It's the year 1898. The turn of the century looms ever nearer and Age of Science has arrived. It keeps the economy in England-- as well as all over the world-- buzzing. But in the city of North Petherton-- a small town in Somerset situated just west of Bristol-- a breakthrough in science has got everyone in the city reeling. They're the first city to use Acetylene gas for lighting.
Acetylene (a.k.a. Ethyne) is a colorless gas and yet highly flammable only in liquid state. Offensive odors often noted in commercial acetylene are due to impurities. When stored at high temperatures and pressures, it's used as an illuminant in lighting. As of its inexpensive amount, mass tons can be distributed all around the world. It's the equivalent to present day's nuclear power.
But when the formula was stolen from by a greedy super-powered company, called Accenture, (located in London) it attempts to take the credit for itself. The formula becomes a dangerous threat to everyone in the city. A potential bomb.
Accenture is the leading competitor in the weapons producing lines. Wanting to sell it to major countries around the world, they will make an enormous profit.
Now, it's up to Samantha Steam, the daughter of the renowned inventor James Ray Steam. An inventor herself, she and her father co-created the Acetylene. Feeling somewhat responsible for the threat, Samantha joins up with some friends to try and recover the formula!
Chapter 1: Just the beginning…
Samantha pulled on the wrench harder, when it finally snapped off. Nearly toppling backward, she wiped her cheek on her hand. There was already so much grease and dirt on it from working on her new invention, she really didn't care. Brushing her sandy blonde hair out of her face, she held the bolt closer up to her eye.
Moving back over to her latest idea, she measured the width of the bolt and then the opening and realized that's what had caused the jam. "Augh… bugger…" she said, leaning over the seat. "If I wasn't so tired I could have seen that coming from kilometers away."
Samantha was quite a pretty girl. She usually had her hair up into a pony tail to not get it into the works of the machines. Her bright blue eyes hinted her intellect and curiosity. Never being quite the lady she should, she'd play in the street with the rest of the neighborhood boys and sometimes get into fights. Playing sports, and getting dirty was a way for Samantha to broaden her mind to many more things than what was usually accustomed for young women. At 15 she could care less.
"Samantha!" her mother called from somewhere near the house. "Samantha! Time for supper!"
"Coming!" she called over her shoulder. Tossing her wrench to her work desk, she hurried out of the shed and into the main house. Her mother, Emma Steam, was working at the stove in the kitchen. She was making what appeared to be beef and vegetable stew. Her younger brother, Michael, was sitting at the table playing with his model train. "Where's dad and Peter?" she asked when she sat down at the table with him. Peter was her other younger brother who worked as a newsboy for the Post.
"They're both in town placing orders for new parts. Apparently Ray is very excited about your new invention." Her mother said.
Sam's face lightened up, "They're getting me the parts I need? Ha! Yes!"
And almost as if on cue, both James Ray Steam and Peter Steam entered the house. Mr. Steam had short brown hair, dark brown eyes and a lean muscular body. He worked in the local textile factory down the way. He was the one who invented all of the machines used there.
Peter was just one year younger than Samantha. At the age of fourteen, he was already taller than she. Being a very handsome boy, he had quite a fan-fair with the girls in his classes. He looked just like his father at that age.
"Dad!" Sam called from the table. Both her dad and her brother entered, holding packages wrapped in brown paper.
Her father went over to her mother and they kissed, "Have a good day?"
She nodded and said, "We were just talking about you."
"Oh, really… well, it can't be about this, can it?" he said, taunting Sam with the parcel. She thrust her hand into the air and snatched the box from him. Laughing she opened it and saw all the parts she needed. "Oooh, dad! Thank you!" She hugged him and began putting all the pieces back in.
"Samantha Ann Steam! Look at your face! You're filthy!" her mother shrieked.
"Sorry, mum…" she said, rubbing her cheek to try and at least look a little better. But it only made it worse.
"Go wash up! That's enough inventing for today," she scolded.
"Right,…" Sam said, sulking upstairs to clean up.
Later that night, Sam snuck out of the house to finish working on her invention. She wasn't about to reveal it to anyone except her father just yet. Creeping as silently as possible down the stairs, she left out the back way and into the shed.
Searching around the boxes, she found the correct sized nut she needed. "Excellent… that'll work just nicely," she muttered to herself.
The next morning, Sam awoke to a noise of pots and pans bustling. Jolting upward, she peeled off the piece of sketch-work she'd done the night previous. Looking around, she realized she had fallen asleep in her workshop.
Looking around quickly, she got up hurriedly and ducked beneath the windows, crawling on her hands and knees in the garden. Scrambling up, she darted around the corner of the house and up to the door. Opening it quietly, she entered. But once she closed the door without a sound she heard her mother's voice from the kitchen, "Samantha Ann Steam…. Kitchen."
Greatly disappointed that she'd been caught, she walked into the kitchen where her mother was cleaning the counters. Turning around, she slung the towel over her shoulder and put her hands on her hips. Eyes wide, she realized what Samantha had looked like. "Jesus, Mary and Joseph, girl! Where in England have you been!"
