Two children from a village in the late Middle Ages are forced to ee through a false accusation and an unjust trial. An adventurous odyssey begins for them leading them through the trials and tribulations of that time. With the Travelling People they find their way to foreign lands, experience witch trials and plagues, are taken into the care of monks and finally travel with merchants across the Mediterranean to faraway Egypt. Breathtaking experiences follow, which continue on the journey from Alexandria to Cairo, to the pyramids and to Upper Egypt. In a traumatic state, the boy Anselm experiences in Aswan the dangers of another time in another universe. The return journey across the Nile, the Mediterranean and through Italy is similarly adventurous until, after three years, the children, who have now grown into adolescents, and their companions reach their home village again.