Twenty One

In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins and his companions come to the Last Homely House in the hidden valley of Rivendell for a fortnight of rest and peace, watched over and protected by the High Elves. Of this lovely time period, the narrator of the story has this to say:

Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway. They stayed long in that good house, fourteen days at least, and they found it hard to leave. Bilbo would gladly have stopped there for ever and ever – even supposing a wish would have taken him right back to his hobbit-hole without trouble. Yet there is little to tell about their stay.

The same could very well be said for Maria and Georg's stay at the Schraeder villa, which lasted about two and a half weeks. Neither of them wanted to make the longer journey to England until Georg was recovered enough to move without pain, which is why they stayed that long. Everyday, they spoke to the children on the phone, reassuring them of their father's recovery and that they would see them soon.

Elsa was the perfect hostess. Knowing that Georg needed to keep a very low profile, due to his condition and them still being close to Austria, she did not bring callers to the villa. So she spent the days away from the villa making calls of her own, giving the cover story that a distant relative of hers was staying and was weak in health, so she could not received visitors at present.

Max and Philomena provided every merriment one would need without visitors or seven children around to provide it. Georg needed it the most, being confined to lying down most of the time in order for his ribs to heal faster. Max was always dependable for amusing anecdotes, conversation and jokes; so was his sister for that matter.

All in all, Georg's physical recovery was going exceptionally well.

For her part, Maria was having a wonderful time in Switzerland.

She was forming deep friendships with both Elsa and Philomena. The day after her arrival, the older women had taken her into town for a shopping trip (and my goodness, it took all of their persuasion tactics to get Maria to agree to that). In the end, Maria had agreed only because she knew that she needed some appropriate travel clothes for the journey ahead.

But Maria also valued the time of solitude that she had in this beautiful setting. Every day, she took a long walk around the grounds and on the shore of the lake. Every few minutes, her eyes would drift to the distant mountains, so different from the view she was used to, when the mountains were always right there, so close to her with open arms. What would it be like when she could no longer see them at all? When she would be so far away from what had sheltered and protected her all of her life? When she was miles and miles away from the only life she had ever known?

There was no use denying it: she was scared. Scared of the future, that is, because it was so unclear to Maria. If it were up to her…well, that was a no-brainer. She would follow the Von Trapps all her days if she could, for she loved each of them so dearly, as if they were her own children…and she loved their father so much it frightened her. But what was expected of her now from them? Once they reached England, would she be needed at all anymore? Could she follow them to America and put an ocean between herself and everything she knew?

Of course I would, if they asked me to stay with them. Maria knew that beyond a reasonable doubt. But as what?

The young woman knew that, before the two of them left the villa, they would have to discuss what was to be done as far as Maria's role and position with them was. But Maria was afraid to bring up any heavy subject with him while he recovered.

She, more than anybody else, knew how critical it was he recover completely, and not just physically.

As naturally and beautifully as a flower in bloom, Georg's and Maria's relationship was growing. They spent most of the day together, either in his bedroom or on the terrace. Every day he grew stronger, and after two weeks they were able to take short walks together. They read to each other for hours, keeping to good stories and writing: first The Hobbit, then Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and then Shakespeare. Georg was pleased that Maria was already fluent in English, and Maria delighted in experiencing literature she'd never read before. Their conversations were kept to their pasts, their likes and dislikes, and really getting to know each other as people. Gone were the Captain and governess; she soon learned to call him by his given name.

Somehow, during that period of rest, both made the silent decision to not talk of dark things, such as the homeland they had escaped, the ordeal Georg had gone through, and especially not that horrible accident on the train. Both were afraid of what would happen to each other and their blossoming friendship.

But there was a bigger and darker reason that neither of them could voice: Georg's nights were not getting any better.

Each night, Georg would have terrible nightmares. Scared from that first night in Zurich, Maria had taken to walking past his room at night, just before going to sleep herself, to listen if his sleep was being haunted. And each night, it was. So she would slip into his room and to his bed. She would soothe him with caresses and sweet, quiet lullabies until he calmed down and his sleep was peaceful again. Then she would sneak back to her own room.

Though his nightmares were always bad, Maria always managed to chase them away without waking Georg up.

Until the second to last night they spent at the villa, that is.

