Chapter 2

Maria sat in the barn of the abbey tending to the animals and feeding them. Occasionally one of the sheep would make a bleeping noise and she would pet its head, instantly calming the animal. She loved taking care of the animals, they kept her mind occupied and had a peaceful effect on her thoughts.

She had been back at the abbey now for a few months and while she had gotten use to being confined behind the walls again, with Christmas approaching she found that she missed the Von Trapp household even more. Her thoughts drifted off to the children and she wondered how they were doing and if they were happy with their new mother.

She tried not to let her thoughts wander to the Captain, but they always seemed to go in that direction. The baroness had told her that she was in love with him and he with her, but she had thought that putting some distance between the two of them would help ease her wayward musings. She missed him even more now and didn't even try to cover it by saying it was the children she missed and not him.

She could still remember the touch of his hands as he guided her effortlessly through the dance moves of the Ländler. She had tried not to look at him, quickly averting her eyes whenever they would meet with his, but she hadn't been able to help herself in that last turn. She had looked up at him and had immediately got lost in those deep blue eyes staring back at her with such intensity. In that single monumental moment he had stolen her breath away and she found herself barely able to breathe. Perhaps the baroness was right and she really was in love with him. It would have to remain an unrequited love and she would never be able to tell anyone about it or the sinful lust filled thoughts that consumed her mind.

She was startled from her thoughts to hear soft footsteps falling on the lose hay behind her. It was Sister Margaretta. "Maria," she called lightly, "The Reverend Mother would like to see you." She turned to see the softly speaking woman gently smiling at her.

She furrowed her brows in confusion, "Uh...me Sister," she questioned and then hastily added, "Is there something I have done wrong?" The panic and fear displayed in Maria's voice was quite evident.

"Oh, no Maria! She just has some things she wishes to discuss with you."

Maria nervously stood from her kneeling position. "Well, all right then, I guess."

She briskly walked to the Reverend Mother's office while thoughts bounced around her head like a basket of dropped rubber balls. She was trying to think back through the last week or so to see if there was something that she could possibly have been reprimanded for, but nothing came to mind. She had worked hard to keep herself on the right track this time and she hadn't really felt much like frolicking around since she had returned.

Upon reaching the door to the Reverend Mother's office her thoughts turned into a sudden panic. What if one of the Von Trapp children had fallen ill or maybe even the Captain himself? She shook the notion out of her head and silently rebuked herself for jumping to such conclusions.

She slowly reached her hand up to knock on the door, the cold wood sending an uncomfortable chill through her heart, and waited for a voice from the other side to answer, "Come in."

Maria opened the door ever so timidly and walked across the room, bowing and kissing the Reverend Mother's hand. She stood and addressed her, "Reverend Mother, you summoned me?"

"Yes Maria, have a seat please,"

"If I have done something," began Maria nervously, "I do ask for your forgiveness."

"Relax my child, I haven't called you here because you have done anything wrong. I need to speak with you on a certain matter that you might be able to help with." The Mother Abbess paused for a moment, trying to form the right words to say in her head, "Maria, do you miss the Von Trapp family?"

Maria folded her hands and looked sheepishly downward at them, "Yes, I suppose I do...I...I miss the children a great deal and I think of them often."

"Only the children, Maria?"

She quietly responded, "No," and then after realizing what she had said her face shot up and she hastily added, "well yes. I mean I was with them everyday and I did become very attached to them."

A whisper of a smile graced the Reverend Mother's face, "Maria I think that you should take some time away from the abbey again."

Maria began to panic and plead with the Mother Abbess, the last thing she wanted was to be sent away for a second time. "...but I have been trying really hard to follow all the rules. This is my home now. I don't want to leave again. Please Reverend Mother, don't send me away."

The Reverend Mother observed Maria carefully as small pools of water began to form in her blue eyes, threatening to overflow; eyes that had been devoid of their normal sparkle over the past few months. "Maria, you are not being sent away because you can't follow the rules. I have been observing you and while you seem happy to be here, you also seem very unhappy and distant. You're hear physically, but you're not really with us. If my suspicions are correct, and I have reason to believe they are, I would say that most of this is stemming from feelings that you may have formed for Captain Von Trapp while you were the governess for his children."

Maria's jaw dropped opened; so it hadn't gone unnoticed that she was struggling with these thoughts. "Oh Reverend Mother," Maria cried out, "I didn't go there with the intent of falling in love with him, it just sort of happened. Please forgive me. I know that was not the purpose for being sent there." Maria got up from her chair and walked across the room and faced the wall, her eyes fixated on the crucifix with her hands pressed to her stomach and her lungs struggling to operate properly.

"There is nothing to forgive, Maria. The love between a man and woman is holy too. God designed it that way and it is perfectly normal for those feelings to develop between you both. I'm sending you away again because you really do need to do some serious thinking and decide for yourself if this is truly the type of life you were born to live."

Maria turned back around and pleaded with the Reverend Mother, "Oh, but Reverend Mother please don't send me away!"

"Maria, these walls weren't built to shut out problems, you have to face them."

"Yes Reverend Mother," Maria sighed in defeat and walked back across the floor, with her shoulders slumped, and sat in her chair again.

"I received a call from a family earlier today that is looking for a governess for their children while they are out of school for the Christmas break. They have asked that you be available starting Thursday. They will send a car for you around noon."

Maria thought for a moment before speaking, "Well I guess it would be nice to spend Christmas in an actual home that is decorated for the holiday with a family that has children."

"They seem like a very nice family. I think you will enjoy yourself with them and Maria, remember Christmas time is a season for all kinds of miracles."

"I will try to keep that in mind, thank you Reverend Mother." With that Maria stood and left the room, missing the grin spreading across the Reverend Mother's face. She was halfway back to her room when she realized that she hadn't asked the name of the family.