A/N: Thanks again to all the wonderful people who stick around while this takes forever to write. I promise, next story I post will be a completed story when I go to publish. Oh, by the way, happy Father's day to any father's who actually read this!
Disclaimer: I am not making any profit from this except in the obvious difference in my writing between the first chapter and now.

A New Adventure
Posted: June 15, 2008

A knock interrupted my musings a few minutes later. "Liesl?" I didn't answer. "Liesl, please answer me. I know you heard your mother and I talking."

"Come in." I said quietly, not looking towards the door, but gazing out the window. I heard the door open and Father's footsteps walk over to the side of the bed beside the window. The creak of the bedsprings indicated he had sat down, but for a few moments, we both just sat looking out the window.

"Did you know that you wouldn't let anyone open the gate to the river in your presence until you were about…?"

"…seven. Friedrich dared Louisa to open it and push me into the river. That was the only time I ever remember Mother hitting anyone." Tears began streaming down my face again at the memory.

The gate scared me. It was very imposing and I wasn't the strongest swimmer. Father had taught me when I was four, of course, but I could never grasp the idea of being able to breath at just the right time and the stroke and the kick. I was more of a dog paddler than an actually swimmer like Friedrich or Louisa. I was standing at the gate, trying to force myself to open it and get in the river.

"She was always so forgiving and managed to make you apologetic without using too much force." Father reached across and held my hand gently. "Liesl, please look at me." I turned my head so I could see him out of the corner of my eye. "Liesl." The voice. I turned my head completely and was surprised to see him crouching right next to the window. "I understand how hard it is to leave this house."

"It's not just the house, Father. It's…" I started, but the words got caught in the throat and, for the first time since I heard him say the words, I began to sob. Hard sobs that wouldn't stop. Father held me in his arms, rocking and stroking my head, just like he had when I ran to him after pulling myself out of the river.

Half an hour later, Mother came knocked on the door and poked her head in. "The children are asking for you, Georg." He nodded and Mother closed the door.

"Liesl, I need you to be strong. Maria and I can't do this all by ourselves." I sat up and wiped at my eyes. Father smiled briefly and pulled his handkerchief out and wiped at my eyes for me.

"I'll help where you need me to." I gave one last sigh and stood up. "How much are we allowed to pack?"

"Not much. I'll send Maria in to help you pack, while I go see what your siblings want." Father went to the door, but then came back over to me at my bureau, where I had started searching through some of my shirts. "Liesl," I turned around and looked at him. "I love you very much. Always remember that." He kissed me on the forehead and left.

As soon as the door closed, I sank into my chair and let a few more tears slid down my cheeks before I stood up and began shuffling through my clothes again.

By four o'clock, I had turned a pile that took over my entire bed into one that took up a small corner. It consisted mostly of clothes, but next to the pile sat the items I would not part with: the photo collection Mother had made before the wedding, the book of fairy tales that my mother read to all seven of us before she died, and a few smaller trinkets that I had collected over the years from friends.

I began to tidy up the rest of the room, when Mother knocked on the door and opened it slowly. "Liesl?"

I turned to look at her and smiled. "I'll be alright. It's a new adventure. It's…"

She hugged me close and I let the memories engulf me again as I rested my head on her shoulder. I sighed again and pulled away. "You don't always have to be brave, you know. It's quite alright to act sixteen."

I nodded and began to tidy up again. "Originally, I had a large pile of things I wanted to take, but I kept sorting it until it was the size that it is now. Those are the things I refuse to part with." I brushed the skirt of my white dress with the yellow sash and hung it up in my closet. I turned around to find Mother gazing at me thoughtfully. "It can be reproduced when we get wherever we're going to. It's just a white dress."

"Liesl, I'm very proud of you." She smiled as she looked through the things I had picked.

"Thank you." I sat in my chair and watched her, thinking of how Mother must feel. She had married Father, thinking that she'd come back and unpack and life would be almost as it was when she first got here. "Mother?"

"Hm?"