Sam looked down at her dress and saw the grass and dirt stains covering the front. She patted it down and looked back up at her mother, "Umm… Goldie got out again and I had to chase him down."
Her mother eyed her suspiciously and asked, "Well, is he back in now?"
Sam nodded feverishly, "I got him. He's up in my room now."
"Right," her mother said slowly. She turned back to her cleaning, "You'd best change. The summer is not all about hanging around all day!"
"Aye…" Sam said running back upstairs. She was relieved that she hadn't been caught. She stopped at the sound of her mother's voice, "Oh and Samantha, dear! I know you were out working last night! Don't let it happen again!"
"Mornin' all!" called a familiar voice entering through the main door. Sam reappeared from her room in a change of clothes and stopped at the top of the stairs and looked down to see her friend William. Bounding down them loudly she exclaimed, "Will! All right?"
"Yeah," he said, grinning and putting his hands in his pockets. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah, hold on," Sam said, moving into the kitchen once more. "Tara, mum. Will and I are going out into town for a bit. I'll be in later to keep working on my project."
She darted out of the kitchen before her mother could protest and she was out the door with Will, running down the dirt road. Once they were some ways away from the house, they slowed down and Will put his cap back on and they watched the little kids from down the street play with wooden hoops and tops.
Sitting on the wall separating the field and the road, the two watched the local team play a match of soccer. "This year's football team will be brilliant… I can tell," said Will. Sam looked over at him watching the game. He was a handsome boy with short cropped red hair. His green eyes followed the ball back and forth as it passed through each player's foot. His distinguished features made him look a lot older than he really was.
Sam has had a crush on Will ever since they met 7 years ago. Will felt the same way about her as she did about him. They'd never wanted to admit it though. They were too shy.
Suddenly, Sam felt a stinging pain on the back of her head. She grabbed it and whipped around. Standing below them was a group of kids that Sam didn't like at all. One of them held a couple of rocks in his hand.
Sam's face contorted into one of fury, "Clear off!"
The group of rough looking boys cackled and looked at one another smugly. "We hear your working on a new invention, Steam. What is it? Something to bring more money into that old house of yours?"
This time Will spoke up, "You heard her! Bugger off!"
The boy who'd thrown the rock before started throwing more at Sam, laughing. Sam got thoroughly angry and jumped down off the wall. She straightened up and shouted, "For your information, you little pillock, my dad's lived in that house since he was a kid. What's it to you?"
The boys laughed and another piped up, "We also hear that your old man spent every last shilling on parts for you. You've been using your parents so you can build crackpot machines, eh? You know they're never going to run. It's just a waste of time."
Sam clenched her hand into a fist. Will jumped down next to her and stepped in front of her and the boys, mainly for the boy's protection from her. "Listen. Just leave. We don't want any trouble."
They laughed again and Will turned to Sam and said quietly, "Come on, let's get out of here. They're not worth it."
Turning away and walking down the street, Sam followed Will. The boy's laughter swirled around her, making her even angrier. Another one called after her, "Hey, Steam! We also hear your entire family lives in a one room shack!"
At that last comment, Will tried to grab Sam's arm but she was too fast. She darted straight for the four boys and tackled on down to the ground. Furiously, she hit him in the face several times. The boy fought back as well, grabbing her hair and punching her in the nose. In return, she smashed her fist into his cheek. Pretty soon everyone was involved in the fight, including Will. One of the boys in the group kicked Will and he fell over. Reeling, Will dove for him as well and it was a full on rumble.
Suddenly, Sam was being pulled off of the boy by unseen arms. Trying to get at him again, she glared daggers at the boys who all fled at the sight of her expression.
She looked up to see who had pulled her off and saw to her horror, her father.
"H-Hello, Mr. Steam…" Will said uneasily. He had a small cut on his forehead from getting bashed in the head with a rock.
Back at the house, Sam stood in the corner facing the wall. "But mum… they egged me on in the first place. I barely touched them!"
Her mother said sternly from the dinner table, "That's exactly the same thing your father said when he was caught fighting. Turns out the kid he fought with had to get stitches. Just be thankful you didn't do the same."
Everyone, except for Sam, was sitting at the table eating supper. Her brothers were silently laughing at her behind their hands and her father just moved his mashed potatoes back and forth on his plate.
"Fighting in public…" her mother said, blown away.
Mr. Steam spoke up, "She did makes some good hits, Emma…" but with the look his wife gave him, he immediately went silent once more.
"That's no excuse…" she said. "Turn around Sam, let me see your face."
Sam did so and revealed her battle wounds. Her nose was purple as well as one of her eyes. Her lip was cut but stopped bleeding a while ago. Moving over to her, her mother pressed a raw cut of meat on her eye and told her to hold it there.
Telling her to sit down, Sam did so and held the meat to her eye. Without dinner in front of her, Sam would have to go through with her punishment of no supper.