The Von Trapps had been comfortably settled in their country home in Switzerland for just about a month. The eight of them had been frightened beyond all belief together and had breathed a collective sigh of relief together when Georg had decided that Switzerland was to be their now home. They settled down and began their lives over. All seven children were immediately enrolled in school once the house was organized and Georg took to the task of finding suitable employment in town to blend in. He was still struggling to find a job where he felt comfortable and at the same time fulfilled. The lifestyle he lived in Austria was light years away and he'd give anything to get it back - to allow his children to feel a sense of security and safety again. Yes, the funds he smartly transferred would get them through the next several months or so, but after they ran out they would be penniless, so it was up to him to find some decent work.

So it came as no surprise to Freidrich and Kurt as they sat in their father's study before bed as they had started doing, watching Georg anxiously read through the day's paper and mail with worried eyes.

Kurt looked up from his school books and glanced over at his older brother.

"He looks a bit more tense than usual tonight," he whispered under his breath.

Freidrich motioned for Kurt to be quiet and tend back to his reading, hoping their father didn't hear the comment even over the crack of the fire in the room.

Georg's study was a modest part of the house; located just behind the kitchen on the first floor tucked away in the far corner. The three Von Trapp men gathered there each night and read, relaxed, and occasionally listened to the radio for news from their homeland.

Tonight, however, was no such enjoyable evening. Georg nervously scoured the paper for any sign of employment, Kurt struggled to concentrate knowing his father wasn't relaxed, and Freidrich still was trying to handle the fact that this new country was his new home. Even though none of them had dared utter it out loud over the past weeks, they all hated Switzerland, and so did the girls.

Gretl had gone back to not speaking at all like she did after her mother's death. Liesl was trying to do her best by running the household when she wasn't at school and tending to her own school work. Brigitta busied herself with reading as she always did and on the outside seemed unfazed, but inwardly was hating every moment of her new life as well. Marta seemed to get lost in the shuffle of things and some days would be happy and the others completely unresponsive. And lastly Louisa walked around openly hating everything - it was intimidating to her brothers and sisters.

One other thing was one-hundred percent shared by all eight Von Trapps, too: they all thought about Maria non-stop.

The level of happiness that was in all of their lives when Maria was around was gone. Now, all eight moved around in their daily lives with melancholy attitudes. Georg remained close with his children - he vowed to himself he'd never lose that regardless of the circumstances - but he couldn't find the pep he had in his steps before Maria left at the end of the summer. The way they all fled without giving her any notice or any warning they'd might not ever see each other again broke his heart. It broke his heart to see what it had done to his children, what it was doing to him.

As he sat behind his desk, sifting through his mail and quickly stealing a glance at his boys studying away, Georg knew he was luckier than most, but still knew a piece of his heart was missing.

He looked over the envelopes in front of him and his breath caught in his throat as he recognized the writing on the outside of the letter he held in his hands. He froze and tried to make himself move to open the letter. It was from Max. He hadn't heard from Max since the night they all left and he gave him strict instructions not to get in touch with him unless absolutely necessary. Max volunteered to stay behind in Salzburg and keep an eye on the house until it was safe for him to join Georg and the others in Switzerland. Georg was dumbfounded holding his letter; his hand started to shake a bit.

Freidrich happened to look up at his father at that moment and grew worried. Kurt, sensing his brother had stopped doing his homework for a brief moment, looked up too, mouth agape seeing his father trembling slightly.

"What is it, father?" He stood up and walked over to stand next to Georg behind his desk.

"It's a letter from Max..." Georg's voice trailed off, still shocked and somewhat nervous to read the contents of the letter he held.

At the mention of his uncle's name, Freidrich tossed his books aside and went to join his brother and father.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Open it!" He hurriedly urged his father to take action, not knowing the system Georg and Max had developed for communicating with each other.

Georg looked at each of his sons then started to slowly tear away the edging of the envelope, but stopped abruptly.

"Boys, you must promise me that neither of you reveal the contents of whatever is in here to your sisters until I tell you - is that understood?"

Again, he eyed Kurt seriously, then Freidrich. Both solemnly nodded back at their father, suddenly understanding the seriousness of whatever it was they were about to hear. Inwardly both of the boys were elated at the fact their father would include them with what appeared to be such an important piece of news, but at the same time they were starting to become scared as they studied their father's face, which became tighter with each piece of the envelope he threw to his desk.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Georg freed the piece of paper from its envelope only to see a few neatly, but short, lines on the page before him.

He read the letter out loud as Kurt and Freidrich crowded closer to him to see the words on the page at the same time:

My Beloved,

I pray that you are doing well. Things have taken a turn for the worse here and I am worried about you.

