The Badendorf Family History

The Badendorf Family History
By Emerald Green
Warning: The following history contains adult material. If you are not an adult or if adult themes offed you, you should read no further.

One:

• The Day Home

Otto walked the road toward home at Baden on a cold winter day in 1758. He had walked the same road two years earlier with his father to be apprenticed not because he did not know the trade of his father but because it was believed that a father was not capable of teaching discipline to their own son. Otto could tell stories about the discipline of his father. Uncle Hans, to whom he had been apprenticed, was a far gentler man than Otto’s father. The fact was that most young men feared their apprenticeships but for Otto, his had been a pleasant time. He would always look back at his time with Uncle Hans as the best time in his young life.

The last thing that Otto wanted was to return to work with his father. If there was anywhere else to go he would go there. What was that place that he had heard about, Penn’s Forest? Far off across the Atlantic—too far, to dangerous—but by god, Otto thought, if papa does not appreciate my skills he will see the last of me for I will go to Penn’s Forest.

As the weight of his pack began to bite into his shoulders his new found brave resolve to stand up against his father began to wane. I deceive myself, he thought. I will never stand up to my father. I know my duty and that is because I am the only son, I must work for my father until the day he dies and only then will I be rid of his domination. I must think of my mother and my sisters. They need me more than my father. Yes, think of my mother and my sisters. They will be the joyous part of my return.

Elisabeth (Lisbeth), his little sister, surly will have bloomed in the past two years. She should look just like their older sister, Catherina (Cat), did when he left. And now Cat is turning all the heads of the young men in Baden. She should be old enough to marry but Otto was sure his father would not let her marry a young man. Papa would, he was sure, insist that the man Cat married was well established. He would also insist upon a dowry befitting a family of their status. No young man in Baden will have a chance. Thinking of his sisters lifted his spirits just as he topped the crest of a ridge which permitted him the first sight of his hometown.

There it was, Baden, named for the old Roman Baths, built there more than a millennium ago because of the warm springs that bubbled from the ground. Yes, he told himself, Baden is home—a good home, even if he has to work with his father. The rest of the journey was all downhill. Although he was tired, this was the easiest part of the journey. He saw his father’s shop ahead. His father would be hard at work like he always was. He was sure his father would put him to work immediately. He would not even be given a chance to greet his mother and sisters.

Instead of going directly to the shop, Otto skirted around so that he could enter their home behind the shop. There he was sure he would find his mother and sisters. There he will have a pleasant greeting and maybe a bite of food before seeing his father. Yes a bite of food would be good. He had not eaten a thing since last evening and by the sun’s shadow he could see it was near midday.

Ah, he thought, the familiar lane where he had so often played. It was so nice that nothing had changed. He had no sooner entered through the gate of their walled off property than he heard a sister call out, “He’s here, Otto is here!” He did not see her because she had been watching from her open upstairs bedroom window. She was now racing down and through the house to be the first to greet him. It was Lisbeth who came out the door to be the first to wrap her arms around her brother. She had grown. She was always healthy and for a long time she had carried more weight than her sister even though she was four years younger than Catherina.