Disclaimer: Yes, well, an hour ago as I wrote chapter two I didn't own The Sound of Music, and I still don't..

Author's Note: Well, here it is. Chapter Three…I just finished posting chapter two…and had to go on…so here it is!

I Trust In My Heart-
-Chapter Three: Of Frogs and Nights

"Father! Father! Look at me, Father!" little Gretl yelled, before doing a cartwheel and unsuccessfully landing on her bottom. "OW!" she said, standing and rubbing the spot she had landed on.

The Captain laughed. Getting up from the blanket and walking over to his youngest child. "Are you alright, darling?"

Gretl beamed up at him. "Yes, Father!"

The sound of Maria uncontrollably laughing turned Georg's attention from his daughter to her.

"You almost had it Gretl!"

Gretl smiled, "I'm going to try again, Father." she then turned as serious as only a five year old could get. "But you mustn't watch, cause I want to show you when I can do a cartwheel perfect." With that she ran farther from her father, just out of his sight by Marta who was skipping rope.

Smiling, the Captain went back to the blanket where food and scattered plates were laid everywhere. He sat down and watched everyone around him. Marta and Gretl in the distance. Marta had dropped her skipping rope and was attempting to do cartwheels with Gretl. Fredrick and Kurt were throwing a ball by a small creek. Liesl and Louisa were playing cards under a shady tree. Finally, Maria and Brigitta were walking towards the spot where he sat.

"Tired of picking flowers?" he asked once they got near enough to them.

"Yes, so I figured I would read." Brigitta said, before picking up her book that she had brought and went to sit under the tree by Liesl and Louisa.

"And you, Fraulein? What are you going to do now?"

"Well, I was thirsty."

"Then allow me to get you a drink." the Captain said, before reaching over to the basket and handing her a drink.

"Thank you, sir." she said, smiling and downing half of the drink.

"You were thirsty, weren't you?' he asked, chuckling.

Maria blushed, but smiled as she sat down, near the Captain.

"I must thank you for letting me come along on your little excursion today."

"Your very welcome Captain. You're always welcome to come on our outings whenever you wish."

"I'll keep that in mind."

A comfortable silence fell over the two.

"It really is beautiful up here, Fraulein. Do tell me how you came across it."

Maria smiled, and looked up from the wreath of flowers she had just begun to make. "I used to come here when I was younger, I lived with my uncle." at the mention of her uncle Maria's eyes lost the light that usually filled them and were now filled with something dark. "We lived just over that hill." she pointed straight back at a small hill about a mile away. "When it got unbearable and I needed to escape I would come here." she looked around. "Sometimes I would even go all the way down, there's a grove of trees. If you climb one of them you can see into abbey gardens. That's how I found the abbey." Without waiting for a reply from the Captain, Maria returned to lacing the flowers together.

The Captain didn't know what to say. Ever since the night he and Fraulein Maria had talked outside on the terrace they talked often, usually every night. But never before had she opened up like she just had. When ever she had come close to talking about her past her eyes would grow cold and she would change the subject. He wished he knew what, he desperately wanted to know, to help her get rid of the hate she had for some reason. To help he let it all go away.

He would have to ask her later.

CROAK, CROAK, CCCRROOAAAKK!

Maria's head snapped up. "Did you hear that?"

"What? The frog?"

"Yes. Let's find it."

"What!" the Captain couldn't believe she was asking him to help look for a frog, it was like she was asking him to be ten again. "May I ask why?"

A mischievous grin passed over her face. "You'll see." without another word she stood and began crawling on all fours, looking for the frog.

The Captain started at her. 'what the hell' he thought, before getting on all fours and helping her look, he hadn't been ten in a while.

'Children! Children!" Maria called, as she picked up her guitar. 'Why don't we sing something?" she was met with a chorus of yes's as all the children stopped what they were doing and gathered around their Fraulein.

Maria stood as everyone gathered around. She watched as the Captain secretly moved to stand behind Fredrick, stealthily placing something in the boy's pocket without drawing attention to himself. Maria had to suppress a grin and laugh. Her eyes met the Captain's and he winked at her. She blushed.

"Who should we hear from?"

"Why don't you and Father sing something, Fraulein." Liesl said, smiling.

Maria raised an eyebrow at the girl, before turning to the Captain, who's hand now rested on Fredrick's shoulder. "What do you say, Captain."

"I will if you will Fraulein."

"YEAH!" Gretl exclaimed.

"Alright, what should we sing?"

They quickly agreed on an old Austrian Folk song. The Captain sat on a small rock, strumming the guitar with Maria sitting at his side. Their voices matched beautifully, it was almost as if they were meant to sing together.

Half way through the song, though, a loud yell emitted from Fredrick. Maria and the Captain stopped playing, and everyone turned to look at the boy, who had jumped up and was pulling something out of his pocket.

Throwing it on the ground, everyone watched as a small frog hopped away. The children sat with dumbfounded expressions on their faces, all wondering how a frog found it's way into Fredrick's pocket.

"You know," Maria said to the Captain, but loud enough for everyone to hear, grabbing their attentions. "he's rather lucky."

"Oh?" the Captain asked, "How so?"

"Well, with Fraulein Helga it was a snake!" she said before she and the Captain began to laugh.

