Mighty Oak

[countrygirl1986]

"I should have warned you that you should have used a hook and chain, hooking it to the front axil, but I didn't think you had either, so I kept quiet. Ain't like i'd have felt it anyway," she added, and relaxed a little on the ground. "Well actually, I should say I wouldn't have felt it right away, But thanks Chance, Thank you MaryAnne," Hilery called to the Deputy who had operated the Bronco during her freeing. "Say, Doc, you got a CB in that there vehicle?" She asked, looking from the automobile to the Hazzard PHysician before placing a surprisingly pretty clean hankerchief against her head. The rag she used for her hands during and after work was in her other pocket.

[MaryAnne]

When the rope had let go, the Bronco had slid back and MaryAnne hit the brakes. Fearing the worst had happened when the car crashed back down, MaryAnne jumped out of the truck and came around the other car to find that Chance and Hilery were okay and for that she was greatly relieved.

Absently rubbing the bump on her head, MaryAnne looked at Chance, awaiting the answer to Hilery's question.

[pendragon1980]

"Yeah, Hil, I have a CB, and its about time I put it to use." After making certain Hilary was as comfortable as possible, Chance walked over to the truck and grabbed the CB mic. Before speaking into it, however, she told MaryAnne. "If you feel up to it, I'd like to get you and Hilery back to my office as quickly as possible, I've no doubt that you two won't be my only patients today."

Speaking into the mic, the sound of Chance's voice crackled and came over the CB station, over the channel used both by the doctor's and sheriff's offices, since both were used for emergencies.

"This is Doc Walker. If anyone's in the offices can hear me, come in." When noone answered, Chance repeated it, a little more forcefully. "This is Doc. Who's minding the store? I got MaryAnne and Hilery with me. Is anyone there?"

[countrygirl1986]

"Chance, I got some bad news for you, you're house was destroyed by a couple of twisters." Cooter replied, glad the doctor was back in Hazzard, then relized what she had said. "Doc, did I read you right? You say you found Hilery and MaryAnne?"

[pendragon1980]

WHAT?!

At Cooter's annoucement, Chance nearly dropped the mic. Now it was her turn to let loose a ripe curseword. Shaking her head, Chance recovered enough to say. "uh..Yeah, They're both as well as be can expected. Hilery's has a broken leg and they both have minor concussions. I'll be bringing them into town as soon as I splint Hil's leg."

Then Chance realized they had a bigger problem. "Cooter, with no access to the office, I'll need to set up a trauma center for incoming patients. What's the damage there over? Are there many injured?"

[countrygirl1986]

"Well, most of the injured have been taken up to tricounty. Bo, Luke, and Daisy were among them, as well as Rosco. Several other folks to my knowledge are there too. Hazzard was practically ripped apart. Far as I know, the Court House is still standing. If you need to, you are more than welcome to use my farm but I don't know if it's still standing. It should be." Cooter told her over the CB.

[pendragon1980]

"Tricounty? I just came from there." Dammit, Chance thought, I should have been here. She frowned at Cooter rattled off the list of friends who had been injured.

"No, Cooter. I need a central location. Tell you what, let me get to town and we'll go from there. We should be there in less than an hour. Doc out."

After finishing the conversation, Chance replaced the mic and returned to Hilery. Squatting down next to her friend, Chance looked concerned. "Hil, I'm gonna have to set and splint your leg before I can move you to the truck. It's gonna hurt, but it can't be helped. "

[countrygirl1986]

"Shouldn't too much doc, you did give me that medication that numbed it." HIlery said, understanding completely. "Go ahead."

Chance felt Hilery's leg, looking for the break, which she found quite easily. Then she took a very deep breath, as did Hilery as she put the bone in place. Even with as numb as her leg was, she still felt it, and gritted her teeth.

"There, that should put it in place. Now to splint it." Chance said, and grabbed the two pieces of wood she had brought over from her bronco, and placed them along the sides of Hilery's leg. "Could you hold those there for a moment?" Hilery nodded as Chance started to tie it. The doctor knew Hilery felt that too when she took in a sharp breath after tieing it tight. "Sorry Hil, it had to be done."

