René van Zyl 
Wee Monk’s Tale [EPUB ebook] 
The Secret Of Immortality

A MYSTERY, A QUEST, A COUPLE OF GUTSY TEENAGERS AGAINST ALL ODDS
795 AD: A time of superstitious beliefs and dangerous forces. When Viking marauders burn the monastery on the Scottish Island, Iona, the orphaned Shaughn (14) is forced to flee the only home he ever knew in a desperate attempt to save a precious altar Bible. Not willing to be left behind, his cripple step-brother Connor (14) (with grand illusions of becoming a knight) and Heather (13), a superstitious, street-wise gypsy girl, accompany him on the adventure of a lifetime.
Hot on the heels of the relic follows the fierce Viking, Thorvald, who is convinced that the Bible contains a secret recipe (a potion for eternal life). The escaping teenagers are cast into every imaginable medieval drama, from a bewitched castle to an encounter with a nasty Druid and even weird Viking Tournament Things.
Shaughn, who passes the time reading Latin (a super-weird hobby for even a medieval teenager!) is clearly not equipped for this mission. Meanwhile, the cynical Connor, who harbours aspirations of becoming a famous knight, notwithstanding a lame foot and serious lack of valour, appoints himself bodyguard to Shaughn. But the brothers can barely stay on top of the spirited horse they fled on!
Their only hope lies in the quarrelsome gypsy, Heather. Half Spanish and severely traumatised by the abuse she suffered at the hands of her stepparents, her single wish is to find her mother who, according to her, was abducted by fairies when Heather was 6 years old. Skilled as an archer, she saves the naïve boys from various predicaments but her superstitious nature soon drives them crazy. Shaughn, who is focused on his mission, is determined to educate her, whilst Connor finds it hard not to believe all her weird superstitions.
As if it isn’t enough that they are being harassed by a group of Vikings and their nasty offspring, an ‘undercover’ witch and each other, the teenagers also have to deal with Heather’s drunken step-father (an ex-communicated monk who wants the Bible’s bejewelled cover), the midget druid and his ogre-like twin brothers who plan to sacrifice the kids on the night of the all-dead, and an eccentric Pilgrim who appears and disappears like a ghost. Their greatest enemy, however, might just be their own insecurities.
Through this journey of outsmarting medieval foes, the bickering children, barely equipped to deal with the threatening choices of real life, touch the lives of many hurt and lost people and also find real friendship. The journey teaches them to trust God unconditionally and to find the heroes inside themselves.
A note on the Altar Bible: The Book of Kells.
Fact: The Gospel of Colmcille is considered the most important treasure contained in the Trinity College Museum, Dublin. During the Viking raids on Iona in 795, the Bible disappeared and mysteriously reappeared at the monastery of Kells, Ireland. How it ended up there nobody knows…
Fiction: Well, maybe three canny teenagers rescued it!