Hello everybody! I'm sorry for not being able to update sooner but this week-end I went back home for the first time in more than a month! Nonetheless, here is chapter 7. Enjoy!
Another big thanx to my prereaders ^_^
Usual disclaimers here: Neither TSOM nor all the books which appear here belong to me...
Vienna, April 15th 1919, morning"Get up! Get up Mani!"
"Mmmhh... Lemme sleep..."mumbled Georg and turned in his bed so he was facing the wall.
"No way! Get up! It is already ten o'clock! It is sunny outside! Let's have a walk!"shouted little Maria while she jumped on the mattress. "Get up!"
"Mmmmhhh..."
Noticing he was not willing to get up at all, Maria began thinking of another strategy... She went to the window and opened the curtains so the sun could fill the dark room.
"Maria! Stop it now!" exclaimed Georg trying to hide under his pillow.
"Come on, it's late! Get up!" screamed the overexcited girl once again. But it was no use. "Lemme alone, will you! Lemme sleep, kiddy..." he repeated while Maria tried to shake him awake. Sighing in defeat, Maria sat down on the bed, brooding a little. Georg peeked curiously over his shoulder to see what she was up to. She was sitting there, her back to him, arms crossed, mumbling something about he being such a "bone-idle guy"... He could not help smiling at the lovely sight and turned in his bed to stroke her hair gently. "Hey tomboy, what is all this unladylike brooding about?"he asked, clearly amused by the whole situation. Before he could do anything, the girl was on her feet again, making a face at him. "I got you! Now you're awake!" With that, she ran to the main room to get his breakfast ready. "And I'm not a tomboy, mister barbarian!"
Laughing whole-heartily, Georg sat up on his bed, wondering how much his life had changed for a few months thanks to his little angel. Even if in mornings like that one, she looked more like a little demon... "Come on, your coffee is ready!" she shouted from the main room. He groaned, grabbing some clothes to put on. "Hey, no need to be so hasty, Maria. We have all day long..."
After a quick breakfast and a non less quick shower, the unusual pair was walking in the streets of Vienna, overexcited Maria pulling Georg's sleeve. "Come on, we're late! Max must be waiting for us!" she kept on repeating. The young officer sighed smiling. "Maria, I already told you thousands of times that Max is NEVER on time. So if we go on walking like that, we will have to wait for him, y'know..."
Of course, Georg had been right, when they reached the park where they were due to meet, there was no trace of Herr Detweiler. He looked at Maria: "So, ship-girl, who was right? I just hope he won't be too late, though..." He took a sit and watched Maria playing in the park, trying to climb up a tree, running after some birds... He watched her like a father or big brother would. Their situation was quite ambiguous but he did not care. She liked him like a father, a brother and a friend at the same time, and that was everything that mattered. Of course, things were sometimes a bit difficult, due to his absolute lack of authority. Especially when he remembered her that, even if she could no go to school this current year, she had to go on working a bit. She had not liked it at all at first. However, after weeks of discussion he had been able to convince her at last, and everything was going fine now. He gave her lessons in the evening after coming back from work. His work for the dying Austrian army had been another big issue because she had to accept seeing him leave in the morning to help at the reorganization of the army. Fortunately, old man Muzenberg had been kind enough to let him free of work in the afternoon so he could look after Maria.
Georg stretched his arms lazily in the warm April sun, enjoying the peace of this sunny Sunday in Vienna. Of course the city had not recovered at all from the war and the suffering it had gone through. Economy was a wreck, there was not enough food for everybody, inflation was rampant, social tensions were at their maximum...However the return of spring seemed to have given a new hope to the new republic of Austria which now was the image of everybody's aspirations. Above all, thanks to his work in the army, he had been able to see that each member of his crew had come back to his homeland safely. Besides, Ivan, Sveltlana and little Igor seemed to live happily in Budapest even if the new Republic lead by Bela Kun was constantly at war. Isaac went to a therapy and his mental state got better and better. Finally, Ingrid who had lost her husband in 1916 had brought Stefan to Innsbruck with her. "Everything is as fine as it can be under the circumstances," he thought stretching once again.
