Chapter 11: What's in a Name

"Ahhh—ha!" The Captain exclaimed pulling her old hat out of the carpet bag that carried their few belongings as if he held a prize. "I told you I could get us dinner!"

Maria gave him the look again, the same look she had given him when he had yelled at her for not killing the bunny. Skeptical with a little bit of 'you're crazy' mixed in with it.

"And just how is my hat going to get us dinner, sir?"

The Captain made a great show of rolling his eyes as if her question were the stupidest he had ever heard.

"Surely Fraulein, you have heard of the time honored tradition of hat fishing?"

"Hat fishing, sir? No I don't think I've ever heard of it."

The Captain turned her hat over and over again in his hands, appraising it from every angle. "Certainly you have, oh I forgot…you've been locked away in an abbey for years. They probably don't teach such worldly things at the Abbey." Whenever he could the Captain would inject a bard or two about her abbey life. He had been doing it all day and Maria had had just about enough.

"You forget that I graduated from the State Teachers College for Progressive Education, sir."

"Well obviously they were too progressive for they failed to teach the past." He flipped her hat up in the air catching it with a flourish before it hit the ground, "You see hat fishing started centuries ago by our friends the Vikings. Why do you think they wore those huge helmets with the horns sticking out of the sides?" He gave her a moment to contemplate while he made up the rest of the story in his head, "They used the horns for handles and they would scoop the fish out of the water into their helmets. No need to carry extra equipment around with them while they were raping and pillaging the land. You need your hands free for that." He turned around giving her a wink, "The raping and pillaging part."

She narrowed her eyes at him. He could see the wheels turning in her mind. Finally she said, "I'm not sure I believe you."

He nodded his head at this, "I'm not sure I believe me either, but it sounded good, didn't it?"

And then she did the most amazing thing. She laughed. Whole heartedly and her entire face light up as did his insides. Stranger yet, he laughed with her.

He pumped the hat in her face, "Now let's see if I can make both of believers and catch us some dinner."

He walked to the shore of the lake, kicking off his shoes before entering the tepid water. It had been such a hot summer thus far that even the roaring water of the river was warmed from the summer rays. He went about two feet from the shore line then stopped short when he felt the ground under him about to drop off. He hadn't realized that Maria had followed him into the water. That was until she bumped directly into his back which sent him flying into the deeper part of the river. Face first and on his knees.

The current pushed him onto his back where he saw the Fraulein with one hand covering her mouth in horror and the other reached out to help him up.

"Oh Captain, I am so sorry. I didn't know you were going to stop there." He took the offered hand and pulled himself up with more effort than he would have had to use had he simply stood up himself. He had to be careful not to pull her into the water.

"Why are you always where you shouldn't be, Fraulein?" He managed to ask once he spit the water out of his mouth.

"Well I thought I could help. Plus I've never seen hat fishing before."

"I see, well, obviously you don't know how a marriage works. The husband…that's me," he pointed a finger into his chest, "gets the food. And the wife," he pointed a finger into her shoulder, "that's you, cooks the food. Not scares it away by pushing her husband into the water!" He spit the last words out while wiping the water off of his face.

"I didn't push you. I bumped into you." She looked down into the now murky water around them, "The fish will be back if we stand quiet enough."

"I didn't think quiet was a part of your personal vocabulary."

She cut him a look.

"I can be quiet when needed to be."

He dumped the water out of the hat, "And yet you're still talking." He made of show of looking intently into the water searching for fish while trying to ignore the look on her face.

"So are you."

"Do you always have to get the last word in?"

"No."

"And there she goes again."

"You asked me a question…"

"It was rhetorical and you…"

"And I answered it." He wasn't the only one who had the power to cut people off.

"Oh!" Now he was getting frustrated. "You just can't help yourself can you?"

"Hmmm…" she bit back the words on her tongue. Before she wouldn't let him get the last word in, now she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of winning the argument that she had to get the last word in.

"Hmmm…" he repeated back.

"Are you mimicking me?"

"Does it annoy you, Fraulein?" They fought a glaring contest for a minute. In her mind…she won. Only because she didn't cower down and boy by the look in his eyes, she should have.

"No it doesn't." She should have left well enough alone. Why she couldn't just let him win she didn't know. His face screwed into a thousand different frustrated looks. For a moment she thought he might have a stroke.

