Authors note: PLEASE READ! Hello dear readers! I have some news, after some serious debate and disscusion i decided that if my muse would not kick in i needed to bring help and that is indeed what i have done. This fanfiction is now not only written by myself but also the lovely 'lovesbroadway' author of 'Journeys' so you will now enjoy the engenious fiction of both our imaginations! And with that let the story continue, this chapter curtisy of 'lovesbroadway' ENJOY! :D

Part 10

After a quick breakfast, Maria and Roxanne found a cozy hotel to check into and strolled around Innsbruck to take in their surroundings. It was a crisp day and Maria felt at ease for the first time in months being out in the fresh air. The Alps were in the distance and it made her miss her home and family that much more.

Roxanne's voice brought her back to reality.

"Maria, did you hear me?"

"What? I'm sorry, Rox, I suppose I was daydreaming a bit." Maria said with a quick smile.

Roxanne chuckled at her friend's flighty behavior.

"I said, don't you think we should stake out this Rashel Braun's house? Try to see what we're up against?"

"I think that's exactly what we should do."

They went off together to gather information for their investigation.

O0o0o0o0o0

It was a particularly rough day for the rest of the Von Trapps. Sure, they all had put on brave faces for their father, but all of the children were hurting inside from Maria's capture. They wouldn't have known it, but Georg was hurting most. After years of suppressing his emotions over the loss of Agathe, he was now devastated over the loss of Maria. Helen tried to keep him positive, but even with her placating him constantly, Georg didn't truly believe there was any real hope for his family.

He had ducked out of the hotel early that night to get some fresh air. Georg thought he was alone with his thoughts when he heard someone whimpering around the corner. Georg followed the sound of crying only to find Louisa sitting on one of the back benches sobbing.

"Sshhh, hey it's alright. What's the matter?"

Louisa wiped her eyes on the back of her hands and looked up at her father, who was now cradling her in his arms.

"It's not fair! It's just not fair! What did we do to deserve this all over again?"

Georg was at a loss for words, but tried his best to soothe his daughter.

"Everything will be fine, trust me, schatz. I promise we'll make it through this."

"But how do you know? We don't even know if she's alive?" Louisa practically screamed up at her father.

"I don't...but I promise you we'll make it through this."

O0o0o0o0o0

Maria and Roxanne had found Rashel Braun's house without any incident. They had done about a half dozen casual laps around it, mentally taking notes.

"So what do you think?" Roxanne took a sip of her wine as the duo sat at an outdoor cafe for dinner.

"It looks innocent from the outside, but..."

"But what?"

Maria took a bite from her sandwich and wiped her hands off on her napkin.

"Didn't you find it odd how the entire time we were surveying her home that we didn't see anyone moving around inside, yet all the lights were on?"

"So. Maybe she was in one room and forgot to turn the lights off in the other?"

Maria smirked at her friend.

"Do you hear how lame and hollow that explanation is?"

Roxanne blushed slightly at her friend's criticism.

"So what you're saying is that nobody was home then?"

"Exactly!" Maria exclaimed, forgetting about her meal completely. She leaned closer to Roxanne across the table, fully engaged in their conversation now.

"We must have walked around there for almost an entire hour. And do you remember what the man in the market said who gave us directions? No? He said she very RARELY leaves her home, doesn't make any trouble, but stays in most of the time."

Roxanne's eyes lit up. Finally catching on to her friend's train of thought.

"Wait a second, Maria, you don't think that-" But Maria cut her off, settling back in her chair, content with her friend catching up to speed.

"Precisely, Roxanne...that's not her real home. I'm thinking she uses that house as a front for her smuggling business."

"So that means she must use a tunnel or something to transport the people she's hiding from that house to another!"

Maria nodded triumphantly at their revelation.

"Well I'll be damned...we need to find a way into that house then," Roxanne said. Feeling a bit like celebrating, they ordered more wine and finished their meal.

O0o0o0o0o0

Rashel didn't like taking on more than a few clients at once. It looked suspicious having strangers coming into her house randomly. So that was why she only had Max and Elsa under her watch now. Normally there'd be another couple or two in her care, but she had moved the previous clients earlier than usual, so she had some down time only keeping an eye on these two new ones.

She had grown a littler more attentive than usual, given Elsa's medical state. What she must have endured to be shot at and left in such a condition, made Rashel shudder at the thought.

And she didn't usually spend most of her time down through the cellar tunnel into the small cottage where she smuggled her clients, but Rashel had taken a liking to Max and Elsa. She was very much intrigued by their story. Max, the best friend of Austria's finest Baron Georg Von Trapp, and Elsa, his once fiance, and how they came to be lovers after Georg fell in love with his children's governess, who was a former Nazi spy, who he married, who was taken by the Nazis. It made her head spin

Elsa's wounds were healing nicely, however, as Rashel delivered fresh gauze and medical tape to tend to her tender areas. When she had finished cleaning Elsa up, Max came back into the room.

"Everything all right?"

"Yes, darling. Almost as good as new." Elsa smiled up at him from her position on the couch.

"Thank you very much, Rashel. You don't know how much we appreciate this."

"Sshhh...think nothing of it Max. It's my pleasure to help out people like yourselves who aren't willing to cower to those Nazi bastards."

Max smiled gratefully at their new friend and bent down to tend to Elsa. Rashel took this as her cue to slip out. She carefully and quietly made her way back through the tunnel from the cottage to her house. When she walked up the staircase from her cellar she cursed herself, realizing she had literally left on all of the lights in the downstairs.

I need to be more careful...what if someone were to walk by right now?

Authors note: I hope you enjoyed that chapter and hopefully the next one will be up soon! Please review and tell us what you think, it's always and absaloute pleasure to hear what you think! :D