The mayors showed up suddenly!

  Just as Mr. Cat told Lily a way to, completely legally and above-board, not cheating at all, avoid paying some of the debt she owed at the end of next week!

  The day was Saturday, and the weather was clear…

  And the mayors of Three Creeks and Stone Hill were in a panic!

  “Lily, please, you have to go to… huff puff… you have to… huff puff… Everlasting… wheeze…”

  Mayor Henry was winded!

  He normally didn’t run around yelling like this!

  His hair was askew, and Lily hopped to her feet.

  “Henry, slow down! Breathe! Hee hee hooo… Hee hee hooo…”

  Lily tried to help!

  But she only knew one breathing technique!

  All the kids had learned it when Bobby’s Mama was pregnant!

  It was called the maze technique, in this world!

  But this wasn’t the right time for that!

  And yet…

  Henry did what Lily said, on instinct if nothing else, and breathed!

  “Hee hee hooo…” he breathed!

  Mainly, focusing on something else calmed him down.

  He caught his breath!

  While he was doing that, Lily said a prayer to the Goddess of Healing, asking her to help her friend Henry!

  Lily’s Piety Points rose!

  The Goddess blessed Henry, and…

  George scolded him!

  “Henry, you’re really outta shape. You gotta start going on more walks, especially if you’re finally eating properly…”

  “Hee hee hooo… Oh dash it all, you’re right George, but now’s not the time. Lily!”

  Henry straightened up, fixed his hair, and adjusted the vest he was wearing over his shirt.

  “Lily, you have to go to the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas!”

  “Te—I mean, the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas?” Lily repeated. She was shocked!

  “That’s right, you have to go there!”

  Lily…

  Wanted to go!

  If she could make the beef go back to normal prices, real normal prices, like when she had first started, her profit margins would improve a lot!

  On the first day, a Lilyburger’s beef had cost ten cents each.

  Then it had risen to fifteen cents each.

  Now it was sixty cents each!

  If she could get prices back down, she’d recover fifty cents of profit, per Lilyburger.

  And she was selling a lot of Lilyburgers these days!

  Fifty cents here, fifty cents there…

  Eventually, it adds up!

  Lily was a really experienced businesswoman now! She could think about margins like it was nothing!

  However…

  Even so…

  Lily was eight years old!

  There were problems with this!

  First of all, she’d have to tell her Mama and Papa she was going!

  Second…

  “But, Henry, why do I need to go? And what would I even do when I get there?”

  Henry deflated.

  “The truth is, Lily…”

  Lily tilted her head.

  “The truth is… I was late to Lilyburgers today, and they were sold out! My wife and I are starving!”

  Lily…

  Gave him a look!

  Just like her Mama made sometimes when her Papa said something silly!

  George…

  Was doing the same thing!

  “Henry…” Lily said. “Can’t you just cook some food normally?”

  But…

  Henry didn’t like cooking!

  And his wife hated cooking even more than he did!

  Henry’s life had been permanently altered by the invention of Lilyburgers!

  He couldn’t go back!

  No, he wouldn’t go back!

  He refused!

  He hadn’t risen to the position of Mayor of Stone Hill Village by being a man of weak principles!

  And…

  He had a foreboding vision…

  “Lily… if nothing happens, the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas will lose all their cattle to the villains, Connie and Blyde… And then they won’t have any food at all, since they only eat steak there for three meals a day… and then…”

  Lily gulped, leaning in.

  “And then, they’ll all starve and go hungry! Some of them might even try eating plant food!”

  Lily gasped!

  Henry continued on, in full doomer mode, but Lily was distracted thinking about what he said.

  She didn’t want the Texans to go hungry!

  Even when her Papa got injured, her Mama always made sure they had food to eat!

  Lily bravely interrupted Henry’s increasingly unfounded theorizing about geopolitics and food supply stability.

  “But, what can I do?”

  George stepped in.

