A Time to Sneak
Only when the gates were securely locked did Maria and Georg take one last look at their villa. All lights were off, all curtains drawn, all doors locked – the house and grounds were now completely empty. It was no longer their home – it was just a shell of what it had once been.
To Maria, she was suddenly drawn back to a very early memory, just after her parents had died. A person from the church had put her in their car and taken her away from the now-empty cottage she'd lived in with her parents; it was after the funeral and after she had packed her things. As the car had driven away, Maria had turned in her seat to watch the cottage until it had completely disappeared. Through her tears, she had seen that empty cottage disappear, realizing she had no home anymore.
Looking at the villa, Maria felt that same sadness now, of looking at a place that was once home and realizing it's gone. But when she felt Georg pull her into an embrace, Maria returned it and realized that this time was different. Because now she knew with certainty that she would have a new home very soon.
The couple walked the hour-long walk to the Abbey in silence, either holding hands or with an arm around each other. Both knew that silence was best, because they had to be invisible. The quarter-moon and stars provided just enough light for them to know where they were going, but not bright enough to expose them at most angles.
The plan was perfectly imprinted in their minds, and they knew what they had to do. When they reached the abbey, they would get Dominik and then walk the short distance to the train station. In their jacket pockets were the tickets and travel papers, and they carried one suitcase in their hands each. Their train left the station a few minutes before dawn, and the ride would take a few hours to get to Zurich.
Both were fast walkers, so they were able to get to the abbey with time to spare. But when the church and building came into sight, both immediately stopped in shock and hid themselves in the shadow of the next building.
A big black car with Nazi flags on it was parked just outside the abbey gates.
"Oh, no, what are they doing here?" breathed Maria, feeling panic rise in her heart as she thought of the worst: they had found out their plan, they knew Georg was still alive, they would take him political prisoner, they would capture her too, and they would never see each other or the children again.
Sensing her rising panic, Georg, who was standing behind her, wrapped an arm around her waist so she could rest against him. He steadied her and whispered in her ear, "If they knew I was alive, they would have come to the villa much sooner. And even if they had only found out today, this car makes no sense. Leave aside the fact that both Max and Hans would never betray us; they would bring more than just that one car in order to capture a rogue soldier. No…they're not here for me."
Maria felt herself relax ever so slightly, knowing Georg was telling the truth. "Then why are they here?" she whispered in silent fear, fearing for both her brother and the sisters inside.
"I don't know," said Georg, kissing her temple in another attempt to soothe her. "But we obviously can't go in that way. How else can we get in, Maria? You told me you often would sneak out to go to your mountain, and I'm guessing you couldn't very well sneak out or in through the front entrance."
Glad that she now had a task to do, Maria nodded, took his head and led the way with a "follow me" command. They sneaked around the large structure, watching and hearing for any sound that would prove to be trouble. It was very quiet outside, with it being such an early hour. Finally, they came to what was the garden wall. Maria climbed up the tree right by it that she would often climb as a child and peaked over the wall. To her immense relief, Sister Margaretta was sitting on one of the stone benches, her hands folded and her head bowed. Maria looked down at him and nodded, so he quickly climbed up after her.
The nun immediately looked up when she heard a lot of rustling in the tree that couldn't have been due to the gentle breeze. She felt fear at first but that soon changed to immense joy and relief upon seeing the familiar face of Maria in the moonlight – though the two women had not seen each other in nearly a year, they knew each other on sight.
Sister Margaretta rushed to Maria as she climbed down the ivy along the wall and jumped off. The two women shared an embrace as Georg made his way down.
"Oh, Maria!" said Sister Margaretta in a very soft voice that hid none of her emotions. "And Captain Von Trapp! Thank God you're both all right!"
"Sister, what's happening?" asked Maria in just as quiet of a voice, her fear mounting again. Georg joined them.
"Oh, Maria, it's this awful man called Zeller. He says he's come for you."
The way she said those words left neither Maria or Georg in doubt about Zeller's intention. Maria felt herself become nauseous, and Georg walked a distance from them to pace and curse under his breath, his hands balled into tight fists.
"Where is my brother?" asked Maria, wanting nothing more than to get away from - as Georg called him - "that rat bastard."
"He's waiting in the stone graveyard," said Sister Margaretta. "Only the Reverend Mother, Sister Berthe and myself know you three are passing through, and we are taking no chances. That means when Zeller and his soldiers interrogate the sisters, they'll be able to tell them the truth: they don't know, you're not here."
