In the Beginning...

[virginiaxduke]

(Okay...so I really need to stop being inspired. Like really. Or maybe not. This story takes place circa 1949 when Jesse is about 30 -- and already head of the clan. For more information see the notes/feedback thread)

*****

"Jesse! Jesse!" Virginia Duke made record time as she ran through the woods and to the Duke Farm. She had been out at Still Site 2 helping a few of her brothers when....

Well, that didn't matter. What mattered was she needed to find her brother and she needed to find him now. "Jesse!"

Letting the door slam shut behind her, she entered the house. Normally Ginny would have enough sense (or fear of her sister) to take off her muddy shoes before traipsing across the floors. However, she wasn't really thinking about that now. Besides...her whole person was covered in mud and soot and...shine? Taking off her shoes wouldn't matter.

Dammit! Ginny swore mentally as she discovered Jesse wasn't in the house. Going out the back door, she headed for the barn. And there she found him. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she continued. "Jesse...the still blew! We're all okay...for the most part....I mean we're a little scratched up, Austin especially, but....the still....you need to come look."

[Jamanda]

Jesse is none too pleased with the younger Dukes, but his concern overrides his anger for the moment.

"Where's he at Ginny?" he asks, following her out of the barn.

"This way," Ginny cries. "Site number 2."

Jesse is a bit more level headed and grabs his shotgun and jumps in the truck. Ginny jumps in with him as they take off. When they arrive at the site, it looks like most of the damage is under control.

Samuel and Matthew are shoveling dirt onto what remains of the still, which is very little. Daniel is over to the side with Austin.

"You know little Bro," Daniel says. "They do say smoking is bad for your health."

"I wasn't smoking," Austin coughs. "I found a lighter over by the sugar and wanted to see if it worked."

"Let me look at him," Jesse says, walking up.

Jesse looks Austin over. He has some nasty burns on his face and arms. Daniel's hands are burned as well.

"I had to pull him out Jesse," Daniel says. "Sam and Matt just got here to put it all out."

"Good thing you did," Jesse says. "Well Austin, you look okay."

"You can say it Jesse," Austin wimpers. "My face looks terrible don't it?"

"That doesn't matter now," Jesse tells him. "Right now, I'm getting both of you to Doc Petticord. He won't ask too many questions."

"Should I stay and clean up?" Ginny asks.

"You better find the others and tell them what's going on," Jesse tells her. "Bo and Madison went to town for some tractor parts. Take Black Tillie."

Jesse hands Ginny the keys to Black Tillie and ushers Daniel and Austin to the truck. Ginny, while relieved the others are okay, is a little dumbfounded. Jesse had never, ever let her drive Black Tillie before...

[virginiaxduke]

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Ginny headed back to the farm to grab the car. She'd make it to town in no time. She only hoped

Bo and Madison would be easy enough to find once she was there.

A frown crossed her face as she sped down the dirt road leading into Hazzard. They had blown stills before...why was this one different? Why was Jesse so worked up?

Part of her wanted to say it was just Jesse being Jesse. When their Daddy had died ten years ago, Jesse had become the man of the house. And when their Mama had followed six years later, Jesse had become head of the family...something he took very seriously.

********

Arriving in town, Ginny stopped the car in front of the hardware store and jumped out. "Bo! Madison!" She headed inside. "Jesse says to come home right away...."

[bethie88]

Meanwhile, Jesse was driving the truck to Doc's. Austin was sitting in the middle seat. He knew his brothers had put him there to keep him from looking in the outside mirror and seeing his face. It burned really bad, and he was scared.

Of course, he'd never admit it, being a mostly-grown Duke boy. But he was really scared.

There was this pretty girl named Katie Anderson who'd moved to Hazzard a year or so ago, and Austin had known from the moment he'd seen her that he wanted to marry her. But he figured his face looked bad. And what if she didn't want him now. Tears filled the blue eyes, but refused to fall. He would let them see him cry.

He ran his hands through his blonde hair and sighed. He wouldn't cry. He couldn't. Not in front of his older brothers.

[Jamanda]

Back in town, Ginny was busy explaining to Bo and Madison what had happened.

