A/N, Rating and Disclaimer as per chapter 1.
Spring
The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also. -Harriet Ann Jacobs
Maria was blinded momentarily by the brilliant beams of glistening sunlight that streamed through the tattered cobwebs, peppering the floor of the attic in patches of gold. She began to blink in a desperate effort to allow her eyes to become accustomed to the glare, in a room that was much brighter than the last time she had ventured into it.
Even though the attic was bathed in a golden glow, the air was still chilly, betraying the fact that spring had only just begun to rear its hopeful head. In the garden, the bulbs had started to peek through the cold, hard earth and all around, the von Trapp villa seemed more alive than Maria had ever known it.
The trunks and boxes were still there and Maria knew that this time she would be more careful in her explorations. There was just enough hazy light for her to see her way around and she began to slowly scan the room for the item that she had been sent to retrieve. So much had happened since the last time she had been here but she was sure that finally she had begun to fulfil God's will and yet sometimes, the Abbey was the farthest thing from her mind when she looked at the Captain and his family.
Over the months she had come to know the children well and they had begun to trust their new Governess, something none of them would have believed before Maria came into their lives.
The Captain had been in the most part, absent. He visited Vienna frequently, much to his children's disappointment. The youngest children felt his absence the most keenly and Maria would spend many hours just soothing them, particularly at bedtime when they would pour their hearts out to her.
The older children, particularly Louisa and Liesl were still reserved in the opinions that they shared about their father but Maria could tell that they were hurting just as much as the younger children.
As Maria rummaged through the piles of old drapes that had been laid over the boxes to give them some protection, she came across the skis that she had so wanted the Captain to allow her to bring down and let the children use.
Smiling, she ran her finger along the edge which was rough with lack of use. Even though the children hadn't been allowed to enjoy the slopes that were in such close proximity to them, they had at least thoroughly enjoyed their winter in many other ways.
xXx
When their father was at home they had marched in all-weather as was his instruction. Maria of course joined them and they always returned to the house cold, wet and miserable.
Christmas came and went in a blur. Maria had been introduced to a long-time family friend and favourite of the children. Uncle Max had indeed proved to be a very interesting character and it seemed that he found the new Governess equally as interesting.
On more than one occasion Max Detweiler had attempted to convince Maria that beyond the Captain's disagreeable manner was a responsible and caring father. If truth be known, Maria had already come to that conclusion herself, she was just frustrated that she was yet to see any sign of that man.
A few weeks after Christmas, the Captain and Herr Detweiler had left for Vienna once more. The Captain had some business as well as pleasure to attend to and it was to be a long trip away. This time though, when they returned, the children were finally to meet Baroness Schrader, who Maria had been assured by every gossip in the household, would be the next Baroness von Trapp.
xXx
Continuing to search through the family's belongings in the attic, Maria chuckled as she recalled the day, only a few weeks earlier, that the Captain returned from Vienna with Herr Detweiler and Baroness Schrader. Of course, she hadn't been feeling so jovial on that occasion but it had turned out to be a turning point in hers and the Captain's professional relationship, where they had reached a mutual understanding about the children's needs and feelings.
xXx
In their father's absence, the children's outdoor activities were somewhat different to the strict regime that they were forced to follow when he was there. There were many trips out into Salzburg. On the day of their fathers impending return, the children had been so excitable that Maria felt she needed to find some way to reign in their exuberance… or wear it out!
Maria had always enjoyed the snow and there was a fair amount still lying on the ground around the villa even though winter should have been at an end. Having grovelled to the cook, Maria had been able to find several large, old metal trays from the kitchen that would serve as excellent sleds. So, wrapped up warmly with tin trays under their arms, the children all marched off to the nearest slopes that lay near the road up to the villa.
With screams and whoops of delight, they each took a turn on the trays which turned out to be extremely swift sleds. The boys had races whilst the older girls accompanied their younger sisters. Finally, after much nagging from all of the children, Maria agreed to have a go. She positioned herself on the largest tray and held onto the edges as Friedrich and Kurt took great delight in pushing her forcefully down the slope.
