Bordon's Girl

Prologue

Surrey, England – 1760………..

The heavy smell of smoke and the immense heat startled young Geoffrey Bordon out of his sleep. He tore back the covers and leapt out of bed.

In the hallway outside his bedchamber the smoke was thick and black, nearly blinding him. He could hear his mother's screams, and the cries of his newborn baby sister.

"Father!" Geoffrey yelled. "Father!"

"Geoffrey," the teenager's father cried back.

"I'm here, Father!"

There was a wall of flames dividing the hallway in half between the parent's bedchamber and the children's. The heat was very intense.

"Father, I can't get through the flames!"

"Never you mind," Father screamed back to him. "Go get the baby and get out of the house!"

"But what about you and Mother?"

"We will go out the window and across the roof and meet you outside on the lawn."

"Yes sir," the sixteen year old obeyed. He soon ran swiftly down the corridor.

Outside of the baby's room, the young man was horrified to see flames licking around the doorframe. He could hear the infant's cries.

Undaunted by the heat and the flames, the boy dashed into the room to collect his sister, Tessa. Fortunately, the fire had not burned into her room yet. Once inside, he reached into the crib and bundled the babe tightly into her blanket. He then scooped her into his arms. As he did, he looked up to see flames obstructing the door into the hallway. They were trapped.

Without thinking, he opened the window of Tessa's room with one hand as he hugged the tiny babe close to his body protectively with the other. He then climbed out onto the roof that covered the porch. He walked carefully along the edge of it until he could catch some sturdy branches of the large oak tree closest to the house. Geoffrey climbed cautiously into the tree and scurried deftly down to the ground, still holding his baby sister.

The home, on a large farm in the countryside of England, was far from the next farm over. As he backed away from the house, he could see the full scope of the disaster. The fire was large and quickly consuming his family's home. He could hear the shouts of the neighbors, who must have been awakened by the glow of the flames across the fields.

"Father! Mother!" Geoffrey yelled frantically. He was surprised not to have met them on the lawn. He ran to the back of the house where their room was. They weren't there. Geoffrey then ran back to the front of the house.

He yelled for them again. There was no response. The heat from the fire was growing even more intense, forcing him back away from the building. Within another minute, the house was completely engulfed in flames. Geoffrey's heart broke as he realized his parents had not escaped.

Young Geoffrey Bordon stood there watching his home burn to the ground with his newborn sister in his arms. Tears streamed down his face as the fire consumed the house completely, with Mr. and Mrs. Bordon dead inside.

Geoffrey felt something warm and wet on his fingers. He looked down at Tessa. Unable to deny that instinct that all babies possess, the infant was sucking away happily on his pinky, oblivious to the tragedy that was happening.

* * * **************************** * *

Surrey, England -- 1764.............

"Daddy!"

Geoffrey Bordon was awakened by frightened little screams. The young cavalry Private, now aged 20, jumped from his bed and tore down the hallway.

"Daddy! Daddy!", she cried.

The young man could hear the little girl's cries in between the pounds of thunder.

"Daddy!"

He entered the dark room and saw by the intermittent flashes of lightening the frightened child. She was cowering in her bed with the covers pulled up to her forehead.

"It's alright now, Tess. Daddy's here." Geoffrey picked the girl up out of her bed and held her.

"I'm afraid, Daddy," she whimpered.

"I know, but you're safe," he murmured.

She put her arms around his neck and held tight. The little angel then buried her face in his strong shoulder. "I don't like storms," the 4 year old girl sobbed.

"I know you don't darling," he replied gently, "but we're safe in here."

He held the child and rubbed her back, trying to comfort her as he walked the floor of her room.

"There, there, little one," Bordon soothed. "It's almost over."

After a few moments, the rage of the storm had passed. Geoffrey attempted to put the child back in bed, but she clung tight still to his neck.

"No, Daddy! I'm scared!"

Thunderstorms always frightened the child. He wondered if his sister would ever conquer her fear of them.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," he answered, trying to assuage the girl's fear. "The storm is over now."

Tessa persisted. "Don't leave me! I'm afraid."

Bordon sighed. "Alright. You can come sleep in my bed," the young Private gently relented. He then carried her down the hallway and into his room. The child was still weeping.

"Hush, Tessa," he whispered. "Shhhhh."

Geoffrey put the sniffling child into his bed and covered her up. He crawled in beside her and gave her a sip of water, then took one himself.

"Go to sleep now, angel," he said softly to his sleepy sister.

The four year old girl settled back into the pillows and yawned. "Why do you call me an angel?"