Our darling songbird is gone and I am worried I will never hear her sing again.

You remember, don't you? Our Edelweiss? She's gone.

I'll keep an eye out and hope she returns safely.

Until then I wait for your return letter.

~ M

Georg quickly read the contents of the letter several times before lowering the paper. Kurt and Freidrich likewise had had to read it more than once and were both now perplexed.

"What does that mean, father? Is Uncle Max in trouble?" By now, Freidrich had taken the letter and was examining it again, trying to make some sense out of it.

"Edelweiss? Like the flower? Is that a clue for something?" Kurt was also trying to work out the letter, trying to gain knowledge of what Max had truly meant with his encoded message.

His sons thought for a moment then turned to look at their father together who was staring straight ahead, white as a ghost.

"It's Maria...they've...taken her."

0000oooo00000oooo0000

Maria rolled over only to bump into the cool concrete of one of the walls in her cell. How did I get back here? The last thing she remembered, she and Zeller were outside and she was eating delicious fruit while he sat and taunted her again.

Moving to sit up, Maria's hand went to her face as it started to throb. Suddenly, the events came trailing back to her...he had hit her and she had gone sailing to the ground, then everything went black.

She couldn't tell due to the obvious lack of light, but Maria was sure her face was bruised and swollen. And as she felt around her cheek a bit more, she identified a few small welts just at the bottom of her cheekbone on the left side of her face. She groaned out in despair and frustration. If she had only learned to control her emotions, she would have never lashed out like that and wouldn't have gotten herself attacked by the gruesome Zeller.

How long had she been in her cell this time? Days? What had happened while she was unconscious?

A whirlwind of emotions came flooding through her and she violently threw off her wimple to the ground and sat with her fists clenched. She wouldn't be needing it for a while after all. The past week or so had shown her that prayer wasn't going to save her from the situation in which she found herself. She was going to need an absolute miracle.

0000oooo0000oooo0000

The boys sat there with mouths agape hearing their father.

"But why did he address the letter like that? 'My Beloved' - what does that mean?" Georg had long gotten up from his desk chair and was pacing the length of his small office. Kurt had taken a seat behind the desk and Freidrich was leaning against the window, still fixated on Max's letter.

"As silly as it sounds, Kurt, but Max and I decided before we all left that we needed a system, a code, so that he and I could communicate with each other. Using the telephone was out of the question with those bastards monitoring the operators now, and meeting wasn't an option. So we devised a system of writing letters and telegrams if need be. This was the first time either one of us has written such a letter and we used that heading so if it was intercepted whomever took hold of it would assume it was some king of letter written to a loved one in the war, they're very common during times of battle."

Georg stopped pacing and now stood with his hand propped against the front of his desk, leaning forward as he tried to think of his next move.

"But now what? Uncle Max has written his letter to you...are you absolutely certain he's even talking about Fraulein Maria? Why would those men take her?" Freidrich wasn't sure his father had deciphered the letter correctly. Fraulein Maria was going to be a nun and people didn't harm those who were close with God - it was unthinkable to him to do such a thing!

Georg took a sharp breath and looked at both his sons.

"I am certain, Freidrich because that is the code name Max and I came up with for Maria. I told him to inform me if anything should happen to her, having an inkling that Herrr Zeller would ultimately use her to get to me...and to think the scoundrel actually went through and has done it, it makes my blood boil!" He moved to stand in front of the fire, suddenly very worked up at the thought of what the Nazis were capable of doing with their prisoners, let alone a defenseless woman like Maria.

By now, both Kurt and Freidrich were more scared than they were originally. The woman they both loved so dearly and who had given them so much was now in trouble and they had no way of knowing if she was okay.

"What are we going to do, father?" Freidrich stood a bit taller. He was honored his father had allowed he and his brother to share such important news with him and now he was prepared to help out in any way he could.

Again, Georg stood motionless. His eyes darting back in forth as he tried to think of what to do - of what he had to do. He wouldn't allow another woman he loved to die as he idly stood by. No, he was going to take action, but he needed to properly plan everything out to not expose his location and endanger the lives of his children.

Kurt looked at his older brother, growing more worried by the second.

"Father!"" He shouted, snapping Georg out of his trance. He turned and looked at his sons.

"Remember what I told you - not a word of this to the others, is that understood?"

His sons nodded eagerly back at their father.

"Good, now go and bring your sisters here right now. We all need to talk...I'm going to have to go back to Austria."

***The plot is about to thicken and get a little intense - hope everyone's prepared for it! Read and review as always please!***