Description
It is 1349. England has been ravaged by bubonic plague. It is an uncertain world, the people are deeply suspicious and afraid. Falsely accused of witchcraft, the stolid peasant Creb and his young companion, the frail, unworldly Roland, flee their village for the uncertain and increasingly dangerous world beyond. Their only guide is a mysterious map they believe may lead them to the Philosopher's Stone, the stuff of alchemy.United by the struggle for survival, Creb becomes Roland's first real friend, while Roland, whose moments of insight verge on prescience, opens Creb's mind to the marvels of learning. But it is Ellen, the intuitive stranger, whose strength and passion brings them both to new depths of feeling as they learn the value of trust, the cruelty of betrayal and the power of love.