The two women managed to exchange a brief smile before becoming serious again. "How many are there?" asked Maria.
"Just that Zeller and two other soldiers," replied Sister Margaretta. "And they've already searched the garden so they will not come back here."
Maria gave a deep breath, nodded, and walked to her husband, taking his hands to stop him. "Georg, stay here. I'm going to get Dominik."
She saw a flash of fear cross Georg's eyes. "No, Maria, you won't go alone, I'm going with you."
"No, Georg, don't be foolish! You're presumed dead and Zeller knows who you are. They find you and you are dead – I am not going to lose you."
"And I am not going to lose you!" Georg said in his loudest whisper, for the three were still speaking in harsh tones. Georg grabbed her shoulders to bring her closer to him, and she saw even more clearly the fear in his eyes. "Maria, they may be armed."
"I'll be fine," said Maria. "I know every passage of this abbey and every hiding place. All I'm going to do is get Dominik and we will come right back here. It will take fifteen minutes at most, count if you like. I will be all right."
"And how will I know that?" he asked her, now holding her to him and their faces nearly touching.
Maria cupped his face. "Your plan at sea could have gone wrong at any stage, and yet you told me to believe I would come back to you no matter what I heard. Will you give me that chance now? Will you now believe that I will do everything to come back to you?"
It looked like it was taking a lot for Georg to finally nod. "You come back to me, you hear me?" he breathed desperately.
Maria, not caring that Sister Margaretta was watching, initiated a very passionate and desperate kiss between the two. When Maria managed to pull her mouth away from his, she whispered in his ear, "I promise," and hurried away from him, out of the garden and into the building.
When she had disappeared, Georg let himself collapse onto a stone bench, holding his head in his hands. Sister Margaretta sat beside him to keep watch and try and comfort him.
The Abbey had, thankfully, not changed at all since she had left. Though Maria had once held somewhat of a reputation for causing a commotion everywhere she went, she had matured quite a lot in the past year – which often happens when one becomes a wife and mother. So she was able to move as quietly as a ghost through the dark stone hallways, which was lucky for the stone graveyard was on the opposite side of the building from the garden. She heard and saw nothing suspicious, which she didn't know was either good or bad. She hoped they had given up and left; the twenty-two-year-old hated the thought of the sisters being interrogated and harassed on account of her.
Finally, she made it to the stone graveyard and hurried inside the massive room. The room was so vast and pretty dark, but the small amount of moon-and-starlight coming in reflected off every surface.
"Dom?" she whispered, just that small sound echoing off every gravestone.
Immediately, she saw a curly head pop up from behind one of the gravestones on the other side of the vast room. But they barely had time to exchange a smile when they heard footsteps and enraged yelling approach. Right away, Dominik's head disappeared and Maria dived for the nearest gravestone, hiding in its shadow and crouching as low as she could, making herself as small as possible.
Several pairs of footsteps entered into the stone courtyard, the crude noises even uglier as they've echoed. "Sir, please, she's not here, we should leave."
Zeller's harsh voice cut through the air. "No, she has to be here."
"The general will have your head if he hears about this! Barging into a convent of nuns to -"
"I'm well aware of that," Zeller snapped, cutting him off.
"We've searched everywhere, sir, and there isn't a trace of her! Or you haven't recognized her in a –" The young, frightened voice was cut off again.
"I could recognize that slut anywhere," Zeller growled. "That bitch humiliated me once, and now that her pathetic captain is rotting at the bottom of the sea, there is nothing else protecting her. I vowed when she left this scar on my hand that she would pay, and I intend on making that happen."
"But, sir, that fits into that elder nun's description of her: headstrong and always wandering off! She isn't anywhere in this building, and so she must have run away!"
The briefest of pauses. "Search this room, and start over there."
Where? Maria thought in panic, thinking of Dominik. But a pair of footsteps were approaching her, and fast. She felt her body freeze in terror.
Everything that happened next happened in a span of several seconds, but Maria would remember every detail for the rest of her life.
"Hey! What are you doing here?"
New terror flooded Maria as she recognized Dominik's voice. His exclamation was immediately followed by a frightened gasp and a very loud sound that the echoes made ten times worse: a gunshot.
Maria peered out from behind a gravestone just in time to watch her brother collapsed to the stone floor.
At that moment, the only mercy was that Maria's scream was silent.