"I know it did," Hilery replied.

"MaryAnne, could you do me a big favor and help me carry her over to the Bronco?"

*Doctor Chance Walker is used with permisson*

[MaryAnne]

Had MaryAnne been in her right mind, she would have reacted more to hearing Rosco's name among the injured that Cooter listed off over the radio. Being that as she wasn't, and everything Hilery had told her ealier was now just a jumble of echoing words, MaryAnne could only be generally, yet genuinely concerned for the folks, not knowing that one of them was her kin.

She looked at Chance however, and nodded in answer to her question. "Of course..."

[StuntMan23]

At the same time at Tri-County, things were still in an organized chaos. Cully sat alone in the waiting area, watching as people went in and came out of the ER, looking to check on friends and family. The white haired man with overalls had gone in and come out twice, and by the second time his face looked more relieved. He told a group of gathered young people that Bo, Luke and Daisy would be okay. As he sat down, it was obvious that he was greatly relieved.

It was over an hour after he had brought Rosco in and he decided he would check on how his cousinw as doing. Although his arm was starting to really hurt by now, he ignored the pain and stood up, walking to the ER.

Rosco was awake and he looked over as Cully came into the room.

"How ya feelin'?" Cully asked.

"Splendid," Rosco answered sarcastically.

"That's the spirit."

"I wanna git outta here," Rosco continued. "I gotta county to attend to. I got kin to attend to. Do you have any idea where MaryAnne is? Or Brian?"

Cully shook his head. "No. Hell, I'm lucky I found you."

"That's what bothers me. They ain't here, which means they're out there somewhere and Lord knows what's happened to them." Rosco closed his eyes, pushing away the terrible thoughts. "Cully, ya gotta do me a favor."

"Name it."

"Find them. Find out where they are. At least find out if they're okay."

Cully nodded. "I'll do what I can."

"Find Enos or Cletus, they're two of my deputies. They'll help ya."

"Awright. Don't git yerself all head up, Rosco, I'm sure they're all right."

"I hope so."

[Brian Coltrane]

While everyone else in Hazzard was getting counted up and accounted for, one stray Coltrane roamed around loose. Diablo had made it through the terrible storms with nothing more than a broken CB antenna, thanks to the secure parking spot in the alley between two brick buildings. Now, the big Chevy trundled slowly through the damaged town, driving carefully around fallen trees, utility poles, and scattered debris.

There was no sign of MaryAnne. She hadn't been in the courthouse when the storm hit....and she had not been found at the bank. By Brian's estimates, MaryAnne should have been in town when the whole thing happened.

He stopped Diablo in front of Rhuebottom's general store, which looked torn asunder. After asking a few townsfolk if MaryAnne had been seen going in there - and getting no clear answers - Brian decided to check it out. He had to move around shelves that had fallen over, and move merchandise that was piled in heaps.

There was nowhere to put anything, hardly any room to walk, so he began to pile things outside the door. Diablo was parked in front of the store, not far from the displaced goods. Busy with the search, Brian gave no thought to how this appeared on the street. Looting was the furthest thought from his mind...

(cue a coincidence! Doc, MaryAnne, Hil, you wouldn't happen to be rolling into down about now, would you...)

[pendragon1980]

(forgive a little character control here, Deputy)

With the help of MarYAnne, Chance carefully lifted Hilery and placed her in the backseat of the Bronco, being ever mindful of the splinted leg. Once the patient was secure and comfortable, the doctor and deputy headed for town. THe Bronco, however, wasn't built for speed and the trip was slowed due to debris on the road or the occasional fallen tree.

In due course, the Bronco arrived in town. Chance's blue eyes widened as she took in the damage. "Hazzard really got hit, didn't it?" Inwardly, she prayed for the safety and health of her friends and neighbors.

Finally, a famailar black Chevy came into view, with its owner outside, his back turned from the street as he was placing boxes on the curb outside the general store. Chance slowed the Bronco alongside. Grinning slightly in her relief to see at least one friend accounted for, Chance couldn't resist saying...

"Well, at least I see the storm didn't change some things. Getting the badguy discount, are we, Brian?"

