A/N: Thanks to everyone who left a review - I really, really appreciate it. The city of Salzburg is absolutely stunning so I really allows the characters to explore parts of the hometown in this chapter, with hopefully not too, too much history! By all means, skim the 'history' parts if that's not your thing :)
Chapter SevenThe next morning the children rose and dressed without complaint, as they hurried down the stairs to the dining room. Gretl was so excited she was bouncing in her seat, and all the children had a rosy glow to their cheeks in anticipation of the events of the day.
The meal was halfway finished before Max and Elsa finally arrived at the dining room, each asking only for a strong cup of coffee, and complaining that it was unnatural for humans to be awake before the sun came up. In their defense, neither had gone to sleep until only hours before the children were awoken.
Before long breakfast was finished, the children had stacked their dishes as their Fraulein had showed them on their first morning after the Captain had left, and the eleven of them were walking along the dusty road towards the heart of Salzburg. Both Elsa and Max had practically begged to take the car into town, but Maria had held her ground, stating they had a stop to make along the way.
The Captain had Gretl in one hand and Marta in the other, forcing the Baroness to walk alone behind them. She tried in vain to make conversation with Liesl, but quickly found the young girl had never been to any major social gatherings or plays nor knew any of Salzburg's gossip, and quickly ran out of topics of conversation.
Meanwhile, Maria and Max walked a few steps behind the large group, hurrying stragglers along.
Once Max had accepted that they would not be taking the car and would indeed have to walk the full twenty minutes, the trip became much more pleasant for Maria. He asked her about her singing and when that topic had been exhausted, Maria asked him about the music production business. He happily discussed the acts that he had put together, the prizes they had won, and the various concerts he regularly attended as they walked. Maria listened with rapt attention about the concerts and the music, and again felt the pang of longing to be a part of this industry. As much as she had enjoyed her time with the von Trapp children, an experience she would thank God for every day, the smallest part of her wished she could have been part of Max's act in the upcoming Salzburg music festival.
All too soon for ten of the eleven people they arrived at their first destination, a funicular railway that led up to the Hohensalzburg Castle. Maria offered no explanation, simply directed everyone to get into a cable car. Because of the early hour, there was no one else in line. The children's eyes lit up as the white fortress came into sight as the rail car slowly made its way up to the castle. Louisa in particular seemed very excited to be there, and the Captain remembered Fraulein Maria's words from the evening before: "Louisa chose to study Austrian history, concentrating primarily on the eleventh century" His eyes lit up when he realized the purpose of their visit here, and Maria nodded slightly when he turned to her with understanding in his eyes.
The trip up to the fortress was quick. After disembarking, the Baroness and Max both sat on the small bench outside of the castle, already tired from the walk and the early hour, with no interest in the history surrounding them. They were soon in a conversation about some friends in Vienna.
"Louisa, you are first in today's activities." Maria quietly addressed the blonde as the other children scampered around the palace grounds, exclaiming about the turrets and high walls. "Are you comfortable giving a brief history of this castle?"
The Captain smiled at Maria's tact, not putting Louisa on the spot and quizzing her on the history lessons.
Louisa's eyes were bright with excitement as she recognized parts of the building that she had only seen in her textbook. Though she had seen the fortress from a distance many times, she had never had the opportunity to be so close to such ancient history.
Maria quickly called the children over, as Louisa began a brief history of the palace:
"This is the Hohensalzburg Fortress. It was constructed in the early 11th century by the Archbishop Gebhard von Helfenstein, a powerful political figure who originally wanted to build a very basic castle with a wooden wall around it" Louisa laughed at the enormous building in front of her "obviously the plans changed, as this is now one of the largest medieval castles in all of Europe! Between the 11th and 12th century, there was something called the "investiture controversy". Basically the pope challenged the European monarchy over control of the appointment of the bishop. Anyways, the Archbishops of Salzburg was a faithful servant to the pope and gradually expanded this castle. It has only been under siege once in the 16th century where the townspeople were opposing the Archbishop of the time; however, this fortress remains unconquered."
The younger children looked completely lost at Louisa's description, but Georg was thoroughly impressed with her description of the palace's history. As the children scuttled inside the castle, he quickly pulled the daughter that most resembled his Agathe to the side.
"I am very impressed, Louie. I could not have described the history better myself."
With this, the highest compliment he could give his daughter, she wrapped her arms around him for the first time in years and buried her head into her shoulder to hide the tears that sprung to her eyes.
"I missed you father" whispered the girl who had struggled for years to keep her emotions hidden.
The children spent the next few minutes exploring the castle, while Louisa explained to Liesl and Friedrich about the medieval princes' apartment and the prison chambers. Maria finally managed to herd them all to the observation deck on the top of the palace, where they could watch the sun rising over Salzburg.
The sight of the reds, oranges, and golds reflecting off the Salzach River and onto the lightly coloured buildings instantly quieted the children, as they watched in silence as the sun rose over the mountainous peaks. Certain the seven were under the Captain's watchful eye, Maria wandered to the other side of the fortress to catch a glimpe of her mountain, when she suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. The warm chuckle in her ear informed her of the face accompanying these arms, and she allowed herself to momentarily relax into Max's warm embrace, surprised how comfortable she felt. He did not push her for anything more, and for that she was grateful.
All too soon Maria glanced at her watch and realized it was time for them to move on. The ride down the funicular railway was loud with excited chatter, and Maria silently thanked the Lord that there were no other passengers at this time of the morning, or they would have surely had headaches.
The next stop was the beautiful Mirabell Gardens where the children had already visited while the Captain was away. This time, however, they were not there to admire the flowers and sing Doe a Deer. Maria led the group towards the octagonal fountain, surrounded by four marble statues. She did not need to ask Brigitta if she felt comfortable explaining the stories behind the statues, her bouncing on the spot made it quite evident she knew that this was for her.
