All hail Margaret for coming up with a brilliant Chapter Two. We have been having so much fun with the Burg Busybodies that I can't believe there's only one chapter left to go.

BTW, the same disclaimer as usual goes here! :-)

All it took The next Monday was a flyer in the Trenton Times for all of Chambersburg to go mad. Nothing says exclusive offer more than a bright-as-hell yellow flyer.

ONE WEEK ONLY

Contest by Tasty Pastry.

Buy One, Get One Free.

You must register at www dot tastypastry dot com to be eligible to win the grand prize of a 2015 Buick. Your customer number will be given to you at end of registration, drivers license will be SCANNED upon entering.

Each day sales of Buy 1 get 1 Free Brownie Bars gets you in the running for the Grand prize IF you guess what the symbols on the Brownie Bars pertain to EACH DAY. NO CUPCAKES SOLD while contest is ongoing. 4 days purchase REQUIRED. Log into the site each day and leave your guess, if you miss one day you are out of the running.

ONLY GOOD FOR CHAMBERSBURG AREA. Proof of residency required. Winner will be announced on Friday.

x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x all over the 'Burg x0x0x00x0x0x0x0x

PLUM HOME.

Helen's eyes lit up in joy. Finally! A contest just tailor made for her. Trying to ignore the part about no Cupcake's being sold, she almost gleefully skipped to the desktop computer that just showed up one day on their doorstep.

Booting it up, Helen never even saw the blinking red dot at the top right corner of the monitor come on. Licking her lips in anticipation of what tomorrow would bring, she happily went off to bed after registering for the start of tomorrow's contest. Laying her matching polyester clothes out, she went to bed with a smile on her face dreaming of a new car.

Helen needed some happy after what she had been living through these past months.

Little did she know that Frank had already been clued in by his own sources and had secretly been texting with his 'comrade in arms' Joe Juniak. They knew the shit would hit the fan all over town once the results of the contest were made public. He could hardly wait. It had been almost too quiet in the Plum home for sometime now, save for the Friday nights when his eldest daughter and her family came for dinner.

Edna had moved into Stephanie's old apartment and the seniors had asked Rangeman to make it secure enough to allow only certain visitors to enter. The 24 hour guards they provided were more than enough to turn Helen off from ever visiting her mother again. The fact that she was not on the approved visitor list was besides the point. She still blamed Rangeman for giving her daughter a job and a secure phone she couldn't get the number to. This was just the tipping point for the coldest relations since the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Helen even showed up at Vinnie's bonds office, trying to find her daughter only to be laughed at. The weasel himself came out of his office to tell her that Stephanie quit sometime ago. Helen left in a huff with his words ringing in her ears, "What kind of Mother can't find their own child? Surely not the Queen of Gossip." She fumed in humiliation.

o0(Monday)0o

Up at the butt-crack-of-dawn, Helen had her shower done and was dressed in record time. She turned the coffee pot on for Frank as she raced out the door. She was determined to be the first one in line for the start of the week long sale. Helen was a woman on a mission this morning, she didn't even remember the coffee cake Frank had asked her for.

A few blocks away, Angie Morelli was also gearing up for this sale, having pre registered already. She had plans to meet with Helen and was on her way out the door, humming softly to herself. Glad to know her son, Joseph would be coming home in about ten days, she thought of maybe freezing some of her treats as a 'welcome home son' present.

Lula rolled over to her ringing cell phone, living on the outskirts of the burg while still technically in it, she saw her partner-in-crime was on the phone. "Lu, did you register for that Tasty Pastry contest? I tried but my address is outside the Burg. Get your spandex wearing ass out of bed and go buy us the box of bars. You know I'm always up for a challenge and you and I will be cruising in the car when we win!"

"I'm on it girlfriend, but this spandex has seen better days. Vinnie don't pay me enough to afford new clothes, ever since I'm just doin' filing, I can barely afford rent. That new bounty hunter don't pay me like Stephanie did. After all I did for her anyway, that white girl's lucky she's still alive anyway..." Lula huffed out.

"Just do it Lula, and we'll talk about it when you get here. Don't forget to take your drivers license either."

Traffic congestion was outrageous, with all the Burg busybodies in a line forming in front of the Tasty Pastry. Glad to have hired extra help the owner flipped on the open switch and unlocked the door.

"Folks! You must have your drivers license ready to be scanned, don't forget that each day you will be required to do so. No loitering to see what's in the box, you need to go home and send us your guesses each day. Good Luck!"

Helen and her own 'partner-in-crime' followed the rules, each secretly glad they were first in line. Everyone could hear the loud mouth of Lula who was further back. She was trying to cut in line to no avail it seemed, they weren't letting the canary yellow spandex wearing loud mouthed woman in front of them!

Helen and Angie each departed like content women who succeeded over everyone else, the boxes clutched in their hands. Going their separate ways, they agreed to carpool each following morning.

Arriving home, Helen called Frank down to get his morning treat. She pulled a casserole dish out of the fridge to be warmed up for their breakfast while a pool of saliva formed at the corner of her mouth thinking about her brownie treats.

Frank came downstairs to see what all the 'excitement' was about. Standing beside his wife it was hard to contain his grin while peering into the box at the writing on the brownie bars:

C on the first bar.

and

S on the second one.

"What the hell is this Helen? I wanted Coffee cake, not some damn alphabet brownies."

