"Halt!"
Maria froze in her tracks as the icy cry pierced the silence of the corridor. She felt Gretl's grip on her hand tighten. Maria closed her eyes for a moment and breathed outward, expelling some of her own concern. Composure regained, she reluctantly turned and faced the source of the disruption.
"Going someplace, are we, Frau Von Trapp?" a gruff voice greeted them brusquely.
"Good evening," Maria replied with a curt nod. As she spoke, she stared unperturbed at the countenance of a young Nazi soldier and brought her hand forward to gesture down the corridor.
"The toilettes, naturally," she replied, "young children need to use them quite frequently."
The soldier glanced down the corridor and noted the toilettes in plain view. He squinted his eyes and returned his gaze to Maria, as if trying to decipher her unwavering stare. A tense moment of silence passed as Maria and the soldier continued to stare rigidly at each other.
"Sir, I really must insist you allow us to pass. My daughter desperately needs to use the facilities," Maria implored, her gaze unfaltering. Gretl nodded as if on cue and shifted her weight onto one leg.
The soldier stared at the child for a moment before returning his gaze to Maria. "Go!" he replied bluntly, with a cock of his chin in the direction that Maria and Gretl had been walking.
They proceeded to move down the corridor and the soldier scrutinized them with intensity. Maria could feel his eyes boring into her back as she led Gretl toward the pair of doors.
"Günther!"
The sound of another Nazi soldier briefly distracted the interrogator's attention and he abruptly turned to ferret out the source of the cry. At that exact moment, Maria and Gretl stood on the brink of entering the door to the toilettes. Casually Maria glanced behind and beheld the Nazi's back, as he spoke with an out-of-view comrade. Without hesitation, she pulled Gretl past the toilettes and covertly disappeared through the door marked kesselraum.
Once inside, the duo paused for a split second and Maria looked heavenward. "Thank you," she whispered.
"Come, darling," she quietly beckoned to Gretl, still retaining her small hand as she led her child through the darkness, feeling for the rear exit of the room.
"Mother, I'm scared," Gretl softly quivered as they maneuvered through the stuffy room. Upon reaching the exit, Maria could feel trembling when she placed her hands on Gretl's shoulders. A heart-wrenching ache consumed her as she realized the blatant distress of her child.
"I know, Schätzchen. But I'm here with you," she sighed.
"Come Gretl," Maria spoke as she stooped down and extended her arms, "hold very tight to me."
Gently, she picked Gretl up and held her snugly in her arms. The child's trembling seemed to settle in the warmth of her mother's embrace. With caution, Maria opened the exit and glanced outside. She saw the family's car parked exactly where Georg had told her to look for it and relief flooded her mind. Maria peeked around the doorframe, surveying the parking lot.
"Hold tight, darling," she whispered into Gretl's ear.
The little girl gently nodded and nuzzled closer to her mother. Labored breathing filled the gap between them and both mother and daughter were shaking with fear.
Maria tightened her embrace around Gretl and sprinted across the parking lot to the car. As she neared the vehicle, Maria saw six heads peering out the windows into the night. She felt relief flood her being. Her plaguing, yet feared, question regarding the children's escape had been answered; they were safe and all together.
"We're almost there," Maria comforted Gretl, while strengthening her grip around her child.
Gretl snuggled closer to her mother.
As they neared the vehicle, Maria saw the passenger door open and hurriedly sought the safety of the refuge. Almost immediately, she felt movement under her arm and opened her eyes to see Marta maneuvering herself next to her sister on their mother's lap. She also felt hands on her arms from a few of the others sitting closest to her. Maria opened her eyes and smiled with relief as she embraced the second little girl on her lap and warmly greeted the others.
"I'm here now," Maria assured all of them in a whisper. Marta smiled and burrowed closer to her mother.
"Is everyone alright?" Maria asked, turning toward the rear of the car where the elder children sat. In the darkness she could perceive five heads nodding with assurance.
"Where's Father?" Brigitta inquired with a slight hesitation.
"He'll be here shortly," Maria replied. Silently, she closed her eyes and prayed for Georg's safe escape.
"Why isn't he with you?" Kurt posed.
"He thought it best to leave on his own so it would be less conspicuous," Maria said in a matter-of-fact tone to convince herself that this was in fact a logical choice, despite the worry she still had about it.
"Where are we going now?" Louisa asked in a low voice.
"All I could get your father to reveal was someplace neutral, but I don't know for sure. I suspect Switzerland," Maria told them.
She turned to glance in the backseat. "I don't know many details, darling," she replied apologetically to Louisa's blank stare.
