The Inventor

About the author: Following a previous life, he has turned his attention to telling stories about the Old West during the 19th and early 20th centuries. He has discovered there are thousands of untold stories to be found in old newspapers, magazines, and sometimes even history books. The stories he writes are mostly made-up fiction, but then so are a lot of history books. He has learned that what people most value are not the bare bone facts of the past, but the stories we tell about them. Steve (whose friends mostly refer to him as "Bart") derives his idea from listening to people, walking around old neighborhoods, and a lot of reading. As for his previous life, he had an undistinguished career in civil service. His first actual job was in the U.S. Army. Someday he may write a book titled "All I Need to Know I learned in the Army." He now lives in a rural part of northern California, where he likes to listen to folks and look at trees.

San Francisco, 1880. Jeremy Fantom dislikes his job as reporter for The Bulletin. He dreams of joining a circus or going to sea. That all changes when he meets Worrell the inventor. Worrell has a machine that will run forever without fuel. Or so he claims. Jeremy soon finds himself involved in city politics, crime, swindling and riots. Then the inventor's daughter is kidnapped. Jeremy embarks on a mission to rescue her and see justice done.Miss Hollyhock is Worrell's daughter. Devoted to her father, she befriends Jeremy and reveals some of Worrell's secrets to him. She hints that powerful circles in New York are intent on suppressing her father's inventions. Jeremy Fantom writes articles for his paper about some of the wonders he has witnessed. Then he begins to have doubts, until Hollyhock disappears. He soon learns that the line between truth and humbug is not always clear cut.