The Lonely Goatherd – Chapter 2
Despite Margaretta being absolutely certain that the Captain would come and find Maria at the hospital, he did not. Maria didn't particularly mind; she was far too busy tending to the many wounded and sick sailors that had been brought into the hospital as each navy ship came back into port. Therefore, by the following week, she had practically forgotten about the handsome Captain and their ill-fated meeting at The Lonely Goatherd tavern. It was only when Sister Berthe instructed her, Margaretta, Sophia and several of the other nurses to go down to the docks to help unload and transport some wounded sailors to the hospital that Maria thought of the Captain once more.
As they arrived at the dockside, Maria could see several regiments lined up and in front of them, in full Navy dress uniform complete with sword and cap, was the Captain. Although he was a distance away, Maria recognized him instantly: his aristocratic profile, his stiff and erect posture and his commanding presence.
Before Maria could move, she heard some of the other nurses whispering behind her. "Ooo! That's Captain von Trapp!" one remarked. "Don't you mean, Captain von Jackass?" Margaretta countered with a snarl.
Maria turned around surprised by the insult. "You've certainly changed your tune from last week when you were calling him Captain von Handsomepants," she remarked dryly to her friend. "What happened?"
"Haven't you heard, Maria?" Margaretta replied with an exasperated sigh. "That's what all the men call him."
"Why?" Maria was curious.
"It's because of the way he treats his men," the young nurse began to explain.
"Why? Is he cruel?" Maria wanted to know.
"Hmm, not cruel as such," Margaretta clarified. "No, in fact apparently he commands one of the best run ships in the fleet. Furiously protective of his men, but his command is the strictest in the entire navy and he is fierce. The Captain refuses to let his men get up to anything while they're at sea, apart from what he commands them to do. No laughter, no music, no fun or no games, nothing except whistles, marching and drills. No wonder all his men long to come to shore just to get away from being under his watchful sight."
"How do you know all this?" Maria inquired.
"Oh, just one of his men was telling me the other day as I gave him his sponge bath," Margaretta replied with a wink. Maria rolled her eyes, knowing just how much Margaretta enjoyed her time giving sponge baths to navy sailors.
"Anyway," Margaretta continued with a voice of authority on the subject, "everyone despises him and with an attitude towards his men like that, it's no wonder the Captain doesn't have any friends, apart from Lieutenant Detweiller, that is. I think you certainly dodged a bullet, Maria when you told him 'no' the other night."
The other nurses agreed with a nod. Maria felt confused. While she sensed a darkness and intensity about the Captain the other night when they'd met at the tavern, she had no idea that he fostered such disharmony between his men. But when he'd spoken to her, he had seemed so charming. He certainly presented two completely different personas depending on whom he was interacting with.
While Maria was deep in thought, all the nurses were beckoned over to the ship where the injured men were being prepared for transport to the hospital.
But as the other nurses wandered off towards the ship, Maria hung back behind to watch the Captain while he led his men through their morning drill. He was blowing a whistle in time to his men marching about the dock. The march finished with a shrill blast of the whistle and the men halted in their spots and stood to attention. Then, as the Captain sharply blew different and individual whistle signals, each of his men quickly stepped forward in turn, saluted, then stepped back to return to their place in line.
Maria watched as the Captain slowly moved up and down the lines of men, shouting loudly as he correcting their line positioning and their posture, before barking orders at them. Although Maria knew it was the role of the commanding officer to drill their men and issue instructions, Maria was struck by how authoritarian and cold the Captain was, devoid of any emotion as he carried out his duty. It sent shivers down her spine and she could now see what Margaretta and the other nurses were talking about when they described the strict and harsh way the Captain commanded his men. Maria felt almost glad she had decided to have nothing further to do with him.
Not wanting to watch him anymore, Maria turned back around and quickly joined the other nurses.
Several hours later, Maria had just finished settling the last lot of new patients into the ward. Many of them had needed surgery and Sister Berthe had asked Maria to take all the surgical instruments out the operating theater to be cleaned. As Maria was carrying the large tray of instruments down the hallway to the washroom, she rounded a bend and banged headfirst into someone coming the other way. The entire tray of instruments dropped to the ground with a loud crash.
"Oh I'm so sorry," Maria began to apologise to the man she'd collided with as she dropped to her knees to pick up the fallen instruments.
"No, it was my fault entirely," the man replied. "Here, let me help you."
Maria froze. She knew that voice. Casting her eyes upwards, she found herself kneeling face-to-face with the Captain. His deep blue eyes fixed on hers and once again, the intensity of his gaze was overwhelming. For a moment Maria could barely breathe. Maria swallowed hard then flicked her eyes back down on the scattered instruments all over the floor.
