Chapter Five
Stowe, Vermont
July 1960

"What was all that?" Georg asked. "A couple cross words and the entire family ends up at each other's throats."

"It wasn't that bad," Maria replied as she began to get herself dressed for bed. "They seemed to have worked it all out."

"Friedrich has Agathe's temperament, he doesn't usually get so angry. He is the most levelheaded of all my children," Georg pointed out. "Lida must have set him off somehow, he's not one to start an argument."

Maria began to rub moisturizer onto her legs. "Remember, my love, Lida isn't so even tempered and she's stubborn as a mule. She can definitely lose it. Whatever it was, Darling, it's over now. I don't want you to upset yourself."

"I'm not upset," Georg assured her. "I'm more astonished than anything else that of all the combinations we could have had in an argument it was Friedrich and Lida. It was interesting how the factions worked out, who was on whose side. I thought for sure Brigitta would have sided with Lida and Gretel with Friedrich, but they reversed it."

Maria kept going about her business of getting the room ready. She got Georg his medication and a cup of water. "Whatever the reasons for it, you were quite commanding when you shut it all down, Captain. It was quite the turn on."

Georg sat up and chuckled, "Oh really...Was it? How much?"

"Enough," Maria replied. "Do you need anything else before I shut out the light?"

"I have everything I need" Georg whispered. "Just lie with me. Come and lie with me."

On the surface of it, that sounded like a romantic request, but Maria knew Georg often said that when he was distressed or upset. He didn't like disorder and he didn't like change, the children's fussing bothered him more than he wanted to admit.

Maria complied, lying down on the bed, and curling into Georg's side. He lowered his arms to encircle her and absently stroked her skin up and down. "You're deep in thought," she observed. "Talk to me, Georg."

"It's nothing, my love," he whispered. "I just have a headache. If it were any other child but Friedrich..."

"Talk to him tomorrow," Maria encouraged. "I'm sure it was some kind of misunderstanding that spilled over from the bakery. You know how headstrong Lida can be. Just rest now."

Maria began to rub Georg's chest gently, her presence soothing him as it always was able to do. For 22 years they had soothed each other, supported each other, and trusted each other with their hearts. Maria's love for Georg grew every day and his for her as well.

Georg managed to quiet his mind as Maria dozed in his arms, he knew she was right, the problem was solved, he didn't need to worry about the origin of it.

Maria slept in the next morning, but Georg was always an early riser. He got up, started the coffee, and began getting breakfast ready. Sometimes he considered working a few morning shifts in the bakery, being at home all the time was dull for a man that had been active all his life.

"Good morning, Georg," Max greeted with his suitcase in his hand. "Get up to see me off?"

"Off to where this time, Max?" Georg asked. "I thought you moved to Vermont by now."

"Off to New York, but only to wrap up my affairs," Max explained. "I found a place in Montpelier, a little more bustle and a little less hustle. Need to promote my investment after all."

"Cup for the road?" Georg offered as the coffee finished brewing.

Max took the cup and nodded his thanks. "Do you need a ride? I can take you to the station."

"I ordered a car," Max informed him.

Georg nodded once again, then "Max, what did you make of that mess last night with the kids? Lida and Friedrich."

"I think Lida feels the differentness in herself and it is causing her to be defensive," Max counseled. "You and Maria should consider telling her the truth, especially now she is beginning to develop some personality traits that don't belong to either of you."

"Maria is dead set against that," Georg sighed drinking his coffee. "I mentioned it, now that Lida's older. There is a difference in her, I don't know what it is, but..."

"She lacks your poise, Georg. Your presence. It is one of two things all your kids have in common except for Lida. The way you walk into a room, and everything falls into place, it's something all the kids have, that and music, but the music issue is fleeting. I think Lida feels it, that difference and it might make her very confused."

"Maria doesn't want it, Max," Georg reiterated. "She still remembers it sometimes, like we remember the war. I can't push her, and I won't override her, not in this."

"Understood," Max replied. "My cab is here...I will see you in a few days my friend."

Max tipped his hat and headed off to the waiting taxi.

Georg turned on the news and continued setting the table. Maria appeared next to him a few minutes after Max left. "Good morning," she smiled and gave Georg a kiss. "I thought you'd sleep a little later this morning."

"I thought so too," Georg replied. "But my body is programmed to wake up with the sun. Have a good sleep?"

Georg knew when she did, and he knew when she didn't. It was nearly 23 years since the attack on the side of the Untesberg, but there were times that made Maria remember. Things like hearing about an assault on the news or reading about it in the papers. That happened a few months ago and induced nightmares every night for over a week. During the day, it made Maria skittish and jumpy, so much so that Georg felt he had to stay as close to her as he possibly could only trusting Max to stand by her when he couldn't be there. That was one downside to keeping the children in the dark about her rape, when thinks like that happened, it was very hard to explain.

The other trigger for Maria was the idea of her daughters being alone with men. Once those men became fiancés or husbands, she was all right, but in the early stages of the relationship, Maria needed to know when the girls arrived at their destination, when they left to come home, how they were getting transported to and from a date…It all seemed very peculiar even to Louisa and Brigitta who remembered Austria very well, but they had managed. Marta, always the most sensitive, kept Curtis on a tight leash. She had him jumping through proprieties' hoops in essence relaxing Maria's anxiety, but Georg still didn't like him.

