Pelagius is a young man in an old town. Bored by the safe and dull, he
decides to leave home to make his fortune his own way. In this world,
money does not grow on trees, so he takes on the career of a merchant.
Loading a cart with fancy goods, accompanied by his faithful horse and
cunning cat, he starts his journey to a distant town. To get there
safely he must cross a land of thieves. Once there, he will meet two
wise men. One is a scientific magician. The other is the secretive chief
of police. Pelagius learns the strange ways of that city and begins to
sell his goods. But it is a vain and dangerous place. Indeed, it plans
an invasion of his own home town. The magician has a love of football,
so offers to join him on condition that they create a proper football
team while preparing the town for defence. Helped by his wife (our hero
married young) and the children of the local school, our friends must
come up with one cunning plan after another to save them all. First,
Pelagius crosses the sea to find allies. These turn out to be an alien
tribe with a logic different to our own. The story builds to a climax
when the two sides must battle each other.
This is a story enlivened by humour and some original songs. It is
written clearly enough for younger readers but has some advanced ideas
that will appeal to all ages.
