Davy Sprocket, the President of the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas!
A war hero!
A businessman!
He was a great leader!
Although…
He didn’t have much to do!
Everyone mostly minded their own business.
Even the law enforcement was mostly handled by elected Sheriffs, and their deputies.
The elected representatives spent all their time arguing, and not much else, which was how the Texans liked it…
Davy mostly just gave speeches these days!
And, well, get sad about the state of his ranches.
He was a ranch owner, too!
So he was really happy when the young businesslady from Appalashia captured the notorious villains, Connie and Blyde, and returned some of the cattle that had been stolen!
He was positively wasting away, given how expensive steak had become.
His waist size had dropped from forty-four inches, down to forty-two…
He’d had to put a new notch in his belt, to cinch it tighter…
Oh heavens, it was too much!
It was enough to get him thinking…
Maybe the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas needed more kinds of food than just steak?
But the people loved beef too much!
They wouldn’t just give up beef in every meal for nothing.
Sure, cookies and pancakes and eggs and bacon had been tried, and they were alright…
But now even wheat was expensive!
Those darn Frenchies…
Davy sighed.
It was too hot for all this thinking.
He fanned himself with a little white hand fan.
“Mr. President, Miss Lily and her entourage have arrived,” his butler announced.
“Don’t use them Frenchy words!” he shouted back.
It was too hot for this.
Even the evenings were hot in the summer in the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas!
That the President was wearing a full white suit, with a vest and a jacket, and a big white ten gallon hat wasn’t helping, of course, but that was just his style…
“Of course, Mr. President. Miss Lily and her gang have arrived,” the butler fixed his statement.
“Good! Let them in!”
He stood up, and in walked a beautiful dame holding a blue-grey cat, an adorable little cowgirl, and…
“Well I’ll be, Annie Elmly!”
“Hi Mr. President!” she smiled and waved.
“And you must be Lily, the brilliant businesswoman from Appalashia…”
Davy strode forward and shook Sally’s hand, and her cat leapt from her arms down to the floor, where he sat next to the little cowgirl.
“No, I’m Lily!” the little girl said.
“I’m her mother, Sally,” the dame in the dress said, with an awkward expression.
And the President…
Shifted gears!
He was a fast thinker!
“Oho! My mistake!” He squatted down to Lily’s level, as best he could anyway, and extended a hand to the little cowgirl.
“Nice to meet you, Miss Lily! I’m the President, Davy Sprocket! You can call me Davy.”
“Hi Davy! I’m Lily! It’s nice to meet you!”
And so the little businesswoman shook hands with a President!
A historic meeting!
“Meow,” said Mr. Cat.
“And hello to you! What a beautiful mouser you got there,” the President said, petting the purring kitty.
“His name is Mr. Cat!” Lily introduced him.
“Wonderful,” the President said, and then they moved to a conference table.
“Can I interest you in some sweet tea?”
A real southern treat!
“Yeah!”
“I’d offer you some steak, but in these trying times, all we have are the scraps…”
“That’s okay!” Lily said. Sweet tea sounded better anyway!
The butler poured them all big glasses of sweet tea, and a saucer of cream for Mr. Cat, and then the President put on a serious expression.
“Miss Lily, you have the gratitude of the entire Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas for your help in bringing those dastardly villains, those no-good cattle-rustling, bank-robbing, dine-and-dashing, and litterbug thieves to justice.”
Lily finished her sip of tea and put down the glass. It was super yummy!
“You’re welcome!” she said brightly and with a big smile. “Praise the Goddess of Justice!”
“Mhmm,” the President said. “Praise the Goddess indeed.”
“Can I have the reward money now?”
Lily got straight to the point!
All the temptation of bribes earlier had put her in a real money-mindset!
Plus, she had bought these costumes…
And their meals, and the room at the motel…
She needed some quick cash!
And, the President…
There was a twinkle in his eye!
He liked a straight shooter!
“Of course!” he chortled. “Butler, bring the little lady her reward.”
The butler brought over a silver platter, on which rested a fat stack of cash!
“Yay!” Lily cried.
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“Meow!” said Mr. Cat.
“And you’ll all get medals, too! From now on, you’re all Friends of the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas for life! Stay free!”
“Stay free!” Lily said, and the butler also handed out medals for everyone, including Annie Elmly.
Mr. Cat’s medal was pinned to his little bandanna collar!
It was super cute, and went well with his hat!
Lily picked up the money and underneath was an itemized receipt.
Aiding in the Capture of Connie and Blyde — $500.
Recovering two hundred head of cattle — $2000.
Also listed were all the ranches, and how many cattle were returned to each. And Lily saw that Sprocket Ranch recovered over forty head of cattle!
“Wow, Davy, is Sprocket Ranch your ranch?” she asked while she passed the money to her Mama, who put it in her purse for safekeeping.
“That’s right, Lily. I’m a rancher, too!”
And then, Davy sighed.
“But after this food supply problem, I’ve got a lot to think and pray about. Maybe… maybe we Texans should eat more than just steak…”
He sounded so sad!
Forlorn, even!
“But we just love steak so much! We need the beef! It’s completely necessary!” he cried.
Lily…
Had a business idea!
And she didn’t even need Ray whispering in her ear this time!
Although he was doing it anyway!
“Davy, I have a business proposition for you…”
Lily had her business thinking hat on!
And, after borrowing his kitchen, which had all the fixings and ingredients needed, even potatoes and a fryer, Lily presented a revolutionary product to the President of the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas.
A Lilyburger set!
A delicious ground beef patty, topped with a slice of cheese, a pickle, and ketchup, between two fresh buns!
A heaping pile of delicious salted french fries!
And more sweet tea!
