Jo is a bright ten year old girl who loves stories. She and her favorite teddy bear Lucas have a frightening encounter in the woods near her home. This leads to a strange new friendship with a beautiful little girl from long ago and far away. Her new friend prompts her to an act of kindness which requires her to make a personal sacrifice. As a result of these events an extraoridiary story is told to her from a thousand years ago and a thousand miles away. It is a story of the conflict between the demands of a harsh religion and the love of learning, arts and sciences. It also tells of the...

In August 1982 four boys aged between eight and fourteen and a beautiful fourteen-year-old girl share an old tin boat on Lake Baringo in Kenya. For a while it seems that nothing can spoil their fun or disturb the peace of the beautiful lake. But further afield there are rumblings of discontent against the President of Kenya. When these erupt into a coup attempt the children are caught up in the ensuing violence. A series of life threatening events test them all to the limit, and lead them into an adventure with a terryfying and thrilling climax. Through the help given them by the people of...