There is something in the air

Just when she reached for the bell she noticed something was hanging on the rope. A small white flower.

"Edelweiss" she grinned.

She glanced over her shoulder, half and half expecting to see Georg there. But all she saw was a mailman, nodding at her gently. She pulled the bell, feeling a little awkward to visit the abbey unannounced. She waited patiently at the door. Soon she saw Sister Margaretta approaching the gates. She smiled at her and Maria calmed down a bit.

"Good morning sister", she said with a friendly smile.

"Maria, so nice to see you again" sister Margaretta nodded and while opening the gate she asked softly,

"Are you happy Maria? Did you find your dream?"

"Uhm yes", Maria answered and felt that she was blushing.

Admitting her engagement to the elder nun made her feel a little nervous. Somewhere she was afraid to be judged. But when Maria looked up at her she saw Sister Margaretta with her familiar warm smile looking at her.

"Yes Sister, I can't imagine where I'd rather be than with Georg and the children", Maria admitted.

"God bless you Maria, the Lord showed you a wonderful path to follow. So...what can I do for you? Do you wish to see the Reverend Mother?"

Maria didn't know what to say: "well...you know...Georg send me a telegram and..."

"And?", Margaretta inquired.

"Well, here it is."

Maria handed over the telegram. Sister Margaretta read the note and looked up a little confused.

"Well, this is odd. This morning something was delivered here and I didn't know what to do with it. Wait here, I'll get it for you."

She walked away from the gate, leaving Maria even more confused. She looked around and thought what a strange sensation it was to be back at the place that she left only 2 days ago. Already she felt like she didn't belong here anymore. That evening in the gazebo turned her whole world upside down. She thought back of that wonderful feeling she got when Georg kissed her for the very first time. She wasn't able to speak anymore, she could only feel.

"Here it is", Sister Margaretta disturbed her thoughts and she felt like being caught at having bad thoughts. Her cheeks reddened and sister Margaretta looked at her amused.

"I'm sorry Maria, I didn't mean to scare you. But here is a package that came into the mailroom this morning. It has your name on it, see!"

She handed Maria a small, brown package and indeed, on the envelope that was taped to it was written: "Maria".

"Do you think I should open it?", Maria asked and she glanced at sister Margaretta who looked at her with what seemed a smile.

"Well, I think you should read it. After all, it is addressed to you isn't it? I'm sorry Maria but I have to talk to a new postulant now. I'll let you out now".

"Yes, of course" Maria muttered and walked back with her towards the gate.

Sister Margaretta opened the gate and smiled at Maria: "I hope you'll come back soon Maria. Please keep me posted on what's new in your life. I'll pray for you!"

Maria thanked her and walked away from the abbey. She found the nearest bench and mumbled:

"Now, what have we got here?".

She placed the package on her lap, opened the envelope and pulled out a white piece of paper:

"Hello darling,

I was thinking about your favourite things and I figured I'd give you one of them. A brown paper package tied up with strings. So, here it is. When you open it you'll find some more directions. Patience darling, It'll be worth the trouble.

Love, Georg."

She dropped down the letter and picked up the package again. It didn't feel heavy, carefully she shook it gentle, no, nothing was moving inside. She noticed the poststamp and saw it was posted yesterday.

"Oh, well", she thought, "curiosity killed the cat."

And with that she untied the string, she unwrapped the paper and then she saw a plain white box. There was nothing written on it, nothing to give her any clue what she could expect to find in it.

"Well, in for a penny, in for a pound", she muttered and she opened the lit. "now what was that ?", she was astonished, "Georg's whistle ??, why in the world would Georg give me his whistle ?"

Firmly she placed the box beside her on the bench and she stared straight ahead at the wall across the street. She just couldn't believe Georg had send her his whistle, surely he must know by now how she had hated it when he used that whistle on the children.

"And he even tried to use it on me, for goodness sake", she felt angry again.

For a second she started to doubt Georg's intentions towards her, but at the same time a wonderful thought started to emerge from deep inside. It grew stronger when she became more aware of it and almost with a gasp she realized that Georg must have given her his whistle "because he is never going to use it anymore", she said out loud with a smile.