"I-it's fine, Captain. I can manage," Maria stammered as she began to clean up the mess.
"No, Maria," he placed one warm hand on hers, stopping her as she grabbed a pair of forceps. "Please, I insist."
Maria nodded and got to her feet and watched silently while the Captain scrambled on his hands and knees to collect all the fallen instruments. After he'd placed them all back on the tray, he stood back up and handed the tray to her.
"Thank you, Captain," Maria said as she deposited the tray on a nearby bench.
They stood together in an awkward silence for a few seconds before the Captain spoke. "I, uh, had been hoping to bump into you again Maria," he said almost nervously. "But perhaps maybe not so literally," he added with a chuckle.
Maria gave him a hesitant smile. She wasn't quite sure what to make of him. His voice was so soft and tender, yet earlier at the dock, he sounded so fierce when he shouted orders at his men, not to mention the stories she'd heard from Margaretta about the severe way he treats his men were still fresh in her mind.
"Well I have been busy," Maria replied offhandedly. "You know, here at the hospital."
"Ah, yes of course," the Captain nodded. "I've been busy myself. Down at the docks with my men."
"I know. I saw you there this morning."
"Did you?" The Captain at once sounded very interested in that fact. Maria immediately wanted to slap one hand to her head cringing inwardly because she'd revealed to him that she'd been there that morning. "I didn't see you there," he remarked.
"I suppose I was in disguise in my nurses uniform," she replied casually.
"Indeed," he replied, eyeing her up and down. "I almost didn't recognize you out of that ugly grey dress you wore the other evening," he laughed, mocking her in jest.
Maria shrugged and laughed along with him feeling the tension between them ease. "Oh I know that dress isn't the best, but it's all I had! I would have made myself a new dress, but there wasn't time. I can make my own clothes," she declared proudly.
"Well, let's see whether I can arrange to get you some material. Today, if possible."
"Oh please don't go to any trouble, Captain," Maria begged.
"No trouble at all. In fact, it would be my pleasure," he told her. The warm, almost musical way he spoke to her was incredibly seductive and Maria found herself hanging on his every word. Feeling her face start to flush, she ducked her head and suddenly became very interested in rearranging the instruments on the tray next to her.
The Captain watched her closely then cleared his throat. "So you didn't tell me exactly what you were doing down at the docks."
"I was with the other nurses about to transport some patients back to the hospital," Maria quickly explained, flicking her eyes back to him.
"I see. You should have come and said hello."
"You, uh, looked busy," said Maria. And incredibly frightful, she thought to herself, still trying to reconcile to herself how the Captain could be so different in front of his men than with her.
"I could never be too busy for you, Maria," the Captain remarked softly as he placed his hand on hers. She looked up into his eyes and there it was: that look again, that intense look that made Maria forget to breathe and feel like she was about to melt in a puddle. She didn't know why after she was so determined to have nothing to do with him that he continued to have this effect on her.
Maria's face blushed red and she tore her eyes away from his and looked down at her hands. But as she did, she caught a glint of silver from the Captain's chest out of the corner of her eye. Glancing upwards, she saw that it his long silver whistle hanging from a chain around his neck.
Remembering the way he commanded his troops with it, she frowned. "Do you always carry that thing with you?"
"What thing?" he asked puzzled until he saw what her outstretched finger was pointing to. "Oh, my whistle? Yes, I do. I run a large ship and the grounds of the docks are very extensive and I will not have anyone shouting," he replied in a tone of voice that was so definitive and firm that it confirmed to Maria that the Captain was certainly not a man to be trifled with.
As she nodded slowly, he removed the chain from around his neck and held the whistle out to her. "It is quite invigorating using it and seeing my sailors marching around the docks breathing deeply. You should give it a try."
While the soft intensity of the way he spoke to her almost compelled her try it out, Maria was somewhat horrified by the suggestion. She shook her head. "Oh no. Whistles are for dogs and cats and other animals and definitely not for me," she exclaimed. "It would be too, uh, humiliating."
"Hmm…" The Captain raised his eyebrows at her reply. "All right," he said casually as he replaced the whistle around his neck. "Suit yourself."
Maria wanted to kick herself in the head for just blurting out a response like that.
What was it about him that was causing her to act like a bumbling idiot? Ugh… Maria inwardly winced again. She was certain he was going to make some clever retort back but he said nothing more although Maria thought she detected the faint hint of amusement behind his eyes as he tucked the whistle back into his jacket out of sight.
