Chapter 2: It's Too Cold…
The weather had changed rapidly for the worse overnight. I don't know if it was because it was early in the morning, but all I knew that we were probably going to freeze if we stayed out there too long. The cave had stayed toasty, luckily, due to such little wind bouncing to and from the sky and clouds.
Swallows and Amazons lay beside me, tucked away under my coat. It also seemed like I was the first to wake, unusually, as light snoring sounds could be heard from my siblings beside me. I buttoned up my coat, letting out a little sigh, grabbed my book and climbed out of the cave.
Father was out here, looking down towards the village. He, like the rest of us, was distraught to leave. The obvious reason, the house was all we had left of our real mother… He must have heard my feet sliding through the dew-damp grass, because he had turned to face me.
"I see two of us are ready to go," he took my hand, patting it gently, before pulling me into a hug.
Honestly, I don't know if I'll ever be used to father's hugs. It had been so long, the last hug I really got from him was when I was about Gretl's age, when mother was still alive. He finally let go, walking quietly back over to the cave, his usually confident shoulders slightly hunched. Gracefully sitting down on a smooth rock, I opened my book and continued to read.
I wonder, when we get to the safe place, if mother will translate any more books for me to read. It keeps me calm and distracted, taking me to a warm and sunny place. I play with the Walkers and the Blacketts and we fish, sail and swim in the freezing waters. That sounds like a nice life, no wars, just a quiet, peaceful valley for the children to play in. That was what ours was like, until those horrid Nazis arrived and ruined it all. `
"Do," I heard Gretl say loudly, so I peered over the edge of my book.
"Re," Marta continued.
"Mi," I flipped the book shut, gently stuffing it into my coat pocket.
"Fa, So, La, Ti," everyone else said their notes in a very flat tone, rather than our usual happy tune.
Other than father calling us by our names, being kind and such, I felt like I was in our home again, before Maria came. She taught us music, taught us how to have fun. She changed father's mind, which we all thought was impossible. Now that we were leaving the only thing we ever knew, there was a silent, melancholic mood hanging around us like rain on the coldest day.
I heard Liesl or Friedrich say it. I asked father what it meant, and he said it meant sadness or something. Melancholic… Such a lonely sounding word. I like it, it's unique. Like us I guess. Once again, I was at the back of the group. Mother, however, didn't have to carry either the little ones because they had promised to walk on their own, so she hung back with me.
"I see you're enjoying your book," in her hand was a beautiful, snow white edelweiss.
"Thanks for translating it for me," I replied, allowing her to put her arm around me.
"For a girl so young, I'm surprised you like reading at all. Most men want women to just know how to clean, cook and care for their children," she pointed out, carefully handing me the edelweiss so I could look at it better.
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and white, clean and bright
You look happy to meet me
Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever
I glanced up at mother, hearing the words quietly slip from her tongue. She kept her voice down, but I could still hear it. It was like she was trying to comfort herself, like I do with my books.
"Why are you so quiet?" I asked anyway, "I love your singing mother."
Every time any of us referred to her as 'mother', her eyes would gleam, and her voice would become sweet and soft like honey. I'm surprised we even considered slipping that frog in her pocket. We were heartless. No, we were lost. Lost is a better word, but it also states the truth. Without the music and life Maria brought, where would we be now?