blind3

Blind Man's Bluff

Now, while Bo was enjoyin' his little 'vacation', across town ol' Rosco was havin' a bad day. Truth be told, he was worried about Bo. Now, there's never been any love lost between the Dukes and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, but it ain't exactly hatred, neither. Oh, there was no doubt that Rosco's fondest dreams were of the Duke boys behind bars. But that's a far cry from wishing them hurt. Seeing Bo unconscious yesterday had really shook him. And he'd seen how Bo'd been flailing around trying to find Luke when he first woke up. It looked to him like the boy couldn't see.

He really wanted to find out how Bo was doin', but couldn't figure out how to do it. It just wouldn't do for him to go callin' out at the Duke farm all friendly-like, when he'd been at least partly responsible for Bo getting' hurt in the first place. And besides, what would people think? He couldn't be seen to be goin' soft on those chronic lawbreakers!

"No, sir! No, we can't go soft on them, can we, Flash?"

The basset hound looked up at the sound of her name. Rosco picked her up and sat down in the chair with the dog in his lap. Lord, he loved that dog. Sometimes it seemed like she was the only one in the world who cared about him. She'd look up at him with those big brown eyes and he felt loved. Of course, that was also kinda why he was so shook up over Bo. The way Luke had turned so fierce when he'd realized Bo was hurt. No force of nature or man could have stopped him from getting Bo to help; he'd've carried his cousin to the hospital if he'd had to. If it had been him, Rosco didn't think anybody would have even cared, unless Boss wanted him to do something. Even his mama didn't seem to think much of him, just bossed him around at home just like Boss did here at work. He wished he had somebody to care about him �

Rosco was still sitting there moping an hour later when Boss came in bursting with excitement.

"I've found him, Rosco!"

The booming voice startled Rosco out of his thoughts. "Uh, found who, Boss?"

Hogg was grinning from ear to ear. "The man who's gonna make me rich."

// Oh, Lord, another of his schemes � // Rosco was not in the mood for this right now. When he didn't respond, Hogg frowned at him.

"Rosco? Ain't you gonna ask me how?"

Rosco figured he'd better play along. "Sure thing, Boss. How's he gonna make you rich?"

"By beatin' the Dukes in the big race two weekends from now, that's how!"

Rosco had forgotten all about the upcoming Hazzard County Fair, which among other things featured the biggest race of the year. In which Bo Duke was the hands down favorite to win. Or at least had been �

"Um, Boss � there's somethin' you might want to know about that �"

"What? You know somethin', Rosco?"

"Um, yes, well, you see, yesterday afternoon I was chasin' the Dukes and they kind of had an accident �"

Boss's face turned 5 shades of red. "You mean they didn't get away from you for once? Why aren't they in the jail?"

Rosco gritted his teeth; Boss wasn't going to like this. "Um, well, you see, Bo got hurt pretty bad, so I took them to the hospital first �"

Boss stared at him in shock. "You WHAT? Rosco, what was you thinkin'?"

Rosco swallowed hard. "Boss, you didn't see the look on Luke's face when Bo wouldn't wake up. He woulda gone right through me to get Bo to help �"

Boss frowned. Sometimes Rosco was such a wimp. "So how bad is he hurt?"

Rosco shook his head. "I'm not sure, Boss, but he woke up right when we got to the hospital and it seemed like he couldn't see �"

Boss's eyes lit up at that. "Couldn't see? Well, well, well! Now that could work out just dandy!"

Now it was Rosco's turn to frown. He knew Hoggs and Dukes were enemies, but still, he couldn't believe Boss would be happy that Bo was blind. "Boss? You don't mean you're glad he's hurt, do you?"

That got Rosco a dirty look. "Now listen here, Rosco. If it puts them Dukes at a disadvantage, I'm all for it. I made a BIG bet with Beauregard Smith, the Commissioner of Chickasaw County, on this race. And with Rusty Davis driving for us, even Bo Duke would have trouble winning that race. With Bo out of the picture, and Luke all worried about him, well, things couldn't be better! And we shook on the bet this very afternoon, so if Bo can't race, Smith can't weasel out of the bet!"

Rosco couldn't believe what he was hearin'. "Rusty Davis? The one who was run off the NASCAR circuit for pullin' too many dirty tricks?"

