Joseph Michael Sepesy

The Flight of St. Joan's Cross Joseph Michael Sepesy

It is 1431, in Rouen, France, when Jeanne d'Arc is burned at the stake. After her Aide-de-camp Captain Paul Lejeune witnesses her death, he saves two pieces of charred wood from the ashes and locks of Joan's hair. Lejeune then appears before his king and an unexpected tribunal, where political intrigue causes his arrest. After escaping with help from an insider, Lejeune delivers the relics to a priest who, along with his successors, keeps it a secret for over one hundred years until it is displayed at Domremy's St. Catherine Catholic church. On 10 November 1918, Lieutenant John Chaple saves the life of German officer Otto Dengler, before dying in a senseless battle at Domremy. Twenty-three years later, Dengler fulfills Chaple's dying request and visits John's father to return his personal effects that include the relic of St. Joan of Arc and his journal-just as American soldiers return to battle Nazi forces in Europe. Among them is John's neighbor, Captain Danny Windemere, who carries the relic with the hope of returning it to the people of Domremy. But first, he must survive twenty-five combat missions flying his B-17.