Ride To The Moon

It’s an upper-class Sunday in London for the Ambassador’s daughter, her brother and her fiancé. Only thing missing is Diane’s recently married sister, Melissa. Messengers arrive from Whitehall. Melissa’s not just missing, she’s presumed dead, killed in an avalanche in Bulgaria. Diane doesn’t believe the story, and sets off with her brother and her fiancé to uncover the truth in Bulgaria. But the truth is buried pretty deep, and Hakim, the Turk vice-governor, doesn’t want it dug up. When Hakim kicks them out of the country, Diane stays behind. Women don’t travel alone in Bulgaria, so Diane dresses as a man, buys a handsome young male slave, Jovan, as a dummy companion, and sets off to find Melissa, rumored to be held in a flamboyant brothel in Sofia. On the road to Sofia, they are threatened by a band of partisans until they all realize they have a common enemy-Hakim. Marko, the partisan leader, helps Diane concoct an escape plan after the sister’s rescue. Diane has feelings for Jovan, her purchased companion. In Sofia, she sends him into the brothel to locate Melissa and scout out the rescue. Jovan must spend the night in the brothel to avoid suspicion, and by the time the rescue is successful, Jovan and Melissa are a couple. The trio races out of Sofia and meets up with Marko and his band. Marko guides them to the border, where Hakim attacks at the river crossing. Melissa and Jovan escape. Diane is almost captured when Marko snatches her out of the water and rides off in the snow to his village. On the road they become lovers. Problem is, Marko has a wife waiting for him at home. Snowed in for the winter, Diane is cloistered away in a ramshackle hut, visited first by Marko and then by morning sickness. She makes friends with the villagers and when Hakim and his soldiers attack during the Spring Festival, Diane leads the village defense, and kills Hakim as he flees. Now visibly pregnant, Diane and Marko face impossible choices Can Marko leave his village? Can Diane live as wife #2 in a Bulgarian mountain village?