Across a vast, surreally hilled land fraught with rich vexings of forest chugs a tiny, Disneyesque train on faltering tracks. The land is Encerosia, somewhat mimetic of the United States back in the frontier days, and the train is the New Sunrise Express, bearing a host of children across the country on a Children's Crusade to liberate the Holy Land to the west. The far, half-mythical Holy Land is besieged, but by who? Everyone wonders, but nobody knows. Most of the story is seen through the eyes of the boy Jan and the girl Willow. Both come from orphanages; both have gone unloved. Now they must painfully learn to love each other, even though Willow is taller than Jan, making their friendship embarrassing. Orn Huffer is probably the tallest of all. He's the engineer, and an adult, no less. Huge and hoomphedrous, with a walrus mustache and pocket watches hopping out of every pocket, he is the very epitome of both authority and absurdity. His helpmates, Robin Green and April Rain, are also adults (maybe). Both are young and springlingy. Robin is whimsical and gentle, with just a nip of derring-do. April is as pretty as a thousand moonments, and has the power to perform miracles. Together Orn, Robin, and April form some kind of strange triumvirate. Other adults aboard the train include Petunia Osp, a penitent witch, and Clarence Floorsquare, an alcoholic ex-cost accountant, Petunia's friend. Mr. Beanbang, the conductor, is also an adult, but he doesn't count, because he's cruel and nasty, and has his own plans as to the train's final destination. Spiff, Zim, and Prism are three wizard children who think they're adults, in fact, think they know everything. Out of Encerosia's tame, treezyEastenments into its wild, wasty Westenments the train rolls, in the process crossing time zones in the midwestern town of Friendenkind, where thousands of clocks threaten to blow sky high in a tremendous dynamite of time. Once in the western deserts, the traineteers have to cope not only with nonexistent tracks, but also with Rast Strichter and his vicious motorcycle gang. Farther still awaits Lord Foxley, a fabulous jokester with a private kingdom of multi-colored basset hounds, whom he launches on massive, lavish truffle hunts. In the end only crusty, hardtack prospector Rusty Knox and his mule Flapjacks can set the crusaders on the right route over the impossibly lofty Wivern Mountains to reach the Holy Land with its promised honeymilk on the other side. For here awaits the final grailful revelation of which Jan, Willow, and all their friends never guessed they were dreaming, in a flash transfiguring the novel into an odd mixture of a children's fantasy and a mysterious religious mystery play. .