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  “The Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas has put a bounty on Connie and Blyde. Anyone who helps bring them to justice will get a reward, and a medal, and even more of a reward if you can return the cattle that were rustled…”

  Henry adjusted his vest again. “Hrmph. I would go myself to assist, but I need to look after Stone Pit, especially in these trying times. And I would have sent Junior, but he’s busy with work… In fact, everyone in both our villages is super busy, now that economic activity has increased!”

  Lily, however, focused in on the important bit.

  “A reward?! Like money?!”

  That’s right!

  Lily needed to make money, fast!

  Normal chores weren’t enough.

  But this sounded like a super chore!

  If she could find the missing cattle, and the villains Connie and Blyde…

  She would get a reward, and the price of beef would go back down!

  It would be like two birds in one birdhouse…

  “Lily, if the price of beef goes down, the other mayors might be willing to franchise!” Ghostly Ray Croc said, with the ghostly Rich and Mac nodding next to him. “And if you get in good with the Texans, you could open franchises there, too!”

  Multi-state franchising!

  Ray Croc was really good at that!

  Lily was excited, too!

  But…

  “But, how can I get to Texas—”

  “Ahem,” Mr. Cat said. “Er, I mean, meow,” he corrected himself.

  “Oh, right. Ahem. But, how can I get to the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas?” Lily asked. “I don’t even know how to get there!”

  She knew that Phil could run there, but she didn’t know the roads to take…

  In fact, Stone Pit Village was as far as Lily had ever gone from home before!

  “Of course, I will loan you my car and chauffeur,” Henry said matter-of-factly.

  A chauffeur!

  Someone who drives a car for you, and takes you where you want to go!

  George sighed heavily. “Henry, you’re really going to go that far?”

  But Henry whipped his head around, with fire in his eyes!

  “George, I’m not missing any more meals! Fixing this food supply issue is my top priority!”

  “But what will you do without your car?”

  Henry’s eyes flashed, and he grinned.

  “I do recall that you owe me quite a few favors from all those rounds of golf you lost…”

  That’s right!

  Henry was pulling out all the stops!

  He was calling in his favors!

  George’s face grew pale.

  There were a lot of favors from those golf games!

  He had won the last one, but the scoreboard was still heavily in Henry’s favor!

  The weight of history pressed down on the recently improved golfer…

  “Hngg… alright, fine, I’ll give you a ride when you need it.”

  Henry smiled smugly. “Most excellent. So, Lily…”

  But Lily held up her hand to stop him!

  “Wait a minute! I can’t go anywhere without talking to my Mama and Papa first!”

  Lily was a good girl!

  She wouldn’t just go off on an adventure without getting permission first!

  That said…

  Lily was a strike-while-the-iron-is-hot kinda girl!

  “Let’s go ask!”

  She scooped up Mr. Cat and they walked together to Lily’s home!

  There, they walked in on Lily’s Mama and Papa…

  Playing chess!

  Lily’s Mama was winning!

  “Hngg… how are you so good at this…” Lily’s Papa said through gritted teeth.

  Lily’s Mama just tilted her head.

  “Huh? It’s all about position, isn’t it?”

  “But I took your bishop…”

  “Yeah, and you gave up the center…”

  They were talking chess at a high level!

  Up in heaven, the God of Games nodded!

  Lily’s Mama was good at games!

  “I’m home!” Lily said, and her parents looked up.

  “Oh, welcome back dear,” her Mama said.

  “Welcome back, Lily!” her Papa said, grateful for the distraction.

  Lily ran up and gave them both hugs!

  Having collected her hugs and kisses, she explained Henry’s proposition.

  And Lily’s Mama…

  Gave the Mayor Henry a look!

  “Are you seriously asking an eight year old girl to travel to another country just so you can keep eating Lilyburgers forever…?”

  But Henry wouldn’t back down! He looked her right in the eye!

  “Yes.”

  George rolled his eyes. “He won’t back down when he’s like this,” he explained.

  Sally sighed.

