The tour
Karl hadn't told the Captain which train he would be taking; it didn't matter he knew the train station was in their backyard. He knocked on the kitchen door. "Karl, what a surprise; come in."
"Is Maria here?"
"Oh yes, she and the children are on the veranda practicing."
"I'll go surprise everyone."
Kurt spotted him first. "Look everyone Uncle Karl is here."
"Are you all ready for the concerts children?"
"I think we could sing in our sleep if we had to."
"Is that right, Louisa?"
"Children, why don't you go play for now; I need to talk to Uncle Karl."
The children scampered off. "Let's play freeze tag."
"How are you, Maria?"
"A little nervous and worried; I hope the Captain didn't run into any trouble."
"I'm sure the Captain can handle anything that happens. What do we need to do?"
"After lunch we need to pack all the childrens clothes we can fit into the luggage. I want to keep one bag for all their costumes so they won't get horribly wrinkled."
"I can help the boys. Did you send any bags on ahead?"
"No Karl, I wish we could have done that; the Captain thought it might draw attention; the Germans seem to know everything that people are doing."
Katia served lunch on the veranda. "Uncle Karl, have you ever been to Switzerland?"
"Yes, once, it's a lot like Austria; only they get more snow. Now children, Maria tells me I need to help you pack your clothes; boys I will help you first."
"Now boys remember what I told you. Your clothes need to be folded nicely; I don't want you running around in wrinkled clothes."
"Yes, Maria we remember."
"Come on boys let's get started." Karl appeared in Liesl's room.
"Are the boys all packed Karl?"
"Sure are, I'm an expert at packing."
"And how did you learn?"
"I used to travel a lot; I couldn't have wrinkled clothes either. Now who can I help?"
"Louisa and Brigitta, I'm finished with Marta and Gretl." The two very large pieces of luggage were filled; their costumes fit nicely into a bag that Maria could carry.
Each child would carry a small bag with one change of clothing and a small recorder flute. Their night clothes would be added in the morning. They spent the remainder of the day playing games or simply sitting on the veranda enjoying the nice weather.
It took a long time to get all the children settled down for bed; they were super excited. "Karl, I'm going to turn in too; I was up early to see the Captain off."
"Good night Maria."
It was after Maria was in her room that it occurred to her that tomorrow she would have to say goodbye to all the housestaff. The thought brought tears to eyes; she had become especially close to Katia and Frau Schmidt. She prayed. "God don't let me cry tomorrow; I mustn't let on that I may never see them again." As tired as she was sleep didn't come easy; and then she was awake before daylight.
It seemed nobody had slept that well. She heard a knock on her door. "Come in."
"Girls, you are all up and dressed."
"We couldn't sleep any longer; we're so excited."
"Come on; let's go see if Katia may have breakfast ready."
"Karl, boys, you are up too?"
"Yes and I told Katia, I'm starved."
"And what did she say Kurt?"
"That she would serve us as soon as you and the girls came down. I'll go tell her."
Katia had fixed a rather large breakfast; she knew they wouldn't eat very much on the train. Although, she had packed them some fruit, cheese and cookies to take along.
"Okay everyone, let's go up and finish packing and make sure we are not leaving anything behind." Karl brought all their bags down and placed them in the back hall close to the kitchen. Stefan and Phillip came in from outside to help carry their bags; together with Franz they had enough hands to make the walk to the train station easy. It was time to say goodbye.
Hugs and kisses from all the children for Katia and Frau Schmidt. "Maria, I can tell you are worried about Georg; don't be, he can handle anything."
"I know, Karl told me the same thing." Maria hugged her and then Katia.
"You have a bag full of cookies Maria; they should get you to Switzerland."
Maria laughed. "I certainly hope so."
Everyone walked to the train station with them. The train was just pulling into the station. "All aboard," the train's conductor shouted. Then he saw the large crowd. "Is everyone boarding?"
"No Andrew, only Maria, Karl and the children."
"That's right; you're going to sing for everyone."
"Yes, in Switzerland, Paris and London sir."
"Welcome aboard." After another round of hugs, everyone boarded the train; it blew its whistle and pulled away from the station. It was at the stop in Salzburg proper that an Austrian official boarded.
Neither Karl nor Maria knew if he was a sympathizer or not; he hardly spoke to them. At the last train stop in Austria; he left them. "Enjoy your tour; represent Austria well."
"Thank you sir, we will."
"Karl I'm so glad he's gone. I felt very uneasy with him around."
"I know Maria, I did too."