Instead the Captain changed the topic. "So anyway," he began, giving her such a captivating smile that it made Maria's inside do a little flip. "I'm glad to have bumped into you today Maria, because I had been hoping to try and see you again. Perhaps I could take you out this evening?"
"You want to take me out?" Maria blurted out immediately feeling surprised the Captain was still interested in her, especially since all she seemed to do was put her foot in her mouth every time he was around.
"Why, is that such an awful suggestion?" he inquired after hearing the surprise in her voice.
"W-well, I don't know…" Maria stammered. There was something exhilarating about the way he made her feel when he flirted shamelessly with her, yet she hadn't forgotten how just the other evening he'd been kissing that Baroness right in front of her. And Maria knew she had already decided not to have anything to do with him. "Look, perhaps going out with you isn't such a good idea," she told him, chewing nervously on her lip.
Hearing her decision, the Captain looked at her hard for a moment. Almost as though he could sense what was running through her mind, he said, "Maria, I know what you must be thinking. The other night, about Elsa, it's not what you think. I mean it's complicated. But there are a few things I need to explain…"
"It's fine," Maria answered abruptly, not really wanting to know about the depth of his relationship with the Baroness. "No need to explain."
"But…"
"Please. Let's just talk about something else."
His eyes flared in anger for a second. The Captain was about to make a sharp remark back, however, he stopped himself as he really wanted to clear things up with Maria and explain everything. But when he saw the look on her face, he decided that it would be simpler to drop the matter altogether. So instead, he relaxed and gave her a charismatic smile. "I hope you'll reconsider about dinner…"
Maria sighed, feeling almost weary after resisting his charms for so long. "How about I think about it?"
At once the Captain's face lit up in hope. "Please do because I am very interested in you, Maria…"
Maria felt her face start to flush again as he gazed intently at her. They stood awkwardly in silence together for the next few moments look at each other, both not quite sure what to talk about next. But then they both spoke at once.
"So what are you…?"
"Do you have any…?"
They both stopped at laughed then the Captain gestured for Maria to go first. "I was just going to ask what you were doing here at the hospital." she said.
"I'm just here to visit a friend," he told her.
And Maria, remembering Margaretta's comments from earlier about how the Captain didn't have any friends and no one liked him, stupidly once again just said the first thing that popped into her head. "Oh really? Because here I was thinking you didn't have any friends!" she mocked him with a laugh.
But the Captain didn't laugh with her. He flinched at her words and at once stiffened. His playful, flirtatious demeanour disappeared and was replaced by the same coldness and fierceness she'd observed earlier that morning. It was like something had snapped inside him. Maria at once tried to back step. "I-I'm sorry Captain. I didn't mean that. Just some silly gossip I overheard."
He narrowed his eyes. "And you like to listen to gossip Maria?" he hissed coldly.
"Yes, err… I mean no! Of course not. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything…"
"No, you shouldn't have," he spat, as he got right up in her face his eyes blazing with fury. "And what else have you heard about me? That I'm fierce? That I'm strict? And that the first rule on my ship is discipline?" Trembling somewhat, Maria bit her lip and nodded faintly. "And what do you think about me, Maria?"
Maria closed her eyes and shook her head; slightly terrified by the way he was speaking to her. "I-I don't know, I don't know!"
"I didn't think you would be the type of person to be so quick to judge, to make assumptions about me based on unsupported rumours and gossip, and not even giving me the courtesy of letting me explain myself," he snarled as he turned away from her. "You don't know me! You don't know the reasons behind why I do the things I do! I had hoped…" he stopped and turned back to face her, the fury from his eyes gone, replaced by a look of sadness. "I had hoped that you would be different. But obviously I was wrong."
He gave her one last long look before brushing past her and striding purposely down the hallway into one of the wards. Maria stood fixed to her spot, stunned and slightly bewildered to the Captain's sudden change in behaviour. It was clear that her comment about the Captain having no friends had hit a nerve, but at the same time, she was puzzled how such a flippant remark could have caused such an outburst from him, especially when she had said even more stupid things earlier in their conversation. The Captain was certainly a mystery.
She shook her head and was about to pick up the tray of instruments and get back to work when she heard someone down the hallway whistling. She turned to see the Captain's friend, Lieutenant Detweiller coming towards her. When he saw Maria, he stopped.
"Hello again. Maria, isn't it?" he asked.
Maria nodded. She was still shaken after the Captain's outburst and so really didn't feel like getting into a conversation. Trying to politely take her leave, she quickly wiped away the small tear that had appeared in the corner of her eye. "Excuse me, Lieutenant."
