Liesl lay huddled up underneath the covers. Her stomach ached so badly, and no change of position helped at all. It had already been nearly half an hour since Helga's brisk knock had woken them up, as the maid had rushed down the hall to tend to baby Gretl in the nursery. Father's whistle would be sounding in another minute or two, and she was still barely able to move. "Thank you, Louisa," she croaked as she watched heר sister finish brushing Marta's hair. Six-year-old Birgitta had been left to do as best she could with her own braids, and while they were not as neat as when one of the older girls did them, they would do for today. If Frau Schmidt had been at the house today, then they could have asked her for help, but she had not yet returned back from a rare overnight vacation. And the baby was such a handful right now, that Helga would not have a minute to spare.
As soon as the whistle sounded, Louisa sent Birgitta to hold Marta's hand as they stood at attention in the hallway. "Do you want me to stay with you? Or get you anything? You look truly awful."
"Thanks, Lou. But you should go, Father will scream terribly if you keep him waiting any longer. I'm fine."
She could hear her brothers and sisters marching briskly to the tune of father's whistle.
Liesl was still lying in bed when she heard a knock on the door. "Come in," she said quietly.
Her father walked in. "Louisa told me you were feeling ill."
"My stomach hurts," she said trying not to whine.
"Rest," he said. "I'll have one of the maids bring you a hot water bottle." She thought she saw a smile beginning to emerge on his face as he added, "and maybe lay off the strawberry tarts. There's no need in trying to keep up with Kurt." He hadn't teased any of them in over a year. She responded with a hesitant "thank you father." he nodded and turned sharply to leave the room.
A few minutes later, Louisa tiptoed into their room. "Here I convinced Ilse to let me bring this to you. She's busy with Marta and Gretl, so I said I would do it." She added with a grin, "and then I grabbed it and ran before she could say no." Louisa helped her position it on her stomach, and then ran back to her lessons.
Liesl was finally able to drift off to sleep. She could just hear the bedroom door opening and closing every now and then, but she didn't wake up.
She woke up as the afternoon sun was slanting through the drapes. It was rather warm under her winter blanket, so she threw it aside. She was shocked to see that her formerly white sheet was covered in blood. So much blood! She threw the blanket back over the bed in a hurry. It was horrible to look at all the blood. She hadn't even seen that much blood since, since well, never mind that now... Maybe something inside her had burst. Maybe she was dying. When Mother had had Gretl there had been so much blood, especially on the sheets Frau Schmidt had carried away. Of course, Mother had also screamed with Marta, but there had only been blood when she died. Now Liesl was bleeding so much, and she was in pain; surely that must mean she was dying too.
She wasn't sure how this would affect her father, he couldn't possibly become any more closed off could he? But how would her siblings manage without her? Friedrich was only 10, and Gretl barely one year old. She started to cry as softly as she could, so as not to scare the little ones.
She heard the door open, and frantically wiped her eyes. "I'm fine, Lou," she mumbled.
"Liesl, what is the matter?"
"Nothing Father," she mumbled. He sat down next to the bed.
"Are you feeling ill? Should I send for the doctor?"
She shook her head, the doctor had been unable to help Mother, so what was the use now.
"There must be something wrong, and I don't have hours to try and pull it out of you."
"I think...I think I'm dying..." she trailed off in tears.
"Liesl..." he stopped. "Why would you.." he looked angry. "of course you're not dying. Why would you even suggest such a thing?"
"I'm bleeding," she broke down. "I'm bleeding just like she did before she..." she couldn't continue. Father pulled out his handkerchief and handed it to her as though he were not aware of what he was doing.
"Didn't your mother explain..." he started. "well obviously not, and with Frau Schmidt on vacation, and those twittery maids who are utterly incapable of discussing anything remotely serious. That leaves me."
He continued, his face frozen, "this is perfectly normal, it happens to all women as they, erm, mature. I believe generally it happens on a monthly basis. I'll send Frau Schmidt in to explain to you more fully as soon as she returns from her day out." His face no longer looked frozen but was instead slightly flushed(like when Kurt had asked how the baby got into mother), but his voice had stayed steady. "I shall expect you to resume your studies and responsibilities to your siblings in the morning."
"Yes father," she responded. If there was one consistent thing about father, he never gave them false hope. If he said she would be better by tomorrow, then she absolutely would be. She called out a meek "thank you" as he left.