In the meantime, Maria was quietly playing in the grass, picking some buttercups she wanted to bring back to the apartement. She was so dedicated to her task she did not see Max approaching silently. When he took her up from the ground, she screamed happily out of surprise, laughing heartily.
"Hello, Miss Patocka, how are you doing today?" he asked with mock deference as he was holding her in his arms.
"You're late, Mani was right..." she stated seriously before giving him a big kiss on the cheek.
"Many apologize then, princess. I hope some sweets from Reinhart's will help me to beg your pardon?"
"Really?"
"Really", he answered with a gentle smile, putting her back on the ground. He took her by the hand and they walked together towards the bench where their friend was sitting.
Georg was watching the two strolling slowly into his direction, a smile forming on his face. Really, Max was a genius when it came to deal with children. He always seemed to find the right words to say, the right thing to do. He already witnessed ability back in Serbia with the farmer's two little girls and now he was just doing the same with Maria... Maybe it was a way of forgetting what he had left there when they got away... In fact, everybody in Europe wanted to escape from this four-year-long nightmare, needed to forget something, and cheerful Max was not an exception even if he wanted to hide it. He waved at the pair happily.
"Hello, Herr Chopin... I think that Maria already said it, but you're beating your record today, you're almost an hour late, y'know!"
"Well, I didn't think I was that late," the older man answered in confusion, scratching his head. "Yesterday, I came across an old friend from the Academy of music and we talked a little..."
"Great, how is he doing, if I may ask?"
"Well, he's doing quite well, I must say... He had been accepted in the philharmonic orchestra," Max answered back rather coldly, a sad expression darkening his face suddenly.
Georg didn't know what to say, he was so confused. "One day, I will have to learn to shut up my big mouth," he thought angrily. He got up and laid a hand on his friend's shoulder reassuringly. "I'm sorry, Max," he murmured, his tone full of sympathy. The older man managed to smile weakly. "Oh, that's right... It's stupid but I can't help it. Everybody hadn't been as lucky as I had, I don't have the right to complain, still..." He didn't finished his sentence but gazed at his left hand sadly. He was about to speak again when he felt Maria grabbing his hand and gently kissing it. "Why are you so sad, Max?" she asked worryingly. At last, he found the strength to smile again. "It's nothing Maria, it's really nothing." Then, more cheerfuly: "You must be hungry Princess. How about having lunch now?" With that, he lead the path towards the gate of the park, regret and frustation still lingering in his heart. "It wouldn't be so difficult if only..." He shook his head bitterly, trying to put that other difficult issue aside...
Maria and Georg were strolling slowly behind Maw. Suddenly, the young officer put his hand on the girl's head and whispered gently: "Good job, ship-girl..." The little one looked up, surprised, and then smiled proudly.
Vienna, April 15th, evening
"Maria, I hope you didn't drown yourself," called Georg, waiting patiently for the little girl to go out the bathroom. No answer. "Maria, you already spent half-an-hour there. You don't need so much time! Come out at once and let's eat." Silence. "Maria?" he called again, a bit worried. Nothing. He got up quickly, this time worried. "What the heck is she doing?" he mumbled, coming in the bathroom. "Maria?"he was about to ask again leaning upon the bathtub when the girl jumped suddenly out of the water, splashing him in the process. "Yipee! I've done it! Fifty seconds!"she yelled happily. "What?" a now partially wet Georg asked in disbelief. "Fifty seconds of what?"
