Chapter Eight
Maria had not returned home, so the two men split off to look for her with Frau Schmidt overseeing the children. Liesl and Friedrich helped keep the younger ones distracted with grand stories of the fun Fraulein Maria was having in town and the delight they would all share with her tomorrow. Friedrich's mantra becoming "the sooner you go to bed, the sooner it will be morning."
The Captain drove up into the hills. He loved it up here as well. The air was crisper and more fragrant and at night it was dark enough to see so many stars. It was also dark enough for anyone to hide in the shadows. He felt sick doing this. If Maria was up here for time alone then he didn't want to intrude on that. If she was hurt or lost though, it was duty as her employer, her friend, never mind the man that loved her to search for her and help her.
The higher the Captain drove in the hills, the slower he went. She had to be up here. If she were confused or upset, she came here, he knew she came here. When the road evened out to a plateau, the Captain pulled the car over and got out. He grabbed a blanket from the backseat of the car and started to hike the rest of the way. "Maria!" he called out and heard only the echo of his own voice. "Fraulein Maria! It's Ge…Captain von Trapp! Maria!"
It was cool but not cold, he didn't have to worry about her being out here for too long a time, but anything else had him absolutely sick. "Maria! Fraulein Maria!"
This time the Captain's calls were rewarded. The voice was soft and shaky, but clearly Maria's. "Captain?"
The Captain turned toward the sound and just a few feet ahead of him stood Maria. Her dress was dirty and it was torn a bit along the bodice. She had a couple of scratches on her face and a dark bruise forming on her arm. "Fraulein!" the Captain gasped and hurriedly moved toward Maria.
Unconsciously, Maria moved away from the Captain for a split second before stepping closer to him. "Are you all right? What happened?" the Captain asked closing the gap between them. "Are you injured?"
Maria looked at her disheveled appearance and simply shrugged her shoulders just like the way that she did the Captain commended her on the puppet show. "Seems I took a bit of a tumble, Captain. I lost one of my shoes. I was waiting for it to be light again so I could make it down without stepping on anything."
The Captain surveyed her appearance again. A fall could certainly explain it, except of course for the bruise though he already knew the origin of that. "Did you really drive all the way up here looking for me?"
The Captain was taken aback by her question. "Of course," he replied. "The children, Max, all of us were concerned when you didn't come home for dinner, so he and I went out and…It's very late now. I'm sure you want a good meal and a hot bath. Let me help you get back to the car. It's only a few steps. I'll go first, make sure there's nothing sharp in the road."
Maria smiled at the Captain. "Planning a picnic?" she asked, referring to the blanket in his hands.
"No, I didn't know what I was going to find up here if anything," the Captain replied. "But I knew that something happened. Cook was serving pork and apples tonight and I know you never miss pork and apples. Something had to have happened to you, either a fall or you got yourself lost up here or fell in another lake…"
Maria chuckled at that, "Well, I'm mostly fine, Captain though I am very hungry."
"Well, your portion is safe unless Kurt has taken a late-night trip to the kitchen," the Captain replied as they arrived at the car. "Here we are, we'll be home soon though we should take the road that goes through town and save Max from being scolded by Sister Berthe for losing you."
"Poor Herr Detweiler," Maria laughed. "Yes, let's do that. He doesn't deserve to face her wrath for me getting myself into trouble yet again."
The Captain sighed and turned the car toward town. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know if he should mention Heinrich or not. If Maria didn't then…but after long moments of silence, he did anyway.
"Maria, when you didn't come home tonight, I went to see Heinrich Mueller," the Captain said softly. He was honestly afraid of how she might react to his being so overprotective but there had never been anything but honestly between them. "He told me that you turned him down for a courtship and that he was angry about that in the heat of the moment."
Maria bit her lip, "Yes. He was angry with me for deceiving him, I didn't want his suit ,but I tried to get you to turn him down for me. I wasn't even honest with you about his coming to the house. I don't know what I was thinking. It was so unfair."
"You were nervous," the Captain soothed. "You planned a life as a nun, then changed your mind and now you are trying to find your own dreams. Perhaps you didn't know what your heart wanted. I want to think of us as friends Fraulein, that we can talk to one another. You could have spoken to me; you could have told me what you needed me to do."
