Flight to Freedom - by JoolsFan
PG-13 for violent situations.
Disclaimer: The Sound of Music and its characters belong to 20th Century Fox. No infringement intended.
Author's Notes: This story heavily refers to imnotacommittee's "Streets of Salzburg" . At the end of that story, the Von Trapps have escaped to Italy. Maria's been shot, but is recovering, and the family is together, and safe. Remembering that, it should be possible to read this as a stand-alone story. Still, I strongly recommend you to read "Streets of Salzburg" - simply because it is a wonderful piece of fanfic!
HUGE thanks to Amy for letting me refer to her story and for helping me with this one - I truly could not have done it without her. Thank you, Amy, for your input and ideas.
***
~Prologue~
"Open up!! Open this door!" an angry voice shouted.
"Yes, yes, I'm coming," yelled Frau Schmidt at whomever it was pounding at the door. She hurried down the stairs, trying to pull on her robe and wondering who on earth would be making such a racket at six in the morning.
As she opened the door, she was rudely pushed aside by Herr Zeller, who mentioned to four Nazi soldiers to follow him inside. He pointed at two of them.
"You two, up the stairs to the bedrooms. Carl, Heinrich, search the ground floor."
The soldiers quickly did as they were told, leaving Frau Schmidt and Zeller alone in the hall.
"Well!" Frau Schmidt exclaimed as she recovered from shock enough to speak. "What do you think you're doing?"
Herr Zeller looked at her in disdain.
"Don't act so innocently, Frau Schmidt," he told her. "You don't expect me to believe you hadn't noticed that the whole family is gone?"
Frau Schmidt's mouth opened in surprise. "Gone?" she echoed, not understanding.
Her surprise increased when she saw Franz emerge from the back of the house, fully dressed and looking very awake.
"Never mind her, Zeller, " he said. "I'm convinced she didn't know."
Frau Schmidt looked from Franz to Herr Zeller and back. As understanding dawned on her, her expression turned scared. However, the two men paid no attention to her anymore.
"I've checked the outbuildings," Franz continued. "They took the car."
Zeller nodded.
"We found it abandoned in the city." He looked up as Carl and Heinrich emerged from the salon.
"Nothing," they reported.
Zeller looked around, trying to decide what to do. He hadn't really expected to find anything, but had wanted to do a thorough search to be sure.
The two soldiers who'd searched the bedrooms were coming down from the stairs.
"Some of the dressers were open and there were clothes spread out on the beds. They didn't take much, by the look of it, only the bare necessities. They must have left in a hurry," one of them reported. "The desk in the study was completely cleared out, though."
Zeller sighed. The Captain had obviously planned his escape quickly, but thoroughly.
He turned to Franz.
"I'm sure you will keep me informed if there is any news." It was a statement, not a question.
"Certainly, sir," Franz replied.
Then Zeller nodded to his soldiers curtly, and as suddenly as they'd arrived, they disappeared again, leaving behind Franz and a flabbergasted Frau Schmidt.
PG-13 for violent situations.
Disclaimer: The Sound of Music and its characters belong to 20th Century Fox. No infringement intended.
Author's Notes: This story heavily refers to imnotacommittee's "Streets of Salzburg" . At the end of that story, the Von Trapps have escaped to Italy. Maria's been shot, but is recovering, and the family is together, and safe. Remembering that, it should be possible to read this as a stand-alone story. Still, I strongly recommend you to read "Streets of Salzburg" - simply because it is a wonderful piece of fanfic!
HUGE thanks to Amy for letting me refer to her story and for helping me with this one - I truly could not have done it without her. Thank you, Amy, for your input and ideas.
***
~Prologue~
"Open up!! Open this door!" an angry voice shouted.
"Yes, yes, I'm coming," yelled Frau Schmidt at whomever it was pounding at the door. She hurried down the stairs, trying to pull on her robe and wondering who on earth would be making such a racket at six in the morning.
As she opened the door, she was rudely pushed aside by Herr Zeller, who mentioned to four Nazi soldiers to follow him inside. He pointed at two of them.
"You two, up the stairs to the bedrooms. Carl, Heinrich, search the ground floor."
The soldiers quickly did as they were told, leaving Frau Schmidt and Zeller alone in the hall.
"Well!" Frau Schmidt exclaimed as she recovered from shock enough to speak. "What do you think you're doing?"
Herr Zeller looked at her in disdain.
"Don't act so innocently, Frau Schmidt," he told her. "You don't expect me to believe you hadn't noticed that the whole family is gone?"
Frau Schmidt's mouth opened in surprise. "Gone?" she echoed, not understanding.
Her surprise increased when she saw Franz emerge from the back of the house, fully dressed and looking very awake.
"Never mind her, Zeller, " he said. "I'm convinced she didn't know."
Frau Schmidt looked from Franz to Herr Zeller and back. As understanding dawned on her, her expression turned scared. However, the two men paid no attention to her anymore.
"I've checked the outbuildings," Franz continued. "They took the car."
Zeller nodded.
"We found it abandoned in the city." He looked up as Carl and Heinrich emerged from the salon.
"Nothing," they reported.
Zeller looked around, trying to decide what to do. He hadn't really expected to find anything, but had wanted to do a thorough search to be sure.
The two soldiers who'd searched the bedrooms were coming down from the stairs.
"Some of the dressers were open and there were clothes spread out on the beds. They didn't take much, by the look of it, only the bare necessities. They must have left in a hurry," one of them reported. "The desk in the study was completely cleared out, though."
Zeller sighed. The Captain had obviously planned his escape quickly, but thoroughly.
He turned to Franz.
"I'm sure you will keep me informed if there is any news." It was a statement, not a question.
"Certainly, sir," Franz replied.
Then Zeller nodded to his soldiers curtly, and as suddenly as they'd arrived, they disappeared again, leaving behind Franz and a flabbergasted Frau Schmidt.