A/N: Let me please start off by shouting a big HOORAY! for Christopher Plummer, winner of the Best Supporting Oscar last Sunday night for his role in the movie "Beginners," making him the oldest actor at 82 to win. I saw the film and all of the awards he's gotten are truly deserved.
A Time to Unfold
Dominik Schaetzke had come to this special place near the Untersberg with the hopes of finding his sister, Maria. He'd only just arrived in town from Vienna and had, after dropping his things off at his hotel, gone to the Abbey. But Sister Margaretta had told him she was not there and had fled in a very high emotional state. All of the sisters were worried, and now Dominik was too. He promised he would track her down, knowing her better than anybody.
Of course she would go to her special place – their special place, really.
Just before that place came into view, as he was walking up a hill, he saw a light sunhat fluttering on the strong breeze that was blowing his way as easily as a piece of paper. Perhaps Maria had gotten a new hat during her time as governess. Without thinking twice, he locked eyes with the hat and managed to catch it before it blew passed him. It was quite an easy catch, really; the wind almost dropped it into his grasp.
As he'd caught it, Dominik had heard the sounds of someone rushing toward him, after it. His first thought was that it was his sister. But, after he'd caught the hat and lowered his gaze again, Dominik saw the figure of a young woman stop herself from colliding with him just in time who was not his sister.
"Oh, I beg your pardon!" the young woman said, sounding just as surprised as he felt by the whole situation.
Nope, this was not his sister. This young woman was both younger and shorter than his sister; the top of her head barely reached his chin. She couldn't have been older than sixteen or seventeen; he could see and hear the innocence she had. But he could also see a real sense of maturity for someone her age; a true young lady. And quite pretty, too, with her shoulder-length soft brown hair and brighter blue eyes than he had ever seen. She reminded him of a true breath of fresh air in the springtime, faintly scented with blossoms.
Dominik had to make an effort to keep from chuckling at the whole situation, grateful that she had managed just in time to stop herself from colliding with him downhill. "Are you the one this hat is running away from?" he asked, holding out the hat to her.
The girl – no, young woman – gave a short, nervous laugh, her cheeks turning pink, and reached out to take it back. Her fingers brushed his as she took it, and Dominik noticed how warm and soft they felt. "I'm sorry about that, the wind just swept it away."
"It's no trouble," Dominik replied, who was still smiling and almost let his chuckle out. "I'm just glad I was in the right place, Fraulein…" He let his voice drift, silently asking for her name.
She got the hint and held out her hand for him to shake. "Elisabeth, but everyone calls me Liesl."
Dominik thought both names suited her nicely for different reasons. "Then Hello, Liesl. I'm Dominik," he said, taking her tiny hand in his, and was once again reminded of the softness and warmth of her skin, which endeared him. Letting her hand go, he asked, "Are you here by yourself?"
"Oh, no," said Liesl, indicating up the hill as she spoke. "I'm here with my family on a picnic outing. We were just leaving when my hat blew away."
They began to walk up the hill. "Ah, all right. I didn't know anyone else knew about this place apart from myself and my sister."
"Really? Well, we haven't known about it for long, actually," said Liesl.
Their conversation stopped when they reached the top of the hill, and Liesl's family came into sight. Wow, thought Dominik. She has quite a few siblings, if those are all her siblings.
"This is Dominik," said Liesl as they stopped. "He caught my hat before it blew away."
"Hello," said Dominik, somewhat shyly, being a modest and introverted person. "I did not know that anybody else would be here."
"It's no problem, young man," said the older man among the group of children, coming forward. "So you are not just passing through."
"No, I actually came here to meet my sister," said Dominik. "Have you seen anyone around here?"
"No," came the reply of everyone in various variations apologetically.
As they were all saying this, Dominik's ears caught a familiar bird whistle*. It was strong, piercing, and gave a unique variation of notes; the sound seemed to come from a very special nearby tree.
Dominik carefully controlled his expression while nodding first to the group of nine and then – discreetly towards the tree.
He knew that whistle, and it was no bird. His sister was here.
"Well, thank you anyways," said Dominik. "I hope that I am not rushing you on your way by coming."
