town too.

“I heard when Daisy was talkin’ to Sheriff Rosco on the radio,” Enos said. “Now he’s been caught by them moonshiners and MaryAnne’s been injured. What are we gonna do?”

“The first thing we’re gonna do is get Bo and Luke out of jail,” Jesse said.

“Just a minute, Jesse,” Boss said coming into the booking room.

Jesse rolled his eyes. “J.D., I ain’t got time to get it through your thick head that Rosco, MaryAnne and the whole dang town for that matter are in serious trouble. That new Sheriff you hired has a posse out there makin’ pure-dee poison moonshine. Probably at one of your old still sites. Now, Rosco’s been caught by them and MaryAnne’s on her way to the hospital in a backbrace, and the only chance we’ve got to get Rosco back alive is them boys, and you know it.”

The boys, meanwhile, were watching Cooter tow in MaryAnne’s torched patrol car.

“Holy mackerel,” Luke said. He and Bo watched as the patrol car was lowered to the ground.

“It’s a trooper car,” Bo said.

“Something’s happened. Those moonshine boys must’ve found MaryAnne or Rosco.”

“That’s it. We gotta get outta here,” Bo said.

“Yeah.” Luke stepped off the bunk and went to the bars.

“Hey, Enos!!”

Bo joined him in calling Enos. “Enos!!”

Upstairs, Boss, Jesse and Enos heard the boys.

Outside, Cooter was heading to the courthouse when he saw Clancy come into town in the white patrol car. There looked to be three or four other people with Clancy. Cooter hurried up the steps.

Enos was on his way to the downstairs cells when Cooter came into booking room.

“I think we got trouble y’all. I just saw the new Sheriff pull up and it looks like he’s got some muscle with him.”

Boss stepped to the window and looked out. He saw Clancy and three men get out of the patrol car. He turned back to Jesse.

“Maybe you’re right, Jesse.”

Downstairs, the boys were asking Enos what was going on.

While Enos was tellin’ the boys what had happened to MaryAnne and Rosco, and lettin’ them out of jail despite Boss not havin’ told him to do so, Clancy and some of his boys were finally convicin’ Boss of what Jesse had been tryin’ to tell him.

When Clancy came in he had his gun drawn. His three associates were also armed.

“Well, Hogg, maybe you should’ve held on to your former Sheriff. He and that girl trooper were pretty slick.”

“What have you done to Rosco?” Boss demanded.

“Oh, he’s fine. For now. My other associates are keeping a careful eye on him. All of this is really too bad. I was gonna cut you in on my operation.”

“I wouldn’t take a dollar from that bum shine operation of yours if it was the only thing left on earth to take a dollar from.”

Coming up the stairs from the cells, the boys and Enos heard Clancy and Boss talking. Luke carefully opened the door and saw that Clancy and his boys had their backs to the booking area. He turned back to Bo and Enos.

“With Cooter it’s an even four on four,” he whispered.

Bo nodded as Enos said, “Let’s get ‘em.”

Quietly, they came out of the door. Clancy had no idea anyone was behind him until Bo tapped him on the shoulder.

Clancy turned and was greeted by Bo’s fist. The Sheriff went flying to the floor, stopping at Boss’s feet. Cooter took a swing at the man that was closest to him as Luke and Enos grabbed the remaining two.

As guns went clattering to the floor, Boss grabbed Clancy’s. Jesse collected the other three.

“Alright,” Boss said pointing the gun at Clancy. “Where’s Rosco?”

“You can’t save him now. By the time you find him, he’ll be dead.”

“We’ll see about that,” Luke said. “Enos, you gonna arrest these guys?”

“Yeah,” Boss said. “Put ‘em in the cell there, Enos.”

Clancy suddenly bolted up from the floor and ran out of the booking room.

“Hey!” Boss exclaimed.

“Open the door, Enos, let’s get these guys in here,” Luke said.

Enos and Cooter each brought their man up to the cell and they were placed inside. Clancy was tearing off out of the square.

After Enos locked the door on the cell, everyone ran out of the booking room. As they came out of the courthouse there was no sign of Clancy.