Lemons were scarce in these parts, but they had plenty of sweet tea!
“This is a Lilyburger set!” Lily announced to the President, who had his eating bib on to protect his brilliant white suit. “It’s got a Lilyburger with cheese, French Fries, and sweet tea!”
And the President…
Frowned!
“French Fries…?” he said, eyeing the plate suspiciously.
Lily frowned, too.
“What’s wrong?”
The President snorted. “Those darn Frenchies raised the price of wheat super high, so even when we were struggling with our cattle rustling and beef shortage problem, we couldn’t bake bread as a replacement… We were practically starving here… I don’t trust them Frenchies!”
Lily was shocked.
She had never imagined that the name of the French Fries would be controversial!
Sure, it was kind of a weird name, but they were just sliced potatoes fried in oil, and then salted…
The butler leaned in.
“Mr. President, the potatoes were imported from Appalashia, not France…”
“Then why are they called French Fries?”
All eyes turned to Lily!
“Uh…”
Lily didn’t know!
The ghosts had called them that, and said something about them maybe coming from France…
But France seemed to be where wheat came from…
What a mystery!
But, Lily was a fast thinker, too.
And she still had her business thinking hat on!
“Mr. President…” Lily said. “It’s… just a name! We can rename them! How about Texas Fries?”
A brilliant idea!
But the President frowned.
“Well we certainly can’t call them that. They would have to be the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas Fries, and that’s a mouthful…”
And then, Davy had an idea!
“Why not Freedom Fries?”
Yes!
Freedom was the highest value of the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas!
It was in their motto, ‘Stay Free!’
What better way to spread freedom than to rename ‘French Fries’ to ‘Freedom Fries?’
Lily…
Didn’t really care!
What they were called didn’t matter to her much at all!
What mattered was that she could sell them, and pay for her parents’ retirement!
If the Texans wanted to call them Freedom Fries…
That was just fine with her!
“That’s a great idea, Davy!” she said, blatantly flattering him. “We’ll call them Freedom Fries!”
At least, in the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas, they would.
With that, finally, the President tried his Lilyburger. And as soon as he did…
“Wow! This is delicious!”
It was an explosion of flavor!
The juicy beef… the cheese… the sweet tang of the ketchup, and sharp bite of the pickle…
And the Freedom Fries were yummy too!
They tasted like freedom! Salty, crunchy on the outside, pillowy soft on the inside freedom!
And he washed it down with a swig of delicious cold sweet tea!
Looking at the burger, he was surprised to see that, given how much beefy flavor there was, it actually didn’t contain all that much beef.
It was just a thin little patty!
Steak was 100% beef, after all!
Maybe they could stretch out their beef supply, if they made burgers…
Especially out of the parts of the cow that weren’t as good for steak…
The parts they usually exported to other countries, or dried and turned into beef jerky…
“Davy, I have a business idea…”
The little cowgirl businesslady across the table gave him a bright smile!
Davy chewed thoughtfully.
And so, Lily explained about her restaurants, and the idea of franchising.
It was brilliant!
The food was delicious, the idea of a fast and cheap restaurant was novel, and it would let the Texans stretch their beef supplies further until the ranchers could raise more cattle.
The only problem was…
Ingredient prices.
The same as in Appalashia.
It was a little different, of course.
Importing potatoes, which didn’t grow as well in the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas, meant that Freedom Fries cost ten cents to make, instead of five.
On the other hand, beef would be about ten cents per burger, and eventually drop down to five cents once the beef supply normalized.
The biggest thing was that, inside of the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas, beef was much cheaper than in the countries they had been exporting to, at least right now.
So a Lilyburger would be profitable, in this country.
But wheat was still expensive, and so was the cheese, although that wasn’t such a big deal.
Not much cheese was needed, after all, and it was optional.
No, the bigger problem was…
The Dairy Cow Strike!
The Dairy Cow Strike in the Friendly Commonwealth of Wisconsin!
All the girl cows lived in Wisconsin, and all the boy cows lived in the Great and Everlasting Free State of Texas!
The boy cows would be herded to Wisconsin, and then they would come back with the boy calves!
The girl calves would stay in Wisconsin to become Dairy Cows!
A lot of cattle were missing, so they would need to take the herds up north…
But the Dairy Cows were on strike!
They couldn’t raise any more cattle until that problem was solved!
The President explained all this, and Sally groaned.
“So you mean even though we solved the cattle-rustling problem, the beef exports can’t be started up again right away?”
Davy nodded.
“That’s right. It’ll take some time. And I’d like to open up a test Lilyburgers franchise, and maybe expand more, but it’ll take some time. Maybe a month.”
Lily sighed, and pet Mr. Cat.
She had made some fast cash with this super chore, but expansion still wasn’t easy…
And there were still problems with ingredient prices.
She looked up with determination in her eyes!
“Okay!” she said loudly. “Then we’ll just have to go to Wisconsin next!”
She paused, but nobody said she had to say the full name of the country.
Thank the Gods!
“We’ll go to Wisconsin, help them with their Dairy Cow strike, and get business moving again!”
Davy’s eyes widened, and Annie Elmly said what they were all thinking.
“So big business is going strike busting in Wisconsin…”
“Yeah!” Lily said, puffing out her chest.
All her ghosts facepalmed.
“Lily, when you put it like that…” Ghostly Duke said.
“We’re going to solve the Dairy Cow problem!” she continued!
“In a friendly way, right, Lily?” Lily’s Mama prompted.
“Maybe!”
Uh oh.
Has Lily become a strike busting big business little lady?
Did Mr. Cat get any of the Freedom Fries?
Has Annie Elmly’s reputation been restored?
The Gods and Goddesses were watching closely!
