Maria looked at the doctor's grave countenance and felt her heartbeat in her throat. "Wlad…was that about…?" She couldn't finish the query.
"Yes, Maria. Captain von Trapp's submarine was attacked in the Atlantic Ocean. He was injured along with a number of his men. His EX-O and a young sailor named Schreiner got the vessel to a friendly port in Finland yesterday. I've arrange for the Captain to be brought here to Salzburg by helicopter to be treated by my team," Dr. Skinner told her.
Dr. Skinner kept his voice steady as he revealed this situation to Maria. He didn't want to upset the young woman.
"How bad is it?" she asked after a few moments.
"I won't be able to fully tell until they get him here and I have a chance to do a complete exam. While it won't be easy, I don't see that it would be impossible for everything to work out," Dr. Skinner replied. "My team is very successful."
Maria sat in silence for another minute. "When will it be? I'll have to prepare the children."
"Tomorrow morning, noon at the latest," Dr. Skinner said gravely. "Maria believe me, if it is in my power…"
Maria held up a shaky hand, "I know. I know you've been through this and I trust you will do your best to keep me from…to keep our family from that pain. These children all ready lost one parent. And Lucas…"
Dr. Skinner's face darkened. "Don't think that way, Maria," he warned. "Positive thinking is a staple in this household. Sometimes I get sick of it. But if there ever was a time to positive, it's now. Please Maria."
Maria wiped a stray tear from her eye and rose from the chair she had nearly collapsed into. "You're right. Plus, if I let the children see how upset I am it will be harder on them. We don't know much, so we cannot assume anything."
"I'll do everything I can, Maria. Please know that." Dr. Skinner implored her.
Marie quickly covered his large healing hands with hers in a gesture of trust and friendship. "I do, Wladyslaw. I certainly do."
Dr. Skinner watched as Maria left the study. She kept her head up, her shoulders squared and her back straight. She was the perfect Navy wife; calm, collected, and prepared for anything. He prayed that her faith in him would not be unfounded and that he would be able to save her beloved husband; if not for any other reason than to spare her that kind of pain.
Maria decided to wait until after supper to share the news with the children and Max. Even then she only wanted to share it with the older five. Marta and Gretl were simply too young for that kind of news. Maria would handle their questions when she could answer them better. And that would be after Georg was delivered safely home to Dr. Skinner's care.
Maria had spoken with Frau Schreiner, Frau Schmidt, and Franz earlier and they took the two youngest children and the baby upstairs. That gave Maria time to talk to her older children.
The older children sensed that something was amiss. They could read it in their mother's demeanor and Liesl and Friederich who ate on either side of Maria saw how little she ate. Maria always had a healthy appetite except when she was pregnant. They both knew that was not the case of course. That would not be cause for the sadness in their mother's eyes.
The five eldest von Trapps and Max gathered in the salon after their dessert, all were ill at ease, but no one more so than Maria. She saw Liesl and Brigitta watching her, both of them wondering what was going on. She saw Friederich nervously wringing his hand as if he knew all ready what was going on. The only ones who weren't in tune to something were Louisa and Kurt. Kurt was too busy pulling Lousia's hair and she was too busy trying to hit him for doing it.
"Children," Maria began. "Kurt, Louisa settle down. I have something very important to tell you about your father."
Max watched his friend's face. It was pale and her blue eyes were shining with unshed tears. Yet her cheeks were dry, her posture was ramrod straight. Georg would be so proud of her.
"Is he getting another leave?" Liesl asked, her question a prayer.
"Is he getting transferred?" Brigitta guessed.
Maria shook her head. "Well, in a way Liesl, you're right. Your father will be coming home again; soon, tomorrow in fact. But…" Maria trailed off and took a deep breath. "He's been injured in battle. We don't know yet how badly. I just thought you should be prepared."
Liesl got up from her seat on the settee and hugged her mother. She motioned with her eyes for the others to do that same thing. Soon everyone in the salon was hugging, one large show of family solidarity and support.
"Mother," Friederich began, "Do you know how it happened?"
"No," Maria shook her head. "All I know is that Dr. Skinner arranged it so your Father can be treated here by his staff."
"We should thank him," Louisa said.
