At the Blue Bell Amish School, fourteen-year-old Amelia Stoltzfus has been asked by her teacher, Miss Horning, to stay after school. It's an unusual request, and she's felt edgy and fearful all day long. Worse, Miss Horning has been acting peculiar.
Miss Horning asks Amelia to be a substitute teach while she leaves for a month to take care of her ailing mother. After much consideration, Amelia agrees, but she still wonders why Miss Horning is beings so fidgety. By the time she starts making her way home, it's dark out, and Amelia feels nervous and fearful. Footsteps begin following her. Suddenly, she's struck from behind and slumps to the ground.
At Amelia's home, her parents, Ben and Elizabeth, are deeply worried. Amelia should have returned from school long before now. They start searching for her, and they soon discover that Miss Horning is missing, too. Neighbors, friends, and even the state police come to help. But there is also a silent, sullen stranger who lends a hand. Is he somehow connected to the disappearances?
As events begin to unfold and dark secrets come to light, it becomes clear that the Amish community and their neighbors worked together to help those in need.
