With each chapter, settings change as the pilgrims journey from England, across the Channel to France, south through central France and west to Bordeaux on the coast, then south across the Pyrenees Mountains into northern Spain, and west to Santiago de Compostela. Hardships and experiences along the Pilgrim Way, contribute to the development of the characters.

The story begins in 1299 at the Peterborough fair, where shabbily dressed, fourteen-year-old Elenor Ramsay watches a medieval mystery play with her priest, Father Gregory. On the steps of a cathedral under construction actors perform the story of Adam and Eve. After the pair yields to the serpent's temptation in the Garden of Eden, devils groan, "Eternal remorse." An angel waves a golden sword, and Adam and Eve flee the garden. The play increases Elenor's fear of marriage and her role as a woman.

Nineteen weary Crusaders, led by Thomas Thornton, arrive at...