"I have all ready," Maria replied. "Now, we're all going to need to be very strong for each other in the next few days. It's going to be hard, seeing your father injured. You know he'd want us to stick together so that's what we are going to do."
Georg liked his family strong and unified. It was only thing that he'd impressed on Maria in his letters and before him even left for the war. They were like his domestic submarine crew. Each had their role to fill. They could survive on their own, that is without support structures of the outside world, but they needed each other, if one part failed, the whole ship stalled. That could not happen in this house.
Max who had been silent up until now, saw that Maria needed sometime to be by herself. She was being strong for the children, but she needed time to process and plan things out in her mind. He took over then, as his friend would have wanted him to do.
"Children, let's go on outside now and have a walk. You can show me some of new animals in the stables," Max suggested.
Liesl wasn't stupid. She knew Max was trying to clear them out to give Maria space, so with a final squeeze of her mother's shoulder; she helped him lead her siblings out of the house.
Friederich caught up with Max, whispered something in his ear and returned to Maria.
"What is it, Friederich? I noticed you seemed angry when…"Maria began.
"I warned Father something like this could happen. I heard someone here plotting this, scheming…" The teen sniffed. "We have to be careful now and not let…we have to be careful who we trust."
Friederich's words scared Maria. When Georg first left, the boy was radically pro-Nazi. He was nearly out of control. Now, he seemed just the opposite of that. It seemed as if his family was his priority, just as his father always wanted it to be. It didn't matter to Georg what Friederich's politics were, as long as his blood remained true to the fold.
"Who was it?" Maria asked. She had to know. "Was it Dr. Skinner? One of his men? Tell me."
"No." The boy shook his head. "It was Frau Schreiner. I heard her on the phone with some Admiral. She overheard Father say something about why he was really fighting this war. I told him there was…that it could be dangerous, but…"
"Friederich, calm down," Maria said. "We have to do our best to act as normal as possible."
Maria kept her head for the boy, but inside she felt sick, physically sick. The thought that Helga, someone she had befriended, someone she had invited into her home had betrayed them like this saddened her and terrified her. It terrified her that Marta, Gretl, and Lucas were with her now. But even moreso, it terrifed her that in less than one day, Georg would be in the same house as she was.
"Friderich, when Uncle Max gets back, I want you to tell him and Liesl what you told me. Your father is not to be left alone with Frau Shreiner not even for a second. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Ma'am." The boy replied.
"Good, you're father is not to be out of our sight. Not until we get to the bottom of this," Maria affirmed.
"How are we going to do that?" Friederich asked.
Maria sighed. "I'm not sure yet, but I'm going to figure it out. That's what your Father would do. We can't disappoint him can we?"
"No, Mother." Friederich studied his shoes. "I've done that enough all ready."
Maria leaned over and hugged the boy. "You made some errors in judgement. But you are young and now you know what those errors were. Your father has forgiven you for that, and so have I."
Maria hugged her oldest son then sent him on his way. She had some praying to do and some thinking. She didn't know who to trust. She wasn't even sure if she could fully trust Wladyslaw or even Max. She'd have to go it alone on this, until she was sure.
"Not totally alone," she reminded herself. "The Lord will provide."
Dr. Skinner had overheard Maria' fears and her conversation with her son. He knew what he had to do, even at the risk of exposing himself and his mission. This family was more important than Hoover's noble cause. He'd have to figure out a way to help them, to lead the Gestapo off the von Trapp's track. The Captain's life was at risk, his family was at risk. If he had the power to stop that, he would.
Captain von Trapp had no misguided loyalties. He was not spying or doing anything that he shouldn't be doing. He only wanted to do right by his family. They were his prime motivation, but that wasn't good enough for these people. The only acceptable motivator to them was believe the leader, Hitler, was right. Heaven forbid someone have their own mind, and Georg von Trapp had that.
The von Trapp's would need help. The Captain would need medical care and then all of them would have to get out of Austria. They made one failed attempt, it wouldn't stop there. These monsters would get to him however they could, through whomever they could, meaning Maria or the oldest girl, Liesl. He couldn't let that happen, and if it meant his life, he would stop it from happening. On his wife's grave, he would.