Max, seeing how distressed Maria looked, stopped her as she was about to pick up the tray of instruments again. "Maria? Are you alright?"
"No! I mean, yes, I mean…" Maria's eyes flicked in the direction that the Captain went and her puzzlement over him quickly turned to irritation. "Is he always like that?" she asked Max in exasperation.
"He?" Max asked, confused. But then he followed her gaze over to the ward where the Captain went. He took several steps over to the ward and looked in the window before returning to Maria. "You mean Georg?" Maria nodded.
Max brushed over his moustache with his index finger for a moment while he thought. "What happened?" he asked. Maria quickly recounted her conversation with the Captain to Max.
"I just cannot understand him! One moment he's flirting with me and the next, he looked like he was going to throttle me!"
Max didn't reply but took Maria's arm and led her over to one of the bench seats a little further down the hallway and they both sat down.
"Maria, what I'm about to tell you stays between us. I mean Georg would probably kill me if I told you, but I think you have a right to know considering the uh, interest Georg has in you." Maria nodded slowly; feeling intrigued to what the lieutenant was going to tell her.
"You see Maria, Georg is a good man. Complicated, that's for sure, but a fine man, and a brave one. But he's also very damaged. Something happened about six months ago which almost destroyed him."
"What?" Maria asked.
"I'll tell you," Max replied. "We were serving together on a fine submarine, the Agathe. Oh, Georg loved that boat! He spent more time on board her than any of us! Knew her back to front. Even our commanding officer said that Georg was the resident expert of the Agathe. Anyway, we were serving off the Adriatic coast near Trieste and we were attacked. Our commanding officer was killed, and Georg, second on command was suddenly thrust into the commanding officer position. Retreating from the battle, we managed to recoup and plan our next move. Georg, the master strategist, saw an opportunity to get behind enemy lines to attack by stealth, but it was dangerous. Many of the men objected to Georg's plan and had plotted a mutiny lead by another officer called Zeller. Georg found out and was furious. He imprisoned the disloyal men in their cabins and decided to proceed with his plan of attack anyway. But as he tried to manoeuver the submarine around enemy lines, we were discovered. The boat was torpedoed and Georg had to make the hasty decision to stay and try to fight, or to surface and abandon ship in the hope that there would be another ship nearby to come and rescue us."
"So what did he do?" Maria asked.
"Well," Max continued. "It was clear that the Agathe was failing. There was nothing Georg could do to save her. The boat was flooding fast and many men had drowned or were drowning. So, Georg put out the distress call, brought the submarine to the surface and waited. Twelve hours we waited before someone came to our rescue, but by that time, he had lost over half his men, and the half of the remainder were gravely wounded."
"Oh no…" Maria gasped.
"Georg, of course, blamed himself: if only he hadn't made that attack, if only he had made a different choice, if only his men hadn't rebelled, then none of it would have happened. Georg was certain he would be facing disciplinary action, but instead, he was decorated by the emperor for bravery and promoted to Captain. It was like a slap in the face. How could he accept the awards, accolades and promotions when he felt the weight of those sailor's deaths upon his shoulders? And what was worse was that the officer that organized the original mutiny against Georg's command, Lieutenant Zeller, was also promoted to be the Commander of the Naval base here in Pola like there were no repercussions for his actions and treachery towards Georg."
"What? How could he get away with that?" Maria was aghast.
Max shrugged. "Zeller has friends in all the right places, it seems." Maria just shook her head in disbelief and feeling desperately sorry for all the Captain had gone through.
Max continued. "So Georg asked for a leave of absence and he fell into a deep depression as he mourned the loss of the Agathe and his men. Drinking himself into oblivion, he felt like he had nothing to live for anymore. And then one night I found him with a gun in his hand…"
"Oh!" Maria gasped, a tear running down her cheek.
"I stopped him of course," Max told her. "But I didn't know how to snap him out of his depression. The only person who managed to get through to him was Elsa. Somehow, she brought him out of his despair, gave him something to live for and slowly he began to recover. He has often called her 'his saviour', and he is very grateful to have her in his life."
"So they are a couple?" Maria asked.
"Elsa and Georg?" Max questioned, and then laughed out loud. "Oh god no! No, no, no, Maria. It's not like that with them at all."
"But the other night, she was all over him?"
"Well, that's just Elsa's way, you know because of her, uh, business."
"What? Running the tavern?" Maria questioned, feeling a little confused.
"No," Max coughed. "I mean, yes, she does run the tavern, but I was referring to her other business… with the sailors."
Maria furrowed her eyebrows, trying to work out what Max was saying but then it hit her. "You mean she's a…?"