“C’mon y’all, I’ll take ya to the General,” Cooter called to the boys. The boys ran across the street to Cooter’s tow truck. Jesse hurried to his pickup and Enos ran to his patrol car.

“Wait for me, Enos,” Boss called running to the patrol car as well.

As all the vehicles tore out of Hazzard Square, Daisy was sitting impatiently in the waiting room of the Tri-County Hospital’s emergency area. She would make eye contact with the nurses or doctors who walked by but none of them offered any information on MaryAnne’s condition.

What if they can’t tell me? she thought. What if she’s paralyzed and they can only tell Rosco, and he’s been caught by those moonshiners? How’s he gonna know?

“Oh no,” Daisy breathed.

In the time in took Cooter to get the boys to his place to get the General, Clancy had returned to the still site.

Rosco had had his hands tied behind him and was sitting on the ground near a lone crate. Standing around him were the remaining gang members. He watched Clancy approach Jake.

“We gotta move,” Clancy said. “Hogg figured out everything and there’s a whole posse out lookin’ for him.” He pointed to Rosco.

“So what do we do with him?” blonde man asked.

“That’s easy,” Jake said. He pumped his rifle and aimed at Rosco. Rosco drew a frightened breath and turned away closing his eyes. “No, wait,” Clancy said knocking the rifle so it pointed upward. He then smiled and said, “We’ll leave him here. I have an idea.”

* * *

Cooter pulled open the door of his barn and the sun shined off the orange paint of the General and the deep blue of Maverick. The boys paused, remembering what Enos had told them about MaryAnne.

As if reading their minds, Cooter said, “The keys are in both cars. We might cover more ground if one of us takes ol’ Maverick.”

“Yeah,” Luke said. “I’ll take him.”

“Alright,” Cooter said patting the boys on the back.

Cooter ran back to his truck and Bo went to climb into the General. Luke pulled one of the bows with dynamite arrows on it out of the back seat of the General and placed them in Maverick. As Luke slid into the Firebird he said, “Okay, Maverick, let’s find Rosco, for MaryAnne’s sake.” He turned the ignition and the engine of the Firebird roared in response. Luke gestured to Bo and then followed his cousin out of the barn and to the road.

* * *

Rosco’s heart was slamming against his rib cage as he watched Clancy’s boys load up the still and some other stuff on a truck and leave the rest piled in a spot in the middle of the clearing. He wondered what they were going to set up for him and then he suddenly thought of MaryAnne.

Lord, he prayed, watch over her and Flash for me. And Lulu. And Mama. And Boss...

When the men had finished loading their truck, Jake and the blonde man came over and grabbed Rosco’s arms, lifting him off the ground and to his feet. They pulled him to the few crates and bottles of bum shine that had been stacked up in the middle of the clearing. They pushed him to the ground again and another man began wrapping a rope around Rosco’s chest and tying him to one of the crates.

“Wait,” he pleaded. “Wait a minute, do you have to do this?”

Clancy was lighting a cigarette. He took a drag on it then looked at Rosco. “You and the girl trooper know too much. When someone finds you here, they’ll think twice about goin’ to any other cops with any information you or she may have disclosed.”

“My cousin,” Rosco said, but his voice only managed in a half whisper. “She’s my cousin.”

“Aww,” Clancy shook his head. “Nepotism doesn’t work well in dangerous jobs like police work. You should have encouraged her to persue somethin’ else.”

“You ain’t gonna get away with this,” Rosco said. “They’ll find you.”

Clancy laughed and then took a last drag on the cigarette. He blew out a string of smoke and then looked at Rosco. “No, they won’t.” Clancy then flicked the cigarette off to his side and started to walk towards the waiting cars and truck. “Have a good trip, Trooper Coltrane.”

As the two cars and truck drove away, Rosco squirmed to get loose from the ropes that held him captive to the rigged up time bomb Clancy’s boys had made. Rosco couldn’t see it, but they had placed a piece of rope in an open bottle of shine and the other end was covered by a concave piece of glass. It would be a few minutes before the earth had turned just enough for the sun to hit the glass, which would burn the rope and end up igniting the shine.

Rosco struggled for another moment and stopped when he was no better off then when he’d started. He leaned his head back and looked up at the sky. He then closed his eyes, coming to the conclusion that he wasn’t going to make it out of this and was going to die in the wrong uniform.

