PLEASE READ THIS FIRST:
Although there is A LOT new material included, this is NOT a new story.
This is a re-writing of several stories of mind, taking place between the rowboat incident and the Edelweiss scene. Some of these stories and vignettes are new to . As for the old ones, chapters were revised and expanded, a few new ones were included. This is all part of my ongoing project to organize all my stories, placing them in the right order and getting rid of most inconsistencies.
Reviews and/or positive criticism are appreciated. Enjoy!
Disclaimers:
I do not own "The Sound of Music", "Die Trapp Familie", "Die Trapp Familie in Amerika" or any of the works in which I based my stories. I write them for fun only, as an exercise in creative writing. This is a work of fiction, based upon the movie characters. Names and events related to the real story are used only to fill some blanks in the story, no offense is intended.
Acknowledgements:
Several people helped me, and are still helping me with those stories, specially my friends from "The Sound of Music Fan Fiction Forum" which was sadly taken offline against our will.
The usual final WARNING/REQUEST:
English is not my first language, so please be gentle. I´m really trying to do my best here. If you have any comments about my funny grammar or my spelling errors, please send me a private message. I would really appreciate it
HAVE FUN!
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The Sound of Music Chronicles
Part II
Interlude
Chapter 01
The wool of a black sheep
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"Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated, thus, everyone's task is unique as his specific opportunity to implement it."
Viktor E. Frankl
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"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you and I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road, though I may now nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me and you will never leave me to face my struggles alone."
Thomas Merton
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While Maria quarreled with Captain von Trapp, not far from there, in the convent, the nuns had worries of their own…
"Twenty eight postulants," sighed the Reverend Mother of Nonnberg Abbey, raising her eyes heavenward. "Twenty eight! I can´t say that I am happy about this. Quite frankly, I´m discouraged. As the years go by, fewer and fewer girls seem to have vocation for our kind of life. It makes me ask who is wrong – us or them?"
Worriedly, she looked at Sister Berthe, the Mistress of Novices and Sister Margaretta, the Mistress of Postulants, whom she had summoned to her study to discuss the qualifications of some of the candidates to the novitiate.
"Five years ago there were fifty; twenty years ago there were more than one hundred candidates. At this rate, I fear that our beloved Abbey will be extinct by the turn of the next century! I don´t know what to do about it, I pray for guidance every day."
Sister Margaretta smiled and shrugged. In times like this, the Reverend Mother found her serenity almost annoying.
"We pray for Nonnberg too, Reverend Mother," she said. "That is why I always say that "the wool of a black sheep is just as warm". These are modern times, even in the best Catholic families the girls are raised with different expectations about life. We cannot demand of them what they can no longer offer us. A life dedicated to prayer, in seclusion, in silence, poverty and chastity is not for everyone anymore. There is a living, breathing, ever changing world out there; Nonnberg has to change as well to keep up with that."
Next to her. Sister Berthe snorted.
"Oh rubbish! As the most important Benedictine Abbeys in Austria, we do have high standards to keep, Sister Margaretta. It is the world that must adapt to us, not the opposite – that is the way it should be. If the world is changing, it does not mean that is going in the right direction, does it? It does not mean that we have to conform with it. We don´t have to compromise."
"Well…"
"If you mean to say that we should not start considering the admission if less qualified candidates just for the sake of progress, I must disagree," continued Sister Berthe. "I will always insist upon it, we cannot allow just anyone to join our fraternity. I don´t care if there are only five or six of us one in one hundred years, at least the tradition that Nonnberg stands for will still stand, we will still live up to our good name…"
"My dears, I did not summon you here to start a debate about the future of our order," the Mother Abbess interrupted gently. "We can do that some other time – trust me, we will do it. Forgive me if I allowed myself to be carried away by my little worries, I will try to be more objective from now on. I called you because we must start selecting the candidates who are ready to enter the novitiate next fall. Our superiors want to set the date for the next ceremony, so it is time I make some decisions. For that I need to hear from you first."
"Very well, Reverend Mother, whatever we can do to help you. We are all ears."
"Let us begin by… what is her name? Hah - Christina!"
Sister Berthe nodded, satisfactorily.
