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 5: Do-Re-Mi and Drapes
The next morning, Louisa awoke feeling slightly groggy. She got out of bed slowly and took longer than usual to dress, her sleepiness preventing her from feeling any real sense of hurry. When she went into the next room to help Marta braid her hair, she saw that she was not the only one feeling the effects of their late night. Brigitta was sitting in front of the mirror, twirling her hair absently, and Marta and Gretl were both still in bed. It took Louisa and Liesl quite a while to coax the younger girls out from under their covers and see that everyone was ready to go downstairs.
As the children sat down to breakfast, Frau Schmidt came in to wish them a good morning.
"Has Father already left?" Brigitta asked the housekeeper, though the question wasn't truly necessary. The empty chair at the head of the table spoke volumes. Father was never late for breakfast.
"I'm afraid so, dear." Frau Schmidt told her gently. "He wanted to get an early start."
Louisa glared at the tablecloth. Father always snuck out early in the morning so that he wouldn't have to bother with good-byes. Louisa knew he had little patience with sentimentality or tears, but that didn't make it any easier, especially for the little ones.
Fräulein Maria came in then, interrupting Louisa's resentful thoughts. "Good morning, children!" The governess looked tired, but her voice was bright and cheerful. She sank into her seat, said a brief grace, and gestured for the children to begin. "I hope the storm didn't keep you awake last night?"
The children murmured a negative, shaking their heads. Marta explained, "We just kept thinking about our favorite things!"
"Wonderful!" Fräulein Maria said warmly.
"You know," Brigitta began, smiling mischievously, "I know we told you yesterday not to come to dinner on time, but you should probably know that Father hates for people to be late for meals – especially breakfast."
"Really?" Fräulein Maria answered with a straight face, "I would never have guessed."
Louisa could not help but laugh at that. Imagine, a governess who actually had a sense of humor!
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After breakfast, Fräulein Maria laid her palms on the table. "Well! I believe your father would like you to spend the morning studying." Louisa knew better than to groan, but she couldn't suppress a slight sigh. It wasn't that she disliked schoolwork, exactly, but being cooped up in the house with her textbooks on such a beautiful summer day was hardly her idea of fun.
Fräulein Maria smiled sympathetically. "I know it probably isn't how you would choose to spend your time. We'll vary the routine a lot more in the next few days, I promise. For now, though, I think we'd better do as your father wishes. Why don't you go on up and get started? I'll be here if you need me, but I have a project of my own to work on today."
"What is it?" Gretl demanded at once.
"I suppose you'll just have to wait and see," her governess answered with a smile and a wink. "Off you go, now."
Slowly, Louisa and her siblings trudged upstairs and took out their schoolbooks. Odd that they were so reluctant this morning, Louisa mused. After all, this was the same routine they'd been following all summer. But Fräulein Maria's arrival had stirred things up enough that it was hard to go back to their usual schedule.
When it came time for lunch, it became clear Fräulein Maria meant to keep her promise to add some variation to their day. At noon, the children had gone down to the dining room, only to find their governess standing next to a bare table.
"I thought we'd eat our lunch out on the patio today," she explained. "We might as well enjoy the beautiful weather, even if we'd better not have a real picnic just yet. We wouldn't want to spoil your nice clothing, after all." She'd made a slight face then, and Louisa heard her mutter something that sounded an awful lot like "not that it would be any great loss."
As soon as they had finished lunch, Fräulein Maria announced that they were going to go on a hike.
As they walked, she pointed out different flowers and plants, and told them the names of the birds that were singing. She taught the girls how to make daisy chains and showed the boys how she could whistle on a blade of grass. "It isn't very ladylike, I'm afraid, but it does come in handy!"
"Maybe Father should try it," Louisa murmured mischievously. All the children broke into giggles at the thought of Captain von Trapp with a blade of grass wedged between his thumbs.
The rest of the day passed in a similar fashion. Unlike their previous governesses, Fräulein Maria didn't seem particularly worried about Father's instructions. She was completely unconcerned with the time and appeared to have no qualms about exercising a good bit of license in interpreting Father's directives. When Brigitta had worried that Father wouldn't like the idea of a hike, she'd returned, "I don't see why you all can't 'breathe deeply' just as well on a hike. And besides, think of the opportunity for learning! We'll just call it a science lesson."
Louisa found she liked Fräulein Maria's attitude. Besides, what Father didn't know couldn't hurt him, right?
After dinner, Gretl and Marta begged Fräulein Maria for stories about the convent. At first, she insisted that it wasn't very exciting, but she did eventually tell some wonderful stories, most of which seemed to involve her getting into trouble.
"Why did you join, if it's so strict?" Brigitta wanted to know.
Fräulein Maria grew serious, her eyes shadowed for a moment, before seeming to shake it off. She responded slowly, "Well, I had always admired the sisters as a child, and when it came time for me to enter as a postulate, it felt like a place where I could belong, where I could be happy. You see, I wanted to devote my life to God." She smiled at the children, and added brightly, "Besides, if I hadn't entered the convent, I wouldn't be here now with all of you!"
Gretl snuggled up against her. "I'm glad you came!"