"Not at all, Dominik, we were just leaving," said the older man.
"All right, Herr…"
"Oh, of course," said the man, chuckling and holding out his hand. "It's Captain, actually, Captain Von Trapp."
Dominik's brain was a bit slow, and it wasn't until he was shaking the man's hand that he realized just what family he'd just met. All of the pieces came together: seven children, eldest daughter Liesl at sixteen…Captain…Dominik froze and his eyes went wide, and he barely managed to not push the Captain's hand away from him.
"Are you all right?" asked the Captain, letting go of his hand, noticing the visible change in him.
Dominik quickly snapped himself out of it and said haltingly, "Well, I've just…heard your name before, Captain, as much of the country has."
The Captain had the grace to look a bit embarrassed. "Ah, all right." Looking at his seven children before looking at Dominik again, he said, "Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, and we will now be on our way home. Have a wonderful evening with your sister."
"Thank you," was all Dominik managed to say. He watched the eight of them walk away, Liesl the last of all.
"It really was nice to meet you, Dominik," she said, shyly smiling. "And thank you again."
He managed to smile back at her, saying, "And again, it was my pleasure, Liesl. Farewell."
She followed her family out of sight, looking over her shoulder one last time.
When he felt sure the family were not only out of sight but also out of earshot, Dominik immediately rushed to the tree and called up softly, "Ria!"
On cue, his sister in every way but blood came down the tree and practically fell into her brother's arms, hugging him tightly. It was a while before she could loosen her hold on her only safe house.
That early evening, Maria and Dominik found themselves in his room at the Bristol Hotel. Both were sitting on one of the two beds side by side. Maria had snuck back into the abbey and taken her things, bringing them here; she felt too much anger to stay there right now and wanted only to be with her brother, whom she had not seen since Easter.
She had told him everything that had happened to her in the past nine weeks through her letters, and it had tortured them both that he was not able to come to Salzburg until now.
"So, how long are you in town for again?" asked Maria softly, her head on his shoulder. "I know it won't be for long…"
"I have to leave by the fifteenth, unfortunately," said Dominik, his cheek pressed against her hair.
Maria took a deep, shuddering breath. "That's barely over a week," she said, in a small voice.
"I know, I know…" he said mournfully. "Believe me, I wish I could stay until the end of the month, but I'm lined up to help with all of the orientation activities."
Dominik was about to start his final year at the Vienna Conservatory of Music, his goal to graduate in piano composition and performance. He'd gotten a full scholarship when he and Maria had graduated secondary school in their hometown, and he was the hometown's favorite son now, even if his rich and distant parent's could've cared less. He and Maria had been close since infancy, when Maria's mother had worked as seamstress for Dominik's mother; they called each other brother and sister from the moment they could talk. Their bond was strong, and distance had only made it stronger.
But now, Maria wished, more than anything, that her brother could be with her longer.
"I should have punched him," said Dominik lowly. "I should have pushed him down the hill."
"In front of the children?" asked Maria, giving him a look. "Not even I could forgive you for that, especially since you've never harmed anyone in your life."
"Well, this is the first time I've ever actually wanted to cause someone harm, and with very good reason," said Dominik, giving her a hug. When he'd heard about what had happened, he'd never felt so angry in his life. His sister had been through enough hell at the hands of a man. As a child, he'd been powerless to stop it, but now he was an adult. If only he had been there, he could have done something!
Maria patted his back and pulled away. "I know you mean well, Dom, you always do. But I'm glad you didn't reveal yourself to them. I wanted to remain completely invisible to them today."
Maria turned her gaze to her lap and the bedspread before her, which was covered with opened letters and envelopes. It had taken a lot of courage and encouragement from Dominik to open each of them. The notes had started off as short, trying to apologize, but as the days went on they became longer. By the end, they had become almost like journal entries, detailing the events of the day with the children, sharing his observations and new revelations of each of them to her. But always in them was an apology that couldn't quite be real, because there were only written words.
The twenty-one-year-old sat silent on the bed by her brother for a long time, looking at the letters again.