"There is no doubt at all about Christina, Reverend Mother. None whatsoever. She is a pious as a future nun should be; she was simply born for the religious life. Vocation is something she does not lack; I see a bright future ahead of her, a future entirely dedicated to His service."
"I fear she is a bit too pious at times, Sister Berthe. A little pretentious, perhaps…"
"Oh, not at all, Reverend Mother," Sister Margaretta came to the defense of one of her protégés. "Christina is a very sweet girl. Like all others, she is merely trying to adapt to our way of living. I agree with Sister Berthe. She is ready; I too have no doubts about her vocation."
"I´m glad you agree with me at last," Sister Berthe said stiffly.
"Well, I will rely on your opinion and keep my faith in my doubts as I always do. After all, you two spend more time with those girls than I do," said the Reverend Mother, making some notes next to Christina´s name on the list she had on top of her desk.
She looked at the next name on the list.
"Now how about that other girl, Theresa?"
Another muffled sound came from Sister Berthe. Sister Margaretta had a different reaction this time – she frowned.
"Honestly, I am not sure, Reverend Mother. I´ve been trying to speak to her, but she avoids me constantly. I do feel that there is something wrong there. There is some talk among the postulants and the novices. At times I suspect she is not here of her own free will…"
"Is that so?" Reverend Mother gazed at her with renewed interest.
"For heaven´s sake, beggars can´t be choosers, Reverend Mother," Sister Berthe intervened. "That is certainly something we can overlook in this girl´s case."
Sister Margaretta crossed her arms and eyed her defiantly.
"Oh really? I thought you just said we should only admit those who were highly recommended and that had true vocation for the cloister, Sister Berthe."
"Or, Sister Margaretta," he pointed out. "Not and. It so happens that Theresa came to us with very high recommendations."
"How high?"
"Extremely high, Sister Margaretta," replied Sister Berthe, casting a meaningful glance.
"Oh?"
"You have no idea, have you?"
"Mmm. It hardly matters," the other sister shook her head, while the Mother Abbess merely watched their debate, as if fascinated. "If Theresa is here against her will…"
"Yes, but hers is an exceptional case. Theresa comes from a very influential family; as I said, she came to us highly recommended. She would be a wonderful asset to Nonnberg, whether she likes the idea or not."
Sister Margaretta´s jaw dropped. The Reverend Mother decided the little argument had gone long enough and that it was time to interrupt them.
"I am not sure I agree with your line of thinking, Sister Berthe. But let me ask you: how influential exactly is her family?"
"As I said, Reverend Mother – very influential. Her uncle is a cardinal and her father…" She whispered a name and the Mother Abbess´s eyes widened in frank admiration. "Is that so?"
"Oh yes."
"Very impressive, indeed." The Reverend Mother shook her head. "Yes, now I remember. She is the niece of a cardinal with direct influence on the Pope; she has Habsburg blood running in her veins…" There was a certain "I told you so" look in Sister Berthe´s face when she gazed at Sister Margaretta, who simply rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"However, my dears, if she is here against her will, that would be against every principle of this order. As for me, I refuse to allow a young girl destroy her life because of her family connections. There are so many ways to serve the Lord, and ours is merely one of them. This Abbey cannot be used for the wrong reasons. I won´t have girls entering our fraternity because of an amorous delusion, because they have nowhere else to go or because they simply wish to hide from the outside world."
"If the shoe fits," mumbled Sister Berthe with a sideways glance. Sister Margaretta shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She lowered her head, blushing slightly. Noting her discomfort, the Mother Abbess said, reassuringly.
"I did not mean you in particular, Sister Margaretta. You were a widow who lost your husband in the Great War when you came to us, not a heartbroken, inexperienced child. None of us ever questioned the truth and depth of your vocation," she finished, throwing a warning glance towards the other nun.
"But Reverend Mother," Sister Berthe insisted. "Theresa is…"
The superior nun silenced her with a gesture.
"I will add a question mark next to Theresa´s name, if that makes you happy, but I will not make my decision until I have a very honest conversation with that girl."
"That will suffice for the moment, thank you," nodded Sister Berthe. "I will talk to the girl myself, if you wish."
"No, I´ll handle this, Sister Berthe, but thank you for your offer."
"Reverend Mother?"
"Yes, Sister Margaretta."