[Brian Coltrane]

"Huh?" Brian glanced over his shoulder at the voice, and saw Chance grinning at him from the driver's side of the Bronco. His quick glance was focused on the driver, who was closest to him - he never noticed the passengers.

"Aw hell...it ain't how it looks," he answered, turning back to the task at hand. "Doc, I'm glad you're awright - that's one prayer answered. But nobody's seen hide nor hair of MaryAnne or Hilery..."

Brian ducked back inside the store, and there was the sound of something heavy being moved around. He carried out a color TV set and sat it on the sidewalk, not looking up. "I been askin' all over town, n' nobody's seen 'em for sure. Figure if they're anywhere to be found, it's under some heap of wreckage. That'd be just like MaryAnne, too. Git herself buried alive under a thousand pounds of junk....@#%&*...."

Despite the cussing, the dire concern was obvious. After noisly shoving out more merchandise, Brian paused for breath, leaning against a shelving unit he'd pulled from the mess. "Gah...I nevah knew how much inventory they had in stock here, until I'm havin' to pick through it! Doc, if you see 'em....let me know, eh?"

With that, Brian continued his clearance of the store, trying to work back to the worst of the damage. In the back of his distracted mind, he wondered why Chance seemed to smirk at him. Well, he couldn't worry about it....MaryAnne could be buried under yesterday's overstock sale of toasters. Intent on his quest for life beneath a mountain of small appliances, he didn't notice the figure standing at the doorway, observing his behavior....

(cue MaryAnne! If you feel like getting out of the truck. Heh heh.)

[countrygirl1986]

(excuse me, i hope no one minds if I butt in here )

Hilery couldn't help but to giggle lowly, so he couldn't hear, while watching Brian rummage through the stuff. She almost had the nerve to call out and ask what he was looking for, and to add that nothing but the TV and toasters were worth pawning. She also wondered how long it would take before he noticed MaryAnne and herself. Boy this was going to be funny. She even wondered if he would do something like saying, **I'm looking for MaryAnne and Hilery, MaryAnne,** when she asked what he was doing. Boy that would be funny. Stupid but funny.

(back to your schedualed cue)

[pendragon1980]

"Let you know? That shouldn't be too much of a problem. If you could desist for a moment..." Smiling, Chance cleared her throat to get Brian's attention and pointed to her passengers. She glanced over at MaryAnne. "In case you haven't remembered by now, your cousin rarely misses much." She said, grinning wryly.

[DaneyDuke]

(Miss Jax gave permission for Min and Ian to be mentioned)

A pair of weathered hands grabbed the cb mike off the box on the stand in the kitchen. Min and Ian were helping Bo and Luke get comfortable in their room. Daisy had already settled on the couch. The boys had insisted on her being tended to first upon the family’s arrival home. Nate had borrowed Jesse’s old shine car to go on a business meeting that he hadn’t been able to get out of.

“Shepard to Scout…†Jesse called. He waited several minutes before repeating the words. He put the mike after still no answer. He walked into the living and got a small knife and unfinished whittled creation from the bookshelf. He went over and sat down in the rocking chair.

Meanwhile in town, Daney had ditched the Game Warden Val and her brother Enos Strate. She called the hospital from the telephone company and been informed that her family had been released. Since there was no answering machine at the farm, she left a message for with Mabel for her family. There were still people missing that she cared about.

She had strolled to the boutique that had survived Mother Nature’s wrath. She hastily grabbed some clothes from a rack and hurried to the dressing room. She changed from her torn, dirty tank top and jeans to a black peasant blouse and shorts. She left a note on the counter for Mrs. Hedstrand to charge the garments to the family account.

Daney reached her hands up to her neck and held onto the silver chain. The brightness reflecting in a wall mirror reminded her of Mary Anne’s smile. Her lips pressed together to stop tears from forming in her hazel eyes or falling on her cheeks. She knew her family was awright but not her best friends. She took a deep breath and ran into the street. Her platform boots barely making contact with the pavement with each step that Daney took toward the police department.

