The Martian frontier is no place for children, but Peter and Susan Ashley have no choice: their parents are deep in the desert on expedition, and surly Mr. Caxton is their guardian. When Peter spots something impossible in the red sand, a bird where no bird should exist, his excitement meets Mr. Caxton's contempt. The man laughs, dismisses, ridicules. What adult would believe a child about Mars? But the desert holds secrets. At night, something arrives at their door. Something ancient, alien, and very real. Frank Belknap Long crafts a tense, atmospheric tale about what happens when we crush the imaginations of children, and what waits in the dark to punish those who mock what they cannot understand. This is science fiction as moral fable, where the skeptic meets his just desserts and the children are vindicated in the most thrilling way possible.
