It was one of those typical days in Hazzard; a day when nothing at all could happen, and when one little thing could change everything about someone's life.

It was a sunny day, and as usual, Bo was in the driver's seat of the General Lee, with Luke riding shotgun. And as usual, they were talking about girls. What wasn't usual was the occasion. The Hazzard Centennial Celebration was a couple of weeks away, and Boss had a carnival and a dance planned, with hefty entrance fees for both of them, of course. And what really wasn't usual was, the boys didn't have dates yet. Which was why they were talking. Of course, the subject wasn't just being brought up between the boys. Most of Hazzard was talking too. Seems a lot of people in Hazzard, mostly of the female persuasion, felt the boys should put their bachelor days behind them.

"Now Luke, you know Martha Ann has been makin' eyes at you these last few weeks," said Bo. "The way she's been starin' at ya, I think she's been tryin' to send subliminal messages at your head to get you to ask her to the dance."

Luke grinned, his dark hair blowing in the wind. "Don't think I haven't noticed," he said. "I'll ask her when I see her, I guess. Maybe she got to me."

"The way you've stared at her, I'd say she did," Bo teased. "Or haven't you noticed that part?"

"Oh, I've noticed," said Luke. "I've noticed too that you haven't been lookin'. Who're you plannin' on askin'?"

Bo sighed; he'd known Luke would ask, he probably shouldn't have teased him. He shook his head a little. "I dunno," he said simply.

"You don't know?" Luke laughed. "Bo, over half the girls in Hazzard are chompin' at the bit to go to this dance with you! You could ask any single girl in three counties—and probably some of the married ones—and she'd be dyin' to go with you! Now you gotta have somebody in mind!"

Bo shook his head again. "Yeah, I knew you'd say that cuz, but truth is, I really don't." He ran a hand through his honey-blond hair. "Sure, a lot of girls catch my eye, but nobody's really caught my attention lately. I feel like this is a special occasion, an' I should be askin' a special girl. And I ain't really found one."

Luke snorted. "Whatever; you better find somebody or you're gonna wind up goin' with Lulu's cousin Lena."

"I'd go stag first," Bo replied.

The boys got into Hazzard and stopped at the bank. "Hoo-wee, would you look at that?" said Bo, as they climbed out of the General Lee. A gleaming blue dually truck with a matching extended trailer was sitting by the curb. They heard a snort and a low whinney from the trailer's windows. Bo hopped up on the wheel rim and saw two horses looking back at him.

"Now that is a serious rig," said Luke, as they walked up to examine it. "Somebody's doin' a lot of driving with this trailer to have a truck this size."

"Whose is it? I ain't never seen it before. It practically takes up half the street!" said Bo, looking in the truck's windows.

"Well, with Kentucky plates on it, it doesn't belong to anyone around here," said Luke. "They must be just passin' through. C'mon, let's get in the bank and get the mortgage paid before Boss sees us and decides to close early."

They headed up the bank's steps. As Luke opened the door, Bo turned back to take another look at the trailer, so he didn't see a girl come running out of the bank at full speed. Bo let out a "whuff" as she plowed right into him. Thrown off balance, Bo hit the ground; the girl yelped, stumbled, and fell over him, dropping her bag on the sidewalk, its contents spilling everywhere.

"Whoa! Bo, you all right?" exclaimed Luke, and ran to help the girl who'd run over him.

"Yeah; wow, who ran me over? Did ya get the license number?" Bo laughed a little and turned to the girl. She was scrambling for everything that had scattered on the sidewalk. "You okay there, miss?" he said, as they knelt down and started grabbing papers.

"Oh—yes," she said, not looking up. "Gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't even see you standing there, are you all right?"

"Well, I think I'll live," said Bo, smiling, "but ya might wanna obey the speed limit next time." He handed a handful of papers and a cash envelope to her.

She smiled as she took them and stood up. "I'm sorry, really," she said, and turned to face them.

Bo's eyes widened a little. The girl had bright auburn hair, shot through with streaks of red, tied in a long braid that fell over her shoulder. The late afternoon sun shone on pale, creamy skin. Bo expected to see green eyes, but hers were a dark hazel, flecked with gold. She was very short; Bo stood over her by at least a foot. She seemed distracted, but it didn't change the fact that she was downright gorgeous. Bo found himself staring.

Seeing that his cousin was more than a little distracted, Luke cut in. "Um, here ya go," he said, holding out another cash envelope. "I think that's the last of it."

"Thank you," she said, and stuffed it into her bag.

"That's quite a bit of cash you're carryin' there," said Luke.

"Yeah—hey, you didn't just rob the bank did you?" said Bo, getting his voice back. "'Cause if you did, I'm not sure if we should perform a citizen's arrest or thank you for fleecin' Boss Hogg!"

"Hogg…would he be a short, fan man in a white suit who practically cried when I told him how much my wire transfer was for?" the girl asked.

Bo and Luke burst out laughing. "Yeah, that'd be him!" said Bo.

The girl laughed a little too. "I've never seen someone so attached to money before."

"Well, you obviously ain't been around Hazzard long, then!" said Luke. "You'd need a crowbar to pry a nickel out o' Boss Hogg's hand."

"I don't think you've been around Hazzard at all," said Bo, smiling at her. "I'd have definitely noticed you." Luke shot him a look, but Bo didn't look like he was trying to lay on the charm. Rather, he looked like this tiny redhead had charmed him.

The girl gave a shy smile. "Well, thank you for helping me, mister-?"

"Oh, uh, my name's Bo Duke," he said quickly, taking her hand, "And this here's my cousin, Luke Duke."

"Pleasure," said Luke, shaking her hand.