Daney caught a glimpse of Hunter, her dark green Plymouth Duster parked across from the pool hall just before she changed direction. Something lead her to Rhuebottom’s General Store. Blurry vision and dizziness slowed her pace. She stumbled blindly toward voices. One, an unmistakable thick, male city drawl. The other, a soft female country tone. Feeling safe, she called out to the people. “MaryAnne, Chance, Hilery, Brian!â€

Another vehicle came screeching up behind the black Ford Bronco before anyone answered… Two gentlemen who looked exactly alike got out.

(Cue MaryAnne!!!!)

[MaryAnne]

Although MaryAnne was missing most of her memory at the moment, Chance was right. She didn't miss much else. And, with wearing a police uniform she knew she had various duties to attend to. Before Daney and the other car came screeching up, MaryAnne had stepped out of the Bronco and stood at the door way to the store, watching as Brian pilfered through the stuff. With one hand on her hip, the other resting on the butt of her gun in it's holster, she said in an authorative drawl....

"You got a lot of gall to come into a town after a disaster and steal things from folks."

(Cue Brian!)

[Brian Coltrane]

Startled by the unexpected voice behind him, Brian spun around, toaster in hand, and beheld the sight of his cousin. The relief of seeing her alive and well caused him to overlook her aggresive stance. He took MaryAnne's words for a joke and sauntered up to her, dragging a toaster by the cord behind him. The appliance scraped across the floor like child's pull-toy.

Brian stood in front of MaryAnne and smiled broadly. The fact that she had greeted him with such sass didn't phase him; the age-old game of cops and robbers happened to be a Coltrane favorite. Unaware of MaryAnne's missing marbles, Brian reached out and flicked her badge with a tiny ping, giving his best badass grin. He squared his shoulders and straightened his spine, the black leather jacket hanging open and ready to reach into. It was all a mock threat, but since MaryAnne was teasing him by having her hand resting on her gun, what the hell.

"If it aint' the long arm of the law," he said to her, giving a drawl right back. "Here to nail me with a charge of Grand Theft Toaster. Well, you'll nevah take me alive, Deputy. "

(Cue MaryAnne! apologies to the rest of ya'll, but let us have a couple volleys back n' forth...n' then we'll open 'er right back up!)

[MaryAnne]

MaryAnne had looked down at her badge after Brian pinged it and slowly turned her eyes up to look at him. Who the hell was this dude, flicking a deputy's badge and standing there like a peacock in strut with nothing more than a contraband toaster? Was he kidding??

He seemed kind of familar, but MaryAnne figured maybe she'd met up with this smarmy thief before. If MaryAnne could remember, she'd know who he was and would have had a witty reply. Instead, his stance and open jacket weighted down by unseen objects hidden within, set off every deep seeded cop alarm in her brain. She took a careful step back and the gun came out of the holster. "You're under arrest. Gitcher hands up against that car," she ordered, pointing toward the black Chevy with her other hand.

(Cue Brian!)

[Brian Coltrane]

Nothing removed a grin as effectively as a loaded gun, and Brian's smile evaporated. The blue ice in MaryAnne's eyes stared him down and dared him to twitch the wrong way. Evidently, something was amiss...and boy howdy, it was amiss in a big way.

The adam's apple of Brian's throat made a short bob, the tight swallow showing his tension. He gave a sigh and let his shoulders slump down, the body language indicating surrender. "Awright," he said quietly, and dropped his dark eyes to the sidewalk. He took a slow step back, and made as if to turn towards the car....

....but he still held the toaster cord in his right hand, and suddenly he swung his arm back in reverse-whip motion, the backswing bringing the toaster up by the cord to knock the barrel of the gun towards the sky. The appliance met pistol with a jarring impact, the immediate BLAM! sending a bullet skyward.

Brian followed through with the motion, winding back for another trick. This time, he let go of the appliance cord halfway through the loop, pitching the toaster underhand at MaryAnne's midsection while she was still off-balance. It wouldn't really hurt her, but it would sincerely piss her off. In any case, she'd have to catch it out of self-defense.

The toaster sailed at MaryAnne, and Brian dove back into Rhuebottom's, hurdling over the scattered merchandise and performing one of his better leaps for freedom over a fallen shelving unit. He heard noisy commotion from the store's entrance, and knew that unless he found a fast exit, he was going to be...toast.

