Matilda has come to live in Blood and Bone Alley where she is serving mistress Peg, the bonesetter. After living with a priest for years where she learned to pray to Gad, and to write in Latin, none of these skills comes in handy when Father Leufredus leaves her with Peg. There she is expected to tend the fire, cook, run errands, and boil medicine. Matilda feels alone and unholy with all of these people who believe enjoying God’s world is like praying. Can she somehow learn to live here until her priest returns?