A/N: The first part is obviously straight from the movie, not my lines at all, but I like that scene so I kept it in the story. It changes after that. Thanks for reading and for all the encouraging words. It means a lot to me. Thanks all.

Chapter 4

Georg was pacing back and forth in front of his children, trying is best to stay calm and in control, but they had worried him when they hadn't returned on time for dinner. Now that he knew they were safe his curiosity was getting the better of him and he really wanted to know where they had been all afternoon. The last time he had seen them was when they were in the garden. He knew from watching them that they had been planning something and now he was determined to find out what it was that had possessed them to leave the confines of the villa.

He was quickly becoming more frustrated at their refusal to come clean with the truth. It was worse than when he had been on his ship and had to question his men over disciplinary matters. They were being as tight lipped as a clam and he could sense that he was going to have to play their little game and turn the tables on them. If they wouldn't be honest then he was going to have his fun with them.

"Now it's not like my children to be secretive," Georg announced with authority.

"We're not being secretive father," responded Louisa. They watched him carefully as he paced determined that he would not break their resolve.

"Uh huh, and it's not like my children to be late for dinner," he added.

"We lost track of the time," said Friedrich trying to be as convincing as he could.

Their father was not believing a word of it. Years in the navy had trained him to know when someone was not being truthful with him. He had learned how to look in their eyes and pull the truth from them, but his own children were proving to be much more of a challenge for him.

"Ah ha, I see. All right," he said agitatedly, "who's going to be the first one to tell me the truth. Friedrich...Brigitta...Liesl..."

Liesl spoke first, her eyes challenging her father's authority, "Where do you think we were father?"

"Hmm...now...," narrowing his eyes at her defiance he turned to look in the direction of the lake. They were making it difficult for him to control his temper, but he was determined to keep a cool head.

"Well, if you don't believe us you must have some idea where you think we were." She cocked her head at him with a quizzical, cheeky look on her face.

Where did she learn to do that and what happened to my sweet little innocent Liesl, he thought, Maria was right, she has somewhere along the line turned into a young lady and I neglected to even notice her.

"Ah ha! Marta" He had heard the little giggle that escaped her mouth and was now pointing his finger at her.

"Yes father," she answered

"You tell me." Surely his shyest child wouldn't be able to handle the pressure of not being honest.

He was quickly disappointed when Marta responded with yet another lie, "We told you father, we were berry picking."

"I forgot," he said while clapping his hands together in an excited tone, "you were berry picking." He crouched down to their level hoping to make better eye contact with them and pretending to play along with their little charade.

"All afternoon," he asked.

They were all smiling now thinking that there father was finally listening to their tale. "We picked thousands of them," piped up Louisa excitedly while the others eagerly agreed.

"Thousands of them? What kind of berries," inquired their father.

"They were blueberries," answered Friedrich.

"Blueberries? Mmmm...mhmm...It's um too early for blueberries." They all became instantly silent and began staring at each other with looks of panic on their faces.

Without thinking Friedrich frantically bellowed out, "They were strawberries."

"Strawberries?!" He now had them caught in their little lie.

"It's been so cold lately they turned blue." As soon as the words were flew out of his mouth, Friedrich knew how ridiculous they sounded.

Georg could hear the inaudible groans upon hearing the ludicrous answer and he had to suppress a laugh at seeing the eyes roll on all seven of his children.

He shook his head playfully and with a pitiful tone responded, "Oh...very well then, show me the berries."

"We don't have them anymore," answered Kurt.

"You don't have them anymore?" He feigned a surprised look.

He watched as Kurt squirmed and the rest looked at one another for answers and then finally Brigitta came to his rescue. "We ate them," she exclaimed.

"You ate them...all of them?"

"Oh yes...they were delicious...so juicy," They all cried out.

"Very well then, since you've obviously stuffed yourselves full of thousands of delicious berries you can't be hungry anymore so I'll have to simply tell Frau Schmidt to …..um...skip your dinner." After pointedly tapping Marta on the nose he turned towards the house and as he was climbing the stairs he glanced back at his children, who were now beginning to pace about the landing staring at their feet and rubbing their stomachs. Only then did he allow himself a small chuckle at their antics. They were horrible liars and for that he was very grateful.

After telling Frau Schmidt to have cook go ahead and prepare their dinner he stepped into the music room and began to pluck away at the piano. Stroking the smooth white keys helped calm his nerves as the quiet melody floated all around him. He closed his eyes and willed his mind to rest in the music.

He still wanted to know where his children had been all afternoon, but for the moment he was simply relieved that they were back and that they were safe. He didn't like for them to leave the grounds of the villa and they knew that. With the threat of the Anschluss, he really didn't want his children roaming about Salzburg and the countryside without an adult present. Losing his wife had been difficult emotionally, but if anything happened to one of his children he wasn't sure he would ever recover from that.

He had his suspicions on where they had been and he was pretty sure it involved Maria. He calculated in his head about how long it would take the children to walk to the abbey and back and if his calculations were correct they would have had time to make the trek and speak with her. They were gone for a little while longer then what would have been necessary for them to walk straight there and back if they had been turned away.

