Harold wanted a better life. He wanted a life that would free him from the shackles of his mundane existence. He wanted freedom, love, and a life that made his soul soar high. But how could he obtain those things? The surprising solution lay in an antique pen Harold purchased. At first, he thought it would just write down his thoughts, but he soon discovered it had a mind of its own. The pen took over, forcing Harold to write what it wanted, in a beautiful curly script in a language he didn’t understand. Soon he found himself writing—and actually time traveling to experience first hand—the thousand-year-old story of the Bedouin Al-Hamid Akbar, a man who rose from being a street urchin and a thief to becoming a sultan esteemed by all. Al-Hamid’s life was one filled with excitement, including escape from slavery, facing crocodiles on the Nile, battles with Bedouin tribes, and finding the love of his life. But most importantly, his life provided Harold with solutions to change his own.
Katherine MacDonald is on her own. Divorced with two small children while Edinburgh is being bombed during World War II, she is desperate to survive. Her long hours working at a laundry barely pay her bills. Her only solace is writing, but she could never imagine how a little pen found in an antiques store would change her life.
Astonished, Katherine watches as the pen drags her hand across pages, scrawling out words from the past—the words of the medieval knight Francois Jacques LaMar. Soon, Katherine finds herself time-traveling into the past to witness Francois’ life as he rises from being a miserable orphan to a Grand Marshal of the Knights Templar, honored by all. And in his writing, he reveals a secret treasure that he hid away that still waits to be found.
Amid the chaos of World War II, Katherine begins to search Francois’ writings for clues to the Knights Templar’s hidden treasure. Overcoming treachery and setbacks and finding trustworthy companions, she travels to the black, dangerous Cuillins Mountains on the Isle of Skye, little realizing the Nazis also seek the treasure.