* * *

Luke swung Maverick around one of Boss’s old still sites. It was clear no one had been there in quite a spell and as he returned to the road he picked up the CB mike.

“Callin’ all rescuers. Anybody seen anything??”

Bo responded first. “Nothin’. Not a dang thing. I don’t think we’re gonna find him.”

“Try tellin’ that to MaryAnne,” Luke said.

“Yeah, I know,” Bo replied.

“Look,” Jesse cut in, “since those guys were makin’ pure-dee poison they may have been set up somewhere that’s very out of the way, but it was somewhere that Rosco and MaryAnne had found.”

“You thinkin’ maybe one of her father’s still sites?” Bo asked.

“He only had one site,” Jesse said, “and that was out in the woods on his own property. I think if it had been there, MaryAnne would have voiced an opinion about that.”

“Wait a minute,” Boss said. “I used to have a still over off Ridge Road. Near Rattlesnake Hill.”

“Rattlesnake Hill? That’s a good fifteen miles from here,” Bo said.

“I’m only about six miles from it,” Luke said. “I’ll check it out. Should we check out Eli’s old place too?”

“I’ll do that,” Jesse said. “I’m not far from it.”

“Okay,” Luke said. “I’ll let you know if I find anythin’ or not. I’m gone.”

“Ten-four,” Bo said.

“I’m gone too,” Jesse said.

* * *

Flash could see over the dashboard a bit, and saw Rosco tied to the crate. The basset hound barked and howled for a moment, then went and leaned on the arm rest of the driver door, slapping her right front paw on the door latch. It took several hits before one of her claws hit the lever just right and pulled it forward enough for the lock to let go. The door moved forward from the 55 pound lean of the dog. It moved almost too fast for Flash who stumbled out of the car, not quite landing on all four feet. She picked herself up and ran to her daddy.

Rosco looked up when he saw her coming.

“Flash, no,” he said. “Go back. You’ll get hurt.”

Flash ignored him and started knawing on the ropes that held him against the crate.

“Flash,” he pleaded.

On top of the crate above and behind him, the rope had already started to smoke and begin to burn. Quickly.

Flash was able to successfully chew through one of the loops of the rope and immediately began another.

Luke, meanwhile, had spotted the black and white Fury through the bushes. He brought Maverick to a stop and, out of habit, climbed out the window. He walked up to the car and looked in. He then looked toward the clearing.

“Holy smokes,” he exclaimed at the site of Rosco tied to the crate. He bolted into the clearing.

Rosco looked up. “Luke! This thing’s rigged to blow. Take Flash and get out of here.”

Luke whipped out his pocket knife. “I ain’t gonna leave ya here, Rosco,” he said as he slipped the knife blade under the ropes and started cutting.

“Luke, please.”

Luke continued to cut as the fuse above burned closer to the shine. Rosco finally came loose from the crate. Luke then slipped the knife under the ropes that bound Rosco’s hands. In one cut, the ropes came free.

Scooping up Flash, Rosco dashed to the edge of the clearing along with Luke. The burning rope touched the shine and the crates and other bottles of the pure-dee poison blew apart in a bright orange ball segueing into thick, black smoke. Rosco and Luke hit the ground at the force of the explosion. Rosco shielded Flash from the sudden heat and then after a moment he and Luke looked up.

After his breathing started to return to normal, Luke said, “That was close.”

“Yeah,” Rosco replied. He looked at Luke. “Thank you.”

Luke smiled and gave Rosco’s shoulder a pat. “You’re welcome. Guess you owe me, huh?”

“I do.”

“You feel like goin’ after Clancy and his gang?”

“Yeah! Let’s get those creeps. I’ll show them they can’t manhandle my dog, injure my kin and try to kill me and get away with it.”

“Alright.” Luke smiled.

Rosco gathered up Flash and hurried to his patrol car as Luke ran to Maverick. As they drove to the only road that led away from the still site, Luke picked up the CB mike.

“Callin’ the rescuers. I’m happy to report that Rosco P. Coltrane is alive an very well.”

Boss looked at Enos . “Did you hear that? Hallehuah!”