They traveled west through Liechtenstein and then into Switzerland to Zurich. It was early evening when they arrived. Karl flagged down two taxis for the short ride to the Inn where Georg was waiting for them. Karl tipped the drivers generously for helping to carry their luggage inside.
"Now children, don't make a lot of commotion when you see your father. You can hug and kiss him up in our room. Okay? I know it's hard I'm excited to see him too."
Georg's mind worked just like Maria's. He saw them, "quickly children up to our suite." Up two flights of stairs, had them there in a hurry; Georg opened his arms to his children, "come give me hugs and kisses, I missed you."
"We missed you too, Father."
"Any problems, Karl? Maria?"
"None Captain." He was glad they didn't ask him the same question.
"Do you need dinner?"
"Nothing big Captain; I think the children are very tired."
"I'll order a couple of plates and they can share. How about you, Maria?"
"Same as the children, Captain."
Georg ordered enough for everyone; as they ate Maria noticed they all had very heavy eyes. She helped them get ready for bed. Once they were asleep, the three adults talked.
"Captain, I didn't want to say anything in front of the children. One of the train conductors noting who we were told me that Germans had been boarding every train looking for you."
"Yes, I know. They came on my train; but I wasn't dressed like this."
"What did you wear?" Maria asked.
"I had on peasant clothes with a big floppy hat; I had the extra recorder and I played a song Louisa had taught me. They walked right on by; talking loudly, 'he's not on this train.' I was sure they had been looking for me."
The first concert in Zurich was the next evening. Georg had already looked around for things to do during the day. In the morning they went to a history museum and in the afternoon a carnival. They stopped for an early dinner at a local café serving authentic Swiss food. It turned out to be a lot like Austrian food.
Back at the Inn, Maria fixed the girls hair; each had a beautiful hairclip to anchor their hair away from their face. Georg spiffed up the boys. The concert hall was well within walking distance. They arrived an hour early and warmed up their voices then waited off stage. A delightful man was their host. "Hello everyone, I'm Christoph. I'm the announcer today. The whole city has been waiting for you; your reputation preceded you."
"Are you ready?" Maria looked at them; nobody appeared nervous. There was a small set of risers on the stage. "Children, quietly take you places." Maria stood off to the side.
They heard the introduction. "And here to perform for us; all the way from Salzburg Austria; The von Trapp Children Singers." The curtain opened to applause. A couple of short simple tunes opened the program including a short version of My Favorite Things; moving on to The Lonely Goatherd. Then they sang the religious section of their program; offering four selections.
Liesl spoke loudly. "You may wonder how we learned to sing. We will tell you in a song." They sang an extended version of Do-Re-Me; then two songs with Brigitta and Louisa playing the melody on their recorder; The Hills are Alive and Climb Every Mountain.
The Cuckoo Song ended the show. After Gretl ran off stage, they ran back to sing a thank you song.
Thank you for listening
We really appreciate you caring
To hear all we had to sing for you today
You made us feel so special and lucky
And so we say that we appreciate you
Yes we really, really really really do! (1)
The curtain closed. The applause didn't stop. "Encore, encore," they heard.
As the curtain rose again, Louisa began to play an introduction to the song Edelweiss on her recorder; then began again as the others sang both verses. The audience applauded wildly; the children returned to take another bow. The curtain closed for the final time; the audience began to exit the hall.
"You were terrific children." Georg and Karl hurried back stage. "Wonderful, wonderful, I'm so proud of you; ice cream treats for everyone."
Christoph had told Maria to expect a lot of children at tomorrow afternoon's performance; she changed the song list to include a few more child friendly pieces including the full version of My Favorite Things. Their applause was just as jubilant; they sang the same encore, Edelweiss.
The next day was Sunday; Maria had located a Catholic Church near-by; they attended Mass before boarding the train for Geneva. Both concerts there were in the evening; leaving the daytime for exploring; parks, flower gardens and museums. The concert hall was full for both concerts; the audience even enticed an extra encore.
They had a full day to travel to Paris. The audiences were just as appreciative; instead of Edelweiss for the encore the children sang:
Frere Jacques,
Frere Jacques,
Dormez vous?
Dormez vous?
Sonnez les matines,
Sonnez les matines.
Ding Ding Dong,
Ding Ding Dong.
The audience joined and sang with them the second time through. Both days they went sight-seeing; the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Cathedral of Notre Dame were some of the places they visited.
They took an early train to the coast of France. The children looked at the water; it was Marta who spoke. "How do we cross the water, Father?"
"We take a ferry boat Marta. I see one coming right now; look over there."
"It's full of people."
"Yes, after they get off there will be plenty of room for all of us. Please stay together children."