Louisa knitted her brow and remained staring at Maria in thought. "Well how will we get wherever we're going?" she persisted with a puzzled look.
"She said she doesn't know," Friedrich lectured his sister.
Louisa cast a tight smile at him. Turning again towards Maria, she folded her hands in her lap and began to absently knead them. "Sorry, Mother. I was just wondering."
Maria smiled at the nervous girl. "That's quite all right. Let's just leave the details to your father and Uncle Max, all right? I have no doubt they have it all figured out. They will get us to safety," Maria attempted to assure everyone in the vehicle, herself included.
All of the children nodded in agreement.
"Will Uncle Max come with us?" Liesl hoped aloud.
"Not right now," Maria responded with woe, "But hopefully soon he will join us."
"I'll miss him," Brigtta said in a low voice.
"I think we all will," Maria sighed.
The family grew silent. Maria shifted in her seat to glance out the front windshield and Liesl noted her mother's discomfort as the two youngest Von Trapps sat on her lap.
"Marta, why don't you come and sit back here with us again?" Liesl suggested while reaching her hand forward and stroking Marta's cheek with her finger.
Maria cast Liesl a grateful look and left a kiss on Marta's cheek. "Go on," she urged the little girl.
Marta smiled at her mother and took Liesl's hand. Her nerves finally appeased, she returned to the backseat and reclaimed her place on Friedrich's lap.
A moment of tense silence passed as the eight Von Trapps eagerly watched out the car windows in anticipation of the Captain's arrival. The deafening silence outside was torture and the many cars and bushes surrounding the lot made it difficult to see far away.
"Here he comes!" Friedrich whispered after a few minutes, as he sighted his father's silhouette maneuvering through the darkness.
Captain Von Trapp had endured an uneventful escape from the Festival House. He had sneaked downstairs to the cellar and had been able to exit via an unmanned door in the rear of the building. Max's detailed description of the Festival House's structural layout had not failed him. He only prayed that his wife and children had as much ease in their escape routes as he.
The Captain hurled himself into the driver's seat of the car, turned the key that the children had placed in the ignition, and sped out of the parking lot.
"They're announcing the second place winner of the contest. There's not much time before they notice we're gone," he stated aloud, glancing in the rear view mirror with anxiety.
Silence filled the car. As he drove, Georg looked frequently into the rear view mirror, mindful of any suspicious activity.
"Maria, reach into the inner pocket of my jacket and grab our tickets," he said while motioning to his right side.
"They're in a leather portfolio," he continued.
Maria did as asked and opened the portfolio to read the documents. As she beheld the information on the train tickets, her eyes widened.
"America! Georg, I thought we were going to Switzerland?" she sputtered.
"Yes. Someplace neutral," the Captain bluntly answered without emotion. In the darkness, he sensed his baffled and slightly angry wife gazing at his profile.
Georg sighed and continued his explanation. "And Max thinks America will be less obvious than my original thoughts to go to Switzerland, as I had mentioned to you."
"I had hoped you'd at least include me in such an important detail about this family's future," Maria managed to whisper to her husband, annoyance and betrayal flooding her tone.
Georg sighed with impatience, yet also apology. He reached his right hand out and gently caressed Maria's forearm and then her reddened cheek. "We were so pressed for time today, Maria."
Nobody made a movement in the car, and Georg instinctively reached down and touched Maria's hand. "I hope you know I greatly value your opinion. But the children needed you today. Nobody can comfort and attend to them like you. Not me. Not Max. When our plans changed, my strategy to work with Max seemed right at the time. I'm sorry if I hurt you."
Maria sat in silence for another moment, her face softened and contemplative. Slowly she nodded and reached forward to squeeze Georg's hand in unspoken forgiveness.
He returned her gesture and directed his instructions to the whole family. "Now, when we arrive at the train station, Uncle Max's brother, Emil, will be waiting there for us. You remember when the Detweiler family visited us a few weeks ago, right?"
Everyone in the vehicle nodded instinctively.
"As you know, the Detweilers live in America and have been here for the festival," the Captain continued. Again, he glanced in the rear view mirror as he drove through the night. He ceased speaking and glanced at Maria out of the corner of his eye, noting the blank look on her face. Reassuringly, he reached over and rubbed her hand.
"Maria, Emil can be trusted. I've known him since we were boys. I trust him as I would Max. There's no blood relation between Emil and us; the officials won't be able to associate us with him."
Maria slowly nodded in understanding, although her nervousness was still apparent.
Directing his words to the whole family, the Captain resumed his plan. "Emil's wife, Marianne, and their children left for Innsbruck this morning to visit her family. Their paperwork, however, did not, since they did not leave the country."
