There it stood, a two-storey clapboard building with garishly fashioned letters above the double doors,

Byway Tavern: Always on Your Way!
Spirits, Wine, Vittles & Women
Nightly Entertainment by World-Famous Musicians!

Eldon stood across the road and looked up at it. "Oh, lord," she thought, "what have I gotten myself into?" Hitching up her trousers, shaking the dust out of her hat and hair, once more, she wet her lips, took a deep breath and tried to casually saunter over to the Tavern. She wasn't a small gal, about five foot seven, good broad shoulders and hips, which she'd disguised as best she could with padding around her waist. Her shorn locks were a rusty blond colour and her eyes a hazel green.

Stepping up onto the boardwalk, she pushed open the Tavern door and stepped inside. What greeted her were the likes she'd never seen. It was all she could do to keep her jaw from dropping and her eyes from popping out of her head. There were "ladies" in outlandish and beautiful costumes, covering certain parts while revealing just enough to titillate. A piano player sat playing some loud and raucous tune while a couple of drunks danced around a small space of open floor.

Near the back of the downstairs room was an ornate staircase leading to a balcony with a railing and a hallway lined with doorways. Most of the doors were closed.

To her left was a long bar with men lined all up and down it, their backs turned to her, but their eyes watching in the huge mirror which the backbar framed.

Summoning all of the courage she had left, Eldon walked over to the end of the bar and hailed the bartender.