Maria laid in a bathtub, a satisfied smile forming on her lips. "I was training to hold my breath. I just succeeded in doing it for fifty seconds," she answered proudly. Georg scratched his head, not knowing what to do or say once again. "Maria," was all he managed to say, trying to look serious. However, knowing that his efforts to look a bit severe at least will be in vain, he merely went on:
"Well, tomboy, I am afraid you must stop your training for tonight. Get out of this bathtub and dress so we can comb your hair out and have dinner. Then we'll go to bed since I must get up early tomorrow, alright?" The girl gazed up at him a bit crossed. "I'm not a tomboy..."
He sighed. "OK, you're not a tomboy at all, Princess. Now get out of that bathtub, please, I am waiting for you outside." With that, he stood up, shaking his head. "One day that girl will drive me crazy..."
A few minutes later, Maria came out the bathroom fully dressed and ran to Georg and climbed on his lap, cuddling against his chest. "I'm sorry," she apologized in a whisper. The young man, stroking her wet hair in a paternal gesture, smiled kindly: "It's nothing, young girl, nothing at all. Now, just try not to hold your breath for too long, right?" Maria threw her arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek: "I promise, Mani." Both stood still a little while, enjoying the warm embrace. However, noticing that time was flying, Georg broke the spell unwilingly. "OK, ship-girl. Now, sit on that chair so that I can comb your hair. No buts. I promise I'll try not to hurt you that time, that's a deal? Just raise your hand when I am pulling too hard." The girl nodded, not quite convinced. "And remember, no need to scream the whole house awake. Just raise your hand." With that, he reached for a comb and began his difficult task as smoothly as he could.
Unusually, the whole combing affair had been finished without too much yelling and tears. Georg had really improved in that sort of tasks weeks after weeks. "If my crew saw me right now..." he thought while waiting for Maria getting ready to go to bed. They had a light dinner because Max had paid for tremendous earlier and Maria had enjoyed Reinhart's cookies very much... Finally, the girl got out the bathroom in her nightgown and laid in her bed. "Everything's done? You brushed your teeth..."
"Yes, yes, yes!" she cut him, a bit annoyed.
"Well, so what story d'you want to hear tonight?"
"The one when Christopher Columbus discovered the Orenoque river, please!"
"Again? But I already read it hundreds of times! Don't you wanna hear something else?"he exclaimed.
"I know but it is my favourite one," she stated with a definitive tone.
"I see, I see. But it's beginning to annoy me a little, you know. Well, I have plenty of great stories here. What do you say about Marco Polo's description of Cipango?" he offered tentatively.
"I prefer the Orenoque river."
"Alexander von Humboldt in Columbia?"
"Christopher Columbus!"
"Bernal Diaz del Castillo, you know, when they saw Tenochtitlan for the first time?"
"Christopher Columbus!"
Here they were again, discussing endlessly about the choice of the nightime story. The first night, as he didn't own any fairytale books or anything suited for children, he had read her some extracts of Christopher Columbus' travel story and especially the moment when he discovered the Ornoque river in the land called now Venezuela. She felt in love with it at once and had wanted to hear it every night since that day. He had to admit it was a very beautiful extract in which the Italian sailor compared the newly discovered land to Paradise. Still, even if this travel story, among many others, had made him want to sail around the world, now, he was getting sick of reading it several times a week. So he tried to direct Maria's interest to something else, in vain most of the time. Well, he owned a huge amount of travel story, but tonight, he could not think of one which could awake Maria's stubborn interest. Then, he thought suddenly about that book. Why wouldn't he try Guzman's Recordación Florida? It was such a beautiful and sensitive description of the author's land, Guatemala. He had translated some extracts into German, wishing he had Guzman's literary talents to praise his own land...
"Hey, Maria, look. Okay, stop brooding at once and listen to me. I have a wonderful book which is quite similar to Columbus' one. You don't know it yet and I'm sure you will like it a lot."
"True?"
"True."
"Okay," was her simple answer.
Georg stood up and got the book. Then he started to read softly. Soon, lulled by Guzman's beautiful words, Maria fell asleep, dreaming of the wonderful trees and flowers in the faraway land of Guatemala.