"Look," he pointed suddenly to the water at her feet, "a fish." She broke eye contact with him to see what he was looking at. As soon as she did, he shoved her right shoulder and sent her down into the water on her backside.

He stood over her with a satisfied smile playing on his lips, "Now we're even." He said leaving her in the water and returning to the riverbank. "You might as well get out of there now. We won't catch any fish in that water anytime soon."

When she finally made it back to camp, having fumed in the water for a while, the Captain was just finishing straightening out his hair and attire. Well as best he could given the circumstances. He had laid out the contents of the carpet bag on the lean-to. When she approached him he shoved the green shirt that he had stolen from the clothes line on their way into the small town two nights ago at her without turning around. She still had on the same dress as before and it was still just as see through as it had been earlier.

"Put this on." He instructed her, picking up her water logged hat as she took the garment from his hands. "I'm going to go and see if I have better luck up river."

"Yes sir." She watched his back as he retreated. Sometimes she forgot that she was his insubordinate. It was easy to forget, especially now, with him continuously calling them 'husband and wife'. Why the hell did he keep doing that? To irk her, she answered for him. The man was so….she caught herself on the last word when her eyes took note of the inner part of the lean-to. The Captain had not only used the pine boughs to make her an adequate shelter for the night, but he had also laid a bunch down on the ground to make a soft bed for her. Then he had went to the trouble of ripping the old piece of canvas from the small back of the surrey to cover the boughs so that the branches wouldn't poke her through the night. To make it all complete he had brought the cushioned seat from the surrey and topped the bed with it for a make shift pillow.

The man was so…sweet. No one had ever gone to so much trouble for her before. Just the thought that he had done all of this for her brought a tear to her eye. She made a mental note to stop giving him such a hard time from now on.

Thankfully the Captain was gone for a while. In that time Maria changed out of her wet clothes. When she put the Captains stolen shirt on it hung all the way down to her knees and she had to roll the sleeves up five times just to find her hands. She hung her wet dress and slip over a tree branch in hopes that the mild night breeze would dry it enough to wear in the morning. Then she took the silk skirt that she still had from the gypsy lady and wrapped it around her waist. It was wide enough that later she could use it for a blanket. The question was what would the Captain use and where would he sleep? He had only had enough material for one bed. Maybe he had meant it for him and not for her as she mistakenly thought earlier. But as soon as she thought it- she dismissed it. The Captain was many a thing, but first and foremost he was a gentleman. He would sleep on a rock if he had to, but the bed and lean-to was all for her.

Because of this, Maria spent the next few minutes searching the riverbank for something special just for the Captain. They may not have any dinner tonight, but she had something up her sleeve to make up for it. She was delighted when she found the patch of chamomile just like she had hoped she would where the riverbank opened into the forest on its sandy shore. And there was plenty of it. On her way back to the camp she even scored a small patch mint. The Captain would be very pleased, she was sure. They had had nothing to drink all day except well water in the small canteen that Nikola had given them and then bland river water. This makeshift tea she was about to make would be a treat for sure. And at least calm their hungry bellies that the crackers and half a sausage wouldn't fill.

She found two large logs with wide braches sticking out in the shape of a 'y' and placed them on either side of the fire. Then she found a sturdy enough branch to place in between the two forks. She hung the metal tin that Nikolas wife had packed their lunch in from the branch then filled the makeshift pot with water. Once it started a soft boil she added the chamomile flowers and the mint leaves to the water. Too bad they didn't have any sugar or milk. Then the tea would be delicious.

"Any you doubted me!" The Captain's sudden boast from behind her back made her jump. She turned to find him holding her hat upside down and out in front of him. She couldn't exactly see what was inside but from where she stood it looked bloody and gooey. "Our feast, me lady." His expression was one of complete and utter pride she couldn't help but look into the hat that he was thrusting into her sight. What she saw there made her jump back five feet.

"Ohhh…ahhh…" She exclaimed grabbing her heart through her chest.

"Oh come now," the Captain laid the hat on the ground. Picking up a stick near the fire he stoked at the flames. "I had heard that you didn't fancy live frogs, but these are dead. Certainly they can't scare you now."

When she had recovered from the shock of what the Captain thought was going to be their 'feast' tonight, she replied under her breath, "What is with you von Trapp boys and your frogs?"

He picked up a dead frog from the hat, its skin was gone as well as its head, but there was still no mistaken what it once was, and he waved it like an airplane in front of her face, "We von Trapp boys love frogs. We love to scare pretty little girls with them. But most of all," he picked up a long stick from the ground and jabbed it through the frogs innards, "we love to eat them. They are more delicious than caviar."

