Montana Territory

"howdy, y'all!" gavin cardigan called out as he entered the pub. "what's on the menu tonight, danny boy?"

"mu shu pork," danny replied, pouring a pint for cardigan. "i'll rustle you up some in a moment."

"thanks, hoss," cardigan accepted the beer and walked to join his friends at their regular table. "how's the puzzle-solving going?"

sierra shook her head. "not good. we're thinking that maybe the + in 'E + R' is supposed to be a T. can you think of a place with ETR...?"

cardigan grunted. "not off the top of my head, and i'm not inclined to give it any more thought than that."

"why not, gavin?" marian elfman inquired. "aren't you curious as to where our story is taking place?"

"curious, yes," cardigan answered. "but i don't want to put myself in the position of trying to think like burkie. that road can only lead to madness, or smugness, or some other kind of -ness that i'd rather not take on, thank you very much."

"it makes me think of eTrade," Mysterious Lurker noted, the tattoo on her arm showing a Dow-Jones graph. "and that would tie in to 'Wall Street' in the third clue, but i can't see that being right."

"it makes me think of etruscan," blade commented as he delivered cardigan's mu shu pork. "but i don't think we're in tuscany, more's the pity." he turned toward the door as he heard somebody enter. "oh, look who's here!"

cardigan looked up, his customary scowl disappearing. "foxy!"

foxy charles walked over, her cheeks turning slightly pink at the reception. "hi, guys. it's good to see you."

"hey, sis. maybe you can help us," sierra pulled a stool up next to her. "burkie left us these clues to tell us where we are, but we can't figure them out."

"really?" foxy took the sheet of paper and read the clues:

E + R

A target for bullies

It's the real thing on Wall Street

foxy swayed her head from side to side a couple of times as she contemplated the clues, then smiled. "oh, how fun! i'm glad that's where we are."

"how'd you do that?" taylor young spilled beer down his shirt in surprise.

foxy shrugged. "it's not that hard."

"well, what is it?" cardigan couldn't help but be interested.

"take the first clue," foxy explained. "burkie studied chinese, remember? so, with that in mind, listen to the clue as you say it."

sierra pounded her forehead on the table several time. "how could i have missed that?!"

"as for the second clue," foxy continued, "the target of a bully is a sissy. so, who is famous for being a sissy? or rather, A-S-S-I-S-I?"

taylor groaned. "that's a terrible clue. still, i should've known."

foxy grinned. "and i can understand why you might not have guessed the third clue, since you haven't taken burkie's course on American Popular Culture. 'the real thing' was a popular slogan for a Coke. i expect that if you look up Coca-Cola in the New York Stock Exchange, the abbreviation will give you the final clue."

marian made a face. "not fair! that was before my time! how was i supposed to know that?"

"san francisco," cardigan mused as he filled a mu shu wrapper. "i like that. it has a good noir feel to it. hopefully, burkie will start giving me some interesting cases to solve."

"and i should get some good letters to respond to," advice columnist marian observed. "san francisco has a rich tradition of journalistic excellence."

"you know," the Lurker said with a wink at sierra, "san francisco is known for having a sizable gay population, so the odds are that at least one of use is gay. and since gavin hasn't been out with anybody yet..."

gavin glared. "believe me, i'm not gay. if i were, i'd have probably had some action by now. besides, special assistant hepzibah is our representative from that community."

"hepzibah is a lesbian?" taylor asked.

marian rolled her eyes. "of course she is! don't you remember how she reacted to officer shakalaka?"

"who's special assistant hepzibah?" foxy wondered.

"burkie's assistant," sierra replied, winking at her sister. "she's cute. you should meet her."

cardigan choked on his mu shu pork, looking in astonishment at foxy. foxy and sierra started giggling, exchanging a high-5.

"she's just teasing you, gavin," foxy laughed. "i'm straight, for what it's worth."

cardigan grumbled, cursing burkie under his breath. "i knew that."

"ah, poor gav," foxy kissed his cheek. "i'm on my way to see burkie and work on our book. i'll tell him he's been neglecting you."

"and me, too!" marian scowled.

"yeah, i have to admit, i haven't had a gig in a while, either," sierra confessed.

"and will you ask burkie if i can see my reflection?" taylor asked as he studied his fangs in marian's mirror.

"and ask him if has any writer's block suggestions for me," shakespeare instructed her as he came over to gather the dirty dishes. "hamlet knows who murdered his father now, but i can't figure out what he should do about it."

"i'll do my best," foxy answered, a little overwhelmed.