Title: ANY SUGGESTION FOR A TITLE? REWARD = MY LOVE AND GRATITUDE X
Summary: Follow-on from the film, family escaping over mountains but encounter many-a trial. Things do not go well at all...how will it end?
A/N: This is my first fanfic ever, so please review and be nice. Please no flames (I'm not really sure what they are but from what I've heard, they're not very nice). I love The Sound of Music and after reading some lovely SOM stories here, I thought I would like to give it a try. Many thanks to my friend "Hope's Tears" (as she's called on fanfic.net) who walked me through putting up this first introductory chapter, with the patience of......someone very patient.
Disclaimers: I do not own The Sound of Music or any of the characters that you all know so well from the film, nor do I own Austria or Switzerland, both featured or mentioned quite a lot. I do not know the Alps very well, so please forgive geographical mistakes, what I've put is all made up.
NOTE: This is simply the introductory/default chapter to get my creative juices flowing and to move characters from the film into this follow-on...so please do not judge too quickly if it seems slightly boring...it is simply my way of setting the scene really. Thankyou for your understanding. xx (Also, following chapters may be slightly distressing but I guarantee that all will turn out well and there will be plenty of cute interaction between the Captain and Maria.)
All were cold, worried and weary, their muscles stiff and their bones aching as they stepped over the crest of the small mountain. Slipping down the dangerously steep recline towards the valley below, Kurt suddenly broke the family's tense silence.
"Does this mean we're free now?" He asked, looking excitedly at the beautiful, innocent-looking world around them. The rest of the children looked wide-eyed and hopeful at their father, who paused, catching his breath and hoisting Gretl more securely up on his back.
"Not far children, not far." He replied.
"How far?" Marta suddenly whined, tearful with exhaustion and sniffling into the hem of her mother's coat. Captain Von Trapp looked around at his ashen-faced family and knew that they would need to rest very soon.
"Well," He said, pointing. "You see that big mountain at the other side of this valley? The border into Switzerland is just over it and once we're safely across the border, we can find somewhere safe to stay."
Following Georg's finger, Maria looked ahead of her. They were still precariously standing near the top of their mountain and beneath them the valley stretched from left to right as far as they could see and on the other side of that, opposite the hills on which the family stood, the great giant of a mountain loomed. The immense size of the monster, carved by mother nature out of heavy, jagged rock before painted with the partial greenery of grass and shrubs, was breathtaking to behold.
Looking down at the tearful Marta, still clinging to her hand, Maria wondered how they were ever going to manage it. Well, she knew how to help one matter.
"Here Marta." She said in a calculatedly bright voice. "Why don't you ride on my back for a while, hmm?" And with that she helped the grateful child clamber up, holding her under the knees while the girl wrapped her arms around her neck.
Continuing slowly down the mountain, another problem became apparent to the captain, as yet unnoticed by the rest, who were preoccupied with trying not to fall or break an ankle on the uneven ground.
Nestled in the floor of the valley was a small town. Looking left and right to see if there was any way the family could go around it, Georg frowned; Curling right around the corner of the valley to the left and with a large river blocking any exit to the right, the town was unavoidable... they would have to go through it. It was too late to change plans now and to turn back was impossible, so the captain could only sigh and hope that Nazi soldiers would not be guarding such a remote settlement.
A couple of hours later, the group arrived at the bottom of the mountain, relatively unscathed. There had been a scary moment when Brigitta had skidded on a slippery patch of dew-wet weeds but had escaped with nothing more than a scraped knee. Another terrifying shock came when loose rocks gave-way beneath Maria who overbalanced and fell, throwing herself sideways to protect little Marta who she was still carrying - Georg had caught her by the arm just as she was about to fly over the edge of a huge boulder and luckily her and Marta were fine, though Maria was badly grazed and Marta in need of calming down after such a fright.
Huddling together under a tree, at the base of the mountain they had just conquered (diminutive in size compared to the one they still had to face), the family rested for a while and tried, in vain, to get an hour or so of sleep.
Georg still wanted to have a quiet word with Maria about the dangers of the province they were heading towards but was unable to say anything infront of the children, for fear of causing a panic and Maria was stretched out, leaning against the tree trunk with Marta nestled under one arm, Gretl cuddled up into the other and Friedrich's head rested in her lap. Captain Von Trapp looked down at Liesl in his arms and then at Kurt, Louisa and Brigitta flopped in a huddle infront of him. He thought to himself that anyone watching them would have found this scene very serene and seemingly happy, yet he knew that the children's silence was unnatural, their scared breathing harsh and their haunted eyes, staring ahead of them, indicated their dark, worried thoughts and fears.
Trying to ignore the burning pain over her legs and up her back where the skin had been sharply scoured off during her fall, Maria wished - not for the first time - that they had been able to bring food with them. Though she knew they would have been unable to carry extra loads with them over the treacherous landscape, she wished that she could somehow soothe the little-ones' pain and feed their growing hunger.
The children themselves did not complain, they understood that there was no possible way they could silence their rumbling stomachs just yet and that nagging would only upset their parents more, who were feeling guilty enough as it was. Maria's heart swelled at the thought of how considerate all the children were being and she had to hold back tears to think of how much they were suffering in silence.
"OK." Maria called softly, gulping down her tears. "You can all have some more of your water now but be careful not to drink it all at once. Save some for later, you will still need it."
At once all of the older children reached into jacket pockets and pulled out hip flasks, gratefully pouring the contents into their parched mouths. Gretl and Marta hurriedly sat up, watching Maria expectantly as she retrieved their flasks, one from each pocket. "Remember," She gently reminded them. "Not all of it now." As Friedrich was now also sitting up in a crouch, Maria was free to stand and walk over to Georg, who had both of their drinks.
