A/N:
1. Thank you all, reviewers, your words mean a lot to me!
I took a break of a few days, but CP´s well deserved Academy Award inspired me to go on once more. More G/M action in this chapter, which was loosely inspired by a scene in the Anime version of TSOM, "The Story of the Trapp Family"... and in a scene from a James Bond movie ("Live and Let Die", in case you´re wondering).
2. I realize that people were having trouble finding our Facebook Group, so I changed the settings. It should be easier now. The name of the group is "TSOM Fan Fiction", and you will find the link on my homepage ("The Villa"). If you are still having trouble and stil wish to join, please contact me.
Have fun now - at least I hope you do!
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The Sound of Music Chronicles
Part II
Interlude
Chapter 09
Cards never lie
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"As was the custom, Georg's graduating class sailed around the world in a schooner. They got as far as Australia and then went up the coast of China, taking measurements (for their maps, no doubt). They did not continue across the Pacific but went home the way they had come. They stopped in Egypt, where a fortuneteller grabbed Georg's hand and predicted, "You will have two wives, you will have ten children, you will see two world wars, and you will live to be one hundred years old." He was shocked at these improbable predictions, especially since he had not sought her advice in the first place. Ironically, all but the last one came true, though when given, each seemed more unlikely than the next."
Elizabeth M. Campbell, Introduction to Georg von Trapp´s To the Last Salute – Memories of an Austrian U boat Commander.
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"The woman who does not choose to love should cut the matter short at once, by holding out no hopes to her suitor."
Marguerite De Valois
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"I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value."
Hermann Hesse
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Only a few days later, life with the Trapp family had settled into a peaceful routine that was a perfect match to the unearthly beautiful countryside surrounding the villa in Aigen-bei-Salzburg. Maria's life had never been, according to her own definition, so interesting before. Something new and exciting happened every day and because of it she was running out of pages in the thick journal she brought with her from the Abbey, even if she very little time to write a few lines.
The children occupied most of her time, as expected. She followed their schedule of activities with a few changes: music and singing lessons instead of Austrian military history, not to mention picnics and vigorous walks or bike rides in the countryside instead of marches around the ground breathing deeply.
The uniforms were banished – besides the clothes they had bought during that shopping day in Salzburg, the Captain once more had lots of fabric sent from town, this time for the children, so that Maria and Frau Poppmeier had their hands full with sewing more than enough appropriate play clothes for them. The sailor suits were gone, at least for the moment. Louisa had even suggested that they made a large bonfire with them, but her father, quite obviously, did not find the idea very amusing. In the end, under the dismayed eyes of their father and of a governess who could barely keep herself from giggling, the children stood in line in perfect posture, saluting as Frau Schmidt and Frau Poppmeier carried the trunk containing the uniforms to the attic.
At first, she had been tense, felling like she was walking on eggs. Whenever she sensed Captain von Trapp´s presence nearby, she stiffened with tension, but as the hours, then days passed without a disapproving word from him, she felt more relaxed and confident in the changes she had made. It was rather flattering, of course, when she thought of it: never before had anyone put so much trust in her, with the possible exception of the Reverend Mother when she sent her away from Nonnberg. Now Captain von Trapp, one of Austria´s greatest heroes had trusted her, a simple mountain girl, with the care of his children. It was baffling, when she thought of it.
"Yes, I´m flattered, but would it kill him to let me know, just once, if he is pleased with me or not?" she used to think, irritably. "But nooooo, he probably wishes me to go through the humiliation of asking him. Aristocrats!"
Maria saw very little of her employer during those days. In the rare occasions when their paths had crossed, he barely acknowledged her presence with a nod or an unintelligible grunt, walking away quickly before she even attempted to try to speak to him. The first few times that happened, she fumed:
"You can talk to me about anything concerning the children," she muttered angrily, mimicking his tone. Then she stomped one foot on the ground. "Anything at all, Fräulein… my foot!"