A quick wave of jealousy swept over him as he realized that they must have seen her and even possibly spoken with her. Without noticing it his fingers swiped more forcibly at the ivory keys as he released his pent up frustration on the piano. He flattened his hand and slammed them down on the keys in annoyance, causing a cacaphony of sound and discord to ring throughout the room.

In his vexation he hadn't noticed that Brigitta was standing in the doorway staring at him with a startled look on her face. "Father," she finally spoke up nervously, "father, we're sorry for not showing up to dinner on time. Please don't shut us out again."

Georg turned to meet his daughter's face and was immediately met with a sensation of guilt coursing through his body. He realized that he had been doing exactly that for the past few days, completely unaware of his actions. It had been so easy for him to naturally fall back into that state of avoidance where his focus was on himself. He hated himself for it and it wasn't the way he wanted to treat his children anymore. He had done enough of that over the past few years and had missed too much of their lives already.

He sheepishly smiled at her and stood, crossing the room to meet her face to face he gave her a gentle pat on the cheek and then embraced her. "I'm sorry Brigitta," he sighed, "you're right, I have been acting that way. Forgive me?"

She pulled back smiling up at him, "Of course father, always." He marveled at how forgiving his children were of him and said a silent prayer of thanks that he was blessed with seven children that loved him so.

He decided to change his tactic to a less hardened one and take his chances on coaxing the truth out of Brigitta now that he had one of his children without the others. Maybe her resolve will break without the support of the other six, he thought. He really wasn't interested in punishing them, he just wanted to know if they had seen Maria and for them to be truthful with him. He couldn't blame them for wanting to see her.

"Brigitta," he began slowly, "you and I both know that you all did not go berry picking. Please be honest with me, did you all go to Nonnberg?"

Staring at her feet Brigitta began to nod her head no, knowing that if she looked up at her father's eyes she wouldn't be able to keep up the lie.

He raised his eyebrow and narrowed his eyes at her. "Brigitta...please," he repeated softening his features, "I have to know did you see Fraulein Maria?"

Upon hearing his pleading voice Brigitta made the mistake of looking up at him. When she saw the concern and pain etched in his face she couldn't lie to him any longer. Sighing and looking back down at her feet again she replied in a soft, almost inaudible voice, "yes father."

He slowly lowered himself onto the piano bench and began to fidget with his fingers. "How was she?"

She looked up at him in surprise. She had been expecting him to yell at her and she was mystified by the non-confrontational tone in his voice. Instead it was filled with concern. "She seemed all right, but different. She didn't seem all that happy to be back at the abbey and when we told her about your engagement to the baroness..."

He cut her off with a startled look on his face, "you told her what?"

He practically shouted at her and she was taken aback by his befuddled response. "We told her about your engagement. She seemed distant after that and as we were leaving I ran back to tell her something. When I reached her it looked as if she had been crying. Father I don't think she's really happy to be there. I think she misses all of us, including you." Brigitta stood there observing her father's reaction. She could see a mixture of emotions running through his eyes and was even more convinced that Fraulein Maria was who he really loved.

He sat there stunned for a minute before rising again from the piano bench. He turned his back from Brigitta and faced the wall trying to calm his worry and anger. He had not wanted her to know about his engagement, especially since he had called it off. He could not even begin to imagine what she must be thinking and feeling right now. He wondered if it was possible that she could love him as well and amongst all the despair his heart felt a hopeful tug. He prayed that she wouldn't make any rash decisions concerning taking her vows.

He turned back towards Brigitta and focussed his eyes down at the floor his hands wiggling nervously at his side. "Brigitta, we aren't engaged anymore. We broke it off and the baroness has left to go back to Vienna."

Brigitta stood there her eyes getting bigger by the second. She couldn't hide her surprise and joy at the news, "Really father?"

"After I saw the reaction from all of you I knew and felt in my heart that this just wasn't right."

"Oh, I'm sorry father. You just surprised us, that's all." Her mood suddenly changed to one of panic and worry. "Oh no father, Fraulein Maria thinks you're going to be married! We have to get her back."

"I'm not sure she will want to come back now," he flatly stated.

"Yes she will, I know she will. If she knew you weren't getting married she would feel like she was needed here again. I just know she would comeback to be our governess again. We need her father, you have to try."

He couldn't argue with that. They did need her, he needed her. A resolve swelled up inside of him and he knew he had to at least try to bring her back. After all, the summer wasn't over yet and he would be needing the help. He didn't want just any old governess, he wanted her. He had to try and convince her of that and perhaps if he could get her back there would be hope for something more.

"Brigitta, had she taken her vows yet?"

"I don't think so father, she was still in her postulant clothes," she replied.

He exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and sighed a silent thankful prayer. "All right," he announced more cheerfully, "I guess I'll be making a trip into town tomorrow."

He couldn't help but notice the giant smile spreading across his daughter's face and the affect of it was contagious. "All right," he said throwing an arm over his daughter's shoulder, "let's go get your brothers and sisters, tell them the news, and have some dinner. Yes?" She looked up at him and nodded in agreement and they both headed out of the music room feeling a little lighter.

To Be Continued...reviews always welcome.