SEARCH FOR THE SAGE is a fantasy adventure written for young children. It comprises fourteen chapters and is about 47,000 words long.

Pamela, Stephen and Mary go on holiday to stay with their grandmother in Scotland. During the night they investigate noises coming from their grandfather’s old study. They find someone called Morgoda searching for a box in the moonlight. He disappears when the moonlight fades and the children then find the box. In it is a map and a spell which takes them to a world called Within (which is on the “inside” so that all the surroundings slope upwards).

When a family of ogres chase them they try to use the spell to get back out of Within, but unfortunately it doesn’t work. The children escape, meet up with a number of characters, and end up on a quest to find the Sage. The quest is taking place partly because he might know how to help the children get out of Within, but mainly because Within is being attacked by dreadful half-men, and his help is needed to drive them away.

As they journey across Within they have a number of adventures but in particular:

  • Stephen comes across a tiny gnome about to be eaten by a witch, and rescues him, picking up a piece of witch-glass in the process .

  • Mary rescues the entire party from a band of pirates, by crawling out of a tiny porthole and stealing the keys from the sleeping captain

  • Pamela manages to escape a spell thrown by the evil Morgoda and recapture the witch glass he had stolen

At last the Sage appears, attracted by all the commotion. Everyone is powerless before him. He explains that Morgoda has gone to the bad and has actively been trying to help the half-men. He says that the pool of Within magic (positive magic) is being used up and needs to be replenished. This can be done by saying a strong negative spell. Because all the children have in some way helped Within at risk to themselves, the spell to send them back home would do the trick. In order to prevent the half-men from invading Within any further, the children decide to leave at once.

They find themselves back in their room in Scotland. At first the magic makes them forget what had happened, but then Mary finds a pine cone she had picked up in the Deep Forest, and they all remember their adventures.

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