Her Father's Daughter
by Bluebird88
Disclaimer: The Sound of Music is the property of Rodgers and Hammerstein, 20th Century Fox, and various script writers and producers. No copyright infringement is intended. Several lines from the movie are quoted at various points throughout the story. If it sounds familiar, it probably isn't mine.
Chapter 2: Fräulein Maria
Several hours later, the children heard the familiar tweeet! of their father's whistle.
Louisa rolled her eyes a bit and heard Liesl sigh, but the girls scurried out to meet the governess, an experience they'd gone through so many times it had become routine. When she reached the hall, Louisa noticed that Brigitta wasn't in her place in line. She suddenly realized that it had been at least an hour since she'd last seen her middle sister. She hoped she wasn't in the garden again. Father would notbe pleased if she didn't answer his summons.
Liesl led the way, steps brisk and confident, marching in time to the whistle. Louisa followed along as she was expected to, but she couldn't keep the mulish look off her face. She hated the way Father paraded them in front of guests!
At the bottom of the stairs, the children formed their customary line, leaving a space for Brigitta. As soon as the last note from Father's whistle sounded, the dark-haired girl walked placidly into the room, her nose buried in a book. She came to a stop in front of Father and finally glanced up, eyes widening just a bit, betraying a hint of nervousness behind her calm demeanor. Looking impatient, Father took the book from her and used it to deliver a firm, scolding tap on the backside, then waited as she quickly took her place in line.
Once again, it took a great deal of effort for Louisa not to roll her eyes. She was glad for Brigitta's sake that she hadn't gotten into trouble, but honestly, when would her sister learn? She always had her head in the clouds and her nose in a book, and it had gotten her into trouble on more than one occasion. Father tended to be rather lenient with his middle daughter, though. Louisa often wondered if the reason Brigitta seemed to get away with so much was because she so resembled their mother. Agathe, too, had had that same quiet, thoughtful, air, and had shared her middle daughter's love of reading. Louisa supposed it would be hard for Father not to look at Brigitta and see much of his wife in her.
Louisa was pulled from her musings as her father began to speak. "Now. This is your new governess, Fräulein Maria. As I sound your signals, you will step forward and give your names." As if the children needed these directions. They knew by now what was expected during these introductions. Father turned to the nervous-looking postulate. "You, Fräulein, will listen carefully, and learn their signals so that you can call them when you want them."
When the introductions were finished, Father turned to the new Fräulein, handing her a spare whistle. "Now. Let's see how well you listened."
Looking flustered, the young woman protested that she was sure she wouldn't need to whistle for them, not when they had such lovely names. Louisa felt a momentary flicker of surprise. She couldn't remember any of the other governesses daring to challenge Father. Well, she thought with a mental shrug, this woman would learn soon enough how things worked in the von Trapp household. Or at least, she would if she lasted that long.
As expected, Father was not interested in the new governess's protests. "This is a large house, the grounds are very extensive, and I will not have anyone shouting." He held out the whistle again. "You will take this, please, and learn to use it." Though it was phrased as a request, Louisa knew an order when she heard one. The governess, however, continued to stare at Father. "The children will help you," he assured her.
"Now. When I want you, this is what you'll hear." He blew a long, continuous note on the whistle, lifting and lowering a finger to change its pitch. The governess's signal was always the same – much less complicated than any of the children's and much louder, too. Louisa had once heard Father muttering that the governesses were never clever enough to recognize their own signals unless it stood apart. Actually, she had to admit that he had a point.
Fräulein Josephine, who had been their governess before Father had developed his new signal, had never been able to tell which pattern was hers. The children had gotten no end of amusement out of watching her scurry to Father whenever the whistle sounded, only to stop just outside whatever room he was in and look furtively around, waiting to see if anyone else came in response to the summons. The children had taken great delight in pretending not to hear their own signals, just to be able to watch the way she would screw up her face in concentration before giving up trying to discern whether it was hers and running down to Father just in case.
Wanting to take the game further, Friedrich had once stolen the whistle from Father's desk while he was in town on business. He had then spent nearly a quarter of an hour running to various rooms in the house and blowing random notes before hiding in a closet or under a piece of furniture, laughing as Fräulein Josephine came in, looking increasingly bewildered each time it had happened. Unfortunately for him, however, Father had come home earlier than expected that evening and caught him at it. Captain von Trapp had been less than pleased, to say the least. Privately, though, Louisa thought he had seemed more than a little amused, and though he'd given Friedrich a scathing lecture, in the end he had only sent him to his room with a warning to behave more decorously in the future.
Fräulein Maria, it seemed, had none of her predecessor's timidity. Father had not even finished demonstrating her signal when she shouted loudly over the top of it that she could never bring herself to answer to a whistle, claiming, "It would be too humiliating."
Father had apparently had just about enough of his new employee's opinions. "Fräulein," he asked her incredulously, "were you this much trouble at the abbey?"
"Oh, much more, sir!" she assured him earnestly. Louisa had to work hard to resist the urge to laugh. Lord, but this woman was direct!
Father only grunted slightly in response to her answer and, looking impatient again, thrust the whistle into Fräulein Maria's hand and turned to leave. Then, to all the children's utter shock, the new governess's raised the whistle to her lips and blew a loud, earsplitting note. When Father turned slowly, one eyebrow raised, she gave him a bland look and remarked, "Excuse me, sir, I don't know your signal."