Boss grinned. "The very man."

Rosco frowned. "But Boss, they won't let him race! He's been banned �"

Sometimes even Boss couldn't believe how slow ol' Rosco could be. "Well, he ain't registerin' for the race under his own name, Rosco! We're the only ones who know who he really is!"

"Oh! Right!" Rosco couldn't think of anything else to say.

Thoroughly satisfied, Boss turned to head out. "Now that's the way I like to start a morning, with good news! I think it's time to continue it with a snack. I'm headed over to the Boar's Nest �"

As Boss left, Rosco sat there with Flash, wonderin' how this was all gonna play out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By lunchtime, Bo was bored out of his mind. Luke and Uncle Jesse had gone out after breakfast to clean up after last night's storm. Daisy had done some laundry in the morning, then headed into town for supplies. He'd turned on the TV, but hearing the sound without the pictures just didn't work. Then he'd turned on the radio; music had always been a comfort to him, and that worked for a while. But then he'd heard a commercial for the County Fair and the big race coming up and realized that unless something changed pretty quick, he wasn't going to be able to drive it. And that depressed him something fierce. So he shut the radio off and stretched out on the couch, feeling sorry for himself.

Luke headed back up to the house in mid-afternoon; he couldn't stand being away from Bo for so long. But when he walked into the living room, he found Bo stretched out on the couch, eyes closed, apparently asleep. Glad that Bo was getting some rest, he crept quietly back toward the kitchen to get himself a sandwich.

"I ain't asleep, Luke, you don't have to creep around all quiet-like."

Bo's voice startled him, stopping him in his tracks. "Dang it, Bo! How'd you know it was me?"

Bo didn't move, didn't even open his eyes. "Well, Daisy's footsteps are real light, and besides she went into town to get some more laundry soap and some stuff for dinner. And Uncle Jesse moves a lot slower than you do. Amazing what you can figure out just from listenin'."

Luke grinned, impressed by Bo's resourcefulness. "You don't say!"

Bo just shrugged. "You wouldn't believe how many weird noises this old house makes. You'd almost think it was haunted."

Luke outright laughed at that, and was rewarded by a ghost of a smile playing across Bo's lips. But it disappeared almost as fast as it came, and Luke realized that Bo was definitely not his usual self. He walked around the couch towards his lover. "Bo? You ok?"

Bo heard him coming and sat up, making room on the couch for Luke. He let out a heavy sigh as Luke's arm wrapped around his shoulders. "I'm bored, Luke. Ain't nothin' useful around here I can do. All I can do is just sit here and listen and think �"

Luke hugged him. Bo was the sort who always had to be doin' something, preferably something useful. He wasn't comfortable with this enforced inactivity. He could definitely see Bo getting a little stir-crazy over the next couple of days. But before he could say something comforting, Bo went on.

"I was listenin' to the radio till they had a commercial for the County Fair race. Luke? What if my sight don't come back? What am I gonna do then?"

Bo's voice was shaky with fear, and it nearly broke Luke's heart. He reached out and caught Bo's face between his hands, lifting it so he could look into those sightless eyes.

"Bo, honey, listen to me. It ain't gonna happen like that. First of all, you might still drive that race; they said it would take about a week. Worst case, if I have to, I can drive this time. It's just one race. But in the long run, you're gonna be just fine, you just got to give it a little time. Have faith, Bo. Don't be askin' for trouble that ain't here yet. You hear me?"

From the kitchen, Jesse watched them. Bo's fear and helplessness went straight to his heart; he wished there were something he could do for the boy to ease his worries. But he realized that this time, it wasn't his place to ease Bo's hurts. He'd been a father to both of them for so long it was a little hard to let go. But now Luke was the one Bo needed, maybe always had been. Jesse found himself blinking back tears at the gentle way Luke pulled Bo to him, holding him close, one hand gently stroking the soft blond hair as he kissed Bo's forehead.