“That’s great to hear, Luke,” Bo said. “What about Clancy’s gang?”

“We’re after ‘em now. Why don’t y’all get over here to Ridge Road and give us a hand?”

“That’s a big ten-four,” Bo said. “I’m on my way.”

“We’re comin’ too,” Enos replied.

“And so am I,” Jesse added.

Clancy had no idea what fired up fury was coming behind him. He and his boys were cruising along toward the state line at a quick but easy pace.

Maverick and the patrol car were making good time. Before Luke and Rosco caught up to Clancy’s gang, Rosco changed the channel on his radio and picked up the mike.

“I think there’s three vehicles to look out for, Luke. Two cars and a truck that’s carryin’ the still.”

“And I doubt Clancy was in much of a hurry, considerin’ he probably figures we’re all still lookin’ for you.” As Luke spoke he saw a white truck ahead in the distance.

“That’s them,” Rosco said.

“Alright. Bo, where are you now?”

“I’m on County 21. I should be on your back door in a couple of minutes.”

“And I’m right behind him,” Cooter piped in.

“Uncle Jesse, Enos? Where you guys at?”

“I’m way over here on Route 28,” Jesse said. “It’s gonna be awhile before I catch up to y’all.”

“I’m on Ridge Road, Luke,” Enos said. “I think we’re a couple of miles behind you.”

“Okay, listen up. Bo and Cooter can you get over to Route 37 to create a little traffic for these fellas?”

“That’s a big ten-four,” Cooter said. “Main Street Saturday Night, comin’ right up.”

“Ten-four,” Bo said. “You heard the man. Yeehaa!!”

“Rosco, you better pull over. I’m gonna need you to drive Maverick.”

Luke pulled Maverick over to the side of the road and Rosco did the same. Rosco picked up Flash and then ran to the blue Firebird. He opened the driver door and placed Flash the back seat of the car as Luke slid over to the passenger seat. Rosco then got in and threw the car in gear and tore off down the road.

Luke pulled the bow with five dynamite arrows on it from the back seat. Up the road the big white truck was coming back into view.

“Bo and Cooter should be comin’ up on them pretty soon,” Luke said.

Clancy was enjoying the ride when he and Jake, who was driving, saw the tow truck and the General heading toward them, side by side in an apparent drag race.

“Jake, watch it!”

Jake swung the black sedan off to the right, bouncing into the open field. The blonde man was driving the second car and he pulled out of the way as well. Bo slowed and cut behind Cooter as they passed the big truck. They then passed Luke and Rosco in Maverick and swung around and followed after.

Jake and the blonde man had returned their cars to the road and in front of the truck as Luke took his position sitting on the door of Maverick, with the bow and arrows.

“Hold it steady, Rosco,” Luke said.

Of course he can hold it steady. Maverick’s the only car in Hazzard County Rosco really knows how to drive.

Rosco amazingly kept a steady hand on the wheel and a firm foot on the accelerator. Luke took aim with the first dynamite arrow. He let it fly, but the wind caught it wrong. It landed to the right of the truck and exploded.

The driver of the truck flinched. He looked at his mirrors and saw Maverick, the General and the tow truck behind him. He turned to the passenger.

“Get ‘em!” he yelled.

The man pulled out a pistol from the inside of his jacket and then leaned out the window.

Luke was getting ready to release another arrow when the man opened fired. He and Rosco both flinched when the bullet slammed into the windshield of Maverick. Luke dropped the dynamite arrow he had had ready.

“Dang!” he spat as he slid back into the car. More bullets were fired.

Rosco moved Maverick over on the road and out of the line of fire.

“Fine, they wanna play dirty, we can play dirty.” Luke started to pull one of the sticks of dynamite off an arrow.

“Need a match?” Rosco asked.

“Yeah.”

“Glove box.”

Luke opened the glove box and found not only matches but a Swiss army knife, a small first aid kit, and even a couple of packages of firecrackers.

In a reflective tone, Rosco said, “She’s got all kinds of tricks in this car. You should see the trunk.”

“She’s gonna be allright, Rosco,” Luke said as he pulled a match from the book and then put the book back and closed the glove box. “These guys are gonna be sorry they ever came to Hazzard. Can you bring Maverick up to the back of the driver side of the truck?”

