The next day their father woke the children up, instead of Frau Schmidt. "Stand up, make your bed and get dressed." he said while switching the light on. After that he went on, to the next room to wake the others. Liesl did as she was told to, and also helped Marta and Gretl.

When all of them were ready, they walked downstairs together, since no one dared to enter the dining room alone. "Good Morning father." they said in unison. "Good Morning children." he said, not bothering to look up from his newspaper.

After a silent breakfast the oldest children had to go to school, while the youngest two stayed at home. Frau Schmidt had found someone, who could watch Marta and Gretl while she could fulfil her duties.

Marta, who was only three, and didn't fully understand where her mother had gone, had been crying the whole morning, while she was clinging to a picture of her mother. The woman who watched her, wasn't able to calm the little girl down, and asked the Captain for help.

Her father took Marta into his arms, and brought her into his study. She stopped crying, and snuggled into his arms. He put her down on the sofa, slowly took the picture out of her hands, while making sure she wouldn't start crying again, and laid it down on his desk.

"Where is mama? I wanna see her!" she said while slowly starting to cry again. Her father rolled his eyes, and tried to remain calm, but he couldn't help but feel a wave of anger inside of him.

"She is not here anymore." he said with a deep, slightly annoyed voice. Marta got taken aback a little by his response and stopped crying, although the tears kept rolling down her cheeks.

"There is no need to cry, that's how life works. People come, and go..." he said to her, but perhaps he was the one who needed to hear that the most. Marta wiped her tears, and straightened her back a little.

He brought her back to the nursery and returned to his study. He looked at the picture that laid on his desk, and sighed. After hearing Marta starting to cry again, he decided things had to change, for the better of the whole family.

When the older children came back home, Marta and Gretl were delighted to see them. Friedrich lifted Marta and swung her around, until he noticed something. "Liesl, come and see this". Liesl hastily ran over to Friedrich. "You see these tear stains as well, don't you?" he said while pointing at Marta's cheeks and dress.

"Yes, I do." Liesl said thoughtfully. She turned to Marta and asked softly: "What did you do today?". Marta told her that she had played with the dollhouse and that her father had held her. Liesl and Friedrich looked at each other.

"Sounds like you had a fun day! How did you feel today?" she asked. "I missed mama." Marta said, while starting to cry on Friedrich's shoulder. "Did you remember what I told you? You can talk with mother, but mother can't talk back. Should I bring your picture, so we can talk to her?"

"Yes." she said in between her sobs. "Do you know where you left it?" Liesl asked while stroking Marta her hair. "Father has it." she said. Friedrich looked at Liesl and slightly shook his head.

"I will see what I can do." Liesl said. She turned around, and went to her father's study. On the way she met her father. "Father, Marta told me you have her picture of mother. I was wondering, if… well…you know… she could have it back?" she asked, rather afraid of his reaction.

"I do not think it's a good idea to give the picture back to her. We need to move forward, and such pictures will not help". "But father…" Liesl tried to argue, but her father was not having it. "It is not open for debate, I made my decision. Be wise and go to your room, before there will be consequences." he said sternly.

Liesl went to her room, hoping to find another picture for Marta. But much to her dismay, she found her room in a messy condition, without any pictures. There were also a few items missing, the items her mother gave her.

She ran to the other bedrooms, but found the same thing. Despondent, she slowly sank down to the ground and started crying.

Friedrich came in, and by the sight of his sister, he knew what had happened.