Finally, her brother broke the silence. "You know you should phone the abbey and let them know you're all right."
Maria sighed and gave him a pleading look. "Could you? I'm just…still too angry right now to speak to the Reverend Mother.
Dominik nodded and made the short phone call, while Maria fell into nervous contemplation again. But once she heard him put down the receiver, she raised her head with something as close to determination she could come to through her nerves.
"Give me the phone," she said in a soft voice, holding out her hands.
Frau Schmidt was on her way from the kitchens, dinner having just been cleaned up, when she heard the phone ring. Knowing that Franz was, at this point, taking care of the car, the responsibility fell on her to answer the phone. Wondering if it was another musical group for Max to scout out, Frau Schmidt went into the small phone room and said politely into the receiver, "Von Trapp residence."
"Helen?" said a voice she had not expected but recognized immediately.
"Maria?" she exclaimed in a hushed voice. "Oh, my dear, it's so good to hear from you!" They had, of course, been exchanging letters, but the older woman had not heard the younger woman's voice since the day she had left. Remembering just why she had left, she started immediately, "How are you? Are you all right?"
"I'm…tolerable, Helen, and that's the best I can say right now," said Maria's quiet voice, which worried Helen. She'd never heard Maria sound so…resigned or, better yet, defeated before. "I need to speak to Max, could you get him? And please don't tell the Captain who is calling."
"Of course, my dear, I'll fetch him right now." Carefully, she set the receiver down on the table and hurried to the drawing room, where he and the whole family always gathered themselves after dinner.
"Herr Dettweiler, you have a telephone call," she said, giving nothing away.
Max looked a bit surprised but got up with a smile. Georg gave a mournful and exaggerated sigh from the sofa.
"I pity the poor group who has chosen you to exploit them, Max," he said.
Max gave a dramatic exclamation of distress and pressed a hand to his chest, bending backward to the delight of the children. "Et tu, Brute?" he said melodramatically, making them all laugh.
When he and Frau Schmidt were out of earshot of the room, the woman immediately took his arm and hurried them along. "It's Maria on the line. She doesn't want the Captain to know she's calling."
This made Max hurry along with her, and once he held the receiver to his face, he said, "Dear girl, are you all right? Do you…I mean have you…" Max didn't know how to voice his question. He knew that Georg had gone to the Abbey that morning to speak to the Reverend Mother and he could only think of one reason why.
"I know the Captain came to the Abbey this morning and his reason for doing so, Max," said Maria. "I…I need your help."
"Of course, Maria, what is it?"
He heard her gave a deep breath before making her request.
Georg was surprised to find that Max was waiting for him in his study when he entered it, having just put the children to bed. Max only did that if Georg asked him to. But Georg could see that Max had something important to say by the expression in his eyes.
"What are you doing between three and four tomorrow afternoon?"
Georg, after getting over the abrupt and immediate question, said, "I'll go to the abbey to try and see her, as usual."
"Actually, you won't."
Georg raised his eyebrows, taken aback. "Max, what is going on?"
Max seemed to loosen a bit and sighed. "That was Maria who called a little while ago."
Georg's eyes widened and immediately stepped up to Max. "What did she say? Is she all right? What do you know?"
"She says that tomorrow, between three and four o'clock tomorrow afternoon, she will be at the fountain in the Mirabell Gardens. And if you come, she will speak with you."
In surprise of the whole situation, and faced with the prospect of seeing her face-to-face for the first time since that day, Georg backed away slowly and sank onto the sofa. All he could manage to say was, "Thank you, Max," faintly.
Max, understanding he needed this time alone, excused himself for the evening, not envying his friend at all.
*I put this in because Julie Andrews is, in fact, a very talented whistler. For example, remember in "Mary Poppins" when she does the duet with the robin? She was, in reality, dueting herself, because she provided the whistling for the bird. Neat, huh?
A/N: I'm so glad to know that you are as happy about me using Dominik again as I am; it really was a difficult decision. And to those who do not like it, I will remind you that I asked, several chapters ago, whether or not you would like me to use him, and I heard no clear objections. So, you should have made your opinions known back them and not complain now.