Soon their laughter was joined by the children's who finally realized that it was their Fraulein and Father who had placed the frog in Fredrick's pocket.

Fredrick crossed his arms across his chest not liking the fact that he had just had a trick played on him in front of everyone, and mocked "With Fraulein Helga it was a snake." making everyone laugh harder.

Liesl watched as Maria and the Captain tucked everyone in bed that same night, after Gretl's request that they do so. She couldn't help but notice that the two almost looked like a couple. Almost.

"Anyone care to join me for a walk in the gardens?" The Captain asked after he and Maria had put the children to bed. He, Maria, Max, and the Baroness were all sitting in the parlor.

" Actually, darling, I'm very tired from all the preparations and shopping I made for the party today. So I think I'll be off to bed." The Baroness said before giving Georg a kiss on the cheek and rising. "Good night everyone."

"Good night, Elsa." Max and Georg said as Maria said, "Good night Baroness."

"I to am rather tired, all this searching for an entry for the festival is deadly exhausting." Max said rising. Maria gave a small laugh. "I shall see you in the morning." he nodded to Georg who nodded back. "Good night Fraulein."

"Good night Herr Detweiller." with that, he was gone.

"What about you, Fraulein. My offer still stands."

Maria thought about it. Should she? Walking alone, at night, with her employer. IT didn't seem proper, not proper at all. But when ever he asked her to join him for a talk she could never deny him it. She was drawn to him, and she didn't know why. Oh, why not. It was just a simple walk.

"I think I will Captain."

Maria laughed at something the Captain had said. Over the past few weeks she and the Captain had become very good friends and she loved talking to him. As much as she loved spending time with the children she secretly admitted to herself that her favorite part of the day was the time when she and the Captain could just talk. It was so easy to talk to him, and she felt like she could trust him with anything she told him.

"So are you looking forward to the party, Captain?"

"Hm. Oh, I suppose. I was never one for parties though. Are you?"

"Oh yes. Like Gretl this will be my first party."

"Really!" the Captain couldn't believe it.

"Yes. When I was little I used to imagine myself at parties, waltzing around my room." She laughed. "Though I never had anyone to dance with." she laughed again.

"Well, then perhaps we can change that."

"Oh? And who would I dance with?"

"Well, me of course" he said, rather dramatically. Maria's stomach did a back flip and she smiled, unwillingly. Her smile, causing the Captain to grin.

"I don't think you'd want to dance with me Captain. Dancing by yourself never makes one very good."

"No worries Fraulein, I have full faith in you." he winked, and she blushed.

They walked in a comfortable silence for a little bit.

"Fraulein?" the Captain's voice was quieter.

"Yes, Captain?"

He stopped walking, and turned to face her. "I was wondering." he stopped.

"Yes?"

"Earlier today. When you were talking about your uncle." he saw that look in her eyes again, and almost took a step back. "You said that when times got hard you would go down the mountain to escape."

"Yes, I suppose I did." he voice was barely audible.

"And in out talks before whenever you got close to mentioning your family you always seemed to get so…" what was he doing? He could obviously see the pain in her eyes, and the Lord knew he hated causing her pain. "Forgive me, Fraulein."

Maria sighed, "It's alright, Captain. I suppose you have the right to know the history of one of your employees."

When she said employees both she and the Captain nearly stopped breathing. For a split second both of their minds were thinking the same thing. Employee, employer. And yet, that wasn't how it felt.

Coming back to the present, Georg spoke. "I was just wondering, if it got unbearable, uh, often?"

Maria looked away from him and stared into the depths of the lake. The Captain stared at her in shock for a moment, he had never seen anyone so beautiful as Maria was right now. The moon was illuminating her features, giving her a almost mysterious look.

"My uncle wasn't exactly kind." she couldn't even bring herself to say it.

"Oh?"
"I was, abused-" her voice cut off as tears formed in her eyes. "mentally and physically every day."

The Captain's fists clenched. How could someone cause so much harm to someone so full of life? It enraged him.

"Whether I was good or bad." she added. She gave a small, bitter laugh. "And I wasn't good that often. Always running away and misbehaving. I suppose I deserved it."

"No one deserves that, especially you." the Captain whispered.

Maria didn't say anything. She just stood there, staring into the depths of the lake. She desperately tried to wipe her tears away. Embarrassed at what she had just said. And yet, telling him had been like lifting the burden off her shoulders, even if it was only for tonight. She was safe.

The Captain slowly raised his hand, stepped closer, and placed his hand on her shoulder. Maria noted how warm and secure his hand felt, while the Captain noted how she relaxed at his touch.

Maria wiped away the last of her tears. "But I'm away from him now. It's all in the past. And I'm here."

"Maria?"

"Hm?"

"Is there anyone I should go to, to ask permission to marry you?"

Author's Note: Now that's a chapter! Hope you all like it!

Kelsea Scarlett: Good to know I didn't go out of character…I was wondering if I had. Lol…you should still write a story! Thanks for the review!

megs: Chapter two just came up, so I hope you like it!

Well, there you go! I might even go on to write chapter four later on today…we'll have to see!

More to come soon!

Your humble author,

The Lonely Goatherd