Chapter 1-Gypsy to the rescue
For the life of him, the Captain, couldn't figure out where his young governess had the nerve to shoot him daggers from her seat across the carriage. This entire nightmare of a day had been all her fault, he mused, as he scratched at the collar of his drying shirt. Giving up on propriety, he unbuttoned the two top buttons of the stiff garment. At this point, what did it matter? He had long ago lost his jacket to a puddle of mud and his pants were now crackling dry with the remnants of the same mud. What would two loose buttons do to further damage his reputation?
Meanwhile, the good Fraulein Maria sat opposite him, with a look in her eyes that spoke death. Mostly his death, if he uttered even a word to her. He mimicked her expression right back at her, for if she even looked like she were to open her mouth, he was sure he would wring her neck! Then the wagon hit a hard bump in the road and the Fraulein had to cross her arms over her chest to keep her feminine assets from escaping the mid-drift tied silk shirt she was wearing and his hands thought of going to other places on her body. He cursed her again when her milky white bare leg poked through the slit of the scarf skirt that was wrapped around her waist, her own clothes having been discarded in the same puddle as his jacket.
He couldn't help his eyes from traveling up the shapely leg. It may have been a hell of a day. There had been times when he had wanted to kill her, but then there were other times that he…well, he was still a man. And he was going to look but so were their other fellow traveling companions. When the man sitting right next to Maria licked his lips while his eyes traveled the same route his own just had the Captain cleared his throat bringing the man's attention to his face. Then he narrowed his eyes in the inherent way of man that said…mine…back off. Even when there was a language barrier, all men understood that look. Lucky for him, these men did as well.
They didn't need to know that he was only protecting his young governess who was simply on loan to him from the Abbey. They didn't need to know that the girl had intentions of becoming a nun. If they thought that they were a couple instead of employer and employee, then so be it. It was his job to keep her safe and he would do so by any means. Yes that's right…noble…that's what his intention were, tapping down the jealously raging through his veins.
These men were not going to lay a hand on her. Then his eyes once again found hers and he wondered if he was going to be able to keep that very same promise. As once again he fought with either wrapping his hands around her neck or twining his fingers through her hair and pushing her against the nearest solid surface and… He stopped himself there. Get a hold of yourself, old man. It's been a long day and it will be an even longer night if you keep thinking like that.
Rubbing the knot that had formed between his eyes he thought back to earlier this morning. He had never imagined while sharing breakfast with his family and friends before embarking on the journey to their Adriatic Sea vacation that this day would have ended up like this. Noting the time on his watch, he thought, I'm supposed to be relaxing in a luxurious seaside retreat right now. Instead he was bouncing around in the back of a wooden carriage with his governess and a band of gypsies. How in the hell did this happen? Looking upon the woman sitting across from him, he found his answer. Her! His mind screamed as his fingers twitched in danger, it was all her fault. So why in the world was she sitting there with that upturned chin and indignant look in her eyes pointing at him? Wasn't it she who hadn't performed her job and wasn't it her fault that the train had left without them? Yes, he reassured himself, yes it was.
"This is all your fault." His eyebrows almost reached his hair line as she said the same words he had just uttered in perfect time with his own. He nearly had to sit on his hands to keep them from reaching out for her throat. But then her lower lip started to quiver slightly and he saw the toll the day had had on her as well. He was being a twit and the old gypsy lady who had loaned Maria the clothes let him know that she thought so as well. The old woman, who was either 105 or twenty- five, Georg couldn't tell there was so much grime on her, swatted him in the arm and pushed him towards Maria. Sliding onto the wooden bench next to Maria, Georg shot the old woman a look. She had one tooth in her mouth, or at least so he thought, for when she spoke once in a while he'd see a flash of white somewhere near the back of her mouth. He focused on that since he didn't understand a word the woman was saying. He only caught bits and pieces of it and simply agreed with her. He thought he had picked up on the words, happy, festival, match. Whatever the language this group of merry travelers spoke it was rather foreign to him but that hadn't stopped him from accepting their invitation for the ride. It had gotten him and Maria out of the pouring rain. He would have to go back for the car in the morning, if the mud hadn't swallowed it whole by then. With the luck that they had had today, he was sure the car now rested somewhere near the earth's core. That would have been the perfect end to an already perfect day. It really couldn't get much worse, or so he thought.
