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No Bed In Deseret - by Nickolae Gerstner

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Ridiculous rumors about Mormons being polygamists can’t keep eighteen year-old Olive Banks from falling passionately in love with a Mormon doctor named Percival Terry. Shattered when she learns the rumors are true, she refuses to marry Percy until he promises never to choose a second wife. As a happy bride, she sets out with him in a wagon train bound for Deseret, the promised land of the Mormons. On the journey, sixteen year old Sophia is orphaned. “Olive, I’m not breaking my promise never to choose another wife. Brother Brigham chose Sophia for me. Olive dear, I must marry her tomorrow.

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Page 1: No Bed In Deseret - by Nickolae Gerstner
Page 2: No Bed In Deseret - by Nickolae Gerstner

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Page 3: No Bed In Deseret - by Nickolae Gerstner

A Girl in Love

“Understand? I love you so much, it’s agony to

think of life without you, but how can I understand

why your father has two wives? It’s wrong.”

“My father has four wives, but it won’t be that

way for us. We love each other. We belong togeth-

er, and I promise you will be the only wife I will

ever choose.”

A Wife Betrayed“You must understand. I’m not breaking my

promise. The elders of the church have chosen

Sophia for me. I have no choice. I must marry her

tomorrow.”

...

When he was with her, I could hear them

talking. When he was with me, I wondered what

Sophia could hear on her side of the wall.

My torment lent itself to madness.

Copyright © 2012 Nickolae Gerstner

Copyright © 1981 Nickolae Gerstner and Juanita B. Anderson

All rights reserved.

First Publication:

Popham Press

1981

Cover design:

Michael Wheary

Calypso Concepts

ISBN: 1477656065

ISBN 13: 9781477656068

Page 4: No Bed In Deseret - by Nickolae Gerstner

A Girl in Love

“Understand? I love you so much, it’s agony to

think of life without you, but how can I understand

why your father has two wives? It’s wrong.”

“My father has four wives, but it won’t be that

way for us. We love each other. We belong togeth-

er, and I promise you will be the only wife I will

ever choose.”

A Wife Betrayed“You must understand. I’m not breaking my

promise. The elders of the church have chosen

Sophia for me. I have no choice. I must marry her

tomorrow.”

...

When he was with her, I could hear them

talking. When he was with me, I wondered what

Sophia could hear on her side of the wall.

My torment lent itself to madness.

Copyright © 2012 Nickolae Gerstner

Copyright © 1981 Nickolae Gerstner and Juanita B. Anderson

All rights reserved.

First Publication:

Popham Press

1981

Cover design:

Michael Wheary

Calypso Concepts

ISBN: 1477656065

ISBN 13: 9781477656068

Page 5: No Bed In Deseret - by Nickolae Gerstner

About Longbourn

Lively characters, a convincing plot, and humor that would set Jane Austen

laughing.”

Madeline Baker

New York Times Best-selling author

About Dark Veil

“Derk Veil takes exciting twists and will keep readers guessing until the

last page. A great read.

Catherine Nelson, Rave Review

About No Bed In Deseret

“A good read that’s also unconventional and moving.”

West Coast Review of Books

About Ties That Bind

“Readers who dive into this lively story may not want to surface until the

end.”

Publisher’s Weekly

About Finder’s Keepers,

(Reader’s Digest condensed book selection, translated into 14 languages.)

“It’s my kind of book…a neat, suspenseful plot about the kind of people

you worry about, written with skill.”

Tony Hillerman

Books by Nickolae Gerstner

Dark VeilLongbourn

Books co-authored by Barbara Proninand Nickolae Gerstner

writing asBarbara Nickolae

Finders KeepersTies That Bind

Page 6: No Bed In Deseret - by Nickolae Gerstner

About Longbourn

Lively characters, a convincing plot, and humor that would set Jane Austen

laughing.”

Madeline Baker

New York Times Best-selling author

About Dark Veil

“Derk Veil takes exciting twists and will keep readers guessing until the

last page. A great read.

Catherine Nelson, Rave Review

About No Bed In Deseret

“A good read that’s also unconventional and moving.”

West Coast Review of Books

About Ties That Bind

“Readers who dive into this lively story may not want to surface until the

end.”

Publisher’s Weekly

About Finder’s Keepers,

(Reader’s Digest condensed book selection, translated into 14 languages.)

