Journey to Rhyolite

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.

Nathaniel had his reasons for making his journey to Rhyolite. Rhyolite was the greatest boom town in the west, with a population of ten thousand and growing fast. Nathaniel hoped to find what had been taken from him-taken by the snallygaster, that old legend from the back hills of Maryland. Snallygaster was that four legged flying snake that would snatch away whatever you most valued when you turned your back. It took away Annabelle, the love of his life. At least, that was the way he felt. Now he was here in Rhyolite, to make his fortune, to find Annabelle-and to look up the man he had murdered back in Baltimore.