Harry Hawkins has it going ... okay. He's successfully found his sister's true love Marcos and sent him back to her, and he's recently enlisted the help of the Nephite warrior Gidgiddonihah, but that's about it. Now, he has to retrieve the Book of Matthew from Jerusalem and bring it to Mount Gerizim in ten days, or Simon Magus and the Sons of the Elect will kill his future stepsister Megan and young orphan Jesse. In the war-torn Israel of 70 AD, it's a very high order. Even with Gidgiddonihah's help, the odds are not great.
Gid and Harry journey towards Jerusalem. And a stroke of luck - they soon encounter none other than Symeon Cleophas and his daughter Mary, who had previously rejected the call to adventure. Symeon explains that his wife died the same night Harry, Megan, and Jesse visited in the last book, and he resolved to leave safety and journey to Jerusalem to retrieve the holy scriptures Harry and Gid are on the way to get.
Having gained two allies, the group continue. Once they arrive at besieged Jerusalem, Symeon contacts his man in the Roman camp - the Jewish historian-turned-Roman Flavius Josephus. Josephus gets them into the city, but warns them that inside the walls, the Roman army has no authority.
Unfortunately, once inside, Harry's is suspected as a spy and captured. He's told that he'll be executed when the Romans break the siege, which should be tomorrow. He also learns that another pale man was imprisoned recently, with red hair and a weird clock on his arm. Harry realizes this can only be his Uncle Garth.
Harry is cast into prison to find Garth waiting for him. Garth reveals that while Harry's been gone a month in his time, for everyone in the present it's been six months, which is why Garth came after him. The two don't know how to get out, but hope that their friends will try a rescue.
Imprisoned in a tower, they have a view of the Romans breaking the siege. There is widespread looting, murder, panic, and stampedes. The Jewish army being too busy to come kill them, the two find someone knocking at their door - Gid. Meeting up with Symeon and Mary, the group make their exit, make it to the ruined house where the lost scrolls are supposed to be and finally discover them. Loading up, and against all odds, they make their exit from the city.
—
Meanwhile, Megan has been having her own stuff. She and Jesse awake in pitch darkness and are told by a torch-wielding Simon Magus that they're being imprisoned in a cave on the Sons of the Elects' property. Without his torch, it's pitch-black inside. Soon after, he invites them to a dinner where they'll have a chance to teach the Sons the meaning of the "artifacts" they have (i.e., modern camping equipment).
Megan ends up using this opportunity to insult the Sons of the Elect to their faces and show off her knowledge of historical events. But this backfires when Simon accuses the two of them of being witches and says that if one of her claims comes true - that the temple of Jerusalem will be destroyed in three days - then one of them, Jesse, will be sacrificed.
Megan and Jesse determine to find a way to escape. Having noticed the rats in their cave disappeared into a pool of water, they lower themselves into it and start exploring its tunnel. They find it exits outside of the cave, although still on the Elects' property. They wait until nightfall, set a fire to distract everyone, and successfully escape. But just before they reach safety, the Elects' archer spots them and manages to shoot Jesse, wounding him.
Running through the night, the two celebrate, but need to treat Jesse's wound. Megan slips and falls into a pile of mud. And at that very moment, a handsome young Roman in sparkling armor comes riding up on a white horse to see what's going on. Megan is equally dumbstruck and embarrassed. Jesse wants treatment for his wound.
The Roman in question is named Apollus Brutus Severillus, and he turns out to be part of a nearby garrison. One at the foot of Mount Gerizim. He takes Megan and Jesse back to camp, and his father, the commander, orders that the two be given food, raiment, and treatment. Jesse's wound is not serious, but he is kept in hospital for a few days. And meanwhile, Megan sells herself as a traveling Roman citizen and her servant captured by dangerous local radicals. Apollus's father, entrusted with keeping the peace, gives them refuge until Harry shows up to meet the Sons, and begins planning to ambush this local element and eliminate them.
Apollus and Megan spend a few days getting to know each other, having chemistry but heavy disagreements, but on a scouting trip up the mountain, the two and their escort are ambushed by the Sons and Apollus severely wounded. Megan manages to hide them in a cave and nurses him back to health for three days. He recovers enough to go get help, kissing Megan on the forehead before he leaves, but while she waits for his return, Megan is discovered by the Sons.
—
It has now been ten days. Harry has to deliver the scroll by tonight, or Megan (now recaptured) will die. He and his crew reach the base of Gerizim and discover Apollus and his father. The Romans relate that they're planning to set the mountain alight to kill the Sons, but they need to rescue Megan first (and Jesse, who tried storming up the hill when he heard she was captured and was promptly captured too). Harry, Gid, and Garth volunteer to conduct the planned exchange to distract the Sons so the Roman rescue can get into position. With no time to make a fake, they reluctantly take the real Scroll of Matthew. The Romans mention, as Apollus told Megan earlier, that there's a firebreak they'll need to take to get down the mountain once it's lit.
The crew are promptly captured. They're taken to ruins atop the hill where the Sons, Megan, and Jesse are assembled. Magus proclaims these are the very ruins where Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac, and that they'll honor it by sacrificing Jesse now. With the Scroll in hand, he reveals the Sons' final plan after that - they will read the Scroll to learn the secret of ascending to heaven, and then kill themselves, neatly avoiding the Roman offensive they know is coming.
Restrained, Harry has to get free before Jesse is killed, and finally remembers the hidden blade he sewed into his cloak at the start. It's a bit tricky, but he grabs it in time, cuts his bonds, manages to cut Gid's, and Jesse is saved. And the mountain is ignited.
The Roman cavalry finally arrives, scattering the Sons, freeing the rest of Team Harry, and rescuing the Book of Matthew. But Megan is spirited away; Magus grabs her and forces her at knifepoint to show him the firebreak he knows must be there. Megan manages to delay him, and the cavalry shows up while they're halfway down the hill. While Magus vainly tries to baragin, Jesse sneaks up behind him and throws a massive boulder at his back. Simon stumbles away from Megan, sets himself on fire, and writhes for an uncomfortably long time before finally collapsing, burnt to death. Team Harry - now complete - assemble themselves and make it down the mountain.
On the way down, Harry asks Garth what was on the Scroll of Matthew that was briefly exposed during the scuffle. Did he see a way to get to heaven? Garth reveals that the Scroll just contained the standard Book of Matthew; the Sons fundamentally misunderstood the point of heavenly teachings by thinking there was a cheat code into heaven.
Later, Team Harry travels to Caesarea accompanied by Apollus and a Roman escort. Symeon reveals that he is going to travel to Epheseus, where the Christian Church is strongest, and deliver the scrolls they saved to them so they can be copied and shared. He takes Mary, and also Jesse, deciding to adopt the youth. The group have a tearful goodbye, and the adventure ends ... for now.
—
The second of a three-part arc.