Max coughed again. "Yes, she is. As much as she earns money from running The Lonely Goatherd, she needs a little extra income to keep the place afloat. But she keeps it pretty quiet, and is very selective with whom she allows into her bed."
"And the Captain?" Maria wondered, suddenly images flashed through her mind of her dark haired Captain and the blond Baroness naked and entwined together in bed.
"Oh no! Never!" Max exclaimed in horror, before he laughed heartily. "I remember Georg once saying that sleeping with Elsa would be like sleeping with his sister."
So if they weren't a couple, then what were they? Maria wondered to herself. "But I don't understand. Before when you said that she was his saviour…?"
"They're just friends, Maria. Georg has known Elsa for a long time, way before her late husband died. He even helped her set up The Lonely Goatherd after his death. They know each other so well that it's only natural they would give each other support. He doesn't particularly approve of her side business, but she refuses to accept money from him, preferring to stand on her own two feet, so to speak."
Suddenly Maria felt foolish. "The other night… I thought they were together… and I was so rude to him. And even just now, he tried to explain about the Baroness, but I wouldn't let him."
Max patted her hand. "Don't be too hard on yourself, my dear. You weren't to know. They have a strange sort of relationship and Georg's a complicated man."
"You can say that again!" Maria exclaimed. "Attractive, handsome, charming, but complicated! I didn't know what to make of him when he approached me the other night."
"I must say I was surprised, but pleased nonetheless that he took an interest in you, my dear," Max remarked. "You really are quite attractive, and Georg would hardly be a man if he didn't notice you."
Maria blushed at the remark. "So this attraction is based on lust then," she concluded.
Max scratched his chin. "Hmm, no. I don't think so. Not this time. I mean Georg has always been a ladies man, that's for sure. But, if you'll excuse me for saying this, you're not really his usual type."
"Type?" Maria repeated, her eyebrows raised.
Realising he may have said too much, Max squirmed slightly in his seat. "Uh, I mean, usually Georg never talks to them. He talks to you. You're different. You've tweaked his interest in such a way that I think there's more than just a physical attraction for him. A friend, a companion or possibly something more," he surmised. "And him taking a notice in you gave me hope that he is starting to rebuild his shattered life. I've never seen him look at any woman like the way he looked at you the other night."
"And I rejected him – twice! Then insulted him," Maria sighed. Max didn't reply and silence followed for the next few moments.
"So anyway, what happened then?" Maria asked, breaking the silence and changing the topic back.
"After Elsa helped Georg out of his depression?" Max asked and Maria nodded. "Well, Georg was returned to his command. A new ship and a whole new regiment of sailors, and none of them know what had happened on the Agathe. Apart from Commander Zeller and myself, all the sailors from the ship had either drowned, been sent back to Austria or are still in hospital here in Pola. You must understand, Maria, that when the Agathe went down, Georg lost everything – the loyalty of this men, all his friends, his hope and his confidence. So Georg, terrified of repeating the past with his men rebelling on him, now runs his ship with an iron fist. Whistles, orders, marching, drills – everything is now under such a tight control trying to ensure that he never loses a battle or a man again."
"Oh I see," Maria replied quietly. Her heart went out the Captain and she felt terrible about making those assumptions about him and making silly jokes about lack of friends. No wonder he was so angry with her after all he had gone through.
She glanced down the corridor towards the ward where the Captain had gone. "So who is he visiting then?"
"One of the last men that survived the attack on the Agathe. He's due to be sent back to Salzburg soon. But until then, Georg tries to visit him as often as he can. It's the guilt, you know." Max then quickly glanced down at his watch. "Actually, that's where I was heading now. I'm sorry Maria, I need to go." Max stood up.
Maria stood up as well. "That's quite alright, Lieutenant Detweiller. I appreciate you telling me about the Captain. I really do feel awful about my argument with him just now."
"My pleasure, my dear. I find I can be really quite useful in delivering information, or love life advice, or even just being that person to knock some common sense back in," Max chuckled.
Maria laughed with him. "Thank you again Lieutenant."
"Please, call me Max." He held out his hand to her. "And don't worry about Georg; give him some time, he'll come around."
Maria watched as Max left and she paced up and down the hallway thinking about what Max had told her about the Captain, and waiting for him to emerge so she could talk to him. Finally the Captain left the ward. He saw her waiting for him down the end of the corridor. He narrowed his eyes and looked at her hard before he started to walk towards her.
"Captain!" Maria called out to him but he ignored her. Looking straight ahead like she wasn't even there, he strode past Maria and out of the hospital leaving her standing alone.