  And Lily’s Papa…

  “Well, why not?”

  “““Huh?!””” the other three adults said!

  “Mrow?” Mr. Cat meowed!

  Lily just tilted her head.

  “Sally,” Bill said. “You’ve been stuck at home taking care of me, but I’m doing much better now. You need a vacation! And if you and Lily manage to help the Texans out, and get a reward, that would help us out!”

  “But, Bill, the debts…”

  Lily gasped.

  “Oh, that’s right! Mama, Mr. Cat had a good idea! Show me the loan note, the thousand dollar one!”

  Sally pulled it out, and everyone crowded around the table to look at it.

  “Mrow! See, right there! You can pay it in monthly installments if you want, but you don’t have to! You can just pay it all back at the end of the second month, if you want!”

  “Well I’ll be…” Henry muttered.

  George looked at the cat sharply. “You know, this is why nobody lends to cats.”

  “Yeah, ‘cuz we’re too smart!” Mr. Cat said smugly.

  Bill’s eyes shone. “Smart cat! Good cat!” He pet Mr. Cat as he praised him!

  “Mama, with this, I’ll have just enough money to make all the payments next week! We’ll be good for all of next month!” Lily declared proudly.

  But Sally frowned!

  “But what about next month? Then we’ll owe even more money all at once…”

  Sally was feeling pessimistic!

  But Lily was fired up!

  “Mama, we’ll have time, and I’ll do something about it! We’ll go to Te—”

  Everyone gave Lily a look.

  “I mean, we’ll go to the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas, help the Texans, fix the beef supply, and Lilyburgers will make enough money from then on!”

  “But who will manage your restaurants while you’re gone?” Sally asked.

  “Junior can manage the Stone Pit locations,” Henry said.

  “And I’m a part owner of the City Square Location,” George said. “I don’t mind keeping an eye on the cart by the mine, as well.”

  Ghostly Ray Croc whispered in Lily’s ear.

  “Oh, George, could you be my regional franchise manager?” Lily asked.

  “Oh? Sure. What terms?”

  Whisper whisper.

  (There was no need for this, as nobody else could hear Ray, but it felt appropriate.)

  “How about ten percent? Ten percent of the franchise fee, and ten percent of profits going forward for all franchises in the Appalashia Kingdom, for a profit split of seventy-five, ten, fifteen for the operator, regional manager, and me?”

  It would cut into Lily’s profits a little, but it would free up more of her time for this super chore!

  Maybe George could get Marcus to agree to pay the franchise fee while she was gone!

  “Sounds like a deal!” George said, and he shook Lily’s hand!

  Half a mile away, Gertrude shuddered, sensing that more work was going to get dumped on her…

  Hang in there, Gertrude!

  Lily gave George the franchise planning documents, which explained everything, and then everyone turned back to Sally.

  Bill took her hand in his. “Sally, I can look after myself now, and this is something Lily wants to do.”

  Lily nodded with determination!

  “And you always said you wanted to travel…”

  Sally looked into Bill’s eyes.

  “But I wanted to travel with you,” she said passionately!

  Bill chuckled. “Well, if this works out and we can retire, we will. We’ll travel the world together…”

  Sally…

  Really wanted to do that!

  It would be a dream come true!

  “Alright,” she said.

  Everyone cheered!

  “Yay! We’re gonna go to the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas!” Lily cried!

  “Mrow meow!” Mr. Cat meowed!

  “Oh thank the Gods!” Henry was moved to tears!

  “Very good,” George said, maintaining more of his composure.

  And with that, they set about planning their trip.

  Tex—that is, the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas…

  Was a hundred miles away!

  It was really far!

  But with Henry’s car, they could get there in a day!

  Wow, cars sure are amazing!

  It would take Lily weeks to walk that far…

  They spent the rest of that day planning, and the next day, Sunday, packing, and then on Monday…

  They were off, to the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas, to catch the cattle rustlers Connie and Blyde!