Georg, Maria and the children all got into their car. With directions in hand Georg wound his way down the small road to the bigger one at the bottom of the mountain. He turned onto the road and traveled for about a half an hour. He spotted the road he was looking for and turned right. Georg drove about a mile when he saw the house. He pulled into the drive and up to the front door. The house was smaller than they might be used to but all Georg cared about was that they were all safe. Georg opened the car door and went around to open the door for Maria. Gretl was sound asleep on her lap so Georg picked her up and gave Maria the keys to the door. The other children got out of the car and gathered their knapsacks to take into their new house.
Maria opened the door. The house was small but it would do for now. The children found that there was four bedrooms upstairs. Friedrich and Kurt would take one, Liesl, Brigitta., and Louisa would take one, Marta and Gretl in one and Georg and Maria would take the one at the end of the hall. All the children went to their bedrooms to unpack. Georg put Gretl in her bed and Marta soon followed. They both were fast asleep in a matter of minutes. The boys decided to go outside and look around. The older girls wanted to unpack and get settled into their room. Georg walked into the kitchen. Maria was checking to see what they had for food. She found that they needed to go to the market.
Georg told Leisl to keep an eye on the children as he and Maria would be going into the town to get food. They drove into the town which was just down the road from the house. Maria found the bakery, meat market and produce markets. Georg went to talk to Mr. Rueger about business dealings that Georg was involved in. Mr. Rueger took Georg over to the bank and introduced Georg to the manager of the bank. Georg withdrew some money so that they could get things they need for the house. Georg also asked Mr. Rueger if he could find out how Max was. Mr. Rueger said he would try to get information on Max but that the nazis were watching everyone now and that some Austrians were turning in their neighbors as traitors to the Germans. All Georg could do was shake his head in sorrow. Georg thanked Mr. Rueger and went to find Maria.
As Georg turned the corner of the bank he saw a crowd of people standing in a circle. As he approached them he suddenly realized they were standing around someone lying on the ground. As he stepped up to see he was shocked to see Maria being helped up by two women.
"Maria what happened? Are you alright?" is all Georg could say before he took her in his arms.
"I guess I may be a little tired. I felt dizzy and began to feel lightheaded. I decided to sit down before I passed out. The women told me to lie down. I must have blacked out at that point. I feel fine now. I just need to rest" said Maria.
"We are going home right now. I will come back into town to get the food" said Georg.
"Excuse me but we could have your groceries delivered if you would like. My name is Frau Vogel and this is my daughter Anna. We own the fruit market and we sometimes deliver to our older residents. Where do you live? You must be new in town" she said
"My name is Baron Von Trapp and this is my wife. We just moved into the house up the road on the right. I guess you could say we are refugees. We could not stay in Austria as the Nazis were trying to force me to join their Navy. If you could deliver these things we would be very grateful" said Georg.
"It would be no trouble. Our house is just up the road from yours. Please Baroness may I have your list and I will bring your things by later this morning" said Frau Vogel.
"Thank you " said Maria " Our children will be hungry for lunch and we have nothing in the house." Maria gave her the list and she and Georg went back to the house.