After a little while, Bo pulled away a bit and lifted his face from Luke's shoulder. One hand came up to caress Luke's cheek, drawing him down into a kiss. Jesse felt the heat of embarrassment rising up his neck as he realized what they were doing. He quickly turned away, not wanting to intrude. But then he turned back, his curiosity getting the better of him. He knew they were lovers, but this was the first time he'd REALLY seen it. After his initial angry reaction, they'd been careful not to be too physically affectionate around him. Oh, he'd noticed the way they were always touching, how they stood closer together. But they'd made sure he'd never seen them actually kissing or anything. And so now he watched with an odd fascination as their kiss grew more and more passionate.

As they kissed, Bo felt something swelling inside him; as if all the worry he'd been building up all day wanted out, and the only way to get rid of it was to lose himself in Luke. His need, his hunger, grew as his kissed his beloved cousin. But he knew this couldn't happen right now; Luke had to get back to work, and besides Uncle Jesse might come in for lunch at any moment. So reluctantly, he pulled himself away.

"I'm sorry, Luke � I guess I got carried away there for a minute. You got to get back to work."

Luke gently caressed his face, rough with a day's growth of beard. "Not on your life, Bo. Ain't nothin' I got to do out there more important than bein' with you right now. I just wish Uncle Jesse weren't around; I'd take your mind off your troubles for a good while �"

Jesse made a snap decision. Later on he realized he could have crept out and come back in, banging the door to let them know he was there, but he didn't think of that at the time. Instead he just coughed, clearing his throat.

"You boys take all the time you need. I'm headed into town � and I'll tell Daisy not to rush back neither �"

Both heads shot up at the unexpected sound. "Uncle Jesse?" They both spoke as one, then Luke continued, "How long you been standin' there?"

Although the red glow of Jesse's face answered that question, he managed to stammer out "L � long enough �"

He knew they had to be worried about his reaction, even though he'd long since changed his mind about their relationship, so he came into the room and gently placed his hand on Bo's shoulder.

"Everything's gonna be alright, son. We're all here for you, you know that. But I think right now you two need each other, so I'll just get out of your hair for a while."

His eyes met Luke's, who responded with a grateful smile. "Thanks, Uncle Jesse," Luke said softly.

Jesse just nodded and gave Bo's shoulder a squeeze before turning to leave.

As they listened to Jesse's pickup truck pulling away, Luke turned back to Bo. "Now where was we?"

Bo smiled shyly; truth be told, he was deeply touched by Jesse's words, and his understanding of how much they meant to each other. And then Luke was kissing him again, and as promised he forgot all about his worries �

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jesse caught up to Daisy at the General Store and warned her to take her time before going home. Luckily she'd caught on quickly to what he was telling her so he hadn't had to further embarrass himself. Then he'd wandered into the park and found a bench and settled in to enjoy the springtime sun � and to think.

He'd felt something strange and unfamiliar back there at the house watching Bo and Luke; it was what had made him turn back despite his embarrassment. He'd felt a thrill at seeing them kissing. He'd known since he was young that girls just didn't do anything for him. But back then, the choice his boys had made hadn't been an option, not for someone like him. And so all his life he'd pushed that part of him aside, convincing himself that it just wasn't his lot in life to enjoy that particular vice, except for that one night ... Oh, he'd taken things into his own hands many times, his thoughts focused on an unnamed, faceless imaginary male lover. But he'd never even considered that he might still have an opportunity for a real lover, somebody who would touch him with the gentleness he'd seen when Luke touched Bo; somebody who would kiss him with the kind of passion he'd seen this afternoon.

"Jesse? What on Earth are you thinkin' about so hard?"

The voice startled him out of his thoughts. "Cooter? Where'd you come from?"

Cooter laughed. "The Post Office. I saw you sittin' there when I went in half an hour ago, and you're still here now. So what's on your mind? OH! Hey! Is Bo ok?"

Cooter's voice got all worried-sounding as he remembered what had happened yesterday. But then, if it was that bad, Jesse wouldn't be here in town �"

Jesse saw the worry in Cooter's eyes. "He's ok, Cooter. Just a bit shook up. He and Luke just needed some time, you know �"

Cooter nodded knowingly. He still got a kick out of the fact that they'd become lovers; to him, right from the beginning it had seemed obvious that they belonged together. Which was too bad, because he wouldn't have minded spending a little quality time with Luke. But who was he to interfere with 'True Love?' He turned his attention back to Jesse.

"So if it's not Bo, what's on your mind?"