Nevertheless, if he did not approve of the children´s new schedule, he had yet to make his displeasure known. Apart from acting as if she barely existed, he had not done that yet, he hadn´t said a word. Their shared nightcap nearly a week ago became a thing of the past, acquiring a certain unreal, dreamlike quality, so much that, as absurd as the idea was, at times Maria caught herself wondering if that odd conversation had really happened at all. It was almost like he regretted having revealed more about his private matters than it was deemed appropriate, considering that she was a little more than a servant in the house, and now he was putting some safe distance between them again. As unpleasant as it was, it was something that she could understand. It was as if he needed to remind her that, no matter how right she had been as far as the children were concerned, some things would never change in that house. A governess would always and forever be a governess, and as one she had no business interfering in his privacy. Maria had mixed feelings about this new situation – oddly enough, she missed their verbal battles as much as she missed that one late night conversation they had. At the same time, it was good to be able to relax and breathe a little easier when she was following the children´s schedule without being under the constant surveillance of their father.
Well, in spite of his distant behavior, at least she did not have to face his wrath again, not since the incident in the lake. Although he was acting as if she barely existed, at least he was not acting like he did not wish her to exist at all, which was one thousand times more painful. There had not been any further confrontations between them, since all the changes in the children's activities were silently approved by him. No fights, no name calling, no accusations. It was like a truce had been called, one that Maria did not know how long it would last. She could almost feel him cringing when he saw, for instance, his children climbing the trees or playing hide and seek in Agathe´s precious rose garden. Or during a rainy day, when they had to stay inside the house, and she had taught the children how to blow soap bubbles, so that they scattered all over the house, even in his study. Other than that, he rarely interfered now when she was taking care of his sons and daughters, which should be enough for her to conclude that she was doing everything more or less right. Considering, however, that it was the Captain… it would not be wise to let her guard down, not even for a day.
All things considered, Captain von Trapp was proving to be as predictable as he was enigmatic. With his ship running smoothly once again, it seemed that his time was divided in three parts: one dedicated to whatever kind of complicated work he did in his study, another dedicated to his guests and a third one dedicated to the children. All the rest – notably the running of his house – had to function in a precise manner, thanks to the capable hands of those he employed in the household. As a governess, it was where she was, more or less, included. She sensed that he would not bother with her unless things were disrupted again.
Whenever he wasn´t busy in his study – drawing complicated underwater boats, Frau Schmidt had said -, Baroness Schraeder and Herr Detweiler occupied most of his time. In order to make up for not being the epitome of the perfect host during the rest of the day, he used to take them to dinner in town every night, usually followed by a concert or a party and they would not return until very late in the evening.
His busy schedule was keeping him from the children – that was true. However, Maria imagined that once he did not have guests in the house, he would spend more and more time with them and less being the perfect host, the quintessential aristocrat. Although the little ones resented this a little, she could not find in her heart a reason to blame him: if his intention was to marry Baroness Schraeder, then he should not neglect her when she was a guest in his house, should he? No, he had to court the woman! Not if, in the end, he had the children´s future in mind, he was making sure they eventually had the mother they needed so badly.
Nevertheless, his behavior with his sons and daughters was changing slowly, as she had expected it would and that was a good thing. Rome wasn´t indeed built in a day! But he was more attentive to them, he did not brush them aside whenever one of the approached him, as he used to do, he listened carefully to what they had to say. He was doing what he could to give each child his undivided attention for a few minutes during the day. If he could not offer them quantity just yet, he was giving them quality in the time they spent together. Friedrich or Louisa now usually accompanied him in his morning rides and twice he took Liesl to dinner and a concert in Salzburg with the Baroness and Uncle Max. He suggested new books for Brigitta to read, helped Kurt fix his wounded toy soldiers and delighted Marta and Gretl with inventive stories.
All Maria could do was to appreciate his efforts.
"He was so distant from them all for so long… It must not be easy to go back being a father again. But he is trying, he really is!"
Little by little, she also had the opportunity to be acquainted with other members of the household staff. She learned that, after the war, the Captain tried to do his share to help Austria, by employing in his estate people who had lost their jobs when the country lost its Navy. They were a very interesting bunch, recruited not only from Austria, but from other far away corners of the empire. No wonder none would ever dare questioning the fact that he used a boatswain whistle to call them, they were much too used to that aboard his ships already.
