As Maria lay sleeping she could feel someone softly calling her name. She opens her eyes to see Gretl smiling sweetly at her.

" Gretl what are you doing up this early?, Maria asks as she tries to wake up. Gretl climbs in the bed next to her and wraps her arms around Maria.

" I wanted to tell you about my dream. It was my birthday and everyone was there. There was a big cake and all kinds of presents. We played all sorts of games. All my friends from school came. Everyone was having a grand time except for the Baroness. She got one of her headaches and left the party early.It was so wonderful that I didn't want to wake up.

Maria sits up and puts Gretl on her lap." That sounds like a wonderful dream. I'm sure your birthday party next Saturday will be just like your dream except lets hope the Baroness will not get a headache. Now I should get up and get dressed. I have a busy day. And you need to go and get ready for school.

Gretl gives Maria one last hug and kiss and jumps off the bed and heads for her room.

Maria gets dressed and heads off for the childrens rooms to supervise them . As usual the boys are still in bed.

"Kurt, Friedrich get up please or you will be late for school. Louisa please stop teasing your sister and go down to breakfast. Marta come here I will brush your hair. Brigitta I know you want to finish your book but we all need to go down to breakfast. You know how your father loves to tease me about all of you being late. Just one morning I would like to be early". Maria finishes getting Marta and Gretl ready and they all head down to breakfast.

The children bound down the stairs with Maria right behind them. As they enter the dining room the Captain turns and shakes his head and laughs,"I see you are late as usual Fraulein".

"Father it wasn't her fault we were late getting up" Freidrich says. The Captain looks at his son and then looks over at Maria. He smiles at her and she shyly smiles back. As they look at each other Maria gets a strange sensation in her stomach. She has felt it before. It was the other night when the Captain sang Edelweiss. As he ended the song their eyes met and she felt it for the first time.

The blast of a car horn broke the connection. "Hurry children Franz is waiting. Make sure you have your books and lunches" Maria says as the children rush to get their coats and books. Maria helps get them out the door and waves to them as they leave.

She closes the door and goes back to the dining room. The Captain is reading his paper as she sits back down. "Excuse me Captain when are we going to leave to get Gretls present? Maria asks as she takes a sip of her tea.

The Captain checks his watch and says"We will leave in a half an hour. And Fraulein you should be able to be on time since the children are gone." Maria glares at him at first and starts to laugh as he flashes her a smile.

A short time later they are heading for Mondsee. As they drive the Captain is very quiet. " Thank you Fraulein for helping me pick out Gretls present. She has wanted a pony for as long as I can remember. And when you told me you lived on a farm I knew you were the perfect person to help pick a pony that will be gentle for her", the Captain says as he looks at her.

Maria smiles and says" I love Gretl and I know how much she wants a pony. She told me what color she wants and what she will name it. I can't wait until she sees it next week." As they stare at each other the Captain breaks the connection.

" I think this is the right road" he says as he turns onto a small side road. They drive for approxamately thirty minutes until they reach a small farm. The Captain pulls into the driveway and gets out. He walks to the other side to open the door for Maria. They walk towards the house and both stop as the farmer shouts for them to come to the barn. They walk over and go into the barn. The farmer introduces himself and shows Maria and the Captain the ponies. The Captain watches as Maria strokes and talks to each one. The Captain watches her amazed at how the ponies remain calm as she gently talks to each one.

Maria walks over to the Captain and the farmer and tells them she has made her choice. She walks over to a chestnut brown pony and brings him to the Captain.

" Here you are Captain. This is the perfect pony for Gretl. He is gentle and quiet. He is very affectionate and is the color that Gretl wants" Maria says as she strokes the ponys mane. The Captain nods and makes the arrangement to have the pony delivered next Saturday. They both thank the farmer and head back to Salzburg.

As they start to drive snow starts to fall. About halfway to Salzburg the snow is so heavy it is hard to see. "My goodness Captain its snowing so hard why don't we pull over and wait for it to stop" Maria says as she looks out the car window.

Just as the Captain starts to say something a deer jumps in front of him and he swerves to try to avoid hitting it. Maria screams as they head for a large tree. The Captain tries to miss it but the side of the car hits it. Maria is thrown against the door and hits her head. The last thing she hears is the Captain calling her name.