"Here." He said, handing Maria hers as she sat beside him. She thanked him and unscrewed the lid as he slipped his arm comfortably around her shoulders. Laying her head against his chest, she began sipping at her water; she had drunk less than anyone else, (the bottle was still almost full) saving as much as possible for when any of the children inevitably ran out of theirs, not regulating their intake properly. Sure enough, just as Georg opened his mouth to talk seriously with Maria about the town ahead, a restless half-whispered discussion floated on the breeze from the direction of the children.
Gretl had opened her flask only to discover that it was empty and had tearfully told Liesl. Kurt, overhearing, began to scold her.
"It's your own fault." He said. "Father and Frau - Mother told you not to waste it."
"I didn't." Gretl wailed, tugging at Liesl's skirt imploringly. "I'm thirsty." She cried.
"Come on." Liesl took her hand. "Let's go and tell our parents, they may be able to help..."
"No!" Friedrich interrupted, stumbling to his feet. "I agree with Kurt, it's not fair on them. What can they do anyway?" At this point Gretl burst into tears.
"Mind what you say Friedrich." Brigitta frowned. "You've scared her, she's too young to understand what's going on."
"Come on." Liesl repeated, leading the sobbing Gretl towards the adults, but Gretl halted, tugging her arm back.
"I don't want Mummy to cry." She said, looking up at Friedrich. The children all began arguing at once, trying to keep their voices hushed but failing.
The comotion had drawn Maria over and, understanding the situation instantly from the little she heard, she hushed the group and knelt before Gretl, wiping the girl's tear-streaked, runny-nosed face with her sleeve (the only material she had available) before placing her own flask in the child's tiny hands.
"Shhh... It's OK. Have some of mine."
"But..." Gretl began, but Maria shook her head and gently put her finger to the girl's mouth. "Thankyou." Gretl sniffled, throwing herself into her new mother's arms and kissing her on the cheek.
As Georg watched from a couple of metres away, he could not help smiling. He loved watching Maria with the children, they adored her and she was a wonderful mother to them, even though they were not her own. She did everything in her power to make them happy and gave everything she could possibly offer to make them content. His happy reflection was tinged with sadness, why hadn't he noticed that something was wrong? Why hadn't he given his water to his youngest daughter? Since Maria had flown into his life, he had improved drastically as a father...but was it enough? He still had so much to learn and yet Maria was a natural. He tried to imagine what he would do if any Nazi soldiers threatened any of his family in the nearby town and realised that he would do anything to save and protect them, he would sacrifice his life for them if he had to. It suddenly occured to him that the love of one's children does come naturally and that his sons, daughters and now Maria were his life.
With fresh hope trickling through his tangled, bitter web of fear, Captain Von Trapp leapt to his feet and called his family to order.
"Let's go on." He said. "The sooner we keep moving, the sooner we can get on with our lives in Sunny Switzerland." He gave his children a jokey smile before hoisting Marta up onto his shoulders and marching on.
The rest of the group collected themselves together and followed, Maira now carrying Gretl, who had drunk her fill of water and given the flask back to her.
From their spot in the valley, surrounded by trees, the troup could not see the town but all knew that it was ahead, having seen it from the mountain and thought nothing of it, while one person worried about the possible dangers it might hold.
Further into the woodland, Kurt sidled up to Maria, sheepishly glancing up at her from under his brow, his head bowed.
"What is it Kurt?" She asked, blowing Gretl's long hair out of her face to see him.
"You - you see. I, um...could I please? I mean, I..." She thought she knew what he was trying to ask.
"Here." She said, straining slightly to continue supporting Gretl with one hand while fumbling in her pocket with the other. She threw her flask to him and he grinned, thanking her and sipping a few mouthfulls. Maria licked her dry lips as he handed the water back to her but did not chance drinking a drop incase one of the other children needed it later, she wanted to be careful incase they were unable to get anything in the small town (though that seemed rather unlikely to her.)
To try and pass the time as they walked and to take their minds off of their blistered, sore feet, the children tried to name different types of trees and plants as they trudged by them. As Friedrich was commenting on a large tree that would be perfect to support a tree-house, the picturesque town came into full view. At quite a distance to the left, along the front of town, Georg noted the main entrance, where there was a tolling booth and a few cars waiting to enter, sitting on an unseen road that the family must have been journeying parallel to. He was dismayed to see the familiar beige, dust-coloured uniforms of German soldiers guarding the spot where the road joined into the quaint-looking precinct and realised sadly that Austria was truelly lost. He only hoped that he and his family could slip through the houses without going near the vehicle entrance... no one could be watching the remote mountains closely, could they?
The small group stood at the edge of the woodland, a stretch of open ground, a meadow, laying between them and the first small streets visible to them.
"Come." Captain Von Trapp muttered, giving a small wave, an indication to move on. Maria finally dropped Gretl back to the floor and held her arm supportingly as they all walked quietly across the glade.
The wind lightly stirred the tall grass around the family, making it rustle and whisper to them in an almost consoling way. The same soft breeze stroked their hair and cooled their faces, hot from exertion, and playfully tugged at their jackets and skirts. Little Gretl, not fully understanding the trials before them, smiled as a butterfly flapped lazily past her face and raised her hand to try and touch it before it was gone.
The world seemed, at that moment, a happy, carefree and beautiful place as the Von Trapps reached the edge of town and warily ventured forth into the unknown...