However, her position as a governess did not make the job of fitting in any easier. Maria soon found out that at least one thing she had learned about governesses in the novels she had read was true. She did occupy a peculiar position in the household: she was obviously not a part of the family and, at the same time, the other maids did not consider her as one of their own, and thus were reluctant to become friends with her. This would result in a lonely existence, if not for Frau Schmidt and Frau Poppmeier. The two elderly ladies were the notable exceptions. The latter because of her age and experience and because she had to work with Maria because of all the sewing to be done. They became not only her mentors, but the only two people she knew she could count on in the house, in case she got herself into some kind of mischief again.
Frau Schmidt occupied a prominent position as the housekeeper. Like Maria, she had a peculiar position in the household, not a part of the family, but well above the other members of the staff, including the governess. Like all others, she could simply ignore or rebuff the inexperienced, unqualified postulant, but she did neither. Maria had discovered from the very first day that Frau Schmidt was a most interesting and whimsical character and perhaps for that reason she had taken a certain interest in the young governess. She used to show up often for a chat and a cup of tea while she was sewing late at night with Frau Poppmeier.
Maria was baffled the day she learned that the housekeeper had a most unusual talent – fortune telling (1).
She avoided the issue as much as possible. The Church considered it gravely wrong, but that did not stop her from being a little bit curious. She was only human after all, it was wrong, but oh, so… fascinating! She resisted bravely, telling herself that it was just one of the little temptations that the Lord would put in her way to test her commitment to her chosen path in life. Nonetheless, Frau Schmidt was always so kind and nice to her that Maria began to feel bad about not giving the woman some special attention that the elderly woman seemed to crave.
Frau Schmidt was, after all, a bit of a loner, just like Maria. She still had her husband, who worked for Captain von Trapp as a gardener, but her two daughters lived far away, one in Vienna and the other one in a small village in the south of Austria. It was clear that she missed having a female friend to talk to, she missed having a daughter. Obviously she was fond of her fortune telling, but Maria thought that not too many people in the household would be amused by it! Maria decided that there would be no harm if she humored the poor housekeeper just once. She did not have to believe in whatever she was told, she would only have to listen and forget about it soon afterwards. Her future was so well determined, after all! In the end, it would have been a good deed, a small way to thank someone who had been so helpful to her.
Thus, one afternoon, while the children were working on their studies, Maria found herself sitting in in the terrace, bravely facing Frau Schmidt and her old tarot deck. Fortunately, the Captain had disappeared with the Baroness again, while Herr Detweiler was strolling by the lake, whistling. The colorful cards, decorated with outlandish mythological figures fascinated her, but she still hesitated and looked at the deck uncertainly.
"Come here, Fräulein," she invited, showing Maria an empty chair opposite to where she sat.
"Are you sure this will be all right?" she asked warily. What would her employer and his guests think of his governess and his housekeeper playing with cards in the terrace in the middle of the day? "The Captain…"
"The Captain will not mind, if that is what you fear. He has granted me permission to spend some time here in the afternoon when it is warm and sunny. Doctor´s orders, you know. It is good for my health. "Now please, sit down."
Gingerly, Maria sat on the chair opposite Frau Schmidt.
"I really don´t know about this, Frau Schmidt. I have never…"
"I´m sure you haven´t, my dear, but there is nothing to be afraid of. Call it a part of an old family tradition, if you must. Something tells me that the Captain would approve of it if he knew," she winked.
"No, he wouldn´t," Maria replied with absolute certainty.
"Don´t be so sure. The von Trapps are a very superstitious lot, did you know that?"
"Oh really?" Maria asked dubiously, her eyes narrowing.
"It comes with being a seafaring family, I believe. Like you, I was a mountain girl, but Herr Schmidt is a born sailor. Did I ever tell you that my husband used to be the Captain´s orderly in the Navy?"
"Yes, I believe you did."
"They do have all these curious little superstitions, you know. Let me see if I can remember a few. Mmm…" she squinted, as if to stimulate her memory as she carefully shuffled her cards. "Ah – you should never start a voyage on the first Monday in April… or is it the second in August? Perhaps both, I was never quite sure of that one. And, oh yes, they consider flowers unlucky onboard a ship. Women too."
"Really?"