Escape came in the form of a side window, which Brian smashed open by heaving a paint can at it. He was through it and gone in an instant, running down the alley as fast as his boots could take him. Which, given the incentive he had, was pretty darn fast.

(Cue MaryAnne! )

[MaryAnne]

After the gun had been knocked skyward, MaryAnne only had a few seconds to see the toaster coming back toward her. Instinctively she turned her face away and put her arms up to block it, pistol still in hand, and the metal applicance crashed against her before she pushed it away. The toaster fell to the concrete of the sidewalk and MaryAnne looked in time to see Brian take his escape through Rhuebottom's store.

"ARGH!! You sonofa---!! I'll git you!!" She jammed the gun back into her holster. Before she took off after him, Daney had come up and Cully's battered Pontiac had come to a screeching halt behind Chance's Bronco. MaryAnne ignored the new comers and charged after Brian, following his path through the store and going out the same window he had.

Rosco and Cully both did a double take, seeing MaryAnne take off after....something. Rosco looked to Dr. Walker and Hilery for an explanation....and was immediately troubled by the alarmed looks on their faces.

"What the heck's going on?" he asked.

(Cue anybody!!)

[pendragon1980]

"Oh, for the love of....* Chance said for gritted teeth.

She had watched the confrontation with growing dismay, praying that her patient wasn't about to grow by a couple of Coltranes. When MaryAnne took off, the young doctor first instinct was to go after them. But she still had Hilery to take care of and MaryAnne's amensia could'nt be helped for the moment, certainly her concussion couldn't have too serious for her to have charged after her cousin like that. She choose instead to inform the sheriffs of recent events.

"There was a little misunderstanding between MaryAnne and Brian. She went after him..." Chance paused and then added. "Rosco, MaryAnne had experienced a concussion earlier and has amensia. She may actually hurt Brian, or vice versa. I'll help round the both of them up if I can. I'll even relieve MaryAnne of duty if I have to, as a licensed physican, I can do that." Chance hoped it wouldn't come to that.

[MaryAnne]

"Amnesia?" Rosco said. "Oh Lord..."

"She probably don't know who Brian is anymore than she knows who *she* is," Cully said.

"That's what's worryin' me...'specially if she's runnin' on full cop mode." Rosco looked at Chance. "Listen, take care of Hilery here, Cully and I will round up Brian and MaryAnne and we'll get MaryAnne over to you as soon as we can."

"Like she's gonna know who the hell we are," Cully said. "She'll think she's got double vision or something---"

"Will you just hush and git!" Rosco turned Cully back to the Grand Prix. The two cousins hurried into the car.

Meanwhile, MaryAnne was losing steam. Her momentary fury over being duped by the toaster thief was giving way to a roaring headache that intensified with each pounding of bootsteps she took. She tried to ignore the pain, but was soon overrun by it and brought to her knees. She looked up and saw that Brian was about 15 yards ahead of her and just about to the end of the alley that spilled out onto the street. *Next time,* she thought as she put her head down in her hands. *I"ll get 'em next time....*

(*ahem* I uh...fergot about the concussion part. Maybe Coltranes got hard heads. Makes sense...in more ways than one. ROFL. Anyway... Brian? Ya out there son? LOL)

[Brian Coltrane]

Brian ran without looking back. The end of the alley opened up to a sidestreet behind Rhuebottom's, but this put him out into the open without any cover. He couldn't risk cutting back over to Diablo; there were too many people hanging around the store, and the fuss between him and MaryAnne had probably drawn attention.

Brian turned the corner, flattened his back against a building, and heaved in a few breaths. For the life of him, he didn't know what to do. What the hell had gotten into MaryAnne? It seemed she truly thought him guilty of looting the store...or worse. And in his playing around, he had done nothing to speak of his innocence. If anything, he had convinced her of his guilt.

"Aw, man..." he muttered to himself. Well, he'd found MaryAnne, that was for damn sure. And now, he couldn't afford for her to find HIM.