"That's nothing new," Bo told her calmly. "Did they make out okay?"

"Jesse's taking Austin and Dan to the doctor," Ginny panted. "Sam and Matt put the fire out."

"I'll meet Jesse over there," said Madison. "You two can take these home."

"Yes ma'am," said Bo. "Oh uh, Ginny? I'll drive."

Ginny frowned, but handed him the keys. They took off in Black Tillie while Madison made her way across the street to her car. On the way there, she overheard voices at the cafe. She hid around the corner to listen.

"But J.D.," someone was saying. "How did you know it was the Duke's still that blew up?"

"Because I left my lighter there," said another man. "I mean...if Jesse finds out it was my fault..."

"You know I gotta investigate this," said the first. "And if I find any evidence of foul play..."

"Rosco," wimpered the other man. "You wouldn't turn in your dear friend...would you?"

"Look JD," said the first. "It's only if I find evidence...but I gotta be fair..."

"I know, I know," said the other. "Someday, I'm gonna regret telling you these things. If I wasn't so hung up on your fat sister..."

"Look JD," said the first. "I'll do what I can. But you know my duty comes first."

"I know Rosco," said the other. "But someday I'll be running this town and then I'll get to tell you what your duty is."

"JD," said the first. "Keep dreaming."

Madison peeked around the corner and wasn't surprised to see JD Hogg, a good friend of Jesse's, talking to the deputy, Rosco P. Coltrane. It was well known that JD and Rosco were good friends, despite being a ridgerunner and a smokey, mostly due to JD courting Rosco's sister. Madison grinned to herself, wondering if she should tell Jesse what she overheard.

[bethie88]

Jesse had arrived at Doc's with Dan and Austin. He'd made sure to hurry Austin past the mirror so he couldn't see his face. It was burned pretty badly. Jesse hoped the Doc could fix it.

Austin knew that it was bad. He couldn't stand it either. "Jesse," he said, trying to sound strong, but failing due to the quivering of his voice. "Jesse, I'm grown... I don't need you to protect me."

Jesse looked at his younger brother for a moment. "Austin... don't you worry about a thing. We'll get you fixed right up. And Dan too."

Dan was more worried about his brother than himself. His hands were burned, but not as badly as Austin was burned.

Austin sat in the waiting room chair, flipping through some mail-order catalogue, and wishing that he knew that he'd be OK.

That was when the Doc came in.

[virginiaxduke]

Doc smiled kindly as he moved over to Austin. Instructing the boy to turn his head from side to side, he looked over the injuries, making a tsking sort of sound. "Do I want to know...?" He looked over at Jesse and Daniel.

Jesse shook his head. "Let's just say its work related..."

"I see...well, Austin, you're an extremely lucky young man. You're going to heal just fine. It'll take a while, mind you, and it won't be pleasant but there should be minimal scarring by the time you're through."

He walked over to his cabinet and began looking for something. "I'm going to give you a salve. I want you to place it over the burns twice a day. You too, Daniel. Also...if you're going to be outside for long periods of time, make sure to keep the wound bandaged. Understand?"

[bethie88]

Austin nodded, feeling better already. "Yessir!" he said, trying to smile, but failing, because it kinda hurt.

Doc told Jesse that he'd settle with him later on the bill, and the brothers stepped outside, just in time to see Madison coming around the corner, and Bo driving Black Tilly way too fast. Jesse shook his head. "Them dang cars is gonna be the death of this family!"

Madison walked over to them and said, "Austin, Dan, you two OK?"

Austin nodded, feeling much better since Doc had told him he'd heal up OK.

Dan also nodded. His burns weren't that bad, but they were going to make working the farm difficult. He put his arm around Austin and said, "Come on, y'all. Let's go home."

[virginiaxduke]

While Jesse may not have been overly fond of Bo's driving...Ginny was loving it. There was something about going that fast....

"Hey, Bo?" She looked over at him, a mischeivous grin forming on her face.

"Yeah..." While he couldn't see her face, he didn't trust the tone of her voice. That was Ginny's "idea" tone...a tone that usually landed her (and whoever was with her) in trouble.

"Let's go home by way of Dry Creek."

