The Steppe (Unabridged)

Rosalie Parker runs the independent UK publishing house Tartarus Press with R. B. Russell. Her previous collections include The Old Knowledge (Swan River Press 2010) and Damage (PS Publishing 2016). "In the Garden" was selected for Best New Horror 21 (2010), and "Random Flight" for Best British Horror 2015. Rosalie lives in Coverdale, North Yorkshire, the magnificent landscape of which inspires and sometimes provides the settings for her writing.

THE STEPPE: To Pavlo the steppe was a sea of undulating grass, the stems and seed heads rustling against each other in the rising breeze. In the distance the mountains shimmered in the afternoon heat.