Morning Star
Authors: Marian Wells
The Starlight Trilogy, Book Three
Morning Star
Marian Wells
© 1986 by Marian Wells
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publicaion may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansâfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingâwith the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-6250-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Manuscript edited by Penelope J. Stokes.
Cover by Dan Thornberg.
Contents
Introduction
Jenny Timmons' story begins in the first book of this trilogy,
The Wishing Star
. As an eleven-year-old child from a poor family, living on the fringes of South Bainbridge, New York, Jenny becomes acquainted with Joseph Smith. Jenny's brother, Tom, introduces the mysterious youth who is engaged in searching for money with his peep stone while working for Josiah Stowell.
Life for a poor child living in a small New York town in 1825 could have been insipid were it not for Joseph Smith, the curious stone, the money diggings, and the strange, shivery feeling of excitement it all gave Jenny. There was Pa's green book, too.
That first year Joseph's money digging nets him trouble and the town of South Bainbridge, excitement. After it is all over, Joseph moves on, but Jenny doesn't forget him.
The next summer Jenny's father starts his westward trek, and the first leg of the journey lands the family in Manchester, New York. The following year the Timmons familyâexcept for Tom and Jennyâmove farther west. The brother and sister gain employment with Martin HarrisâTom at the livery stable, and Jenny as a hired girl in the Harris home.
Lucy Harris is good to Jenny and she learns to
do
for Mrs. Harris, developing skills she had not learned at home. Jenny also attends school and becomes friends of Joseph Smith's family. Again the paths of their lives cross.
Honoring a promise to Jenny's mother, Mrs. Harris sees to Jenny's religious education. Jenny joins the Presbyterian church, but at the same time delves into the mysteries of the green book that she has stolen from her father.
Also, during this period Joseph Smith marries and comes to live in the Palmyra-Manchester area just long enough to find the gold Bible.
Martin Harris, one of the first three witnesses to the
Book of Mormon
, soon becomes deeply involved in the gold Bible work. This new interest quickly pulls life down around Jenny's head. As the Harris home is broken apart by his new interests, Jenny and Tom are forced to move on.
Mark Cartwright, a youth both Jenny and Tom knew from the South Bainbridge days, steps into their life with an offer which takes them to eastern New York State.
Jenny's maturing years are spent away from Tom while she works and finishes school. During this time the whole focus of her life is wrapped in a twisted desire to have life on her own terms. This desire is fed through her friendship with Clara and the secret green book.
Meanwhile, Tom, who has never lost interest in Joseph Smith, follows the fledgling prophet to Kirtland, Ohio. When Jenny visits Tom, all the old fascination is reborn, and Jenny moves to Ohio to become a member of Joseph's church.
It isn't long until Jenny discovers that to be a follower of Joseph Smith demands total obedience. When he instructs her to marry, and tells her whom to marry, she proposes to Mark Cartwright.
The second book of the trilogy,
Star Light, Star Bright
, begins with hope and promise as Jenny and Mark celebrate their marriage and start their life together in Kirtland, Ohio.
There is the promise, and by rights it should be fulfilled. It is the promise of young love, the “true” church, and a life together which is to extend throughout eternity.
But promises require obedience. Soon Mark is tapped for the first major missionary endeavor to England. Jenny is left behind. The letters dwindle, but that was the result of problems surfacing in the young couple's life.
Problems are surfacing in the young church, too. With every quarrel and painful misunderstanding seen between the young couple, the counterpart is mirrored in the uneasy marriage of church and people. But for both, life struggles on. Problems are resolved and an uneasy peace effected.
That next spring Mark returns from his missionary journey with news so shocking that Jenny nearly surrenders her marriage. Mark has become a Christian and he makes certain that Jenny knows this is something world-shattering and totally different than the message Joseph has given to his followers.
It is Mark who surrenders and follows Jenny as she joins the exodus to Zion. He surrenders, not because of Jenny's strengths, but because of her weakness and fear.
Even before Joseph's church was established, the young prophet had received revelations commanding the people to set up an earthly Zion, to be founded in the state of Missouri. Immediately after the church was organized, a group of converts migrated to the state and settled in Jackson County. Unfortunately, the Missourians didn't accept the command of the Lord given through Joseph. From the beginning there were serious problems.