"Oh yes. But that is not all. They also believe that a naked woman onboard will calm the sea…" Maria rolled her eyes, laughingly, thinking of the unlikely image of an angry Captain von Trapp chasing a naked woman before having to face a storm… "Yes, I know. Men!"
"You mean, they consider that women aboard bring bad luck, unless they are naked?" Maria frowned. How scandalous was that? "It doesn´t make much sense, does it?"
"Oh well," Frau Schmidt shrugged. "Perhaps not to a convent girl like you, but… never mind," she made a dismissive gesture. "Anyway, that is why they used to have those figureheads in the old ships featuring undressed women," the woman explained. "Anyway, where was I?"
"You said that your card reading was a family tradition."
"Oh yes. In the good old times, it became a little von Trapp family rite, I am proud to say. When the Captain´s wife was alive, everyone who was welcome in the house had to have the fortune read by me. The late Baroness insisted, it was just one of the many small ways that charming woman used to make everyone feel welcome and in her home. I am sure that, if she were alive, she would insist upon it on your case. We would be honoring the memory of the children´s mother…" She winked again, which gave Maria the distinct impression that she had just come up with that weak but compelling excuse in order to convince her.
"Well, if you insist, and if it will make you happy, Frau Schmidt…."
"I do, and it will! It will be rather interesting, you´ll see. I found that is often is the case when the person never had her fortune read before." She shuffled the deck of cards again and asked Maria to cut it. "There is always one surprise or another."
"Hmmm…" was all she said, as soon as the cards were laid on the table. "My fate is very well determined, but I admit I am curious about what you will say about it…"
She watched as the housekeeper spread several cards on the table, face up this time. None of them alarmed her – there were no skeletons, no hanged men... Some of the cards were a bit outrageous, but that did not bother her too much. The look in the housekeeper´s face, on the other hand was rather curious.
"Is there anything wrong?" Maria asked, intrigued. It wasn´t that she was afraid. She was a firm believer that she had more than her share of tragedies in her short life and she had survived them all just fine. She had lost her family, her worldly goods – not that she ever had any riches too loose. What else did she have to lose? Once she made her vows and was locked in the Abbey, she would be completely safe, and in peace for the rest of her life. No one on earth would be able to take those things from her.
"I thought you did not believe in fortune telling, Fräulein," Frau Schmidt observed slyly.
"I don't, but you do! Does any of that make any sense to you at all? If it is so important to you, the least I could do is listen. I may not believe in the answer, but you do…" she shrugged. Yes, she knew it was a sin, but she also knew that the gravity of it depended on how much you believed in the fortune telling. And she was not planning to take anything seriously – she knew for a fact there would be no sin in that case. Of course, she could not tell Frau Schmidt any of that, not without hurting the poor woman´s feelings.
"It does make sense! Very diplomatic, how very clever of you! You almost sound like the Captain, did you know that?" Maria shrugged. "In fact, he gave me a similar response a long time ago when I read the cards for him."
"He let you read the cards for him!" Maria's eyes widened as she tried to imagine Captain Georg von Trapp sitting in front of a tarot deck, waiting for his fortune to be told.
"Oh, my dear, don´t let him fool you. Under all that aristocratic veneer, the Captain is a naturally curious human being. He has travelled a lot, of course, studied all kinds of things and has a very open mind. Besides, as I said, the von Trapps are a superstitious lot. It is in their blood."
She opened her mouth to question Frau Schmidt further, in order to satisfy her curiosity, but the woman was looking at the cards spread in front of there, with that puzzling look in her face again.
"Honestly, my dear, this is most unexpected. I don't understand this. It does not make any sense at all. It's all… chaos, and disorder, and confusion!"
"Chaos, disorder and confusion? Well, that makes perfect sense to me!" Maria laughed. It was rather a good definition of her life, at least of her past. Her vocation aside, it was one of the reasons why she looked for the security of a religious life. Yet, with the exception of the peaceful years at Nonnberg, her existence had been anything but ordinary and predictable.
No, there would no harm done in allowing Frau Schmidt to proceed; she had no doubt about it. So far the housekeeper had told her nothing that she didn´t know already!
"This is strange, indeed. My readings are usually very precise. I ask a question, the cards answer; it is as simple as that. Don´t get me wrong, they give me answers in your case, by when I try to make sense of it, and I see things that should not be here at all."
