The husband of Miranda Glivven left home months ago on a secret assignment for the Governor and has not returned. Even his letters have stopped. With no news and no idea what has happened to him, Miranda goes on a search for her missing husband, accompanied only by a stray cat. On reaching her husband s last known location, she finds the local authorities uninterested in helping to find him. Worse, some of the local citizens suspect Miranda of using magic, a treasonous offense, because of the unusual cat that has followed her on her quest. Although Miranda has always believed that magic is superstitious nonsense, she finds the circumstances of the disappearance growing more and more mysterious....