The Lode Stone

Three years ago Melisende's husband, Simon, went off with Lord Barnard and his men to join King Phillippe of France on the Third Crusade. Now Lord Barnard is dead and his son, Lord Charles, has come home from the crusades with the last of their men -- and Simon is not among them. Left to fend for herself and her two young children, Melisende is determined to discover what happened to Simon at the battle for Acre. The truth is far stranger and more unsettling than she could ever have imagined.