Seven years after leaving the colony of Havenhill, Connecticut, Josiah Rush is asked to return, but his hopes of finding forgiveness and acceptance are dashed when he becomes convinced that the colony is infected by a deadly disease.

Ever since his parents drowned while crossing the Atlantic after a revival, Daniel Cooper has felt as if the world is out to get him. For the past year he's had to live with his Uncle Asa and Aunt Camilla -- and all their rules. One night, deciding he's had enough, Daniel sneaks out his bedroom window and flees to the alley behind his employer's casket shop. What he sees there shocks him to the core. Pursued by two men, Daniel embarks on an agonizing...