"Me, too," Fräulein Maria said softly, "Frogs and pinecones notwithstanding!"
Me, too, Louisa found herself thinking. Fräulein Maria was definitely unlike any governess they'd ever had!
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The next morning, as soon as the children had finished breakfast, Fräulein Maria announced that she had a surprise for them all. Following their governess upstairs, they exchanged confused looks. Fräulein Maria led them into their bedroom, and pointed to seven oddly-shaped bundles wrapped in tissue paper on her bed. "Go on, open them. There's one for each of you."
Louisa went over to the bed, found the package with her name printed neatly on it, and quickly tore through the tissue. Inside, she found a sundress made of green and beige printed fabric, with a matching kerchief. Looking around, she saw that each of her brothers and sisters had a similar dress or outfit, each made from the same green fabric.
It was Kurt who finally voiced what they were all wondering. "Um, what're these for?"
"Play clothes!" she announced, a big grin splitting her face. "We're going to be outside a lot, and running around and getting dirty, and of course we couldn't have you spoiling your nice clothes, could we?"
Hearing this, the children's confused looks began to change into smiles. Anything that involved getting dirty and leaving the uniforms behind sounded just fine to Louisa!
Brigitta, however, appeared to notice something else. Rubbing the thick fabric thoughtfully between two fingers, she asked, "Fräulein, where did you get this material?"
"Hmm?"
"Well, it's just…it looks awfully familiar." She was right, Louisa realized. There was something familiar about the fabric.
Fräulein Maria waggled her eyebrows and glanced significantly toward her window. "Waste not, want not!" At that, Louisa burst out laughing. She could only imagine what Father would have to say if he found out that his children had been seen in public wearing clothes made from leftover drapes!
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Dressed in their new play clothes, the children met Fräulein Maria just inside the front gate. She still refused to tell any of them where they were going. "You'll see," she replied each time she was asked, smiling mysteriously.
As it turned out, she took them everywhere. They roamed through the city together all morning, their governess pointing out interesting sights along the way. They stopped at the farmers' market in Salzburg to buy fresh produce to add to their lunch, and Fräulein Maria made them all giggle with her attempts at juggling.
They played along the coast, then took the train up into the hills, where Fräulein Maria had decided to have a picnic. Since Friedrich and Kurt had not eaten since breakfast, it wasn't long at all before the food was entirely devoured. After lunch, the children played and lazed about, enjoying the relaxed summer atmosphere and the fresh air. Friedrich and Kurt soon began a game of catch, Marta and Brigitta were taking turns skipping rope, and Liesl and Gretl were playing a card game. Louisa, however, was content simply to lie on her back and stare at the sky, munching on an apple.
Shifting a bit, she turned to face her governess. "Fräulein Maria, can we do this every day?"
"Don't you think you'd soon get tired of it, Louisa?"
"I suppose so," she conceded, then put in hopefully, "Every other day?"
Kurt nodded his agreement. "I haven't had so much fun since the day we put glue on Fräulein Josephine's toothbrush!"
Louisa grinned a bit at the memory, but Fräulein Maria only shook her head. "I can't understand how children as nice as you can manage to play such awful tricks on people."
Brigitta shrugged, telling her that it was easy, and Liesl explained that playing pranks on the governesses was the only way they could seem to get Father to pay them any attention.
For all her brilliant ideas, Fräulein Maria didn't have a solution to that particular problem. "Well, we'll have to think about that one." She looked thoughtful for a moment, before clapping her hands together briskly. "All right, everybody! Over here!"
She went to fetch her guitar, and explained that they were going to think of something to sing for the baroness when Father brought her. Brushing off Marta's comment that Father didn't like them to sing, she asked them, "Now, what songs do you know?"
She seemed shocked when the children told her that they didn't know any songs, or even really how to sing. Well, Louisa supposed that was understandable. Weren't the nuns always singing at the convent at Mass and such? But there had been no music in the von Trapp household for years. The piano in the parlor had been closed and untouched since Mother died, and Father's guitar was most likely buried in the attic somewhere. The children knew better than to sing within hearing distance of Father as well. Nothing was more certain to upset him.
But Fräulein Maria was adamant that that should change. "Well, let's not lose any time. You must learn!"
"But how?"
Fräulein Maria strummed a few notes on her guitar and began to sing, "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. When you read you begin with – ?"
"A-B-C" Gretl put in.
"When you sing you begin with do-re-mi."
The children repeated the notes after her, but when she began to expand on them ("Do-re-me-fa-so-la ti!"), they just stared at her blankly.
"Oh, let's see if I can make it easier." Fräulein Maria began to sing again, this time adding a few words of explanation after the name of every note. Louisa giggled at some of the sillier phrases, and when the governess began the song a second time, the children all joined in.
Jumping up, they took off down the hill together, running, skipping and dancing in time to their new song. After several more repetitions, they collapsed onto their backs and sprawled out on the grass in exhaustion. Panting a bit, Louisa exchanged glances with Brigitta and both girls broke into big grins. Louisa couldn't remember the last time she and her siblings had had such a fun, carefree day.
A/N: Feedback is very much appreciated!