"But that's out of the way and besides there's no way ac....ooohhh...."

"Yeah."

"No."

"Why?"

"Cause Jesse will KILL us if anything happens to this car."

"Nothing's gonna happen. Jesse won't even know..."

Bo thought about this. Ginny had a point. As long as they were careful, Jesse would never know. And besides, how could he deny his favorite sister. "All right...one jump..." He was all smiles...despite his protests, he wanted to make that jump. Really badly. "And not a word to Jesse."

"Promise."

With another grin and a small yee-haw, Bo gunned it.

[virginiaxduke]

(OOC: Work is REALLY slow....)

Meanwhile, JD Hogg was busy worrying about what would happen if Jesse identified that lighter. Not only would he get hell for being careless, but Jesse might realize that JD had been up there, running the still through the night to make some side shine.

It's not like it was a crime to want money. The Dukes might be content with just being "comfortable" but not JD. He liked everything big and he was gonna have it. No matter what it took.

[Jamanda]

Bo and Ginny came down on the other side of the creek with a BANG! Ginny laughed and Bo let out another YEEE HAAAW!

Ginny: Oh that was fun! Can we do it again?

Bo: Not today darlin'. Besides, I think somebody up here wants to race.

Another car appears on the road. A small, scruffy man is driving it and grins over at Bo.

Bo: Howdy Jeb! Nice to see you leave the woods for once in your life!

Jeb: IdontneedanylipfromyouBoDuke!

Ginny: What'd he say?

Bo: Betcha I can beat ya to the crossroads.

Jeb: Yeron!

Jeb's car takes off ahead of them. But the old blue runner isn't the same as Black Tillie and Bo manages to pass him right before the crossroads, where both cars stop.

Bo: All right Jeb. You owe me a beer!

Jeb: AllrightIllgetyouonelaterBoDukejusthopeIdonttellJesse

youwasracinhiscar.

Bo: You wouldn't!

The other man grins and drives off and Bo laughs.

Ginny: Uh Bo? What'd he say?

Bo: Well...one one hand, he owes me a beer. But then again, he knows Jesse don't like me racin' Black Tillie. So we're pretty much even.

Ginny: Who was that?

Bo: Oh him? That was Jebediah Strate. He lives up in the woods and no one sees him much. But he's one heck of a driver! Too bad he ain't gotta better car, or he mighta had a chance.

Ginny: Ain't no car faster than Black Tillie!

Bo: You got that right.

And they take off for home.

[virginiaxduke]

Settling Austin into the car, Daniel climbed up beside him. He let Jesse get on the road before beginning to speak. "So...I noticed Anna wasn't around. Disappointed?"

"I don't know what you're babbling about, Dan."

"Right...right...so your eyes were scanning what exactly when we were in the office..."

"Nothing. Just the office. Why are you asking so many questions?"

"Just wondering." Daniel grinned.

"Well stop wondering."

[bethie88]

Austin was much happier, and so he decided to join in on teasing Jesse.

"Sorry I didn't get hurt when Anna was at Doc's, Jesse," he said slyly.

"I don't know what you mean, Austin Hunter Duke, but I do know that you may be 19, but I can still whip you good."

Austin shrugged. Jesse was always threatening a "whipping," but he wouldn't whip a grown man.

Austin grinned. "Just cause Jesse's in love, he's gonna whip me." He almost started laughing, but a stern look from Jesse set him straight.

He shrugged. "Whatever you say, Jess."

[virginiaxduke]

Dan had to look away to keep from laughing. He didn't understand why Jesse couldn't admit he liked Anna. Then again, with the brothers he had, he didn't know if he'd ever admit to being in love.

As they pulled up to the house, Dan noticed that Bo and Ginny were right behind him. They should have been home a long time ago...but he wasn't going to say anything. He just jumped out and headed inside, shaking his head as he passed them.

"What?" Bo tried to frown but it didn't work. He had a silly grin plastered on his face. "What?"

"You're playing a dangerous game, little brother."

"With the car? Not really."

"No. With Jesse's temper."

