Dreams of Madness (Working Title)
an excerpt

Allison waited.‭ ‬A cat with many names‭? ‬She wondered if maybe she had accidentally fallen into Wonderland.‭ ‬The Cheshire cat could learn a thing or two from this naughty beast.‭ ‬After a moment or two of silence,‭ ‬Allison began to wonder if the thing had any intention of answering.
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“‬Well,‭ ‬what shall I call you‭?” ‬she added.‭ ‬The cat twitched her long tail and altered her course a little.‭ ‬Allison nearly tripped,‭ ‬and ran a few steps to catch up
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“‬I suppose you can call me Sthene,‭” she murmured, blinking her silvery-blue eyes thoughtfully. "Its a useful enough name for now." Allison was about to ask her to elaborate, but the cat bounded off again, and she sighed and followed.
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Before long, a thin column of smoke appeared on the horizon, reaching up from the grassland. Sthene led Allison toward this column, as the morning sun reached its zenith and began to descend once more. Not long after the smoke appeared, a smudge on the horizon indicated the presence of some sort of structure. After a few minutes of straining her eyes, Allison gave up and went back to watching where she stepped. When she looked up again, she could tell that there were a number of small wooden huts clustered around what appeared to be a central fire. The huts were small, and oddly tilted. Their bases were obscured by the tall grass, so Allison couldn't tell whether it was because of uneven ground or some trick of carpentry.
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When they got within hearing distance of the camp, and low voices began to drift toward them on the breeze, Sthene stopped and crouched in the grass.
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"I dare go no further, and be sure they don't see or hear you. They're rather wary of strangers, lately," the cat purred, eyes peering through the grass stalks. Allison nodded, and proceeded forward carefully, trying to be no more than a whisper in the grass.
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On the other side of the camp, some herd animals grazed. At first glance, Allison assumed them to be cows, but upon further inspection, she changed her mind. Rather, they looked like a kind of gazelle, or deer. Long angled horns swept back from their foreheads, and their bodies were slender and wiry as a deer's. They were a light faun color, with slightly darker vertical striping. They seemed docile enough, and Allison couldn't see any means of tethering them. She therefore ignored them, creeping into the shadow of one of the huts.
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As she got closer, she realized why they had appeared tilted. The huts were actually elaborate wooden carts. They looked for all the world like quaint miniature houses, except for a pair of large wooden wheels and long poles for harnessing beasts of burden. Maybe even some of those goat things, Allison thought they looked strong enough to pull a wagon. She ducked under the poles and huddled next to the front end of the cart, below a window whose curtains hug limp in the encroaching twilight. She could see from here a circle of people huddled close around the fire, and smell whatever it was they cooked in pots placed in the coals. Women huddled together nearer to the flames, a careful eye on the simmering food, while the men stood, arms folded, at a distance.
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Both men and women alike had tanned faces, sun-weathered and seamed. The men wore their hair close-cropped, and many sported bandannas of a sort. Clothing seemed to be rather rough, or well-worn. The women wore heavy skirts and aprons stained from use. The men's trousers bore evidence of some heavy riding, the threadbare parts concentrated on the inner thighs and buttocks. They reminded Allison at the same time of Native Americans and Gypsies. Their voices were hushed, but the few words that drifted Allison's way were certainly intelligible.
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"There's no choice..." A man's voice, low and gravelly, escaped the mumble of conversation. "Hard winter...safety..." Allison inched closer to the front of the wagon, straining her ears to hear them. Then, so suddenly she nearly jumped out of her skin, two female voices echoed out the window above her head.
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"Seiran, you must eat something! What will Kolton do if you waste away?"
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"But Annen, my son...my only son! Kolton was so happy to have him, and now..."
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The muffled sounds of sobbing interrupted the conversation. The first speaker cooed unintelligibly to the second, and Allison hear the distinct sound of liquid being poured.
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"Here, Seiran. We've all lost children these past months. The menfolk will decide to go to town, you'll see. There will be no way the governor can ignore us this time."
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The second speaker didn't answer, and a moment later, Allison's heart stopped as the window above her was wrenched open. She plastered herself flat against the wall of the wagon, hoping it would resist her weight. It did, and in the light from the window, Allison saw the woman's silhouette disappear.
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"We'll get trough this, Seiran. Please, don't give up yet."
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Allison crept slowly backwards, inching away from the fire. She held her breath, certain that at any moment someone would look over and see her, but the people gathered around the fire seemed too intent on their own troubles to notice an intruder. When she reached a safe distance from the glowing circle of wagons, Allison stood back up and turned her back on the camp, wondering about what she had heard.