I'm back! Here's chapter 9. It's a bit violent but it is more suggested thant described.

Enjoy!

Usual disclaimers here.

Vienna, June 22th 1919, afternoon

"Damn uniform," mumbled Georg as he was walking down the streets of Vienna hurriedly. Since he joined the Navy, he had always wondered why they made soldiers wear such a warm drape in summer as well in winter. If it was the perfect outfit when you sail across the Horn, it was absolutly not accurate on such a warm day. He was due to meet Maria at his apartment at 13 p.m. and have lunch with her before taking her to the fair. However, he had spent his whole morning signing papers, reassuring worried retired sailors about their pension, keeping on saying they would not suffer from the inflation at all... Of course, it was absolutely wrong since the government was not able to adapt the amount of pensions or salaries to the rampant inflation which was rampaging the Austrian economy as well as in the rest of Europe. This constant lie was making him sick but he had to stick to it. Old man Muzenberg had told it to him since the beginning: "Listen, Georg, the situation is hard enough like that. It's no use scaring those poor guys uselessly." Even if the Admiral was right, he just could not keep up with it. The Imperial Navy was a total wreck, just like the whole country, it would not be a really good idea to scare retired sailors to death with bad news concerning their pension. Not a good idea at all. There were enough lost men who believed that extreme measures and actions would improve their tragic situation. Yes, there were largely enough guys who thought like that.

The regular riots that took place in Austrian cities such as Vienna, of course, Linz or even Salzburg were a symptom clear enough. Even worse, as in Germany, Poland or Russia, some freaks tried to make the Jews responsible for the defeat, the rampaged economy and society, showing to the whole world their proud "Austrian nationalism". When he thought of his dear friend Isaac Studler or some guys of his crew like Moshe, Benjamin or Daniel who fought so bravely during the war just like any other Austrian, those events were like a vicious stab to his stomach. "The whole country seems to get crazy," he thought while walking past the corner of his street. He saw that Maria was standing in front of the gate of the building, patiently waiting for him.

Waving at her, he ran past a quite old man without paying attention to him when a car rushed along the street. Suddenly, one of the occupants firied at the same old man who, a few seconds earlier, was reading his newspapers peacefully.

Maria was getting bored. She had waited for Mani for more than half-an-hour and he had not arrived yet. At first, observing people that were walking through the street had distrated her bit. Some were walking hastily to attend to some duty. Some were strolling slowly, enjoying this quiet day. Others stood on the pavement, discussing about the latest news. At last, among those strangers, she saw Mani who was waving at her happily. She was about to run to him when a car rushed along the street. All of a sudden, her friend fell to the ground as well as the old man next to him. She was petrified. Even if people around her were running everywhere, she could not move. Why had he fallen to the ground? Why didn't he stand up? What was happening? Utter panic was overhelming her. She wanted to scream. She wanted to run to him. But she could not do anything but staring at his still body laying on the ground.

Georg only had time to throw himself on the ground, flashes of war instantly invading his mind. People were running anywhere, yelling, crying. The once quiet street was a total chaos now.

"What happened?"

"It's that car!"

"They fired at the old guy!"

"Who are they?"

"It's all the communists' fault!"

"No! I'm sure it's the irregular forces once again!"

"Say it again, you bloody Bolchevik!"

The two men were now fighting without really thinking about the tragic event that had just occurred. Women tried to get their scared children in order to run away from that horrible scene. Georg stood up, witnessing the chaos that suddenly had filled the street. He was feeling utterly powerless. Then, he became aware that Maria still stood at the gate, motionless, her eyes filled with silent panic. He ran to her without really hearing someone saying that the old man was dead and urgently took her in his arms. "Don't look, Maria! Don't look!" he kept on saying, bringing her up in their apartment.

Maria had been sitting on his lap for a while now, not uttering a single word. Georg gently smoothed her hair, trying to comfort her. He was at a loss. He did not know what to say or do at all. He had not seen her like that since their first encounter in the cold night of Vienna. No, she seemed to feel worse. She did not cry. She did not say anything. She was only trembling endlessly, cuddling against his chest. He tried the break the horrible silence:

"Maria, it's over now. You're safe..."

Silence.

"Please, say something..."

Silence.

"Maria..."

Silence. The girl turned a little on his lap so she was able to throw her arms around his neck, strongly clutching to him.

"Baby... Sshh, it's over now."

Sobs.

"I know... You had been so scared... But you're safe now..."

"NO! YOU KNOW NOTHING AT ALL! YOU WERE ON THE GROUND! I THOUGHT I HAD LOST YOU, TOO!" she yelled in Czech, her eyes full of tears.

Georg sighed. If he was relieved to hear her voice again, the way she expressed her affection for him shook him deeply. Until that tragic event, he had not realized how much the link between them had became strong. They could not go on like this forever... Holding her more tightly, he began to softly sing a lullaby, plans of adoption slowly taking shape in his mind... "Edelweiss... Edelweiss..."