From the French town of Vendome, a twelve-year-old and his little sister are recruited into the ill-fated childrenas crusade of 1212. Charles and Ann Alexander find themselves among thousands of other European children bound for Jerusalem in a desperate attempt to free that most Holy Land from Islamic rule. In the ensuing weeks they experience many exciting adventures: an encounter with a awitcha in the Dark Castle, a clash with highwaymen, an attempted kidnapping by outlaws, a storm at sea, and a climactic battle with pirates to rescue their father from imprisonment. In the middle of all this, Charles learns a few things about the frustrations of young love. Forced to depart the crusade, Charles and Ann bid farewell to their fellow crusaders. Even as the other children set sail eastward for the Holy Land, Charles secretly vows to somehow rejoin the crusade and the little girl with whom he feels himself to be so very much in love.