Nightpeople by Anthony Eaton Page B

crying, she told herself, though she wasn’t sure why not.
    The dog still crouched on the sand at her feet, but as her tears cleared she had the sudden notion that something was different about it. The creature remained as still as before, teeth bared and ears back, but something had changed, something almost imperceptible in the way it regarded her
    Then she realised.
    The creature’s tail was wagging. Not much, just the slightest hint of movement, right at the black tip of its long, scrawny tail. Not constantly, either, but a faint twitch of movement every few seconds. Something about that twitch worked against the aggression the dog was displaying in every other part of its body.
    Saria watched the tiny wagging tip for a couple of moments and thought about reaching again for the creature’s mind, but before she had a chance, her captor came scurrying back and without a word unknotted her from the tree.
    â€˜Come on.’
    Behind him, one of the old women disappeared over a small undulation on the other side of the camp. She returned a few moments later leading five of the strangest creatures Saria had ever seen.
    These must have been the pale shadows the dog had been so unconcerned about. From the way they followed the woman placidly into the centre of the camp, it was clear that what they lacked in aggression, they made up for in size.
    The animals were enormous, bigger even than Dariand. They loped lazily across the sand in a kind of steady rolling movement, each roped to the one in front. All were covered in dirty reddish-yellow fur. At the end of their long necks were angular, boney heads, all teeth and nose, and a large, misshapen hump rose in the middle of each beast’s back.
    The old woman stopped them by tugging on the halter-rope and immediately the lead animal knelt in the dirt, all four legs folding under it so that it collapsed onto the ground. Straightaway, all the other old people began loading the beast, taking up the various bundles piled around the fire and slinging them on either side of the hump. The rock-hopper carcases were wrapped in some kind of cloth and lashed across the creature’s rump.
    When the first animal was loaded, the second was moved forward and so on, until all that remained of the camp site was a dead fire-pit and a few areas of scraped ground. Only one beast was left kneeling and wordlessly the pale-eyed man pulled her towards it.
    The group watched silently, parting to let them through. As they approached the beast, Saria slowed. Even though the dog had shown her clearly that the large creature was nothing to be concerned about, the sheer size of it as it loomed above her was daunting.
    Immediately, the old man gave her leash a savage tug, almost pulling her off her feet.
    â€˜Hurry up, girl. We ent gonna hang around all day.’
    â€˜Eh, Dreamer, I reckon she’s scared of the camel.’
    Saria didn’t see the speaker – it was just a voice from the crowd – but his words raised a shallow chuckle among those gathered. Even the old man allowed a quick smile to crack his face, briefly revealing his sharpened teeth.
    â€˜I reckon you’re right. Don’t matter to me, though. Hurry up.’ Another jerk on the leash.
    â€˜Dreamer?’ Saria couldn’t stop herself asking. ‘Like Dreamer Gaardi?’
    Around her, there was a sudden intake of breath as the assembled group froze. Her captor whipped around.
    â€˜What was that, girl?’ There was menace behind his question. The pale eyes narrowed to slits. ‘What’d you just say?’
    Immediately, Saria realised she’d made a mistake. Another one. She knew she had to be more careful what she revealed to these people, so now she bit her tongue and didn’t reply. The old man stepped closer, holding her leash short so she couldn’t back away.
    â€˜Dreamer Gaardi. That’s a name I ent heard in a long time. How’d you know it, I wonder? Could be