"Aren´t you forgetting someone? Aren´t going to ask us about - Maria?"
"Oh yes. Maria."
"We had postulants that arrived one year or two before her and have already made their vows, but for some reason we are always leaving her behind when the time comes. I fear that, deep down, she is beginning to resent this."
"For some reason? For every reason, I should say." Sister Berthe sneered. "Besides, she has no right to resent anything. She has to be thankful to us for allowing her to stay and give her a roof above his head. The Lord knows what could become of that girl if we did not open our doors to her."
Sister Margaretta shuddered, but decides not to argue any further, and to continue defending her protégé.
"Maria is terribly disappointed whenever she is not chosen to make her vows, and I dear one of these days we will lose her for good," said Sister Margaretta. "I am running out of excuses, running out of things to say to comfort her when I have to say "not this year, my darling, we feel that you are not ready yet, perhaps the next time, Maria…"."
The Reverend Mother dropped her pen and leaned back on her chair.
"I don´t think there should be any doubt about Maria!" exclaimed Sister Berthe. "She is obviously not…"
"I haven´t mentioned her not necessarily because I am not considering her name, but because she is on loan to Captain von Trapp," said the Reverend Mother serenely, interrupting the terse nun. "And also because I think that yes, there are plenty of doubts about Maria"
"What?" Both nuns exclaimed in unison, not quite believing their ears. The Mother Abbess had never openly questioned Maria´s vocation before.
"I will add another question mark to my list, I´m afraid. I won´t make my decision before I see her again next September. Considering that it is Maria, it is always best to talk directly to her, and not about her. It is easy to make all kinds of wrong assumptions about that girl; she always has a way of surprising us all."
"Forgive me, Reverend Mother, but I am not sure I understand your point of view," said Sister Margaretta. "She´s been with the von Trapp family for almost a month now, they haven´t sent her back to us. That means she is doing exactly what she is supposed to do, and that is a great accomplishment for Maria. I think she will return to us, and when she does, she will be more than ready to take her vows. As I said, it is past her time already."
"If she returns…," the Reverend Mother corrected, almost distractedly.
"If?"
"With all due, respect, Reverend Mother, what do you mean by "if"?"
"Honestly, I have a feeling she will not. I sense that we have already lost her for good." Both nuns gasped. "But that should not worry us too much. It is, after all, Maria, and what an endless source of little surprises she is! Still, something tells me that she will find her right path in life. If this path will lead her to us or away from us, it is something that only time will tell..."
"Reverend Mother, is there anything else we should know about Maria?" Sister Berthe asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "Anything at all that you are keeping from us?"
The Reverend Mother rolled her eyes.
"Sister Berthe, as I say all the time, Maria is simply… Maria. She is an open book, at times too honest for her own good. I´m sorry to disappoint you, I am not keeping any secrets about her from you. She is what she is."
"Have you heard from Captain von Trapp yet?" It was Sister Margaretta´s turn to ask. "Is he happy with her?"
"I don´t think happy is the proper word to describe the Captain´s feelings about anything that goes on around him, my dear," the Mother Abbess smiled mischievously. "But I will just say that scarcely two hours after Maria left, I received a telephone call from him."
"Hah! Two hours? Ah ha, I knew it!" Sister Berthe snorted. "The girl is as incorrigible as that man is formidable!"
"What did he say?"
"Oh, I let him ramble and bark incessantly for about five minutes. I don´t need to give you the details, you know how Maria is. But I convinced him to let her stay for a while."
"You did?"
"Yes, I was surprised myself, but I did. I always sensed that Captain von Trapp´s bark is worse than his bite."
"I don´t know, Maria out into the world like that." Sister Margaretta seemed concerned. "As effervescent as she is, she is also very naïve and inexperienced. I honestly worry for her."
"Naturally I would not have sent her to him without making sure he gave me his word of honor that she would return to us unharmed. I have no reason to doubt Captain von Trapp´s word of honor, do you Sister Margaretta?"
The nun lowered her eyes. "You are right, as usual, Reverend Mother. He is a naval hero after all."
"A widowed naval hero," remarked Sister Berthe.
"Your point exactly, Sister Berthe?" The Mother Abbess´s tone was stern, for she did not like what the Mistress of Postulants was daring to imply.
