Children
Instead of returning to the villa, Max drove to Harold and Eleanor's home. He frantically rang the bell.
Harold himself opened the door. "Max, what's wrong?"
Max didn't hesitate; he had no time to waste. "The stormtroopers are in the city; they came to the villa looking for Georg. He and Maria can't come home. I need your help."
"Of course Max; we've already packed up the house. We knew danger was coming. What can we do?"
"Eleanor, can you still ride a bicycle?"
"It's been awhile but I'm sure I can."
"My idea is to have you and the children ride their bikes to the Abbey. I'll arrange vehicles to take you to the last train station in Salzburg. Your tickets will take you through Austria to Bern Switzerland where you change trains to the Port of Amsterdam.
"Max, I have some cash on hand; take it and offer it to the housestaff; they may want to leave after everyone else is gone. I'll buy all the tickets."
"I never expected this, thank you."
"Anything to help get the children to Georg and Maria."
Harold and Eleanor returned to the villa with Max. "Uncle Max, why do we have the flag with the spider hanging on our house?"
"Children I need you to listen to me carefully. The people who like that flag want to take your father to their navy."
"Take Father to Hitler's navy; he would never go, Uncle Max." Liesl explained.
"Yes, we know that but these people are very evil, they would take him no matter what your father said. Now listen, your Father and Mother are not coming home."
"Not coming home, where are they going?"
"Far away so Hitler's men can't find him."
"We won't ever see them again," Marta cried out. There were a few seconds of silence as what Marta had said sunk in; then the children began to wail in tears; their crying was uncontrollable. Nothing the adults could do seemed to calm them. Finally Liesl, still sobbing asked. "Uncle Max, what's going to happen to us?
"Frau Eleanor will tell you the plan, I need to leave. I must take care of some business. I'll see you in a few days."
Max left out the back door and walked to the train station in the back of their property. Stefan walked part way with him; "Stefan, here's some money, please see that the others get a part; they can use it to leave the country; if they so wish."
He took the train only as far as the city stop near the Abbey. After his visit there; he stopped by the telegram office and instructed the delivery boy to deliver any wire for him to the villa.
"Frau Eleanor, tell us please."
"For now, believe what I tell you; you will be with your parents soon, I promise. Tomorrow I must go the Abbey and talk to the Reverend Mother about the plan."
The remainder of the day all the children were very quiet; their young minds couldn't comprehend what was happening. They mostly sat and stared out the window. That night Frau Schmidt took Gretl and Marta into her bed to sleep; Brigitta and Louisa crowded into Liesl's bed. Kurt and Friedrich both seemed to have grownup instantly.
Before daylight the next morning, the Abbey bell rang. "Yes, may I help you madam?"
"I'm Eleanor."
"Yes, she's expecting you."
"Frau Eleanor, it's sad that we must meet again under the mask of secrecy. Max told me the plan. You really think they can ride their bicycles here?"
"Yes, we think acting as normal as we can is the best diversion. I'll be using Maria's bike with the seat for Gretl
"Does anyone know if Maria and the Captain have left Paris?"
"Yes, we got a wire from Max."
"At two o'clock, I will unlock the gate."
"Pray for us Reverend Mother."
"You can believe the whole Abbey will be praying."
Eleanor returned to the villa while it was barely getting daylight. The children had awoken early; they were all dressed and waiting for her.
"At two o'clock, we will ride our bicycles to the Abbey; arrangements have been made to take us by train to a ship that will take everyone to America where your Mother and Father will be waiting for you."
The rest of the morning, the children were extremely quiet; Liesl and Friedrich tried their best to be strong for the others. Eleanor heard her tell them; "Remember what Mother always believed; God will be with us. In a few days we will all be together again."
"Do you really think so Liesl?"
"Yes, everyone I do."
Harold put their travel bags and one bag that contained all of Georg's important papers and their valuables in his car and drove to the Abbey where he would wait for them.
It was time. "Okay, let's go children." They went out the back door to the bike shed; with Eleanor and Gretl in the lead, they said goodbye to their home.
They tried to be unsuspecting they sang like they normally did when they left the villa on a bike ride; although not a loudly as usual, one could hear; "Raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens, these are a few of my favorite things…;" all the way down the lane to the road that would take them into town.
Friedrich had good eyes; he kept them straight ahead. He saw no one except one, who was waiting at the bus stop, Lieutenant Bittinger, a friend of Georg's. As soon as the children passed by and were out of sight, he walked away. On a bench in the Plaza was Franz Isenhart keeping a watchful eye.
The Abbey was in view; Friedrich got off first and pushed the gate open. The others rode straight into the Abbey. Friedrich closed it and one of the sisters appeared immediately and locked it.
Their bikes were parked out of sight; there was a plan to get them out of the Abbey long after they were gone.
"Thank goodness you made it; praise God."
"Yes, Reverend Mother, we had no problems; I didn't see any soldiers until we got in the Plaza. They paid no attention to us; although my heart did take a leap when I saw them."
"I'm sure it did Eleanor. Are the children doing well?"
"Yes, very quiet, no crying since they were first told about their parents."
Eleanor checked with the children. "Does anyone need to use the bathroom before we leave?"
In a few minutes they were ready to leave the Abbey. The sisters had packed two small baskets of food for them to take for the next leg of their journey. They stood while the Reverend Mother blessed each one. "God is with you, always remember."
From the Abbey, they were taken in various vehicles to a train station out of Salzburg's city limits. It was going to be a long trip, almost twenty-four on the train; traveling all night. Eleanor was amazed at the children; she knew they were scared but no one cried. Gretl sat with Liesl; Louisa looked after Marta and Kurt was Brigitta's companion. Friedrich matured overnight and took Georg's place.
A/N: Rolf was not the delivery boy, I didn't want to use him in this story.