Chapter 4 - reclaim what is ours (part 1)


"I will not allow this. He can't make us try to erase all of our memories we have of mother." Liesl said as she clenched her fists. She stood up and left the room, ready for a battle. "Liesl, you know how he is…" Friedrich said, while coming running after her. "As a matter of fact, I do not. I do not know who he is anymore." she said and walked towards her father's study.

She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and knocked on the door. "Come in." her father said annoyed. Liesl opened the door. "You have no right to discard our memories we have of mother. You can't just get rid of the pictures, and other valuable belongings that remind us of her! She deserves to be remembered and missed by every single one of us." she said angrily, disappointed and upset.

"That is quite enough, Liesl Mathilde von Trapp!" he yelled. Whenever he used their middle name, they knew it was serious. Liesl was startled by his reaction and stepped back. "I have made my decision, and that's it! I will not tolerate you speaking to me in such manner!" He turned around, facing the window, lost in his thoughts.

Liesl stood there, not sure if she had to leave the room, or not. After what seemed like ages, but what was in reality only twenty seconds, he turned around. "I have warned you. I have told you not to argue any further, but you still did. You will stay in your room until tomorrow evening. If I'm in a good mood I will let somebody bring you dinner, but we will have to see about that." he coldly.

Liesl sighed. She knew going to her father, trying to make him change his choices was hard, if not impossible. Now she had to pay the price for it. "Yes sir." she said with a shaky voice. Whenever her father was angry, or in a bad mood, he it was better to address him with 'sir' instead of 'father', it had been like that for years.


Her father walked her to her room. "I expect you to make good use of this time, by cleaning this mess first. After that I suppose I will find you in your room studying and doing your schoolwork." "Yes sir." Liesl said. He turned on his heel, walked out and shut the door behind her. Liesl could hear the lock of the door falling into the hole.

She felt helpless, angry and upset. After ten minutes of crying and tossing pillows, she decided that it wouldn't change anything, and started cleaning up.


Friedrich saw his father walking away from Liesl's room. "Friedrich, get your siblings and tell them that they can start cleaning their bedrooms. You are in charge, make sure the bedrooms are neat. I will inspect the rooms later today, since I have an arrangement in town". "Yes sir." he said, while straightening his back. His father patted him on the shoulder, and left.

Friedrich went downstairs to gather his siblings, and together they walked upstairs. "Father left me in charge to make sure you clean your rooms, since he has an arrangement in town. So let's start now." he said proudly. "You mean we have to clean our rooms. This includes you, smarthead." Louisa said while rolling her eyes.

"I don't think it's wise to make a hassle. Father gave me this role, and I will not let him down. Besides, if you get in trouble for not cleaning your room, do not blame me. He told me, he is going to inspect our bedrooms later today, so be prepared". "Fine." Louisa said reluctantly.

Louisa and Brigitta, Friedrich and Kurt, Marta and Gretl, shared a room together. Liesl was the only one who got a room for herself. All of the children, except Marta and Gretl, started cleaning. After the older children finished their rooms, they cleaned Marta and Gretl their room.


"Why are all the pictures of mother missing? And where is Liesl?" Brigitta asked Louisa. "I heard Liesl arguing with father about it, and after that she got locked up in her room". Brigitta looked astonished at Louisa.

"Are we going to do anything about it?" she asked. "I would love to, but last time I wanted to do anything, I had to ask Liesl and Friedrich first." Louisa said. You could clearly hear the annoyance in her voice. "Why don't you ask them?" Brigitta asked. "Yes. I suppose I should…"

After all the rooms were cleaned up, Louisa decided she should talk with Friedrich about it. "Friedrich? May I talk to you in private?" she asked. "Yes, but only if you're not going to insult me". Louisa rolled her eyes and pulled him by his sleeve, to a place where they could talk in private.

"Well, you know father took all of our belongings, that would remind us of mother too much. I think we should try and get those back…" "You know that is not going to happen, right? Liesl has already talked twice with father about it. Look where she is now, locked up in her room." he said.

"I know, that's why I think we should take our belongings back. You told me he has an arrangement in town. This would be the perfect opportunity for us to reclaim what is ours!" she said a bit too excited (again).