“It’s my kind of book…a neat, suspenseful plot about the kind of people

you worry about, written with skill.”

Tony Hillerman

Books by Nickolae Gerstner

Dark VeilLongbourn

Books co-authored by Barbara Proninand Nickolae Gerstner

writing asBarbara Nickolae

Finders KeepersTies That Bind

Page 7: No Bed In Deseret - by Nickolae Gerstner

“Emotionally gripping. I loved it from the first page.”

Mary Higgins Clark

“Nickolae’s first novel displays ingenuity and daring.

Publisher’s Weekly

“An unusually expert and clever work...plotting is ingenious, eminently

readable and suspenseful.”

Charles Champlin, Los Angeles Times

“Well drawn and believable. A splendid read.”

Baltimore Sun

Dedication

Juanita B. Anderson(1900 to 1990)

She was the granddaughter ofOlive Harriet Banks.

Using her grandmother’s journal,She built the frame for this book.

I painted the picture. It is trulymore her story than mine.

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Page 9: No Bed In Deseret - by Nickolae Gerstner

No Bed InDeseret

Nickolae Gerstner

Page 10: No Bed In Deseret - by Nickolae Gerstner

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Page 11: No Bed In Deseret - by Nickolae Gerstner

1

Chapter 1

5

I watched Pa, hoping to detect some sign of anger. I wanted him to

shout and pound the table with his fist the way he usually did when he was

about to give in. Instead, he continued to take deep puffs on his pipe.

We had finished the evening meal, and Pa was sitting on the sturdy

chair that had taken up so much space on the wagon when we made the

long journey from Ohio to Iowa. His huge frame always seemed to mold

into that chair. Now his long legs were stretched out, his eyes were half-

closed, and he smoked his pipe with slow deliberation.

I had braced myself, and then told him that Percival Terry was coming

to see him. “Please, Pa, for my sake, don’t send him away,” I begged, clasp-

ing my hands under my apron. “He must talk to you.”

Pa’s voice was much too calm. “Olive, understand what I told you be-

fore and tell you again now. You can never marry Dr. Terry. I forbid it, and

I don’t want that man in my house.”

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Nickolae GerstNer No Bed iN deseret

2 3

I dug my nails into my palms, but that didn’t release the panic welling

inside me. I wanted to scream that he was being unreasonable, but I didn’t

dare. My last, thin hope was to convince him that I was grown up and knew

what I was doing. I struggled to keep my voice steady.

“Pa, why can’t you realize how much Percy and I love each other? We

belong together, and we would never let our lives be influenced by the

wrong other people do.”

He shook his head, a slow, determined gesture, and did not answer. I

was his pet, the one best able to persuade him when the family wanted a

favor. Now, when it was the most important thing in my life, he wouldn’t

listen to me.

Ted was bent over the fireplace, poking at the blaze. He was nineteen

and already a man. I wanted him to help me convince Pa to talk to Percy,

but Ted dropped the poker, jerked on his buckskin jacket, and mumbled

something about checking the beaver trap.

I adored Ted. His fun and friendship had helped me fight off the loneli-

ness that engulfed me during the dreary months after we settled in the des-

olate town of Kanesville, Iowa. I wanted his support again, but he bounded

out the door, avoiding any involvement in the battle that had raged all

winter.

Dorothy would be no help either. She sat, eyes downcast, helping Daniel

print his name on his slate. She and I were as close as sisters can be. Born

hardly a year apart, we slept side by side and shared every secret and every

hope, but Dorothy was too loving and gentle to take a stand in a conflict.

She stared at the slate and never looked up.

Little George wasn’t feeling well and had climbed up to the loft. Only

baby Joseph, making happy noises in his cradle, seemed unaware of the

tension.

Desperate, I turned to my mother. “Ma, you and Pa both know that

Percy is a good man. You liked him—you know you did—until you found

out about his religion. Please, listen to reason and ask Pa to talk to him.”

Ma finished putting bowls in the cupboard, then she pulled herself up

as tall as her tiny frame would allow, another bad sign. “You are only sev-

enteen. What you are feeling now will not last. It is a sin, a plain sin, the

way those people live.”

“They are not important. What matters is that Percy and I love each

other. He will never love anyone but me.”