Vaguely, he thought of trying to find Rosco over in Tri-County to explain things...but if MaryAnne was after him, and believed him guilty, Rosco would be more likely to take her side of the story than his. If he faced any of his kin right now, he'd risk ending up in handcuffs. That's assuming MaryAnne didn't reduce him to a chalk outline on the street after the unfortunate Toaster Incident. He felt bad about pulling that move, but criminal instinct had taken over.

Just as MaryAnne's cop-instinct had taken her over, for reasons he didn't understand. With a heavy heart, Brian left the scant cover behind the building, and ran across the backstreet, heading for a row of strom-damaged houses. He had to hide somewhere. Fast....

(cue anybody!)

[DaneyDuke]

(Co authored with the Deputy)

Daney stood in quiet ponderment of what had just transpired. Her vision had cleared about the same moment that MaryAnne went off after Brian. The incident bothered her deeply. *Does this mean I am gonna have to choose one over the other?* She shivered and her blood run cold.

She shook her head and looked at Rosco. He was the only one she trusted to get his kin and not make a bigger fracas. "Would you like my help or you want me to stay here, sir?" She asked.

Rosco turned back to Daney. He paused in thought. "Yeah," he said. "And actually..." He looked at Cully. "Seeing you've got a car, why don't you go up the street there where the alley ends. Daney and I can go around back of Rhuebottom's here and check out the other direction."

Cully nodded. "You got it." He got into the car and guided the Pontiac down the street, past Cooter's garage and down the street that turned into those same storm damaged houses Brian had just made a bee line for.

Rosco looked at Daney and waved for her to follow him.

"Take it easy," Daney yelled to Chance and Hilery. She saw Val and Enos run up behind the black truck before taking careful steps behind the Sheriff. She hoped that Cully wouldn't get lost or stuck in a tight spot from trees being down, parts of buildings scattered everywhere.

Dukes had always been known for having a sixth sense when one of them was in trouble... Coltranes did too. Daney almost bumped into Rosco as he stopped. A figure was several yards in front of them.

It was MaryAnne and Rosco didn't stand still for long. He hurried his steps and approached her. "Are you awright?" he asked. MaryAnne looked up at the two people approaching. She noticed the man was wearing a police uniform like her, but she didn't know who he was. The girl she didn't recognize either. "I have the most horrendous headache you can imagine...and some schmuck just tried to steal a toaster from the store back there."

Rosco snorted. "That schmuck happens to be your cousin."

MaryAnne stared at him. "Huh?"

"It'll all make sense to you in time. In the meantime tho', I'm Rosco and this is Daney. Do you recognize either one of us?"

MaryAnne rubbed her throbbing head and studied the two faces that looked at her. This was starting to get scary. She didn't know *anybody*. She shook her head hesitantly. "No...."

"Do you know who you are?" he asked.

"Everybody keeps callin' me MaryAnne."

Rosco nodded. "That's your name. You're MaryAnne Coltrane. My last name's Coltrane. The "schmuck" you were just chasin' after is Brian Coltrane. We're all cousins."

MaryAnne blinked. She turned and looked down the alley where Brian had disappeared and then looked back to the Sheriff. She said nothing, because she didn't know what to say.

"Rosco, if MaryAnne will let me, I'll take her back to Chance and," Daney paused. The way the Deputy had peered at the alley seemed to indicate Brian's directions.

She lifted a hand and pointed toward the alley, certain of the feeling she had. "You'll find Brian and Cully down thatta way." Daney gave Rosco a small confidant smile; she could see the worry on his face. She was scared but there came a time when everyone person had to step to the plate and be strong. She had learned from MaryAnne.

Rosco looked down the alley and a little relief seemed to come to the corners of his mouth. "I think yer right," he said. He looked at MaryAnne. "MaryAnne, sweetheart, Daney here will take you to Dr. Walker. She'll help you get rid of your headache..." *and hopefully we can figure out how to get MaryAnne her memory back.*

MaryAnne rubbed at her temple again. "That would be nice..." she said. MaryAnne stepped toward Daney and Rosco smiled. As the two girls headed out of the alley, he walked the other way.

(Cue Cully)