"How do you feel about all this?" she looked at me closely, before setting the skirt she had been refolding down.

"When I married your father, I vowed to be with him 'for better or for worse, in richness and in poorness.' This is the path that God has chosen for us to lead. I once heard someone say that 'the sorrows God sent us brought comfort and strength with them' and I firmly believe that God would not have sent us this if he did not feel we couldn't handle it."

"But, in a way, didn't Father bring this on himself? Wouldn't it have been easier to take the assignment?"

"Yes, it would seem that way. But your father would have live with the fact that he had decided to work for a group of people that he despises every day of his life. He would rather leave the house where he watched all his children grow up and start again, then work for people that are doing the wrong thing." Mother stood up, walked over to me, and lifted my face gently by the chin. "I hope that one day you can find someone that you love so much, that no matter what decisions he makes, you can stand beside him and not question what he is doing, but know that he is doing it for the good of your family's future." She kissed me on the forehead and walked to the door. "I'm going to get my carpet bag for your things. I'll be back in a moment." She smiled and closed the door. Sighing, I leaned back in my chair and thought about what she had said.

The rest of the afternoon flashed by in spurts; I remember helping Louisa and Brigitta decide what to bring and what not to. I remember briefly eating dinner with the family in the dining room. I remember helping Mother pack food in a small sack that would hopefully last us for a few days or until we could purchase more food.

At nine o'clock, after putting the five bags into the back of the car, Uncle Max, Father, and Kurt began pushing the car out of the garage with Friedrich steering. Mother held Gretl's hand, while Marta held on to Louisa. When we started out, I lagged a few steps behind, unwilling to leave.

"Liesl, please stay with us." Mother whispered back to me. I nodded and sped up to walk with my sisters.

"Why doesn't Father turn the motor on?" Marta asked no one in particular.

"Because he doesn't want anyone to hear us!" Kurt nearly yelled across the front yard. I held in a giggle because, as dire as the situation was, this was still my family and they usually didn't know how funny they could be.

"What will Frau Schmidt and Franz say when they discover we're gone?" Louisa asked Mother. Mother and Father had sat Louisa and Friedrich down and told them about the situation.

"They'll be able to answer truthfully they didn't know anything about it if anyone asks them." Mother answered.

"Will we be coming back here?" I asked. We were passing the fountain in the front.

"Someday, Liesl, I do hope someday." I could see her smile briefly at me in the dark and I smiled back, holding back my sigh. Mother knew how hard it was for me and I didn't need to scare my siblings.

"Are Father and Uncle Max going to push the car all the way to Switzerland?" Gretl asked a little too loudly.

"Shh!" Maria shushed, but I didn't hear her response. I saw Friedrich run ahead to open the front gate. We then all scurried to get into the car, but a strong light blinded us before we were all in the car.

"Something wrong with your car, Captain?" Herr Zeller. How he found out, I don't know, but my stomach dropped.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, we couldn't get it started." Father smiled slightly at him.

"Karl!" He yelled and a young man stepped forward. "Fix Captain Von Trapp's car so that it will start."

As Karl marched over, I felt Mother lightly brush my hand and motion to the open door. I glanced at her briefly and saw that she wanted me to get the girls into the car. I nodded and gently guided Gretl to the car, knowing that Marta would carefully follow. As Gretl inched towards the car, the engine turned over and I saw Karl step back to Herr Zellar. I stopped paying attention to what Father and Herr Zellar was saying, but finished ushering my siblings into the car.

As Louisa climbed in, I briefly squeezed Mother's hand in notification and felt her attempt to pull her hand out. I held on tightly and her head turned briefly to glance at me with a worried glance, but when she saw the scared look on my face, she merely held on until Friedrich had climbed in as well.

As I slid into the back seat, I saw Mother, Father, and Uncle Max climbed in and whisper indignantly to each other. As the car started moving, Mother looked back at the three older children and the two littlest in the back and smiled slightly.

"Well, children, it would appear that your Father and I are in need of some singing lessons. What are we singing tonight?"