"Father, will we see Gromi?"
"I'm sure we can arrange a visit." Georg had no way of knowing if she might have heard about their tour; he would just have to wait and see.
Georg was sure that if Alice was attending she would be at the hall waiting for them; they arrived but she was nowhere in sight.
The children opened the concerts with the singing of God Save the Queen in English. The remainder of the concert was similar to all the others. The audiences were thrilled; the children were surprised by the thunderous applause. They used the Cuckoo song and the thank you song for their encores.
After the last concert, they had been given a day to see London before they were supposed to travel back to Austria. Instead Georg went to the Immigration Office to declare all of them refugees.
Georg wrote his name on the registration paper. "Ah, Captain von Trapp, the honored hero from the Great War; have the Germans been intimidating you?"
"More like threatening sir. We will be staying at the Whitehead residence sir."
"How are you related?"
"I was married to Agathe Whitehead; she died several years ago from scarlet fever."
The officer went on to question him about Maria and Karl. "Are these relatives sir?"
"No they're not. Maria is the children's choir director; she has been with the children for a year. Karl is her brother; he's an engineer. He will freely give his service to your government."
The officer found these to be reasonable reasons for them to stay in England. "Here sir are all your papers, welcome to England."
"Thank you sir; I too will offer to help your country fight the evil empire."
"Very kind of you sir; we will need all the help we can get."
Georg was awake well before daylight, he was sitting in the living space of the suite. Maria noted right away that he was deep thought.
"Captain, a penny for your thoughts."
"Good morning Maria, I'm still trying to think of the best way to tell the children."
"They're strong Captain. Tell them the truth, they can handle it."
"I suppose you are right. We should wake them."
Georg went into the boys' room. Maria woke all the girls. "It's so early Maria."
"Yes, I know. We need to get an early start."
"Where are we going Father? It's still dark."
"Children, I need to tell you something very important. Come sit close to me. We're not going back to Austria."
"We're not. Why Father?"
"Is it because of the Germans?"
"Yes Brigitta. They want me in their navy. You know I could never do that; I owe Austria my loyalty." Georg decided to lighten the mood. "Does anyone know where we are going to live?"
The children thought a minute; they looked at each other and then burst out; "Gromi lives here. Is that where we're going Father?"
"You're exactly right children."
"Does she know?"
"No children, it wasn't safe to write her a letter."
"Will we ever go back to Austria?"
"Maybe in many years Liesl; Europe is headed for another Great War. Children pack your travel bag; I want to leave before it gets light."
Karl had been standing at the door of his bedroom. His thoughts were back to the day the Captain met him on the lane to the villa; his initial hesitation about him; but after learning he was Maria's brother welcomed him. He took delight in having found himself a family; after all he was much like Maria; neither had had a pleasant childhood.
The train was not at all crowded; the Whitehead Castle wasn't far; only two stops. It was almost daylight when they got off.
"Where are we?"
"We're not far from Gromi's home; please don't talk too loud."
It took two taxis for the twenty minute ride. Henry was sweeping the walkway when the taxis stopped and Georg got out.
"Shhhh, Henry, is Bobby awake?"
"Yes Georg, I'll get him."
After his initial surprise he spoke. "Georg, why is everyone here?"
"We're in exile Bobby; I wanted no part of the Germans."
"Have you registered?"
"Yes, I have all the papers. Children don't be noisy, Gromi is still asleep."
"No I'm not." They heard from the door. "How did you get out?"
"It was Maria's idea. The children won a singing contest; they sent us on a tour to show the world nothing has changed. I was surprised that you didn't know; I had expected to see you at the concert."
"No one has been to the city recently; we read or heard nothing. Maybe later you children can sing for your Grandmother and Uncle."
"We can do that, Uncle Bobby."
"Well come in. Rosemary is fixing breakfast."
After breakfast the children ran upstairs to their old rooms; the men brought up all the luggage. The children hung the clothes that needed hanging; put the rest away in the bureau drawers. A few items went into the dirty clothes basket.
The men were working in the library room. "Georg, what are you doing?"
"Maria, the children are not going to be able to go to school; at least for now. We turned it into a schoolroom."
"I see and who's going to teach them?"
"All of us, I will teach history and literature; Bobby and Karl algebra, geometry and physics. I thought you could teach reading and writing and of course singing. Alice can even teach them English. Maybe Arthur can help with science; I bet even Rosemary and Henry will help."
"Then we need to go into London and buy some supplies, Captain."
"We can do that. You and I can go, Maria."
(1) This is a song I wrote.