"Frank we could win a new car if I can figure it out. Surely a week worth of brownies is a small price to pay when it could be the difference between that car I have now and a Brand New Buick."

"Whatever Helen, just give me my breakfast."

All of a sudden, Helen had the idea what those initials stood for and logged onto the computer, her husband's complaining voice in the background as she typed in her first guess:

Carlos Santana. While he was a musician it still counted right? Her first day of guessing done, Helen pulled out a note pad to write down her weeks worth of guesses, only hoping Angie didn't come up with the same ones she did.

"Lula, I'm not sure if Colonel Sanders is a winner or not." Connie blew on her nails to dry them.

Lula huffed. "The Colonel beats the heck out of Sonny Corleone, the C was the first one in the box. You got to get your head out of the mob. Don't matter though, we have six more days to figure it out. After all we are the best at what we do, right?"

Vinnie popped his head out and sneered, "You girls are the best all right...at doing nothing at all. Get to Work damnit!"

Helen and Angie talked later on the phone that evening about the bars...each confided in the other what they guessed it was, relieved that neither one had chose their entry.

Hector and the men were laughing their asses off reading all the entries pouring in for the first day, their listening devices came alive on the computers that happened to be 'gifted' to certain families. That red dot placed strategically on the monitors going unnoticed by all who used it. One resident actually guessed Santa Claus.

o0(Tuesday)0o

Helen and Angie got to the Tasty Pastry first once again. When she got home with her box, Frank was grumbling about brownies for breakfast, but she needed her clue. Today's box once again contained two brownies, but today they said P and M. Helen was trying to decide if she should enter today's guess as Paul McCartney when Frank interrupted her train of thought. "I've got a busy day today. Did you happen to see those signs on the neighbors yard you passed by? I went out to get the newspaper this morning and those bright yellow signs say the same damn thing as yesterday's brownies. Those very initials."

Snorting her displeasure over having missed the signs altogether, she went to the front door only to see what her husband was talking about.

15x15 inch signs loitered on the neighbors yard directly across from her.

C + S

The next yard also had the initials from the bars all on bright yellow paper. Gently blowing in the breeze, all the signs seemed to be leading her down a path to the Buick, which was all she cared about. She was going to win this contest, Damnit!

Later that evening, Helen once again called Angie to go over their answers. Helen was a little jealous, Angie's answers of Cruise Ship and Port Moresby were not only good, but nothing Helen would have thought of herself. Angie reminded her she'd be driving them both for the next day and making sure to coincide the time to be outside. Both ladies became aware of the signs popping up all over the 'Burg as each had connections to the same folks.

What did C + S stand for anyway?

Across town, Connie looked at Lula like she was crazy. "You're letting all that hair color get to your head. there is no way that M and P stand for Mr. Potatohead."

o0(Wednesday)0o

Even though it was the third day of the contest, the line at the Tasty Pastry showed no signs of letting up. The owner of the store was shocked that no one seemed to notice that the 'brownies' were actually healthy.

Just as the front door was opening, there was a noise overhead. The ladies looked up to find a small plane flying overhead. The gigantic yellow banner trailing behind it was a sight to behold. written on it was once again C+S, but now joining it was yesterday's clue, M+P. Helen was glad that it was too late to guess for those clues.

Today's clue held the usual two brownies, one with a chain and one with a ball. Helen wondered what kind of concert was going to feature Carlos Santana, Paul McCartney, The Beach Boys, and Alice in Chains. Angie decided that the clues were for a Cruise Ship to Port Moresby where guests will have a ball cruising around the Chain of islands that make up Oceania. Lula guessed that you got to meet Colonel Sanders and Mr. Potatohead at a Baseball Game where they would be served Sausage Links. The men at Rangeman howled with laughter as Hector read each entry.

o0(Thursday)0o

On the final day of the contest, everyone was given a large box. inside were a half dozen brownies, with all of the previous clues spelled out:

C, S

M, P

(ball), (chain)

All of the women were anxious to race home and submit today's guesses without delay. After she finished her entry, Helen called Angie to talk about the Contest. Helen didn't tell her friend, but since she had already guessed the concert, today she "Borrowed" Angie's answer and submitted the cruise guess. Helen told her friend just before hanging up, "I haven't been this regular since I was in rehab and drinking prune juice all the time." As she hung up the phone, she glanced out the kitchen window. What the Hell?

Mayor Juniak swiveled in his office chair and spoke on the phone. "Yes, Governor. No, Governor. No, that will not be necessary, sir. Thank you, I will, sir. Thank you. Goodbye." Once he hung up his phone, he spoke to the men seated across from him. "The next time you want to pull a stunt like this, I'm not giving you the permits. I forgot to tell the Governor about the skydivers you were sending out there today. He got so many panicked phone calls that he was ready to send the National Guard." The corner of Ranger's mouth lifted in a smile. Joe Juniak shook his head and laughed. "Hell with it. Next time you want to pull a stunt like this, you go right ahead. I haven't seen the Burg this riled up since Vinnie got caught with that duck."

The men stood and shook the mayor's hand. He escorted them to the door and Frank Plum said, "You're going to Rangeman tomorrow to see the prize announcement?" Joe Juniak nodded enthusiastically. "Good, Hector's got cameras all over the place to catch every reaction from every angle. I can't wait to see the Grand Prize."