When the old lady took his hand and placed it on top of Maria's that rested in her lap, Georg had to mask the hitch in his breath. Christ, old woman, stop tempting fate, he thought to himself. Patting their hands the old woman uttered, "tis good, yes, I think." in very broken German. He could feel his chest constrict as the sensations of Maria's skin tickled under his palm. Not being able to resist, he slid his thumb along the ridge of her knuckles, turning his head to meet her eyes, he watched the impact of his touch wash over her.
There had been times today when he thought that he had seen the same flicker of desire in her that burned in him. When they were arguing, when they weren't arguing…it was there… right under the surface. He had dismissed it though, just as he tried to dismiss it within himself, making excuse after excuse for what he had been feeling today- actually for weeks now. Ever since she had argued with him about his children dripping wet from the lake water there had been this tiny flame that would build inside him when he would catch her eye. Once in while he thought he saw the same in her. Swiping his thumb over her skin again to make sure he was right, he saw it again as she struggled with her breathing. No, he hadn't imagined it. Nor was he imagining the open invitation her eyes were unwittingly giving him right now as her gaze lowered to his lips. Well, he thought, two can play at this game and against all reason he lowered his own eyes to her lips just as her tongue flicked out to moisten them. Oh good lord! Did she have any idea what she was doing to him? No, she couldn't. She was much too innocent for her own good. And that's what was driving him crazy. Her innocence. Somewhere deep inside him day by day this need was building to claim it for his own. He wanted nothing more than to latch on to it and tuck it into himself and shield it from the rest of the world. Even if it meant to do so would be to destroy it.
He was in a daze now. His head becoming the subject of some unknown gravitational pull directly towards the young Frauleins lips. If it hadn't been for the old lady patting their hands and breaking the spell he was sure he would have made a complete fool of himself. Though judging from the Frauleins startled reaction, he wouldn't have been the only one. Sitting back against the frame of the carriage they both looked wondrously at the old lady who was laughing and shaking her head at them. "Soon, Soon," she muttered then closed her eyes drifting off to sleep.
Soon wasn't soon enough for this day to end, Georg thought to himself while he regained his composure. He didn't even know at this point where they were going. Hell at this point they could have been completely turned around in their travels and heading right back from which they came. The thought of which sent him into a fit of laughter. Much to the ire of Maria, "Are you laughing at me?" She asked defensively while crossing her arms more tightly across her chest making her cleavage blossom abundantly more out of the makeshift shirt. Glancing up to heaven the Captain asked the lord for what he was punishing him for. For really this had to be some sort of test that God was giving him. And he didn't think he was going to pass it. Before this night was over he was either going to compromise an innocent woman or he was going to commit the murder of the said innocent woman. When she narrowed her eyes at him one last time and licked her lips at the same time he added another choice…both.
So he decided to do what any man would do in this situation. Completely anger the object of his musing to the point of delirium. Like he said…two can play at this game.
"Why would I laugh at you? Hmmm…Fraulein?" He added just enough cynicism to his voice to piss her off. Hell, what was he talking about? It was enough to piss himself off. "Woman—you had one job today. Get yourself and the children onto the train. How hard is that?"
Her posture shot up at his accusation. Her nose pointing straight up and jutting her chin out on her guffawed, "Wha…" But he cut her off before she could even utter a single word in her own defense.
"Max got on the train. Elsa got on the train. The children got on the train. I WAS on the train. But not you, oh no…YOU had to go chasing after that ridiculous hat!" He smacked the brim of the ugly leather brown hat, the only original piece of her clothing that had survived the day somehow, so that it fell down into her face.
She made a noise deep in her throat. "Hmmm…" it roared throughout the carriage. If he had to describe it, it was somewhere between a sigh and a growl. Biting his lip to hide the snicker that threatened to widen his face he recognized it as the sound she made whenever he pushed just the right button. He cleared his throat in an attempt to stifle his chuckle. Truth be told…he loved that sound.