Again, he glanced at Maria out of the corner of his eye. "Max learned this late in the afternoon and it's what caused us to change our original plans of going to Switzerland."
Maria nodded and continued to listen to the plan that the Captain was relaying to the whole family.
"Maria, you will be boarding a train departing Salzburg with Emil as his wife. Friedrich, Kurt, Louisa, and Brigitta, you are to pass for their children," he instructed.
"Georg! We can't even speak English properly! How is anyone going to believe that we live in America?" Maria stammered with exasperation.
"Emil will help you," he said in a matter-of-fact tone, "and let's remember that like Emil's family, you're immigrants living in America who speak German at home. The little English you all have studied will be believable."
Maria merely sighed, eager to hear the rest of her husband's plan and controlling her urge to further protest.
"That's five passports, Father," Liesl pointed out, "and there are nine of us."
"Yes. Liesl, you will use your mother's old Austrian passport, from before we were married. You'll go by the name Agathe Whitehead. She was not much older than you are in her photograph, and the resemblance between the two of you makes it quite believable. Gretl and Marta are to travel as your two daughters. Young children do not require passports of their own; they are allowed to pass with a parent."
"Don't passports have a birthdate on them, Father?" Brigitta questioned with a frown.
"Brigitta's right, Georg," Maria said, looking at her husband knowingly.
Georg nodded and patted Maria's hand as it rested on her lap. He glanced at Brigitta in the rear view mirror as he drove, although he spoke to the whole vehicle through a half smile. "Yes. Well, let's just say that Uncle Max is quite an artist."
Brigitta let out a giggle and smiled broadly, as did several of the older Von Trapp children.
"Oh," Maria responded without any further questions, urging her mind not to focus on the many illegal obstacles she had a feeling the family would encounter during their escape.
"You'll all travel with Emil to Innsbruck," Georg told his family. Turning to Maria, he continued to relay the rest of the details. "He plans to meet his family at the train station and they will join all of you for the rest of the journey. Emil's in-laws- the Krügers- are working on getting some extra passports that you'll need. Max said to not worry about it; they'll get them."
Maria nodded. "Max always comes through on his word," she agreed.
"We have the Krüger's address and telephone number, just in case. It's on that piece of paper behind the tickets in the portfolio." Georg glanced at Maria and saw that she was looking straight ahead, her hand absently placed to her mouth. Reaching towards her, he touched her hand gently. "Maria, I've known Emil and Marianne's families for years. We can trust them."
Maria met his gaze and nodded with belief.
"Now, does everyone understand?" Georg asked his entire family.
He could sense eight heads softly nodding in the darkness.
"What about you, Father?" Kurt pursued. "Where will you be?"
The Captain diverted the question for a moment. "The eight of you will be on a train from Salzburg to Genoa, Italy via Innsbruck. Your ship to America will leave from there. I'm arriving via Klagenfurt; it's all I could obtain at the last minute. I'll meet you in Genoa," he continued.
"How do I know you'll be safe?" Maria whispered. She turned to face her husband, eyes wide.
"I will be fine, Maria," the Captain replied while stealing a quick glance of her out of the corner of his eye as he drove.
"We'll be together again soon," he assured her with a squeeze of her hand. He continued to speak hesitantly. "Besides, I have some protection of my own."
"Protection?" Maria inquired with reservation.
"Uh huh," Georg muttered with a serious nod. He lifted his jacket to reveal a belt clip with an automatic pistol on one side and a small dagger on the other side.
"Georg! Where did those come from?" Maria gasped. She stared wide-eyed at him and with a sigh of disbelief, turned her attention to the rear of the vehicle to urge Kurt and Brigitta to sit back in their seats. The two children had leaned forward to glimpse the source of disruption.
The Captain glanced at Maria and stroked her cheek with reassurance. "Leftovers from the Navy. I've had them here all night. They are hardly noticeable under my jacket so nobody will even know I'm carrying them."
Georg repositioned his jacket and glanced at his wife again, noting her unease as she continued to stare in the direction of the now out-of-view weapons.
"Maria," he assured, "I do not plan on initiating use of these; only if I have no other choice. I pray that I will not have to use them at all."
Maria slowly nodded and her tension waned, believing what he told her.
"Now," the Captain instructed his family, "we will be arriving at the train station shortly. If questioned, all of you live in New York."
Eight heads nodded with understanding.
"And try to direct any further questions to Emil," he continued. "He's fluent in Eng--." The Captain trailed off as he spoke.
"Dear, God," he absently muttered while glancing in the rear view mirror. "We're being followed."