Morning Came to the Villa
It was still dark when the bells from Nonnberg Abbey sounded. The only persons who were awake to hear them were Max and Franz.
Franz had quietly left his room and proceeded down the back stairs and exited the villa through the kitchen door. He made his way to the garage where Georg's car was parked. He quietly drove it around the side of the villa and parked it the circle in front of the villa.
Max was never an early riser. He had set an alarm clock to wake him before the sun would rise. Max always dressed impeccably. His choice of clothing this morning was a less fancy suit. He was wearing a tan tweed suit with a white shirt and a simple bow-tie.
He left his room and hurried down the stairs and out the front door.
"Franz, you need to give me directions to the Abbey."
"It's pretty easy to find. Follow the lane to the street past the church and turn left. That road will take you across the Salzach River. Stay on that street. In front of you will be a high hill. The street you're on will connect to the road leading up to the Abbey. You will see the Abbey gate on your left. Be careful my friend."
"I will and I wish you well with your task of telling everyone what happened."
"Thanks Max. It's not going to be easy."
Franz watched Max get in the car and immediately press down on the accelerator and make dust trails as he drove away. He continued to drive fast until he came to the bridge across the river. He easily found the road leading up the high hill Franz had described.
Max was forced him to drive at a much slower speed. And just as Franz had told him, the road ended at a plaza in front of the gate.
The sun was just peaking over the horizon when Max found the rope to ring the bell. A Sister came immediately. Max wasted no time before he spoke.
"I must speak to Maria."
"Maria sir?"
"Yes, the Maria who was sent to be the governess for Captain von Trapp's children."
"She's in seclusion. She hasn't spoken to anyone."
"Sister, Captain von Trapp is in German custody. I'm sure she can help me free him. She wouldn't want his seven motherless children to be orphans."
"No she wouldn't. I'll go speak to her."
Within only a couple of minutes, Maria came running to the gate. "Max, what happened?"
"The unthinkable, Maria. A man Georg despised had been invited to the party. You may have seen him as you walked through the ballroom to see the children."
"You must be talking about the short man with the odd mustache. I heard him speaking about the flag the captain had hung in the hall to another man."
"That was him. After the last guest left, Georg went outside to get some fresh air. That man ambushed him. Five men came out of nowhere and bound and gagged him and led him to a car.
"Maria, I heard that man tell the others to take him to a camp on a plateau of the Untersberg Mountain."
Maria had heard enough. Without any hesitation she responded.
"Max, I know all about this plateau. Sister Margareta, please tell the Reverend Mother I'm leaving the Abbey with Max."
"I will Maria. I'm sure you have her blessing."
"Max, give me a minute to retrieve my hiking gear from the storage room."
While Max waited, Sister Margareta spoke to him.
"Ever since Maria went to the captain's home we've been praying for him. The Mother Abbess knew about his expertise as a submarine captain; she suspected the Germans would want him to serve in their navy. I'm sure she never thought he would be taken into custody by them."
As she finished her sentence, Maria appeared.
"I'm ready, Max."
Max was startled by Maria's appearance. He saw this beautiful young woman, whom he had heard sing about her favorite things, a song about tea and jam and one about flirty goats and goat herders, now looked like a true mountain climber.
Maria stood there wearing a coil of rope on her shoulder and holding a hiker's pick in her hand.
"I'm ready, Max. Let's go."
"Maria, please get word to us that you are safe."
"I'll try, Sister."
Sister Margareta watched them walk away. She hurried to the office of the Mother Abbess. And Max and Maria hurried to the car.
"Maria, you need to tell me which way to go."
Maria's directions took them down the hill and back across the Salzach River.
"Max, stay on this road. The Untersberg Mountain is about ten miles away."
Max sped on this hilly, curvy road as fast as he could. Maria had more directions as they came closer to the base of this mountain.
"Max, now take the road which is used for car racing up the side of the mountain."
Max took this rode at a much slower speed than race-car drivers would. After making several hairpin turns he arrived below a cliff. And he had the same assessment Georg had.
"That cliff is very steep, Maria."
"I know it is. Follow the road until you come to that overhanging rock."
Max followed the road but stopped the car abruptly as two men exited from the cave under that rock. They both had long hair and bushy beards. And they were wearing a long extra-large tunic with matching pants which appeared to be made out of blankets.
Max was alarmed. He shouted.
"We need to get out of here!"
"No Max, I know them."
Maria immediately opened the car door and got out.
"Hello, Waldo and Withers."
"Maria, what are you doing here? There's a German encampment on the ledge above."
"I know. They have a friend of ours in their custody. I need your help to free him."
"Will do anything you need us to do, Maria."
"Can you help me attached my rope to that rock protrusion beneath the ledge?"
"Sure, that's easy. We scale this cliff often. What's the rest of your plan?"
"I'm going to climb up and sit on the protrusion. I have a whistle to use. I know my friend will recognize its sound. I'm sure he will come to the edge and see me. He'll know I came to rescue him."
"And we can scale the cliff and scare the daylights out of those men. We know none of them are real soldiers. During all the commotion you can tell your friend to drop to the protrusion and follow your instructions to use the rope to climb down."
"Yes, that's my plan. And Max, you need to turn the car around to be prepared to leave quickly. And then you will need to hold the rope taunt for the captain to be able to use it to get down from the rock.
After Max turned the car around he watched these two men scale this cliff like monkeys and securely attached this rope, with many knots in it, around this large protrusion. And then they both continued to the plateau, so they could be there to distract Herr Zeller and the others. They weren't noticed. They hid in some brush.
Now Max stood silent and still, almost holding his breath. He watched Maria easily use the rope to climb up to the rock protrusion.