The Betrayer's Fortune: Menno Simons by Dave and Neta Jackson

Stand alone novel

Summary: 

Adriaen Wens was frightened-for his own life and for his mother’s. In 1543, many Christians in northeastern Europe were suffering cruel persecution, even execution, for following the beliefs of Menno Simons, the leader of a group called the Anabaptists. When Adriaen’s mother was arrested, he had to flee during the night with Menno, knowing that to stay in the city would mean his own arrest.

Soon after, Adriaen discovered there was a reward of a hundred gold pieces for the capture of Menno Simons. With so much gold, Adriaen could free his mother and rescue his family from the city! But could he turn in the underground church leader, even if it meant the man’s execution?

If Adriaen betrays the leader, his family will go free!

Opening Lines: 

Adriaen Wens was tired of hauling sand for his father. He had been hauling sand and mixing mortar all day for three days, and his back felt as if it were breaking. 

"We gotta take work where we can find it," his father insisted when Adriaen complained about having to work in Asperen, Holland--sixty miles north of their home in Antwerp, Belgium--even though everyone said the winter of 1543 was the harshest they could remember in a long time.