Long before the expedient removal of the Kirtland Saints to the state of Missouri, the difficulties in Missouri between the Saints and the Gentiles had forced the governor of the state to step into the affair. The Saints were subsequently ordered to leave Jackson County and move farther north to Caldwell County.
But shortly after Joseph's move to Caldwell County from Ohio, life became just as difficult in this new area. Once again the prophet stepped over the boundary set for his people.
It is no wonder that Jenny, fearful and sensing the greater dangers lying ahead, turned from her new religion back into the ancient religion of nature. No wonder, that is, since she was certain
her
understanding of God was right and Mark's was wrong.
Before long the troubled issue resulted in bloodshed, and finally the Mormons were forced to leave Missouri. Once again they were driven out, penniless and homeless, while their prophet, Joseph Smith, remained behind in jail.
Chapter 1
Jenny thrashed her head on the pillow and moaned. The movement sent pain stabbing through her head. Eyes closed, she groped for the pillow beside her. She felt an empty expanse of smooth linen, and her eyes flew open. Sunshine flooded the room and shot arrows of pain into her eyes. Covering her face, she moaned and rolled over.
It was at least ten o'clock; the sun glared into her bedroom. The white curtains hanging over the open window were motionless.
Mark must have left hours ago, moving quietly to allow her to sleep. Her lips twisted in a perverse grin. Strange that a man as intelligent as Mark should so readily accept her excuses, even giving credence to her midnight tryst by his gentle trust and unquestioning acceptance.
Especially strange, since he claimed a special place with God. He called it being born again, redeemed. Her claim to religious devotion was as genuine as his. But never would she try to explain that the rituals and traditions she practiced with a select group of women were rooted in the ancient worship to the true god of nature. She was still wondering about Mark when she fell asleep again.
When Jenny awakened later, the sun had shifted off Mark's pillow, and the white curtains moved just enough to allow the summer scents of the garden to invade her rest.
As she slowly bathed in tepid water and dressed, she felt the last traces of her headache leave. By the time she left the bedroom she was hungry, and life began to press in with its demands.
Jenny paused at the head of the stairs and admired her home. This Springfield, Illinois, home contrasted sharply with the little log hut in Missouriâand even with the stone house in Kirtland, Ohio. She kissed the tips of her fingers and flung kisses about the house.
“Beautiful one!” she cried. “Good morning to you, fair walls and shiny floors. Polished furniture and gleaming windows, how silently you keep your distance until I'm ready to be your mistress again!” As she walked down the stairs, she continued to admire the ivy-sprigged wallpaper, the plush furniture in the newest shade of plum. She cocked her head for just a moment. Were the green and plum really suited to the deep rose of the new carpet?
Jenny crossed the hall and went through the shaded dining room with its dark mahogany, feeling again the urge to shake the room into life. But the room seemed alien no matter how she polished the furniture and shifted the china. Perhaps it was the china.
She frowned at the rose pattern, a duplicate of the dishes Mark had purchased for their first home. They did make her think of the possessions destroyed in the fire in Missouri. She looked at the grandfather clock just as it began to boom out the hours in its authoritative bass. Noon?
With a sigh Jenny hurried toward the kitchen, still rubbing her arms, conscious of the chill of the room. If the spirits were active, they weren't friendly ones. Why would the room goad her into an unwilling memory of those terror-filled months in Missouri?
In the kitchen the cold remains of Mark's lonely breakfast sat on the table. She chewed her lip, reading the message of the room. Mark usually tidied up after himself. Today a smear of cold beans crusted the single plate. A crumbled slice of bread lay beside an untouched glass of milk.
Guilt touched her. She saw in the scene symbols of her neglect as well as a touch of uncharacteristic absentmindedness in Mark.
As she cleared the table and began to heat water, her thoughts were busy tossing the guilt back and forth.
But the coven called, and they can't be denied
, she defended herself. As she ate bread and drank milk, she was thinking of the group of witches. Was it luck, or was it spirit need that had sent petite, dark-eyed Crystal into her life?
Soon after arriving here, just when Mark's associates had undertaken the task of introducing them to Springfield society, Jenny had met Crystal Matison, wife of a newly appointed state representative, Haddon Matison.
As Jenny cleared the table and poured hot water over the dishes, she pondered the events that had drawn her into the coven over which Crystal had charge. What joy, what sisterhood after the barren years with only occasional contact with Adela!