“Yeah,” Rosco replied. He stepped on the accelerator and the Firebird moved up to the rear right side of the truck. Luke struck the match, lit the fuse on the dynamite and then leaned out the window and tucked the stick into one of the crates on the truck.

Rosco then backed off the accelerator and stepped on the brake.

The driver of the truck saw Luke put the dynamite in the truck. He slammed the brakes and yelled to his passenger to get out. After the truck swerved to a stop, the two men ran away from it in time before it exploded.

Rosco heard Bo yell out his familiar “Yeeeehaaa!”

“Alright,” Luke said. “Let’s get Clancy.”

Rosco stepped on the accelerator and Maverick threw dirt around the truck, followed by the General and Cooter’s tow truck.

Luke picked up the CB mike. “Got two of Clancy’s gang members for ya to pick up when you get here, Enos.”

“Ten-four, Luke.”

Clancy had seen the truck blow up and then saw Maverick and other two vehicles coming down the road.

“Step on it, Jake.” Clancy then picked up the rifle on the floor and turned in the seat so that he could aim back at Maverick.

Luke was already back sitting on the door with an arrow ready to fly. He released it just as Clancy opened fire.

Luke ducked back into Maverick as the arrow flew over the two cars and landed square in the middle of the road in front of the black sedan. The explosion forced Jake to jerk the steering wheel and the black sedan swung off the road and around.

“Yeah!!” Luke hollered.

The brown sedan turned and slid to a stop as well almost colliding with the black one.

Maverick, the General and Cooter’s tow truck all came to a stop and the boys, Rosco and Cooter ran to the vehicles.

Luke had the last dynamite arrow at the ready as Rosco opened the passenger door of the black sedan. He grabbed the rifle and then pulled the stunned Clancy out of the car. He directed him to the front of it and before turning him to face the hood, Rosco pulled off the Sheriff’s badge.

“Told ya you’d get caught,” Rosco said and pushed Clancy face down on the hood. He then went around to Jake who had stumbled out of the driver’s seat.

Luke watched Rosco put the rifle and badge on the hood of the car and then say to Jake, “This is for Flash,” before swinging at Jake across the jaw. The man crumbled against the car. Rosco was rubbing his hand.

Luke smiled. “Very nice.”

“I ain’t done either,” Rosco replied. He walked back around the car and watched Bo and Cooter bring the four men from the brown car over to him. Bo had the scraggily brown haired one. The four men stood just in front of Bo and Cooter. Rosco stepped up to the scraggily man. He clenched his fist. “And this, is for MaryAnne.” Rosco hit the man square in the face. The man dropped to the ground.

Bo and Cooter stared in surprise and then Cooter started to applaud. “Alllllriiiight,” he said.

Rosco was flicking and rubbing his hand. “I ain’t doin’ that again.”

The boys and Cooter smiled as Enos and Jesse came down the road.

To mess with Rosco is one thing. To mess with his dog or his kin, well, you might be better off eatin’ a live rattlesnake head first. I hope you were all payin’ attention cuz I don’t think we’ll see Rosco do that again for a VERY long time.

“Rosco! Rosco!” Boss called as he and Enos ran to the group. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Boss spotted the badge on the hood of the black sedan. “Well, I’m not.” He went to get it. He then came back and held the badge out to Rosco. “If you’ll take this badge back and be Sheriff again, I’ll feel a lot better.”

Rosco looked at the badge. “Will you hire MaryAnne back too?”

“Done. I’m gonna pay her hospital bill too. All of this happened because I fired the two of you.” Boss paused. “I only hope that she’s okay.”

So did a lot of people, especially Rosco. After Clancy and his gang were round up and brought back to town, Rosco went to the hospital along with the Dukes.

Daisy got up and approached Rosco and her family as they came into the waiting room.

“Rosco, are you okay?”

“Yes, Daisy, I’m fine.” He looked at her.

Daisy shook her head. “They haven’t told me anything since she got here.”

Rosco drew an unsteady breath and nodded. “I’ll see if I can find out anythin’.”

The Dukes watched him go, Daisy leaning against her Uncle. “Jesse, what if she’s...”

