This is a story of 2 children, Roger and Alice. Their father had left to fight in the Crusades 5 years earlier, and now their mother is sick. She sends them to find their uncle (an uncle they didn't even know they had). As proof, she sends her lute with the children. The children are captured and kept prisoner in a tower. Now they must find a way to escape, find their uncle, and bring help home to their mother. For grades 2-4, set in France in the 1100's, this story makes an excellent addition to any study of the Middle Ages. There is a Progeny Press guide on CD for this book.