Cast Me Not Away — Patricia Thomas

“She caught a glimpse of him from her dormitory window, a thin, dark figure slipping between the bushes along the building's foundation walls before vanishing from sight…And then she heard the sirens.” The Week of the Pennington Place Fire begins innocuously enough on a bright October morning in Oaks Quarry, Ohio. But the smoke-filled basement harbors a secret. By the time the clean-up crew discovers a flip-flop in the back corner of the coal bin, Campus Minister Ruthalice Michels, is seamlessly dispensing daily doses of pastoral care to the residents of Emerick College while pursuing her own suspicions about the Penn Place Fire. Using husband Clifford as sounding board and her usual blend of Spirit-led insights and common sense, Ruthalice confronts the prospect of ascribing blame when no one's at fault.