Their efforts were so proficient that Maria quickly headed towards the bottom of the slope. All of the children had stopped far short of the road but Maria, being heavier and travelling at a much greater speed, hurtled over the edge and straight across the road in the path of an oncoming car. The children who had been running behind her tumbling and screaming down the slope came to an abrupt halt as they watched their Governess lift her arms above her head in dismay, shouting apologies to the occupants of the car, who must have been shocked by how close they had come to ploughing into the person who had whizzed recklessly in front of them.
Seeing that Maria was safe, the children fell about in the snow in fits of laughter.
Feeling rather embarrassed, Maria and the children had trudged back to the villa, each of them coming up with a more exaggerated story than the last about how close their Governess had come to meeting her fate. By the time they got back, Maria was also in fits of laughter and decided to get her own back on the children by scooping up huge balls of snow, throwing it at the children in abandon. The girls joined Maria and quickly poor Friedrich and Kurt were overwhelmed and ended up covered from head to foot in snow. Just as they all rounded the corner, intending to enter by the rear entrance so that they could discard their sopping clothes, they suddenly saw their father who had ventured outside to try and locate his children.
"Father, father," the children all shouted excitedly.
"Oh Captain, you're home," Maria also shouted far too raucously for the Captain's liking and being in a distracted state, she failed to notice the low wall which was partly obscured by snow and fell head first over it into a drift on the other side. As she did so, Elsa Schrader walked up behind the Captain and couldn't help but find the situation amusing, as the children all flocked around their Governess and helped her to her feet.
The Captain had been furious, Maria recalled. After introducing them to the Baroness he had shooed them inside to get changed. Elsa had joined them, sensing that the Captain was about to tear a strip off his errant Governess.
Whilst the ensuing argument had not been pleasant and had almost resulted in her dismissal, it had been a pivotal point. He had chastised her for allowing his children to behave like local urchins, realising that it had been Maria that he had almost driven over and she had unburdened herself of all the pent up anger she had felt about how the children were being brought up. She had confronted him about his absences and finally after hearing his children sing, she had made him realise that life could go on and he still had time to make things right with his children.
xXx
And so, after he had finally allowed music to return to the house, she had been tasked by the Captain to return to the attic. It had to be here somewhere, she thought. He had spoken of it fondly and she knew that he would have made sure that such a treasured possession would have been stored with great care.
xXx
The responsible and caring man had begun to show himself to her more and more often over the past weeks. He insisted on hearing about the children's progress every few days and she found herself looking forward to her meetings with him.
It was during one of these meetings that Maria had informed the Captain that some of the children had asked if they could learn to play the guitar. They had been so enthralled by the way their father had sung to them all.
"The children have been very studious over the last few days, Captain. You should be very proud of how seriously they take their studies."
"Oh, I am, Fraulein. I can see that you have made wonderful progress, particularly with the younger ones," the Captain agreed.
"In fact… I wonder if you might consider allowing Louisa and Brigitta to learn the guitar. They are very keen. I know that you prefer that they stick to the more academic subjects but I think that it would benefit them both greatly."
"I don't see any reason why not, Fraulein. But tell me, why the sudden interest?"
"You, Captain," Maria smiled, warmly.
"I don't understand," the Captain replied, rather confused.
"It is the only thing that they have talked about since you sang so beautifully for us the other evening," Maria blushed as she remembered standing against the panelled wall, lost in his velvety voice.
Unless Maria was mistaken, the Captain's cheeks also seemed to develop a reddish hue as he shrugged, appearing rather embarrassed.
"Well… I'm not sure that anyone has ever called my singing beautiful before, but thank you none the less. It had been a long time since…" he dropped his eyes from Maria's and began staring at his clasped hands.
"I really couldn't tell. You played and sang very confidently," Maria tried to assure him, breaking the awkward silence.
Maria explained that in order to teach them she would need to buy another guitar. It was easier for her to also have a guitar to show the children the notes and finger positions.
"No… there'll be no need for that," he answered quickly.
"But Sir, it really would make all the difference to have two guitars," Maria sensed that he had begun withdrawing into himself and when he stood and walked towards his desk she assumed that their conversation was over.
Opening the drawer of his desk quietly, Maria saw him take out what she thought was a piece of paper, before returning to the chair by the fire. He held out what was in fact a photograph and gestured for Maria to take it.