"Because you are my little angel and I love you very much!" With that, he kissed the cherub's forehead.

Little Tessa Bordon was soon sleeping soundly and securely again.

* * * ************************ * *

Surrey, England -- 1770...............

"Father?"

The girl's voice and tugging at his blanket woke Geoffrey up. "Huh? What?" he answered sleepily.

"I can't sleep."

"What is it?" the young man asked, still trying to wake up.

"I can't sleep," Tessa replied, slight irritation in her voice.

"Oh," said Geoffrey as he sat up in his bed. "Did something scare you?"

"No," answered his sister. "I just can't sleep."

"Alright, climb up here," Geoffrey relented. Just another sleepless night. There had been many before and he knew this would not be the last.

He rolled over and lit the lamp as the little girl climbed into his bed. He reached for a story book in his night table as she situated herself beneath the blankets.

Geoffrey Bordon flipped through the pages of the book. "Where shall we start reading?" This was often the remedy to her occasional bouts of insomnia.

"You can read to me, but I'm not sleepy," his sister said.

"Alright then, Tess," he said, handing her the book. "Why don't you read to me and put me back to sleep."

"Alright," she answered softly. She flipped the book open absently to a page.

Bordon left the lamp burning as he settled back into his pillow. He was too tired to take the 10 year old back to her room. She'd fall asleep as she read to him, which she liked to do. Then, they could both sleep soundly in his bed the rest of the night.

Tessa closed the book quietly. Geoffrey was already so relaxed back into his pillow that he wasn't aware that she hadn't begun reading yet.

"Why don't I have a mother?" she asked.

The question pulled Geoffrey out of his relaxed state. He opened his eyes slowly. This was it. He knew she was going to ask about this sooner or later, but he had really expected her to ask much before this. He had always questioned whether she wondered, or even noticed that she had no mother. In a way, they were so very close—he thought she never cared that she didn't have a mother, or that she had never known her. It had always been a painful memory to him. He protected himself by not bringing the subject up to her therefore not having to talk about it or relive the horrible events of that terrible night in their past.

Geoffrey sat up slowly and took the book from Tessa's little hands. He took a deep breath as he put the book back in his night table. Then, he turned to face the child.

"Well, Tess darling," Geoffrey began, "Your mother and father died shortly after you were born."

The child was silent. She was confused. After a moment, she spoke.

"But you're my father," she said.

"Well, I have raised you, but I am not really your father," Geoffrey said. "I am your older brother."

Tessa was quiet and contemplative, not completely understanding him, but trying to.

He continued. "You see, our mother and father died in a fire shortly after you were born."

The elder Bordon then went on to relate the tragic details of that night to his little sister. She listened without speaking as he did, taking it all in.

When he was finished telling about the events of their deaths, she asked quietly and simply, "why don't we have any other brothers or sisters?"

"Well, Mother and Father had me, then, God made them wait a lot of years before they could have another baby."

"Me?"

"Yes! And they were very happy when you were born. Mother and Father loved you very much!"

"They did?"

"Yes," he assured her. He went on to answer all the questions she asked about their parents, talking half the night. She was very curious about them.

"What do I call you?" She asked Geoffrey after awhile.

"Now that you know the truth, you may call me Geoffrey if you like," he answered.

"But…….you…..you are……you are my daddy," she stammered. It was as if she just could not bring herself to believe that he was only her big brother. "I can't imagine them…..I can't imagine anyone else……" She stopped, unable to find the words.

"What is it, Angel," he asked with concern.

"But, you're my father," she insisted. She looked down. Geoffrey thought she looked disappointed to find out he was not her real father.

"Tess, look," he began, "everything is alright. I raised you because our parents wanted it that way. Father made me swear to look after you and keep the family together if anything ever happened to he and mother. He made me promise this only the day after you were born. He was very concerned that we would be separated and you would be raised by someone else and not know your brother and me not know my sister. You must understand that even though our mother and father weren't alive to raise you, that you still have a parent—me!"

She smiled as he continued on. "You see, Tess, a parent is the person who raises you. And, I raised you and love you more than anything. I love you more than anyone else on Earth does."

Geoffrey had truly always felt more like a father to her than a brother. After all, he had dried her tears when she cried and comforted her when she was scared. It was his hand that spanked her when she was naughty and steadied her as she took her first steps. He alone had praised her when she learned things and had taken care of her when she was sick.

"I want to keep calling you 'Father', " Tess said.

"Very well, then," Geoffrey Bordon answered, "because that is what I feel like I am to you!"