Maria sat on the grass with her 7 children. The Alps were as beautiful in Switzerland as they had been in Austria. The familiarity was both comforting and eerie. She thought back to the first time she had taken them on a picnic. It wasn't so long ago, and yet how many things had changed. Most of the children were lying down, some already starting to doze off. She watched Louisa roll on to her side and face away from the rest of them. Maria knew that Louisa was pretending to be asleep, but soon would actually fall asleep. She thought of her spirited 13 year old and imagined how sad and confused she must be feeling and what it must be taking for Louisa to be acting as encouraged as she was. Before Louisa fell asleep, Maria walked over to her and sat beside her. She stroked Louisa's hair back from her face, leaned over and kissed her on the check. While Maria was bent over she laid her head against Louisa's and whispered "This isn't easy for any of us, and I can't imagine how difficult it must be for you. You are being amazing. Somehow, I don't know how, this will all work out."
Those words were balm to Louisa's soul, and she suddenly felt less alone. She rolled over to face Maria and gave her a sad but loving smile. Looking into Louisa's eyes, Maria realized that this smile was the most genuine smile she had seen from her on this entire trip. Maria bent over again to kiss Louisa on the forehead, relieved to see a genuine smile out of her even if it was small, and whispered a simple "I love you, Louisa." She sat next to her for a few more minutes stroking her hair, and then got up to check on the rest of the children.
As Maria sat back down in the middle of the group the children had formed she heard a small voice ask "Where has father gone? Why has he left us here?" Maria looked up and saw that the question had come from Marta. Although Marta would often speak in a soft voice, Maria had never heard her sound quite so small or scared. Maria gestured for Marta to come closer, and when she did so Maria pulled her into her lap so that she could better comfort and hug her small daughter. Maria answered loudly enough so that anyone else who was awake could hear her, but not so loud that she would wake anyone up. "He thinks there might be people living in the valley below, which is very good because it means we aren't far from a proper Swiss village. He's gone to see, though, if we can get any food or a place to sleep from the people in the valley. That way we wouldn't have to wait until we reach the village. But your father would never take you any place that wasn't safe for all of us, so he's gone to see if it is. He will be back soon."
Marta heaved a deep shuddering sigh that sounded half like a sob. "Is father going to be okay?" she asked in the same small voice. "Are the people with the black spider there? Could he get hurt?" Maria hugged Marta tighter and rested her cheek against Marta's head for a moment, and her heart went out to this small, scared girl. Then she turned Marta around in her lap so that she could look Marta in the eyes. She wanted Marta to know that she was serious. "Your father is going to be fine. He is strong, he knows how to take care of himself and he's going to be careful. We are in Switzerland now, which means that the people with the black spider aren't here anymore, and they can't take him. He just loves you so much that he wants to make sure that whoever is living in the valley would take good care of all of us before he takes us down there. He's going to be fine, and he will be back soon. I promise you."
Marta burst into tears and Maria held her close, letting her cry into her shoulder. Maria's maternal heart knew that these were tears of relief and realized how scared Marta must have been for Georg. As she thought more about it, she realized that Georg – though distant at times – had probably been the most forceful and constant presence in Marta's life. Marta must have been too young to remember losing her mother, and the possibility of losing her father over the last few days must have shaken her deeply. She was so glad to have reassured Marta and made a mental note to tell Georg to be very reassuring to Marta as well. Eventually Marta's tears subsided and turned into yawns. Maria kept holding her until she fell asleep and then laid her gently on the ground.
Maria had been in tune with the children since she had first opened her heart to them – and they to her. Yet something about officially joining the family, actually being their mother, had awakened an even deeper instinct in her. She realized that she was starting to experience a maternal instinct for all seven children, and it was powerful. Something told her to go check on Brigitta, and so she moved over to her fifth child, sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her, pulling Brigitta close to her. Brigitta stiffened. All she had wanted was the love and attention of her parents, and here was her mother giving it to her and she didn't know how to respond. Maria didn't let go of her, though, sensing that this was exactly what Brigitta needed. Eventually Brigitta began to relax. Maria, knowing that Brigitta possessed an intelligence, awareness and curiosity that was well beyond her years, finally spoke and asked her "Brigitta, what do you understand about what's happening in Austria and why we had to leave?"
Brigitta ran her fingers through the grass and was quiet for several moments. "Austria isn't its own country anymore? It's a part of Germany now?" she asked quietly. Maria's heart broke once again for this other small girl, only ten years old and living in such a changing world. "That's right," she said. "And father doesn't like it," Brigitta continued. "No," Maria agreed "your father doesn't like it." "What do you think about it?" Maria asked after a few more moments. "I don't understand how Austria can just become part of another country," Brigitta said "there wasn't any fighting or anything." "No there wasn't," Maria agreed again. "The man who is in charge of Germany right now was born in Austria," Maria explained. "Hitler," Brigitta said bitterly. "Yes, Hitler. And he's gotten very powerful and wanted Austria to join Germany so that together they could be a bigger empire. Eventually enough Austrians agreed with him and that's how this happened with no fighting," Maria responded.
The pair sat together looking at the beautiful Swiss countryside, Maria's arm around Brigitta and Brigitta's head on Maria's shoulder. They were quiet for several more minutes. Finally Brigitta spoke again. "I don't like Hitler," she said. "Why not?" Maria asked. "I think he wants to make more countries part of Germany and I don't think that's right," Brigitta responded. "And I think he only likes people who agree with him. He didn't even give father a choice. I think people should be allowed to have opinions without becoming criminals for them, or being forced to leave their homes. I think there's something very wrong with what's happening," she concluded, and began to cry.
"Oh, darling," Maria said as she held her daughter, "When I was younger, not much older than you, we were at war. It felt very wrong too. No one in the world had ever seen a war like that. It felt like the world was ending. But somehow the war ended and the world didn't, and good things still happened." "After all," she added with a smile "I got the chance to meet you, and your brothers and sisters, and got to be your new mother. I could never have imagined anything as wonderful as that. As wonderful as you."
Brigitta started to smile through her tears and realized she was hardly crying anymore. She listened as Maria kept talking "I think sometimes very bad things can happen. Bad people can rise to power. But no matter what, there is still good in people and ultimately that will always prevail. It always has before. It's what has us love each other, it's what has us sing, it's even why all of those people sang with us at the festival. And God is stronger than any person on earth. When He closes a door, someway He opens a window. I know that right now it seems as though all the doors are closed, but I think that wonderful windows are going to be opened for us in Switzerland, windows we can't even imagine. Just as I couldn't have imagined anything as wonderful as you and being able to be your mother."
Brigitta's eyes filled with tears again but they weren't tears of sadness and fear. She loved her new mother very much and it meant everything to her to feel so loved in return. Brigitta thought of the way that Maria had changed their entire family – especially father. It was something no one could have predicted, and she was comforted by the thought that good things could be as unpredictable as bad things. She suddenly realized how sleepy she was and let out a huge yawn. "Why don't you get some sleep before your father gets back," Maria suggested. "I'm very tired," Brigitta agreed. Maria kissed her on the forehead before Brigitta curled up on the ground and fell asleep.