"I wouldn't have had to chase after the hat if you had simply did what I asked when we were on the platform and had taken Gretl's hand!" She shot back at him. He gritted his teeth against her spoken truth. Okay-so maybe he had been a little distracted on the crowded platform—but still it was her job to care for the children. That's what he paid her for! It wasn't his fault that he had grabbed the wrong child's hand when she had asked for his help. It was windy on the platform. The wind had just lifted the dress of her skirt revealing parts of her leg never seen before by man. And honestly he had only looked for a moment when he realized he wasn't the only one looking. There had been a group of soldiers taking it in as well. And they were looking all too ready to come over and offer her some assistance as she tried to hold onto Marta and Gretl and keep her skirt down at the same time. So when he had approached her he had been eyeing down the group of soldiers with his –back –off look—and only half paid attention to her when she asked him to take Gretl's hand. Not taking his eyes off the smiling faces of the soldiers the Captain had reached around the sea of people for the nearest small hand. He had grabbed the first one he felt and pulled the child to the train still watching the soldiers to make sure none tried to approach his governess.
It wasn't until he and all of his crew along with Max and Elsa were half way down the hall of their train compartment that he opened up his ears to the young child tugging on the tail of his jacket.
"Are you taking me to my mommy?" The little voice asked. A little voice that was much different than his Gretl's. Glancing down at the child that he had still held firmly by the hand he saw a blond headed little boy with big blue eyes looking up at him. At that point he may have screamed like a little girl, and then again, when he looked out the nearest compartment window to see his youngest daughter standing alone on the train platform looking lost and ready to cry. However he was positive that he did indeed scream like a teenage girl flocky a current heartthrob when he felt the wheels of the locomotive start to churn. How was he sure of this? Because it was the very unmanly sound that drew the good Frauleins attention to his faux pas and caused her to run off of the now moving train to Gretl.
In a matter of sixty seconds that stilled swirled around his memory like the eye of a tornado, he and the Fraulein managed to exchange the lost child with his mother for Gretl. They had run along the platform and managed to hand Gretl over to Max and settle her onto the moving skirt of the train. He had even managed to grab ahold of the Fraulein with one arm and the handle of the moving car with his other and was about to swing her onto the train when her hat blew off her head from the wind. And in a move that still confounded his mind she had wretched her arm out of his grip and went to save the retched thing. Thus sending them into a series of unfortunate events for the rest of the day that had ended with his car being sucked into a sink hole in a dirt road where the Gypsies they traveled with had found them and rescued them from the top of his automobile.
They were covered in mud and soaked clear down to the third layer of their skin. Georg was absolutely sure that if he squeezed his forearm, mud would shoot out from his pores. He had been left with no alternative than to except the Gypsies gracious offer for a ride into the nearest town. As it was, daylight had been leaving them at the time and was now just a distant memory as the town loomed low on the horizon beneath them. The carriage squeaked along on its journey while he and the Fraulein continued to declare why they thought the other was at fault for the horrible day. In the end, just as the carriage came to a halt, they agreed on just one thing and both got the last words in.
"It's all your fault!" They chimed together as they climbed out of the wagon.
DECLARATION:I DO NOT OWN THE SOUND OF MUSIC. ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS OR ITS STORYLINE. OTHER THAN WHAT I ADD TO THE ORIGINAL STORY LINE HERE, ALL OF THE SOUND OF MUSIC AND ITS CONTENT BELONGS TO ROGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN AND THEIR PRODUCERS.
A/N : SO I HAD THIS IDEA FOR A STORY ABOUT ANOTHER WAY THAT THE CAPTAIN AND MARIA COULD COME TOGETHER. ITS JUST SOMETHING I THOUGHT WOULD BE FUNNY. IT'S GOING TO BE VER AU SO IF THAT'S NOT YOUR SORT OF THING, YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO READ THIS. I TRY TO KEEP THEIR CHARACTERS AS CLOSE TO THE SCREEN CHARACTERS AS POSSIBLE, BUT THE STORY WILL BE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU ALL THINK OF IT SO FAR. REVIEWS, EVEN THE CRITICAL ONES, HELP KEEP A WRITER WRITING.