Outside, a thunderstorm was raging. Maria couldn't help but compare it to the storm that had raged her first night in the Von Trapp villa. That seemed so long ago now, when in reality it was only two months ago. Feeling her eyelids becoming heavy, Maria got out of her bed to check on Georg.

Once she was close to her room, the muffled cries she heard sent chills through her entire body. They hadn't sounded this bad before. Stupid storm! she thought as she rushed to the room.

Sure enough, Georg was tossing and turning in his bed. His ribs were nearly fully healed now, so he was able to toss and turn. Frightened for him, Maria went to the bed and sat beside him, reaching out her hands to try and still him.

But it soon became apparent that her previous methods were not going to be enough. His face was moist with sweat and tears, and his cries of "No!" and "Please, God!" slashed her heart and prevented her gentle gestures from making their usual impact.

So, knowing she couldn't worry about the consequences now, Maria grasped his shoulders as tightly as she could and shook him as firmly and gently as she could. "Georg, wake up!" she cried. "Please wake up!"

With a gasp, Georg's eyes flew open and drank in the sight of a terrified Maria leaning over him. "You were having a nightmare, Georg," she said soothingly. "None of it was real."

Georg's breathing was heavy, as if he'd just run a marathon. His wide, bloodshot eyes drank in the sight of her hungrily, and his hands rose to touch her face. "You're all right? You're not hurt?"

Maria was perplexed by this. Why on Earth wouldn't she be? He asked questions that she should be asking him. She took his hands from her face and squeezed them; she couldn't deny how nice that had felt, though. "We're both all right, Georg, and we are safe," she said quietly but firmly.

Georg's eyes closed in absolute relief, and his breathing seemed to finally calm down with the help of some deep breaths. Maria held his hands through this, making sure he calmed down to a state where he could sleep peacefully. Even the storm outside seemed to be calming down, giving her a helping hand. When she felt satisfied, she moved to leave, but his hands gripped hers tightly, stopping her.

His eyes had opened again, and he softly pleaded, "Stay…please."

In that moment, in the dim lighting, Maria could see his resemblance to Marta, whenever she had a bad dream. She'd never seen Georg look so vulnerable before. Was this really the hard-faced, stern man who had blown a whistle in her face once upon a time? Of course, this made Maria love him all the more. So how could she possibly refuse?

So, she nodded and laid down beside him on the bed. Their hands held each others as they let sleep claim them.

When Maria woke up, she was lying on her back…and knew that she was not alone in the bed. She heard both the patter of rain left over from the storm, and the sound of soft breathing somewhere beside her, almost over her. His presence beside her was clearly felt, though they were no longer touching. His body heat radiated to her, and she felt his eyes like a heat upon her too.

After blinking a bit to clear the sleep away, Maria fully opened her eyes to find Georg beside her. He was propped up on one elbow, nearly looming over her as he watched her. Or rather…as he looked at her neck, with such an expression of grief and disgust with himself it broke her heart. With horror, Maria realized that this was the first time since coming here that he had seen her neck exposed. Elsa's scarves had been very useful, but now she had none to use.

"Georg," she rasped, cursing at how toad like it sounded just waking up.

But he stopped her from saying anything else by placing his forefinger on her lips. It silenced her immediately, a heat flooding her cheeks. He only held her gaze for a moment before looking back at her neck. His hand drifted from her mouth to gently grip her shoulder.

Then, Maria bit back a gasp as Georg leaned down and, very tenderly, kissed her neck once, twice, thrice. They were the kind of kisses she would give to the children over their bruises and little wounds they often got from playing. Even so, the innocent kisses on such an intimate area caused her whole body to heat up rapidly, and a shudder passed through her body as she had never felt before in her life. Her hands rose to his shoulders to grip them.

Unfortunately, Georg must have misinterpreted her shudder and gripping his shoulders in a negative way, for he immediately froze and then pulled away to lie back down. He put distance between them and turned away from her. Maria felt immediately cold and bereft. She was frozen, not knowing at all what to do or say.

After a minute that seemed like an hour, Georg said softly, brokenly, "You should go now, Maria."

So Maria left, and quickly at that. She was experiencing too many emotions and sensations this morning that were quite unfamiliar to her, and she needed some time alone now.

When she reached her bathroom to wash up, Maria's reflection only served to relieve and then confuse her further.

The bruises on her neck had faded away completely now.