Jesse sighed. Did he want to talk about this? Of course, Cooter knew the full story of why he'd reacted so badly to Bo's revelation that he was gay, seeing as how Cooter had accidentally gotten caught in the crossfire between him and Daisy the day after the boys left. There really wasn't anybody else who knew. So if he was going to talk to anybody, it had to be Cooter.

"You know with Bo not bein' able to see, he's got to be mighty scared, Cooter. Oh, he hides it well, but I know he's scared. Well, when I came up to the house for lunch, Luke was � comforting him � if you know what I mean �"

Cooter nodded. "You still don't like it, do you, Jesse?"

Jesse shook his head. "No, it's not that, Cooter. Really. Seeing them together today would've convinced me if I wasn't already convinced they did the right thing. No. It's just that seein' them like that made me wish I had somebody to love me like that. Now don't get me wrong, I loved Martha, we had a good life together. But that piece of it was never there, that � " Jesse floundered for a moment, looking for the word. "Passion."

Cooter looked at Jesse, his eyebrows high with surprise. "Jesse, are you tellin' me you never �?"

Jesse shrugged. "I made the only choice a man could make back then, Cooter. Live the lie with Martha, or be run out of town. But I'm beginnin' to realize that times are changing. I didn't really have a choice then � but I'm startin' to wonder if I might have one now?"

There were enough people around that this conversation was starting to make Cooter nervous. "Jesse, I think maybe we ought to take this conversation someplace more private? Times may be changin', but they still ain't changed THAT much!"

Jesse glanced around, suddenly becoming aware of his surroundings. He really had been off in a fog there for a while. "You got a point there, Cooter."

The mechanic got up and nodded towards his garage across the street.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unknown to Jesse and Cooter, they'd already been overheard. Rosco was in the park taking Flash for her daily constitutional drag. Luke � 'comforting' Bo? 'If you know what I mean?' The way Jesse said it made Rosco wonder. He remembered how panicked Luke was at the accident yesterday, and how he'd held on to Bo's unconscious body � Luckily for Jesse, Rosco was so busy putting together that puzzle he wasn't paying attention to the part about Jesse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soon they were settled in the small back room Cooter used as an office.

Cooter regarded Jesse Duke from across the small room. They'd been friends for a good long time. Bo and Luke had still been kids when Cooter had started workin' in the Hazzard Garage. Mind you, he wasn't much more than that himself, but when you're 22 and they're 15 and 13, it seems like a lot. Of course, the difference between him and Jesse was even greater, in the opposite direction. But somehow that hadn't gotten in the way of them all becoming fast friends. The Dukes were good folk all around. They'd become family to him.

But now he was looking at Jesse in a different light. And wondering what his friend was after. Bo and Luke knew Cooter's secret, so he assumed Jesse did. But was he looking for information, or something more � direct? Cooter decided to start by offering information.

"Jesse? You're right � there are choices now for men like us. We still have to be careful, but there are ways of meeting like-minded folk �"

Jesse's eyes widened at Cooter's words. "Men like us? Cooter, are you tellin' me you're gay too?"

Cooter blinked. "Didn't Bo and Luke tell you? I thought that was why you was askin' me �"

Jesse just shook his head. "They never said a word, Cooter. How long have they known?"

Cooter smiled, kind of pleased that they'd kept his secret even from Jesse. "The day they came back while you was in the hospital. The day we found out about them. I figured turnabout was fair play, and besides I wanted them to know they wasn't alone �"

Jesse just nodded, struck dumb for the moment. Finally he found his voice.

"I'm glad you was there for them, Cooter. I really let them down that time �"

Cooter could see the pain in the old man's eyes and reached out, covering Jesse's hand with his. "Jesse, don't blame yourself. You had your reasons, we understand that now. And what's important is that you got over it." He let his hand slide off Jesse's hand down to rest on his knee. "And you're right, you've got a choice now."

Jesse looked up at Cooter, surprise registering on his face as he realized what was happening.

"Cooter? Are you � propositioning me?"