Maria had to turn from the sight while the Captain chuckled at being able to disgust her so easily.

"Oh what do we have here?" He questioned while looking into the pot she had set up, "A witches brew?" He teased.

Maria cocked her jaw to the side, "Tea."

"Lovely, now it is a feast!"

The Captain set to task spiking each of the six frogs that he had caught and skinned. Then he placed each over the fire while Maria tended to the tea. In the end, she did try the frog legs with the Captains constant nagging. She had to admit that they weren't too bad. Tasted like salty chicken, really. She ate one to his five. She watched in silent horror as he sucked the meat off of each one, savoring the taste. Meanwhile, she chewed on the remaining mint leaves to get the slime out of her mouth. They saved the crackers and the sausage for their breakfast.

While she was cleaning up the remains of their dinner, the Captain stood with his hands on his hips gazing out at the flowing waters of the river. It was completely dark at this point, the only light being the moonlight and that of the fire. But where he stood underneath the branches of an overhanging tree she could barely just make out his silhouette. Even with that, she saw a look about him she had never really seen at home before. He looked utterly relaxed. His shoulders no longer appearing like they held up the weight of the world and even through the darkness she could see the gleam of his smile. This was the man whose shadow would appear once in a while at home when it thought no one was looking.

He could feel her watching him, appraising him. Here he was, a rich man who provided for his family in every means. But when he found that bundle of bull frogs and knew that Maria wouldn't go hungry tonight he felt primal. This was an aspect of life that he never truly had to experience-providing for oneself-he actually kind of liked it. Maybe it would be even more fun if he shared with her the other thing that he found while he had been out and about. Before he knew it his feet were bounding towards her, ready for another adventure.

"Do you want to see something?" He asked like an excited child.

"I…ah… guess so?" Was her unsure answer which made him laugh in anticipation. In a move that surprised the life out of her, he yanked the silk skirt from her body throwing the material onto her makeshift bed.

"Captain!" She gasped in horror and he laughed harder.

"We have to cross the river. I couldn't let you get your blanket wet now could I?" He grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her towards the shallow part of the river bank where Maria had crossed before. "And would you please refer to me by my first name, Maria?"

She stopped short in the ankle high water half way across the river.

"Captain-that would be—improper."

"Here we are again with this argument of 'improper'. I think in our case Maria we need to make up our own rules to this argument. You are technically more my wife than you are my governess."

She crossed her arms over her chest at this declaration. For a moment she scrutinized him with distrusting eyes and he feared she may have remembered parts since forgotten. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well," he rubbed his chin. This all seemed like a cute way to tease her only a minute ago, now he nervous he might have opened a memory that he wished would stay forever locked away in that head of hers. "I can fire you as my governess. I can't exactly 'fire' you as my wife. For that I have to hire a lawyer, go to your church leaders for counsel, and sign legal documentation. So therefore, right now you are more my wife than my governess. And as your husband I am asking that you use my given name when referring to me."

She bit her bottom lip, "Yes but..I just don't know…"

"My name?" He cut her off before she could argue, "its Georg." He held his hand out for her to shake, "I'm Georg von Trapp, a pleasure to meet you." When she didn't take his outstretched hand he waved it in front of her like a fish. Then he gave up and grabbed her hand with his other forcefully placing hers into his. "And you are?"

She made a face but played along with him, "I'm Maria Rain…"

"No you're not." He interrupted her once again. "You are Maria von Trapp." He corrected her much to her annoyance.

"Why do you keep doing that?" She ripped her hand out of his. "This situation that we are in isn't something to joke about Captain!"

"Georg." He corrected her while being on his guard to duck if she struck out at him in violence. When she didn't he tugged her hand and forced her to keep following him across the river. "And I wasn't joking." He continued the conversation once he had gotten her safely across the river and onto the river bank. "You are Maria von Trapp in all legal sense."

"You know what I mean," was her exasperated comeback.

"Yes but, do you know what I mean?" He gave her a crooked smile that the moonlight lit up. Again she scrutinized him with those eyes. Oh yes, Fraulein, the game is afoot, he said to her in his mind, you should be afraid…very afraid. For I rarely lose. He grabbed her by the hand again and yanked her towards his discovery, "Now come on. You're going to love this!"