It was Gretel they had the most trouble with when it came to their rules and Maria's anxiety. Gretel had, on occasion, argued about calling home so often. "How can I have fun if I have to watch the clock?" was her argument and Georg couldn't blame her, but he had enforced the rule with an iron will. Gretel soon complied and she and her husband Tony were frequent and welcome visitors to the farmhouse on the hill.

"I did," Maria replied. "I slept very well. How's your headache?"

"It's gone," Georg replied. "A good rest is just what my wife prescribed."

"Sounds like an intelligent lady," Maria laughed as she began to prepare a breakfast of oatmeal, fruit, and fresh juice. "Lida went to work early this morning, didn't she?"

'Mmm," Georg replied with his mouth full of coffee. "Rosa agreed to do that big meeting at the metal plant and Lida and Cathy both went in to help. It's just Julia for breakfast. As a matter of fact, I don't hear her, I better go wake her up."

"Let her sleep," Maria interjected. "She's on summer break. We can take our breakfast on the porch and get some fresh morning air. Do you have anything planned for today?"

Georg shook his head, "Just some work in the stables, and I'll think fix that door jam that's been squeaking. Otherwise, no, this retired old man will be sitting in the rocker watching the second tick by."

"If you're that bored, Darling, why don't you write a book?" Maria offered.

Georg started to laugh, "Me? Write a book? Not a chance, I have absolutely no finesse with language."

"That's what editors are for," Maria countered as they simultaneously started to carry their food outdoors. "Your exploits in the Great War, your life in Austria, our escaping the mountains alone is a good story. Something to think about."

Georg didn't react again, so Maria knew he would indeed think about what she'd suggested. He had retired a year ago and whenever the grandchildren weren't around, which wasn't often, she could tell he was restless. This would be a good way to occupy his mind and rest his body.

Years of submarine service, smoking, and poor diet had left their mark in the form of high blood pressure and circulation issues. All in all, given the things Georg had been exposed to, he was quite lucky. A lot of sailors and soldiers alike from both wars were stricken by a lot worse, still Maria didn't want to tempt fate. She couldn't face a day without Georg, she didn't want to think about half a lifetime.

As it turned out, Louisa was at her wits end at the house and called for backup. Georg cheerfully went to collect his grandsons for a trip into town and a run around the park to give the new mother some respite time. That left Maria home alone to work on some sewing, cleaning and laundry for the week.

She was ironing Georg's shirts from the wash when the front doorbell rang. "That's strange," Maria thought to herself. People rarely rang the bell and if they did, it was the one at the back door. Had to be a new postal worker on the route.

She smoothed out her top and went to answer the door.

The was no preparation in the world that could have kept Maria calm when she pulled back her own front door to see a tall man, dark hair, dark eyes, in a pressed jacket and shirt standing on her porch. He wasn't an old man, likely younger than Kurt, but there was that smell…

Maria took a breath to try to keep her composure. "Can I help you?" She was shaking head to toe but her voice, thank God, sounded normal.

"Yes, Ma'am," the soft, British sounding voice replied. "I'm, uh…I'm Will Brown, I'm here to see Captain von Trapp. It's sort of spur of the moment."

Maria swallowed. What did this man want with Georg? If she deflected him, he would know that she was home alone, if she didn't…She quickly offered a prayer that Kurt or one of the other children would come out or that Julia would pop through the kitchen, anything to have someone else by her side. Finally, she let her heart take over, "My husband is out, if you'd like to leave your card…" He was probably just some salesperson.

"I don't have a card, Mrs. von Trapp," Will replied. 'I'll come back another time."

Before William even left the porch, Maria shut and locked the door. Shaking fiercely and perspiring profusely, she dropped to the floor and backed into the alcove under the stairs. She buried her head in her knees and started to cry.

How could this be? How after all these years could this be happening? That stench, that odor was sickening. Maria pressed her hand to her chest, breathing so hard and so fast eventually she couldn't breathe at all.

This is what Julia found when she thundered down the steps. "Mama! Mama!" Julia called. "I'm gonna meet up with…Mama?" She looked around the room. "Mama, where are you?"

Julia heard a cough, then a gag coming from Maria's hiding place under the stairs. "Mama?"

Julia moved carefully, leaning around toward the source of the noise. "Oh God," she gasped at the sight of her always strong, always in control mother in such a state of shock. "Mama, are you all right? What happened? Are you sick?"

Julia sat down next to Maria and wrapped her arms around her mother's body. She was freezing cold. "It's okay, Mama. It's going to be okay, I'm right here with you. I'm right here with you."

A/N: Yes, I know I'm evil but that's what happened when I write on the fly, even I have no idea where it's going to take me lol. I'm so grateful for all the reviews, follows, and favorites you have been sending. As I said Im struggling more with this story than the last one, so I'm glad to see that it's not feeling too slow or jumpy for you. Soon, William will be revealed and Lida will learnt he truth, but the story doesn't stop there, of course, because Lida may just find it harder to forgive her parents than we would want her to.

Have a good day!