"My wife, the children's mother, used to love playing for them. She was very musical… very like yourself, " he smiled at the memory of the children sitting all around her, listening with mouths agape as she would serenade them.
"She was very beautiful," Maria stated sadly as she looked upon the image of the Captain's wife and children.
"Shortly after this picture was taken, little Gretl was born. We had decided that she would complete our family and Agathe and I were looking forward to watching them all grow and blossom under our love and direction." Standing he turned his back on Maria, he placed his hands on the mantelpiece and began staring into the roaring fire. As he continued to speak, Maria could hear his voice crack.
"But then Agathe… left us… and I…" On hearing him struggle to maintain his composure, Maria immediately stood and placed her hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at his Governess and could see the concern and compassion in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, you have no desire to see me like this, I know. Now…" he straightened his back and gestured for Maria to sit once again.
"As you will see, my wife owned a guitar. If you would care to go up into the attic, I'm sure that you will find it up there somewhere. I could ask Franz but I've never really trusted him to be careful enough with my wife's belongings."
Maria was almost bursting with happiness. They had certainly come a long way in their trust of each other. Unable to control herself, she clapped her hands together.
"Oh Captain, thank you, thank you. I promise you won't regret it."
"Of that, I have no doubt," he smiled warmly and his eyes glistened with tears which had not fallen and that were perhaps more of joy than sadness.
xXx
"A-ha," Maria shouted with glee as she finally found the object that she was searching for. Carefully picking up the guitar case she lifted it from behind a large book shelf. Finding a relatively clean box she sat down and proceeded to take the guitar from its case.
It was truly beautiful. The sides and back were made of maple, the neck was mahogany and the finger board ebony. It was obviously a guitar that had been in the Captain's family for some years and as Maria looked closely she could see that his wife's initials had been lovingly engraved on the back. Resisting the urge to pluck the strings she placed it back in its case and carried it carefully down the stairs.
"Ah, I see that you've found it," the Captain smiled, as he walked towards Maria, having just closed his study door.
"May I?" he reached out and Maria placed the case gently in his hands.
She followed as he entered the drawing room where he had sung for them just a couple of weeks earlier. Sitting down, he took the guitar from its case. He sat for some minutes caressing the smooth curves of the instrument and Maria could tell that he was far away, back in a time when he had a wife who cared deeply for him and his family. Finally, touching the initials that were engraved on the back he began to play slowly.
Without thinking, Maria sat beside him. She began to sing softly and before long the Captain joined her. They sang to each other, never once looking away from each other's eyes until the final notes were played out. Even then, Maria felt drawn towards his gentle, blue-grey gaze.
"Thank you," he stated simply, reaching out to take her hand in his.
Maria looked down as his thumb caressed her knuckles. He put down the guitar and shuffled closer to her on the chaise longue.
"Maria… I…" but before he could continue, Elsa Schrader glided into the room holding a cigarette loosely between her fingers.
"Georg, darling. I wish you would have warned me… I could have packed my harmonica," she sneered, sarcastically.
Flustered, Maria stood and backed away from the Captain. In that moment she had completely forgotten about the Baroness. All that had existed in the world was the Captain and her.
"I'm sorry darling but you'll have to put the Ball on hold. I've just received word from Vienna about a dear friend who has been taken ill. I must return but I shan't forget," she pointed her cigarette at the Captain. "I will have my grand and glorious Ball, if it's the last thing I do."
As Elsa Schrader swept out of the room, Maria glanced at Captain von Trapp who looked as if his life had been completely turned upside down. He packed the guitar away and passed it up to Maria.
"Perhaps you can let me know how the girls progress with their lessons?" he asked, quietly.
"Of course, Captain," Maria smiled weakly.
"Err… Fraulein… I will see you later, as usual?"
Maria nodded silently, before leaving with the guitar.
Nothing had really changed and yet everything was different… she felt alive.
xXx
I hope this wasn't too confusing. The italics represent memories and flashbacks from Maria's perspective as she searches the attic. Once again, I would be really grateful if you could find some time to review. Even the shortest of reviews make me so happy. Thank you :)