Sister Berthe´s hesitation was so brief that it was hardly noticeable.
"My point is that Captain von Trapp is a very important man, a titled naval hero and – erhm - a fine figure of a man. Maria is… oh well, Maria, as you said yourself."
"Please, Sister Berthe," the Reverend Mother interrupted impatiently. "That would be the last thing on my mind. Besides, Maria can very well defend herself."
"Oh yes, she can," Sister Margaretta giggled. The other two looked at her questioningly. "Remember when she first came to us, Reverend Mother, and you asked me to question her about her – ehm - past life?"
"Yes, and you told me that in spite of her unusual upbringing, we should have no reason to doubt Maria´s chastity."
"None at all!" Sister Margaretta´s eyes still shone with mirth. "Among other things, she told me that the first and only boy who had ever tried to make improper advances at her was greeted by a very strong kick in the…" she covered her mouth.
"Where?" Sister Berthe asked.
"There," Sister Margaretta´s voice was barely above a whisper.
"Ooohhh," the other nun moaned, knowingly, while the Mother Abbess was making a visible effort not to smile. "You see, that is what I mean."
"So you worry about Maria kicking Captain von Trapp in the…"
"Sister Margaretta!" Sister Berthe scowled. "Sometimes I wonder if spending so much time with that girl hasn´t influenced you a little too much."
"Sisters, sisters," the Reverend Mother tried to appease them, more severely this time. "Now, Sister Berthe, could you please tell me, what exactly are your concerns about Maria´s presence in the Captain´s home?"
"With pleasure. It is not Maria who worries me. We lost postulants for such reasons before, it would not be the first time, and, it wouldn´t be the last. Besides, it would be too ludicrous to be even considered. Maria and a titled naval hero. Captain von Trapp and a mountain tomboy who can barely walk and talk properly. For pity´s sake!"
"Well, this time I must admit it. You could be right, Sister Berthe. What are your real worries, then?"
"My real worries are of another nature entirely. I worry for us. For Nonnberg."
"How so?"
"Oh, just think about all Captain von Trapp´s distinguished friends and family coming into his house and noticing the little postulant from Nonnberg Abbey that he hired to take care of his poor motherless children. Imagine if they see her doing the things she usually does – sliding down banisters, whistling, climbing trees, singing at the top of her lungs…"
"At least she is always in tune…" mumbled Sister Margaretta.
"… being late for every single thing, blabbering incessantly… and ultimately kicking gentlemen in their most sensitive areas. Are you sure this will reflect well on our Abbey in the future?" Are you sure that it was wise to convince him to let her stay when he was already willing to let her go?" asked Sister Berthe, leaning forward in her seat, expectantly.
"In all honesty, I don´t know… as I also don´t know why in heavens he agreed with me. Yet, he did! It seems that our Maria made quite an impression on him."
"Doesn´t she always?" said Sister Berthe sardonically. "I shudder just to think of that girl in the home of an aristocratic family. She is utterly unable to tie her own shoes without starting a revolution!"
"I believed it´s called a mutiny in naval terms, Sister Berthe."
"Hah!"
"When you say that she made an impression, are you talking about a good or a bad impression, Reverend Mother?"
The elderly nun shrugged.
"Oh, I don´t think Captain von Trapp himself knows the answer to that one yet, Sister Margaretta. But she is still there, isn´t she? She must be doing something good to that family!"
"Mmm," grumbled Sister Berthe. "I am not sure I like this, Reverend Mother. I still think you should call Maria back at once, before real disaster strikes."
The Reverend Mother sighed.
"Sister Berthe, the governess that was hired by Captain von Trapp before Maria was a Professor of Behavioral Psychology at the University of Graz on her sabbatical leave," she explained, patiently. "Yet, she was not able to stay for more than two hours in her position. Our will-o-the-wisp who came from an obscure Tyrolean village is still there working for the Captain, caring for his children after a whole month now. Whatever Maria is doing, I think she is doing it right,or, at least, trying to. The Captain is a clever man; I think he realizes that as well as I do, although he might not admit it, even to himself. You may find it hard to believe, but it is true."
"What should we do then?"
"We wait, Sister Margaretta. We simply… wait."
21