[bethie88]

As Austin climbed out of the truck, he noticed that everyone was looking at him, worry in their eyes. "Doc said I'd be fine," Austin said. "So you can all quit looking like I just been diagnosed with, 'Oh-Lord-he's-gonna-die' disease."

Bo was trying to be serious, but Austin's pronouncement sent him into a laughing fit, which ended quickly when Jesse gave him 'the look.'

"Oh, shoot," Bo said. "We didn't do nothin' wrong, Jesse!"

"Sure you didn't!" Jesse said. "Do you know that if you hurt Tilly, we might be penniless until we can get her fixed?"

[virginiaxduke]

"But we didn't hurt her," Ginny gently reminded him. Renforcing the positive was always good. Especially when dealing with Jesse. "Black Tilly is just fine and so are Bo and I. In fact, I'd say I'm doing fine enough to make a run...."

The youngest of the Duke children, Ginny had yet to make a shine run. And she was just itching to go.

Bo couldn't help but scoff at that. Ginny was crazy prestering Jesse at a time like this. She was gonna get them both tanned.

[Jamanda]

"Oh Ginny dear," Jesse shook his head. "Not today. You best get inside and get supper ready."

"Oh shoot," Ginny grumbled, kicking the ground. "Sometimes I hate being a girl."

Madison was soon home to help, but seemed preoccupied with her own thoughts. After a while, all eight of them gathered around for dinner. Towards the end of the meal there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," said Madison.

She opened the door and frowned to see Sheriff Roach standing there. Her face lightened slightly to see Deputy Coltrane behind him.

"Well what a nice surprise Sheriff," Madison said. "To what do we owe this visit."

"We're investigating an explosion that happened out in the woods this afternoon," the Sheriff said.

"An explosion you say?" Jesse said, calmly. "I thought I heard something."

"Jesse Duke," said the Sheriff, mounting up to his full height. "If we find that it was a still that blew up out there..."

"That'd be awful hard to prove Sheriff," Rosco said, tapping the Sheriff on the back. "Seeing as it blew up and there ain't nothin' left out there."

"Can it you dipstick!" the Sheriff growled. "As I said Jesse, if I catch you Dukes with one drop of shine..."

"Well you ain't steppin' one foot on my land without a warrant," Jesse said calmly. "As the deputy says, there's nothing left from that explosion and you can't prove what caused it, or that we were even involved."

The Sherriff growled a bit, but saw he wasn't getting any information out of Jesse. As it always was when the law showed up, all the other Dukes kept quiet and let Jesse handle it. Dan kept his hands under the table and Austin had his hat low over his face, even though he usually didn't wear it in the house.

"All right," the Sherriff said. "Let's go Rosco."

"Have a nice day," grinned the deputy, tipping his hat to Madison, who blushed.

[virginiaxduke]

"Madison..." Samuel groaned, shaking his head. "Don't tell me you like the Sheriff."

"Now hold on..." Daniel grinned. "If Madison likes the Sheriff, that's her business. Besides, it would sure help to keep him off our backs."

"True...true..."

"Hey, Madison." Bo grinned. "Quick! Run after him!"

[bethie88]

Austin's cowboy hat was pulled down low over his face, but he could still see what was going on. That Sheriff had every intention of checking out the still site.

"Well, Jesse," the Sheriff said. "I'll just go get a warrent if you don't let me look."

Austin almost laughed. The Sheriff was stupid if he thought Jesse was going to let it go that easily. "Well now, Sheriff," he said in an extra slow drawl he only used when he was angry, or just trying to be tough. "I don't see where you can get the judge to give you a warrant. Ain't no reason to check around here other than the grudge you got against Jesse. So, I figure you might as well just go back to town."

He nodded politely. "See ya, Rosco," he said.

Then he stood up and walked to his room, suddenly feeling a little tired. He figured it was from the wearing off of the rush and shock in his system. Bo followed him.

[virginiaxduke]

Standing in the doorway of their bedroom, Bo fixed his gaze on his older brother. He didn't like how tired his brother looked -- especially when mixed with the injuries he had sustained. "You all right, Austin?"

Carefully moving away from the door, he came and sat down on his own bed, now looking at Austin head on. "You seem a little worn out."