Describes a year in the life of the monks living in the great monastery of Cluny in medieval France, as seen through the eyes of a young boy who has just joined the monastic order.
Follows the adventures of Pagan, squire to Lord Roland, through the years 1188 to 1189, as he accompanies his master, now determined to be a monk, to the French monastery of St. Martin and uncovers a dangerous blackmail plot.
Illustrations with lift-the-flaps and simple text in English and Somali describe the different beliefs and customs of Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Sikhism, and Hinduism.