In one, explosive movement, Pa rose from his chair and grabbed my

arm. “Olive, no daughter of mine will ever belong to a man’s stable of

wives. He is a Mormon, and he believes in polygamy. He admitted it right

here in this room. I will never let you marry him.”

“He has promised never to choose another wife, and—

Pa didn’t let me continue. “And those folks are thieves! I’ve heard more

than one story about them carrying off what is not rightfully theirs.”

It was hopeless. My despair gave way to rage. “You taught us to give

a man his just due and not condemn anyone, but now you are listening to

lies and rumors.”

I shouted at my father for the first time in my life. “You can’t believe a

man like Percy would ever steal.” I jerked my arm free of Pa’s grasp. “I am

going down the road to wait for him. I’ll tell him my father is too unfair to

even talk to him.”

Angry tears blurred my vision, and I rushed outside. I ran a few steps

and leaned against the barn, biting my hand to muffle a scream. I was un-

aware of Dorothy’s approach until I felt my shawl being draped around my

shoulders.

“Olive, it’s too cold for you to be out without this,” she said.

Page 13: No Bed In Deseret - by Nickolae Gerstner

Nickolae GerstNer No Bed iN deseret

2 3

I dug my nails into my palms, but that didn’t release the panic welling

inside me. I wanted to scream that he was being unreasonable, but I didn’t

dare. My last, thin hope was to convince him that I was grown up and knew

what I was doing. I struggled to keep my voice steady.

“Pa, why can’t you realize how much Percy and I love each other? We

belong together, and we would never let our lives be influenced by the

wrong other people do.”

He shook his head, a slow, determined gesture, and did not answer. I

was his pet, the one best able to persuade him when the family wanted a

favor. Now, when it was the most important thing in my life, he wouldn’t

listen to me.

Ted was bent over the fireplace, poking at the blaze. He was nineteen

and already a man. I wanted him to help me convince Pa to talk to Percy,

but Ted dropped the poker, jerked on his buckskin jacket, and mumbled

something about checking the beaver trap.

I adored Ted. His fun and friendship had helped me fight off the loneli-

ness that engulfed me during the dreary months after we settled in the des-

olate town of Kanesville, Iowa. I wanted his support again, but he bounded

out the door, avoiding any involvement in the battle that had raged all

winter.

Dorothy would be no help either. She sat, eyes downcast, helping Daniel

print his name on his slate. She and I were as close as sisters can be. Born

hardly a year apart, we slept side by side and shared every secret and every

hope, but Dorothy was too loving and gentle to take a stand in a conflict.

She stared at the slate and never looked up.

Little George wasn’t feeling well and had climbed up to the loft. Only

baby Joseph, making happy noises in his cradle, seemed unaware of the

tension.

Desperate, I turned to my mother. “Ma, you and Pa both know that

Percy is a good man. You liked him—you know you did—until you found

out about his religion. Please, listen to reason and ask Pa to talk to him.”

Ma finished putting bowls in the cupboard, then she pulled herself up

as tall as her tiny frame would allow, another bad sign. “You are only sev-

enteen. What you are feeling now will not last. It is a sin, a plain sin, the

way those people live.”

“They are not important. What matters is that Percy and I love each

other. He will never love anyone but me.”

In one, explosive movement, Pa rose from his chair and grabbed my

arm. “Olive, no daughter of mine will ever belong to a man’s stable of

wives. He is a Mormon, and he believes in polygamy. He admitted it right

here in this room. I will never let you marry him.”

“He has promised never to choose another wife, and—

Pa didn’t let me continue. “And those folks are thieves! I’ve heard more

than one story about them carrying off what is not rightfully theirs.”

It was hopeless. My despair gave way to rage. “You taught us to give

a man his just due and not condemn anyone, but now you are listening to

lies and rumors.”

I shouted at my father for the first time in my life. “You can’t believe a

man like Percy would ever steal.” I jerked my arm free of Pa’s grasp. “I am

going down the road to wait for him. I’ll tell him my father is too unfair to

even talk to him.”

Angry tears blurred my vision, and I rushed outside. I ran a few steps

and leaned against the barn, biting my hand to muffle a scream. I was un-

aware of Dorothy’s approach until I felt my shawl being draped around my

shoulders.

“Olive, it’s too cold for you to be out without this,” she said.