"These statues" Maria began "were created in 1730 by an Italian sculptor named Ottavio Mosto and symbolize the four elements—water, fire, earth, and air. I am sure Brigitta would be overjoyed to share these stories with you."
The Captain, Max, and Maria were all biting their inner cheeks to prevent their laughter. The Baroness had found an outdoor coffee stand, and her mood was drastically improving with eat sip.
Brigitta's excitement was barely containable as she recognized the four of her favourite mythology stories in the statues she had passed countless times but never bothered to examine. She first pointed to a statue of a young soldier carrying a naked woman on his back.
"This statue depicts the element of water. It is the story told in The Iliad of the "abduction" of Helen of Sparta by Paris of Troy. Mythology tells us that three goddesses were having an argument over who was the most beautiful and Zeus appointed Paris to make the decision. The goddesss Hera promised Paris ownership of all of Europe and Asia, Athena offered battle skills and wisdom, and Aphrodite offered him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta. Paris chose Aphrodite to have Helen, who was already married to King Menelaus. There is some disaccord, but I like to believe that Helen fell in love with Paris the night he snuck into her bedroom to abduct her, and went with him willingly, and they left for Troy, across a wide sea. She is said to have the face that launched a thousand ships, because when her father heard of her departure, he sent the entire force of Greece towards Troy, beginning the Trojan War."
Brigitta paused for a breath, her face red from excitement as she pointed to a second statue, this one of a young soldier carrying off an elderly man.
"This status is of Aeneas, and depicts the end of the Trojan War. The Greeks snuck into the walls of Troy inside a large horse they had built, that the Trojans thought was a peace offering gift. The Greeks then set the palace on fire. Aeneas was a Trojan hero, and Paris' cousin…third cousin I think and the son of Aphrodite. Throughout The Iliad he is under the care of the gods and goddesses. When Troy fell, he carried his father on his back out of the burning city, so this statue represents fire like fraulein Maria said, and he travelled to Italy where he is believed to be the founder of Rome…which I'd love to visit" she added as a side bar with a pointed look to her father.
The Captain returned the exact look back to her, and she laughed before continuing.
'The other two statues do not have anything to do with the Battle of Troy. The statue over there of two men fighting, that with a man holding another off the ground depicts Hercules' victory over Antaeus. Antaeus was a half-giant who would challenge all who passed to a wrestling match then collect their skulls to build a temple to his father Poseidon. Scary, I know. He was strong as long as his feet were on the ground, gaining force from his mother, Gaia. Think of her as Mother Earth. Hercules, who was trying to prove to his father Zeus that he was a hero, decided to battle Antaeus, but soon realized that whenever Antaeus was thrown to the ground, he would get all of his strength back. He was a smart guy, Hercules, and ultimately defeated the giant by picking him up and crushing him in a sort of very tight hug so he couldn't touch the ground. Thus this statue symbolizes air, for in the air Antaneus was powerless."
If Maria had been worried the children would grow bored with Brigitta's explanations she would have been terribly wrong. Even little Gretl was utterly in raptures with Brigitta's vivid description of the grusome events of thousands of years passed.
"And the last statue is the story of the abduction and rape Persephone by Hades. The myth begins when Aphrodite sent her son Cupid to hit Hades with an arrow to make him fall in love. He then abducted Persephone to force her to remain with him in the underworld, his land. When her mother, Demetri goddess of agriculture, could no longer find her daughter, she forced the fruits and vegetables of the land to stop growing. Zeus, Persephone's father, sent Apollo, the messenger god, to find Persephone, and Hades agreed to let her go but only after she had eaten the seeds of a pomegranate. Anyone who ate the food of the Underworld was not permitted to return to the world of the living indefinitely, so Persephone was forced to return to him for six months a year. During the times when Persephone was away nothing would bloom, and upon her return the flower and fruits would again grow. This is why we have the seasons."
Maria was amazed by the capacity of the young girl's memory to recall all the names of the Greek figureheads and the interwoven stories. The children stood in silence for a beat, before they rushed towards Brigitta to ask her questions about the four stories she had just told.
"She is an amazing girl, with so much potential" the Captain's quiet voice made Maria jump before she turned to face him.
"They all are" she agreed, as the two watched over the seven children, eyes full of pride. As the children gradually dispersed into the gardens to explore the other statues, the Captain pulled Brigitta aside.
"Brigitta, that was incredible – your memory is remarkable my darling. You tell stories exactly like your mother used to tell you." He tried to tell her, but she was already in his arms laughing with glee, as the adrenaline continued to rush through her veins.
"I'm so happy that you are here today Father. Thank you for joining us" she laughed into his chest.
A pang of sadness shot through Georg's heart at Brigitta's words, his mind zeroing in on the "today", but he refused to feel anything but joy today, the first day back with his family. It was almost as if he were back from the dead.
"Come along children!" Maria's joyful voice called the seven youngsters back to her side. "Our next visit isn't aimed at anybody's particular lessons, it is just somewhere I believe you all must visit as soon as possible."
Like goslings the children followed behind their governess as she led them down the streets of Salzburg. The Captain, Max, and Elsa followed closely behind.
The Captain chuckled at the image of the young woman speaking animatedly at the children, pointing out a street where all the signs were made entirely of metal, and he wondered briefly at the giggles a fruit vendor stand brought to his children who all immediately mimicked juggling.
"She is quite the woman" Max's words annoyed the Captain, who quickly corrected him.
"She is amazing. I will never be able to repay her for what she has done."
The Captain did not notice Elsa's brow furrow, as her eyes darted over to Max, giving him a pointed glance.