Cooter gave his famous lopsided grin. "I guess I am. I'd hate to see you have to turn to a stranger, Jesse. If you'd be more comfortable that way, I'll show you how it works. But I'd rather do the honors myself, if you get my drift �"

Jesse was almost paralyzed with fear. He'd denied himself this for so long, it was like he didn't know how to give himself permission. But he couldn't deny what Cooter's hand on his knee was doing to him. He wanted it, no doubt about that.

After what seemed a long time, Jesse laid his hand over Cooter's. "I appreciate the offer, Cooter. But I don't think I'm ready just yet. I'm still getting used to the idea."

Cooter nodded, a bit disappointed, but not willing to push Jesse. "I hear ya, Jesse. You'll get no pressure from me." He started to pull his hand away, and was surprised when Jesse held on, squeezing gently.

"I'll let you know when I'm ready. I wouldn't want to have to turn to no stranger neither."

Cooter just grinned and nodded as Jesse gave his hand one last squeeze, then got up and left. He had a feeling things were going to get mighty interesting once Jesse made up his mind �

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the farm, Bo and Luke were taking advantage of Jesse's 'gift.' After Jesse left, Luke had sat down beside Bo and started kissing him again. And unlike last night, today Bo's body was willing and able to respond. He quickly took control of their lovemaking, driven by his need to DO SOMETHING after lazing around the house all morning. He caught Luke's face in his hands as they kissed, suddenly aware of the different textures, soft skin under the first hint of stubble, the silkiness of Luke's wavy hair. He 'saw' that face anew with his hands, and was amazed.

His hands worked their way down Luke's neck and shoulders, and eagerly began unbuttoning his shirt. He wanted to feel every inch of Luke's body, seeing it in this new way.

Luke realized what Bo was doing, and happily gave himself over to Bo's strong hands. And where the hands led, Bo's lips soon followed. Luke sighed happily as Bo's hands played him like a fiddle, making him feel so completely alive.

Now, Bo and Luke don't know it yet, but ol' Rosco decided that he needed to see if he was getting this right, and while he was at it, figure out if Bo was really blind. So he drove up and parked just outside the Duke farm, getting out of the car and creeping up on foot. He had a perfect view in through the picture window. Luke was sprawled naked across the couch, his eyes closed and his face a picture of rapture as Bo sucked Luke's dick into his mouth.

He couldn't tear his eyes away as Bo brought Luke to a crashing climax. He wasn't even consciously aware of the way his own trousers were tented. He was just riveted to the spot.

When Luke came, Bo just sat there for a bit, his head in Luke's lap, Luke's hand weaving into his hair. He was more than ready for his, but he was happy to wait a little longer as Luke caught his breath.

Finally, Luke opened his eyes and looked straight into the eyes of a very startled Sheriff. "Rosco!" he screamed, suddenly furious at being spied on in their own home.

Bo fell over backwards on the floor as Luke stood up suddenly and went tearing towards the front door. "What? Luke? What's goin' on?"

As soon as he'd seen Luke lookin' back at him, Rosco knew he was in trouble. He turned and ran, making it back to his car and burnin' rubber, sending gravel flying in his wake.

Luke was tempted to jump into the General Lee and chase after Rosco, but realized that doing it buck naked wasn't such a good idea, and besides, Bo was still trying to figure out what was going on. With a sigh, he turned back to his lover, urging Bo to sit back down on the couch.

"It was Rosco, Bo. Standin' outside, spyin' on us in our own home."

"Oh, God! How � how long do you reckon he was there?"

Luke shook his head, then remembered Bo couldn't see it. "More than long enough, to judge by the look on his face."

Bo's shoulders slumped as he realized how bad this was. "And what Rosco knows, Boss knows."

Luke pulled Bo close. "Yep, that's about it. But there ain't nothin' we can do about it now �"

Bo sighed and snuggled closer to Luke. His interest in having Luke return the favor had vanished entirely, replaced by a hard ball of fear in the pit of his stomach. "What do you think he'll do, Luke?"

Luke hugged him closer. "I don't know, Bo. Maybe nothing right now. You know Boss; he'll hold onto this until he can use it to his best advantage. But we're gonna have to let Uncle Jesse know to expect the worst. In the meantime, let's try not to worry about it, ok?"

Bo thought that was about as likely as snow in Hazzard in July. But for Luke, he'd try.

Continue on to Chapter 4

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Ch 3