Kerri inherits a fabulous dowry of gold, gemstones and jewellery from her Gran who inherited it from her grandmother and all the grandmothers before that, back to Princess Roshanah Shah and Captain Beauregard Wilkinson. In the valuable hoard is an ebony box that contains the Mughal ruby that owes its origins to antiquity. This ruby becomes known as the Captain's Ruby and is accompanied by a curse, a blessing and a prophecy. In 1842, Captain Beau had saved Princess Roshanah from captivity in Kabul in Afghanistan and had escorted her back to Islamabad in what was then British India. The dowry was given to Beau by Roshanah upon their marriage and Roshanah became the owner of the Captain's Ruby. A number of different claims were made both upon the dowry and upon the Mughal ruby by the family of the Indian sepoy who had fought bravely alongside Beau and the maid of the daughter of the Arab trader who had helped the fugitives to flee Afghanistan and who had given the Captain's Ruby to Beau. The story unfolds as Kerri has to use the power of the ruby to fight against those who are pursuing her Indian inheritance. She is aided in this by the keepers of the temple of grace in Pakistan which is the true home of the Captain's Ruby. The story builds to a thrilling climax in which Kerri's inherited abilities and her possession of the Captain's Ruby are pitted against a primeval force that is determined to take the ancient talisman for its own use.
