Coals of fire

Coals of Fire, a novel:  Time: 1962; Setting: Imaginary Old Order Mennonite community, modeled on those at Martindale and Weaverland, Lancaster County; but relocated to Mifflin and Centre Counties, in the ridge and valley province of Pennsylvania.This story involves five people: A man (Heinrich Deier) who is hiding in plain sight, hoping his good works in a new life under a new name (Henry Beiler) will help defend him in the event his enemy appears with formidable charges and, probably, several convincing forms of proof.  The enemy (Gamaliel ben Asher), with a chilling indictment in hand, is, indeed, hot on the trail, intent on revenge.Very quickly the reader will want to know what Deier did that was so terrible.  What will the pursuer do when he catches up with his quarry?  (the word quarry comes from M.E. querre, meaning entrails of a deer given to the hounds as a reward. What kind of showdown will result from the confrontation of these two men?Two other people caught in this story are Ruth Bonner, a niece of the suspect, sent by him to recover a package believed to be among the possessions of a local woodworker (Whalen Oberholtzer).  The quick advance from love-at-first-sight to marriage-made-in-heaven puts Ruth in the best possible position to rummage her husband?s things and retrieve the package, if it exists.  It?s a job she puts off until pressure from her uncle makes performance necessary.  What is in the package she finds in the attic so alarms and dismays her she has Whalen put it in a safety deposit at a local bank. When Whalen returns from  the bank, the house is empty.  A note from Ruth says she is riding her bicycle to relax.  As darkness approaches and a lurching pick-up truck search of mountain and  country side roads turns up nothing, Whalen is trembling.Soon a phone call, a lightly accented male voice, confirms.  Ruth is safe and will continue to be safe if....Whalen?s nightmare begins.One other person plays a prominent role in the story.  Johann Deier, early twenties, son of Henry Beiler, recently returned from Europe with an advanced degree from a German university in hand and with an advanced degree of frustration, resentment, disilllusionment and rage in psyche.  He has not changed his birth name to accommodate his father, does not intend to  adopt his father?s new vocation, and has indignantly in mind a few other demands that will greatly disturb the old man.In due course Oberholtzer and Asher find each other and identify mutual interests.  They devise a plan for the inevitable confrontation in which you, Dear Reader, will learn what Mr. Deier did that was so terrible?in the early 1940?s, when he thought what he did was good, and in 1962, when he got what he deserved and what he wanted, knowing full well it was not good.  And what you learn will haunt you the rest of your life.