A little ashamed she glanced around to see if anyone had heard her, but there was no one in sight.

Relieved she reached for the box again and started to investigate the contents more closely. There was the whistle with the string attached to it that Georg used to wear it around his neck.

"Thank the Lord, he hadn't worn it lately", she thought.

And then she noticed a little note attached to the string. She pulled it straight and it read :

"Blow this silly whistle".

"Blow this silly whistle ?", she thought, "Just blow the whistle, whatever for ?"

"Well, I always longed for adventure", she said to herself, "so here we go".

"whieeeeeeeet", the whistle went.

At the same moment she saw some movement starting on the slope, the carriage she had seen standing there when she pushed up her bike before came driving towards her. With a questioning face she looked up towards the coachman when the carriage stopped right in front of her.

"You called Fraulein ?", the coachman asked.

"No, I only blew the whistle, see?", she said showing the coachman the whistle she held in her hand.

"Right, one moment please Fraulein", said the coachman and he climbed down the carriage and offered to help her into the carriage.

She felt bewildered and a little scared, what was going to happen next ? She knew the coachman, because it was the same person who had driven her and the children through Salzburg many times when they were on outings. But still even though she had a feeling she could trust him, she didn't like all these strange things going on all morning.

"What was Georg up to ?", she wondered not for the first time today.

"Where are you taking me ?", she asked.

"I have my orders Fraulein",

The coachman tapped with the end of his coachwhip on a white envelope that was pinned to the fabric of the bench in front of her. She grabbed the envelope and ripped it open.

"it's okay, just let him take you, Georg", the note read.

Meanwhile the coachman had climbed up the carriage again and started to drive away. He started some small talk along the ride to make her feel at ease.

"The children aren't with you today, Fraulein", she heard him say.

"no, they are .. eh.. on an outing", she kept her tongue just in time.

"I liked to ride the lot of you all around Salzburg when you where learning them how to sing.", he went on with the conversation and started humming, "so do la fa mi do re".

She smiled hearing the coachman humming that familiar song, she really felt at ease now.

"How's the Captain these days ? I saw him downtown yesterday, he looked very happy.", she suddenly heard him ask.

Maria blushed, "oh...eh...he is fine I think".

"well I should think so, with a fine governess like yourself in his household. The man needed a little fun if you ask me ", the coachman continued.

"Now really!", Maria answered sharply, "you step way out of line, Sir".

"I am awfully sorry Fraulein, I should have minded my own business", he started to apologize.

With an uneasy feeling Maria started to observe the surroundings, blocking any further conversation. She recognized where they where going. All the time during the conversation the carriage had been going up and up the mountain, higher and higher.

"This is my mountain...", she suddenly realized, "I have been here so often. How could Georg know...".

At that moment the carriage stopped.

"Sorry Fraulein, we can't go any further, you have to continue on foot from here", the coachman said.

He helped her to climb out of the carriage and after a brief "Goodbye" he drove away leaving Maria all by herself.

"Now what", she thought, "hmm, now what, seems to get to be my favourite words this morning".

But she felt cheerful, she loved this mountain, she loved being outside in the sun, with all the birds singing, the trees standing tall and green, the view of the mountains all around her, the sound of the brook trip over stones...

"Oh, the brook!"

She ran over to the brook to watch it. She loved looking at the water, it was always in movement, but it never seemed to move the same way. Always little waves, or a twig or a fallen off leave drifting on the stream, nothing ever stood still.

But then suddenly she noticed something in the water that did stood still, there was a sign placed in the brook. A little sign, with only a black arrow painted on it pointing up, as if to tell someone to go straight ahead.

"Now who could have placed a sign on this remote place ?", she thought, "it must be Georg, he wants me to follow the sign".

So she crossed the stream and walked in to the direction the arrow pointed. A little further she noticed another sign, stuck to a tree, and after a few paces she found another one laying in the grass.

With this last sign she found herself in the open air again, a beautiful green meadow lay all around her and only half way the field she could see a single tree standing there. But what a strange sight it was. The tree seemed to be full with toy balloons, blue, white, red, even yellow balloons where swinging in the wind. Wondering she started to walk towards the tree, not knowing what to expect next.