From the beginning chapters of this historical novel set in the mid 1800's, The Oberllyn family are under siege; first by an unscrupulous dishonorably discharged vet with an eye for a good farm, to the long road west to escape the Civil war, only to have Elijah become the government's point man for a rebellion in San Francisco. Of course, if you've worked for the US Marshal's office and Alan Pinkerton in your early career, such actions are not entirely unexpected. With his wife Elizabeth and his four children, spouses and children, they travel to California, a new life, a new settlement and begin the Oberllyn dynasty of espionage and invention.