Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of "Dukes of Hazzard"; they belong to Guy Waldron. "Up On the Ridge" was written by Dierks Bentley and Angelo Petraglia. I'm just borrowing the title.

Author's Note: I blame the Dukes marathons on CMT for taking me away from my Criminal Minds and CSI:NY fandoms to delve into Hazzard County. And also my current obsession with jamming out to "Up On the Ridge" by Dierks Bentley. This is Part 1 of a "Dukes and Dierks" series, taking the titles of Dierks Bentley songs and writing a story around them. NOT a SONGFIC.

It was never a party until the Duke boys arrived. As soon as the General Lee skidded to a stop, grass and gravel flying, the entire crowd gathered broke into a cheer. It got a lot louder, moreso from the girls, when Bo Duke popped his head out of the driver's side window and flashed his trademark, shit-eating grin. He had the heart of about 85% of the women in the crowd. The other 15% (well, in Bo's mind, at least, that was how the math worked out) belonged to his cousin, and they made their presence known as Luke Duke's Wrangler-clad legs swung out of the passenger side window. He looked over across the roof of the General at Bo and grinned. Bo tapped the top of the General in one triumphant slap and then swung himself out of the car and came around the front of the Charger.

He clapped Luke on the back as they headed over to Bobby Jackson's '57 Ford. Bobby had his tailgate down and his girlfriend Sara wrapped around his legs. "Heyyy…" he drawled. "Came here to crash the party?"

Bo grinned. "Naw. Came here to make it better."

As if to prove his point, Katie Ann MacAllister and Elizabeth Gardiner- "Liz" to her friends, and "Lizzy" to Bo Duke, came sauntering up. Katie was wearing a red bandanna print top and a pair of blue jean shorts that Luke was pretty sure rivaled Daisy's. Her blonde hair hung down to her shoulders. Liz was wearing a yellow peasant top and tight dark denim jeans. Her red hair was in a ponytail. Both girls wore heels. They were on-again, off-again flames of the cousins Duke, but lately had definitely been more on-again than off. Even Daisy told them that they might as well ask 'em to marry them, seeing as how if they spent much more time together they'd be under the same roof anyway.

"Hey Bo," Lizzy said.

He grinned. "Hey Lizzy."

Katie snuck an arm around Luke's waist. "Hi Luke," she whispered.

He smiled. "Hi yourself," he replied.

Bobby looked at the both of them. "God damn Duke boys," he muttered.

Sara hit him on the shoulder. "Hey!" she protested, but Bobby couldn't help but notice that she couldn't tear her eyes away when Bo and Luke turned and walked toward the bonfire.

Johnny Cash was rocking on Bobby's truck stereo as Luke returned from the cooler with a bottle in each hand. He handed one to Katie Ann and sat down beside her on the fallen tree. Eagle Ridge had been a party spot for years in Hazzard. Over the years, the grass had just refused to grow back after teens and 20-somethings had trampled it all down and driven over it. A tornado had knocked down a bunch of trees, making perfect seating. And the exact location out to the spot was tough to find, so it was easy to lose Roscoe, Enos and Cletus on their way out.

Katie took the bottle cap in her teeth and popped it off. She pulled the cap from the bottle with her fingers and tucked the bottle cap into Luke's shirt pocket. "Where do you s'pose your cousin's at with Lizzy?"

Luke was impressed. He knocked part of his beer back. "Who cares?" he countered. "How 'bout we go find a place to get free and wild?"

Katie Ann's mouth dropped into an O. "Luke Duke!" she gasped. "Are you suggestin' what I think you're suggestin'?" she demanded.

Luke was stymied. Had he totally misread Katie Ann's intentions with that bottle cap? "Katie, I….uh-"

She leaned in close to his ear. Her hair smelled like lilacs. "I was hopin' you'd ask," she whispered, and then dragged him to his feet and out into the trees.

The party was only like five hundred feet away, but Bo Duke couldn't hear anything but crickets and owls from where he was. He took another swig of the 'shine in the mason jar he'd gotten from Kenny Higgins. Lizzy plucked the jar from his hands and took a swig as well…one longer than Bo's. "Dang it, Lizzy," he drawled. "I don't know if I can be with a woman who can outdrink me."

She shrugged as she set the moonshine down and leaned over his chest. "Well then, Bo Duke," she sighed. "Your loss."

He grinned. "Lizzy Gardiner, I think I love you."

She leaned down so she was inches from his face. "Well Bo, the jury's still out on my end," she said.

"Maybe I can plead my case?" he offered.

She smiled. She smelled like honey and apples. "You get one chance."

He tangled one hand in her hair. "I'll take it," he replied, and pulled her into a long kiss.

Waylon and Willie were objecting to letting babies grow up to be cowboys on the radio when Bo and Lizzy and Katie Ann and Luke returned to the party an hour or so later. Everybody saw them, and it was like the whole party stopped. Lizzy looked like she'd run a mile, and Katie was all but attached to Luke at the hip. Everybody watched as Bo helped Lizzy climb into the General Lee's backseat…and then followed her past the driver's seat and into the back.

"God damn," someone whispered. "I ain't never seen him anywhere other'n the driver's seat."

Luke paused a moment as he realized exactly what he was going to be driving home, but as Katie Ann slid herself into the passenger's seat, he decided he really didn't care. That's what the radio was for. He crawled into the driver's seat and fired the General up. Katie slid over and parked herself in his lap. Luke laughed. He hit the horn and slung gravel as they peeled out into the darkness.

There was a pause as the partiers took in what they'd just witnessed.

Then Bobby Jackson saw flashing lights. The horn had led Hazzard County's not-so-finest right to their party hideout. He turned to Kenny Higgins, who was frantically loading jars of shine into the back of his Trans Am. "It's the fuzz!" he yelled. "Everybody scatter!" As he slammed his tailgate shut, he could have sworn he heard a "Yeeeeehawww!" from somewhere down the road. There was a mad scramble as someone doused the fire and loaded up the booze and took off, tires squealing.

Bobby Jackson jumped into his truck as Enos Strate's squad car arrived, sending the partygoers hauling into the darkness and leaving Sara standing in a cloud of dust.

Sara scuffed the ground with her boots. "God damn Duke boys!"

Author's Note II: So how was story #1 in the "Dukes and Dierks" series? Drop me a line, let me know if I need to hightail it from Hazzard county and get back to the East Coast big city or if I can stick around the country a while.