Father's response was nothing short of glacial. "You may call me Captain."
Louisa had half expected him to fire her on the spot, but he seemed to decide against saying more. Without another word, he spun on a heel and left. Louisa could have sworn she saw the postulate give a satisfied little smile, and couldn't help snickering a bit at her nerve. She wasn't the only one, either. Looking to both sides, she exchanged glances with her giggling brothers and sisters. Challenging Father? This one wouldn't last the night if she didn't get a clue pretty quickly!
As Fräulein Maria turned to face them, the children hastily schooled their expressions and returned to attention. Looking a bit nervous, she bade them to stand at ease and asked them to repeat their names and tell her their ages.
Liesl marched forward and said shortly, "I'm Liesl. I'm sixteen years old, and I don't need a governess!" Louisa felt a little sorry for her sister then. She was right, after all. Sixteen was much too old to have a governess. Why, Liesl was nearly old enough to be a governess herself!
Friedrich was next, and took the opportunity to inform the new governess that he was impossible. Louisa knew that was certainly true, and so found Fräulein Maria's reaction to the statement a bit odd. She knew her brother wasn't joking, not at all, but the young woman only laughed pleasantly.
It was Louisa's turn then, and time to try their first trick. "I'm Brigitta!" she said confidently. She was rather impressed with her ability to keep a straight face. Out of the corner of her eye, though, she saw Friedrich grinning. She would have elbowed him if she'd been able to, but that would have given things away.
As it turned out, it didn't matter anyway. Still smiling, Fräulein Maria told her, "You, uh, didn't tell me how old you are…Louisa." Darn! Maybe this new governess was smarter than she looked.
Louisa ducked her head a bit as Brigitta stepped forward, and informed the woman in her soft voice, "I'm Brigitta, she's Louisa. She's thirteen years old, and you're smart." That's right, Brigitta, make her think you're an ally. "I'm ten, and I think your dress is the ugliest one I ever saw!" Well, so much for that plan, Louisa thought, glancing at the governess. Interestingly, she didn't seem particularly offended.
Kurt admonished Brigitta that she shouldn't say things like that, and told Fräulein Maria that he was eleven and "incorrigible."
"Congratulations," she responded simply.
Kurt hesitated for just a moment before asking, "What's 'incorrigible?'" Louisa shot her brother an exasperated look. Honestly, what was he doing claiming to be something if he didn't even know what the word meant?
Fräulein Maria thought a moment, then explained, "I think it means you want to be treated like a boy." Kurt nodded, apparently satisfied, but Louisa couldn't help wondering at the governess's response. She wasn't too sure herself what the word meant, but somehow that didn't sound quite right.
Before she could think about it much more, though, Marta stepped forward and softly informed the postulate, "I'm Marta, and I'm going to be seven on Tuesday, and I'd like a pink parasol."
"Well, pink's my favorite color, too," Fräulein Maria told her, smiling warmly at the little girl.
Louisa felt a little sorry, then, about all the pranks they had planned. This woman seemed awfully nice, if incredibly naïve, and not all the other governesses had been this kind to the younger ones. Still, if it came down to a choice between having a governess and looking after themselves, Louisa knew which one she'd rather have. Besides, it wasn't as if any of their pranks were harmful, exactly. They were just annoying enough to force the governesses to go complaining to Father, so that they'd be fired for not being capable of maintaining proper discipline.
Gretl, impatient as ever with being ignored, stamped her foot loudly. When the governess turned to her, she held up five fingers. Yet again, Louisa found herself wanting to roll her eyes. Honestly, Gretl was five, not two! It wasn't as if she couldn't talk. But her youngest sister had learned long ago that she could get more attention by playing up her status as the baby of the family.
Fräulein Maria smiled at her, though, and commented on how grown-up she was, causing both Marta and Gretl to beam back at her.
"Now, I have to tell you a secret," the woman was saying, "I've never been a governess before."
Louisa exchanged glances with her older brothers and sisters, seeing the same barely suppressed delight in their faces. This was almost too good to be true! "You mean you don't know anything about being a governess?"
Fräulein Maria spread her hands and shook her head. "Nothing. I'll need lots of advice."
Seizing the opportunity, Louisa smiled slyly and told her, "Well, the best way to start is to be sure to tell Father to mind his own business." There, that would be sure to go over well. If the woman was really this clueless, they were well on their way to breaking their record. Her brothers and sisters chimed in with "helpful" suggestions of their own as the children gathered closer and closer around, giving Friedrich the opportunity to slip a frog in her skirt pocket.
"Don't believe a word they say, Fräulein Maria!" Gretl suddenly exclaimed. The older children glared at her, but she ignored them and told the postulate, "Because I like you!" Before Louisa could tell Gretl to be quiet, Frau Schmidt bustled in, clapping her hands and telling the children that Father had said it was time for their walk. Ha! Louisa though, he probably knows better than to leave us alone with her for too long!
Louisa and her siblings walked slowly over to the door, hanging back to see how the new governess would react when she found the frog in her pocket. She didn't disappoint. "Ah ah ah!" she screamed, reaching into her pocket and flinging the frog far away from her. After a moment, Frau Schmidt dryly informed her that she was lucky that it hadn't been a snake, as with Fräulein Helga. Fräulein Maria gave the children an incredulous glance, but they looked steadily back at her on their way out the door.
A/N: Feedback is very much appreciated!