I was always the one people forgot about. All my other siblings had some unique characteristic that made them stand out from the crowd – even when we were all wearing matching sailor-suits or curtain outfits; there was something about the six of them that I always felt I'd missed out on.
Liesl was the graceful, naive and hopelessly romantic one. Friedrich was the one who desperately wanted to grow up. Kurt was always hungry and cracking jokes to make the younger children laugh. Brigitta was the bookworm, who noticed even the smallest of details and she wasn't afraid to speak her mind. And Marta and Gretl? Well, they were young and sweet and innocent and just wanted to be loved.
But I didn't really have anything like that. I was the brooding one, who hardly ever smiled. I was just lonely, left-out little Louisa.
My only real talent was the fact that I could make it into the governess' bedroom with a whole jar of spiders in my hand. But, honestly, in my opinion, I'd rather be known for having no obvious talent, than being good at playing tricks on the governess.
I never wanted anyone to find out how I felt. Of course, my brothers and sisters all knew – but as for the governesses, I never told any of them. Except Fraulein Maria.
I knew from day one that she wasn't an ordinary governess. When Father told us that he'd hired a nun-in-training to be governess number twelve, I can safely say I was probably the least enthusiastic. But by the end of her first day here, all of us had let our barriers down. That was when I knew she was different.
Father called us all downstairs to meet Fraulein Maria for the first time, with a hoot of that dratted whistle. Looking back, I realise I liked that whistle about as much as she did. After he'd introduced us all, he left, leaving us alone with Fraulein Maria.
I listened as Liesl and Friedrich introduced themselves to her again, before stepping up to carry out the same routine I'd carried out for the past eight governesses.
That was when Brigitta and I had first hatched our plan. To be completely honest, it really was all Brigitta's idea. After all, she was the intelligent one. If anybody else had asked me to do it, I probably would've said no. But I had always been close to Brigitta, even though there was three years between us in age.
Anyway, her plan involved me telling the governesses that I was Brigitta and she would follow the act by telling her she was Louisa. Even though Father rattled off our names to each governess before he left us alone with her, all the governesses we had pulled this prank on had fallen for it. It had taken Fraulein Josephine a whole week before she realised I was NOT Brigitta.
"I'm Brigitta." I told her. She'd asked for my age as well, but I had been stubborn and unco-operating for the past five years, so I didn't say I was thirteen.
Fraulein Maria wasn't fooled by the trick however. Like Brigitta said, she was smart. "You didn't tell me how old you are," she said. "Louisa."
By that point I knew Brigitta would have backed out. And sure enough, the next thing I knew, Brigitta was telling our governess her real identity – as well as a whole bunch of information about me.
Honestly, I wasn't sure what to make of Fraulein Maria. But then there was the thunderstorm...
I heard a thunderclap and saw the figure in the bed opposite me bolt upright. Gretl. 'Typical,' I thought. 'Oh well, she's only five.'
The thunder sounded twice more before Gretl could handle it no more. She threw aside her bedclothes ran out the door and down the hallway.
Marta and Brigitta decided they would stay in their beds all night because they were 'big girls', but a few minutes later, they were scared silly too and were racing out of the room. Not wanting to be the only girl left in here (Liesl had disappeared) I sighed and, tossing off my blankets, followed them.
As I expected, they were all in Fraulein Maria's room. Gretl and Marta were sitting in bed with her and she was trying to take their mind off the storm outside. Though I wasn't the least bit scared, I played along with her game, covering my head at every noise and assuring her that Friedrich and Kurt wouldn't be seen because 'boys were brave'. But of course they did turn up, and we all knew it really had nothing to do with wanting to be sure we weren't scared.
From that night on, when were all singing in her bedroom in our pyjamas, we all loved her. Yes, even me, who had a hard time warming to anyone, loved our new governess. But when Father brought Baroness Schraeder to visit from Vienna, she thought it was a wonderful idea to throw a huge party. Of course my siblings (at least the older ones) all knew why this idea made me anxious. But Fraulein Maria didn't. And as much as I loved her and trusted her, I wasn't ready to reveal this secret to her.
It was all to do with what happened at my last party...