"What things?" Maria had asked, now openly curious.
"No, my dear, if they do not make any sense to me, you must believe me, they won't make any sense to you. I have no wish to disturb you. I think I am not in a good day for fortune telling, it happens from time to time, you know. We should try again tomorrow."
"Will I ever be a good nun?" Maria asked cautiously. "That is all I would like to know and nothing more," she reassured her. "It is the one thing I am curious about."
"If you must know – ehm… Oh dear, how can I say this? You see, I am not sure," Frau Schmidt answered, after a brief moment of hesitation. "No, I can´t say that I am. I´m sorry, dear."
Maria uttered an outraged little moan. "No? What do you mean – "I am not sure"? That is impossible, I… can´t believe it. Why? I´m doing everything right, I… All right, sometimes I… I bend the rules a little bit, but I never strayed from a righteous path."
"Well, you wanted to know, didn't you? You asked for it, even though I said it might disturb you. You may yell and kick and scream, Fräulein, but there is a man in your future. At least I am seeing one in those cards."
"A what?" Maria shrieked.
"A m-a-n. And not a relative or a friend, if that is what you are wondering. A brave, honorable, handsome man that will make you deliriously happy if you let him – and that is all I will say."
"Where?" Maria searched for the images in the cards almost frantically, but in vain. Deliriously happy? Her? With a man? No, she would have no trouble not believing such improbabilities, but she had no control over her curiosity…
"He is everywhere I look. There is no doubt about that. The cards never lie; at least they never lied to me. There, I said it."
"Erhm - but who?" Maria asked impulsively before she could help herself.
"I don´t think it would be wise of me to try to answer that. You don´t know?"
"Of course I do not know," was Maria´s disgruntled answer.
"The cards say you do."
"They can´t possibly mean that!"
Frau Schmidt only shook her head, as Maria rolled her eyes heavenward.
"Well then. That is where craziness begins. What I see is so absurd even I don't believe in it, so if you have anyone in mind, you should..."
"Of course not! I don´t have anyone, I don´t want anyone, I don´t know anyone. I will return to the Abbey in September to take my vows, which means I won´t know anyone either, and I certainly have no intention of… of chasing handsome men because what your cards say," Maria shrieked, shaking her head vehemently. "No, you must have read it all wrong. That is why I do not believe in these things! You said you did not believe in your reading yourself, didn't you? You are right, it makes no sense at all. There is no…" she paused, clearing her throat before she said the word, as if it was strange to her lips, "… no man in my life!"
"My cards have never deceived me, and I trust them completely!" Frau Schmidt stated firmly.
"Mmmm…"
"You doubt me? I saw in the cards long ago that the Captain would live to be one hundred years old, see two wars, marry twice and father ten children (3)."
"Ha – ah - ha! There!" Maria exclaimed triumphantly, feeling immensely relieved all of a sudden. "There! None of these things happened. The Captain only married once, he has seven children children already, why would he want more?"
"Why not?" Frau Schmidt chanted, impishly. "In case you haven´t noticed, Fräulein, the Captain is a man in the prime of his life, and there is no reason for us to believe that he will not father another three or four children. Maybe seven more."
Maria did her best to ignore the housekeeper´s remark. A sea captain with seven children was daunting enough, although she nearly choked when she thought about the possibility of a sea captain with fourteen children…. But that did not explain the curious ache in her heart when she briefly considered the woman who would give him those children.
"We all pray every night so that there won't be a second great war," Maria continued. "At least I do. Besides, whether he'll live to be a hundred or not, no one will know for quite a while, don't you think? Althoughone must admithe is stubborn enough to live that long just to spite us all."
"You are absolutely right, Fräulein!" A familiar deep male voice spoke behind them. "And there is something I never thought I would hear myself saying…"
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A/N: (1) The idea was inspired by the Japanese anime version of the Trapp family story. In the Japanese version, the housekeeper – who happened to be a Baroness also – used to read the cards. She read them for Maria, and all she saw was chaos and confusion. I decided to take it a little further… (2) See the introductory chapter to Georg von Trapp´s "To the last salute", especially the excerpt quoted in the beginning of this chapter.