“Now, now, baby. Let’s keep good thoughts. For Rosco’s sake.”

Daisy nodded and the Dukes made their way to the chairs in the middle of the waiting room.

* * *

Rosco talked to one of the nurses, asking about MaryAnne, explaining who he was and could he see her. The nurse nodded, told him what room MaryAnne was in and that she would find the ER doctor to talk to him.

Rosco’s stomach turned. Can’t ya just tell me she’s gonna be okay? he thought. He started to walk around the nurse’s station, catching a glimpse of the room assignments board on the wall.

M Coltrane. 4B.

He walked down the hall slowing to a stop when he reached room 4. He peered in and saw the first bed was empty. The pale yellow curtain in the middle of the room was drawn but he recognized the hat and gray trooper jacket that was haphazardly folded on the counter. He stepped into the room, approaching the other half slowly, afraid of what he’d find on the other side of the curtain.

When he cast his eyes upon her, it almost took his breath away. He stared at his young cousin. She was propped up a little by the bed, a brace around her sleek neck, her head wrapped in a white gauze with her long brown hair tumbling around her shoulders.

Rosco brought a hand to his face. “Oh Lord...” he whispered. His emotions got the better of him and he closed his eyes against the tears that were forming. Fear, sadness and even anger ravaged at him. He was angry at Clancy and his stupid gang, a little angry at Boss, even angry with the nurse for having let him see MaryAnne like this.

He took a deep breath, trying to pull himself together and stepped closer to the bed. He studied the delicate features on the face of his cousin, who since the death of her father just over a year ago, had become like a daughter to him. The daughter he never had.

She was her mother and father wrapped in one beautiful package. She had her mother’s slim nose and fair complexion and the prominent arched eyebrows and lines of her father. Coltrane lines, that Rosco had too. If her eyes were open, they’d be a similar brilliant blue as Rosco’s own, surrounded by lush dark eye lashes. But they weren’t open. Maybe it was for the best.

“Rosco?”

Rosco looked up, startled. Doc Applebee was standing near the curtain.

“Oh, Doc. You scared me.”

“Sorry.” Doc came closer, looking at MaryAnne then at Rosco. “She’s gonna be fine, Rosco.”

“Are ya sure?”

“Oh yes. Her ribs and back are bruised but it’s nothing serious. She does have a mild concussion but that’s all. No serious head injuries.”

“Why’s that neck brace on her?”

“Just a precaution. That was to make sure that if there was a neck injury it didn’t get any worse. But there is no injury. They’ll take it off her in a little while.”

“Did she wake up?”

“A little while ago. She’s just sleeping now.”

“I suppose I should let her rest then huh?”

“She may want to know you’re here. She was asking about you when she woke up.”

“Was she?”

“I was.”

Rosco looked at MaryAnne. She was looking at him and she smiled as she reached her hand out to him. He took and smiled.

“I’ll let the Dukes know that MaryAnne is going to be fine,” Doc Applebee said and departed.

“How you feelin’?” Rosco asked.

“Okay. Back’s sore, head feels like it got run over by a freight train but other than that I’m fine. I’m sorry you had to see me like this.”

“It did give me a bit of a fright.”

“Aww, I’m sorry.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay.”

She smiled. “What about Clancy and his gang? Has Boss found out yet?”

“Oh! Yeah, he found out alright. After you ended up here and I got caught by them.”

MaryAnne went bug eyed. “You were caught??”

“I was.”

“What happened?”

Rosco turned and pulled the empty chair that was in the corner closer to the bed. As he sat down, he began to tell of the events of his capture.

Rosco filled MaryAnne in about his bein’ caught and about capturin’ Clancy’s gang with the help of the Dukes. He also told her that Boss wanted to hire them back and hire her back at the Boar’s Nest as soon as she was well enough. Although MaryAnne technically owned the General briefly, she had had Cooter hold on to the title, which he gave back to the Dukes. They gave him the dollar back which Cooter put towards what MaryAnne still owed him, which meant now she only owed him two dollars.

Clancy and his gang were charged with more crimes than humanly thought possible. The combined jail sentence was more than the number of years they all had been alive up to that point.

Just goes to show ya, that things have a way of workin’ out in Hazzard County.