INCORRUPTIBLE

by Hollinger, Michael

Welcome to Priseaux, France, c. 1250 A.D.: The river flooded again last week. The chandler’s shop just burned to the ground. Nobody’s heard of the wheelbarrow yet. And Ste. Foy, the patron of the local monastery, hasn’t worked a miracle in thirteen years. In other words, the Dark Ages still look pretty dark. All eyes turn to the Pope, whose promised visit will surely encourage other pilgrims to make the trek and restore the abbey to its former glory. That is, until a rival church claims to possess the relics of Ste. Foy—and “their” bones are working miracles. All seems lost until the destitute monks take a lesson from a larcenous one-eyed minstral, who teaches them an outrageous new way to pay old debts.