"Likewise, gentlemen, and thank you for helping me overcome being such a clutz," she said.

"Hey, a girl as pretty as you can bowl me over anytime," said Bo. He really couldn't stop staring at her. Luke noticed he wasn't the only one; the girl hadn't taken her eyes off of Bo either. Why is it always him? he thought. He decided to step in again. "Uh, is there anything else we can do for you?"

"Well, is there a feed store in town? I could stand to stop at one," she said, gesturing to the trailer.

"Wait—that rig's yours?" said Bo.

She raised her eyebrows. "Surprised a girl this small could drive a rig that big?" she said, giving him a knowing smile.

"Um…" Bo blushed a little.

Luke grinned and pointed across the square. "See that blue and white sign over there?" he said. "That's Mr. Rhuebottom's; he sells just about everything, he can set you up."

"Thank you," she said, and looked back at Bo. "And…it was very nice meeting you."

"It was really nice to meet you," said Bo softly, still smiling at her like a fool. The girl turned and started heading across the street.

"Wait—you didn't tell me your name!" Bo called after her.

"Darla!" she shouted over her shoulder. She flashed him one more smile and broke into a jog, heading across the square.

Bo continued to stare after her. "Wow," he said softly.

Luke shook his head, grinning. "C'mon, cuz," he said, tugging at Bo's elbow. Bo finally quit staring and followed his cousin into the bank. But he never really noticed Boss's greed at taking the Duke's money for the mortgage; he was still thinking about dark red hair, golden eyes and a captivating smile.

"Hey, Cooter!" Luke called out as they pulled up in front of Cooter's Garage and climbed out of the General.

"Hey, what's up, y'all?" the mechanic called back, emerging from under the hood of Enos's patrol car.

"Hey, did you see that rig and trailer over by the bank?" said Bo, looking around. The girl and the rig were both gone when they'd come out, and they hadn't seen it behind Ruebottom's. Bo was a little crestfallen at not finding her again.

"Oh, yeah! Hoo! That was a beautiful setup there," Cooter answered.

"Did you see who was driving it?" Bo went on.

"Yeah, that was the only thing Bo noticed," said Luke.

"Musta been a pretty girl then," said Cooter, grinning. "Naw, can't say I did, but apparently she's popular; couple o' guys came by the garage, lookin' for her."

"Who were they?" Luke asked.

"Dunno, never seen 'em before," said Cooter. "Seemed pretty intent on findin' her though."

Luke looked over at Bo. "If she's just passin' through, who'd be looking for her?"

After leaving Cooter's, the boys headed back to the farm. As they drifted down the dirt roads, they saw a familiar blue trailer.

"Is that who I think it is?" said Bo, his face lighting up.

Luke grinned at Bo's smile. "She must be headin' for Atlanta, if she's on this road," he said.

"Think we can get her to stop at the Boar's Nest?"

"Guess we can try."

"Okay, do a good job for me, cuz!" said Bo, and started to move alongside the back end of the trailer. But a loud honk made him hit the brakes and veer back behind the trailer as a black Bronco came flying by.

"Now where in the heck did he come from?" said Bo. But they didn't have much time to dwell on it. The truck pulled alongside the rig and slammed into it.

"What the heck are they doin'?" said Luke.

"They're tryin' ta run her off the road, Luke!" said Bo, and stomped on the gas.

"Hang on! Hang back, we can't get caught in the middle!" Luke yelled.

The truck slammed into the rig again. "We gotta do somethin', Luke! She can't hold out much longer against that!" Bo yelled back.

The truck hit the rig a third time, and the rig blew a tire. It started to swerve back and forth as the black truck sped on. The driver held on for a few seconds, but with the trailer attached she couldn't keep the rig under control, and she started to fishtail.

"She's losin' it, Luke!" shouted Bo. Smoke rose from the tires as she slammed on the brakes, but it wasn't enough to stop her. The rig skidded off the road and slammed into a tree.

"Pull over, let's go get her!" said Luke. Bo slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop. They climbed out and started to run for the rig when they heard the horses squealing and whinnying in the trailer. "Bo, wait!" Luke said, and pointed. The trailer was hanging precariously over a ditch. The hitch connecting it to the truck was holding it upright, but they could hear metal groaning as the neck twisted; it wasn't going to hold for long. "If that trailer goes over, those horses are gonna get hurt. We gotta get them out first." They changed course and ran for the trailer.

Luke got the door unfastened and slid inside. The two horses, a blue roan and a seal brown, were tugging at their lead ropes, their eyes rolling in fear. Luke had to pick his way between their hooves to get to their leads. "Take it easy now," he said, and unfastened the dark horse's rope. Slowly, he started to back him out, but the horse had other ideas. He jerked his head and yanked the lead out of Luke's hands. He turned and jumped out of the trailer, but Bo was ready for him and grabbed his rope. "Whoa, take it easy now, big guy," he said. He hoped his voice sounded calmer than he felt, because the big horse was quivering and ready to bolt. It wouldn't do at all if he decided to take off on him. "Whoa now, easy boy, easy," he said slowly, and put his hand on the horse's nose. Without being able to throw his head around, the horse quieted a little, but Bo could still see the whites of his eyes. "That's better," said Bo, and quickly tied the horse's rope to the grill guard on the front of the General Lee.

Luke untied the other horse's rope and got him turned around. The roan seemed calmer than the seal, although he was still shaken from the crash. They got the roan's rope tied to the General and started to run for the driver.

But they got brought up short.

The girl had climbed down from the rig. She had a gash on her forehead that was dripping blood down her face and into her hair, and she looked dazed. But it wasn't affecting her aim. She had a pistol pointed at them.