"I couldn't ask you to be dishonest or dishonorable, Captain," Maria protested. "I shouldn't have ever met him in the first place. It's no wonder that he felt he was lied to. It's no wonder he was angry. I humiliated him and myself. I should resign at this moment."
"Resign?" Of all the things that Maria might have said that was a shock. "Why on earth would think I'd accept a resignation much less think that you should offer one?"
Maria fiddled with her hands, "I can give you five reasons. Liesl, Louisa, Brigitta, Marta and Gretel. Your daughters, Captain. They only have me to look up to as a female role model and after what I've done…"
"You haven't done anything wrong, Maria!" the Captain reaffirmed. "All you did, Maria, was be a beautiful woman, a kind, beautiful woman that got a man interested in her by being just that. You didn't go out and seek Herr Mueller, you didn't do anything to lead him to think you wanted to be courted, he just felt as if he'd like that. He tried and he was rebuked. Should you have just told him when he started to ask you, probably, but there is no wrong in looking to me, your employer and your friend for help in turning him down. You made mistakes but Maria, none of it was malicious. None of it was premeditated. The fact you are having such anguish now tells me the kind of woman you are, and that is exactly the kind of woman I want my daughters to be. Now stop this foolishness now."
Maria fell quickly silent. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. She still felt so shaken up, so dirty, but she'd been alone up on the mountain. She only remembered being in the brush, she didn't remember anything between the time she had left Heinrich in the town square and when she opened her eyes in the thorny brush. What happened during that period of time? It had to be a fall, she had to have tripped, she had to have.
They located Max in town, but not before he had faced the wrath of Sister Berthe and the concern of Sister Margaretta and the Reverend Mother. He promised to update them in the morning and assured the Captain and Maria he would. "I'll see you at home then," Max acknowledged. "I'm glad you are safe, Fraulein. Next time you go mountain climbing, take a partner, I hear it's best done in pairs."
"I certainly will consider that, Herr Detweiler," Maria replied. "I do just need a meal and a hot bath. Thank you for your concern."
As the Captain drove toward the villa, Max thought about the expression on Maria's face. It was a plastered-on smile. She reminded him in that moment of the Mona Lisa. Mysterious, wry, but happy? No, she might have Georg fooled but not ol' Max. He had pulled every trick in the book to get people to think the opposite of the truth and Maria was doing that now, he was certain. Still, it was Georg's issue to sort out. Perhaps, Maria confided in him, and he would keep her silence, but somehow, Max doubted it.
The house was dark when they returned. Frau Schmidt must have somehow got the children to bed. "Go on up and take your bath," the Captain encouraged. "I'll see that a plate is made and brought up to you. Do you have any other injuries that need to be dressed? I can wake Frau Schmidt…"
"No, there's just the few scratches," Maria replied. "And of course, the lost shoe. I suppose I might find it again in the light of day."
"No need to be concerned about the shoe, Fraulein," the Captain replied. "I'll see you have a new pair to replace it. Go on and relax, get some rest. I'll send up the tray and see you in the morning."
The Captain's eyes fell to the ugly bruise on her forearm. Unconsciously, Maria covered it with her hand. She didn't want to tell him about that moment with Heinrich, it was one moment in many and didn't deserve any attention. After today, she'd never see Heinrich Mueller again, there was no reason to bring about the Captain's wrath on herself or poor Heinrich.
When Maria didn't pursue a conversation about the bruise, the Captain let it go. He had told her earlier that his door was open, whether or not she chose to walk through it was up to her.
A/N: I usually update on Tuesday and Saturday, but given the response I have been having to this story I decided to drop another chapter. Please continue to stay in touch and let me know what you think of this developing tale.
Thus far the story is 20 chapters long and it is still growing though I just figured out how I want to end it. There's also Brigitta's comfort story in the works and a new continuing piece that will be called Snapshots and follow the family to America, through the war years, births, marriages, deaths, you name it…I created my own little von Trapp world…I'll be glad to welcome anyone who wants to come for the ride.