The Lonely Goatherd – Chapter 15
Georg walked out of the hospital whistling a happy tune. He had sorted out the Margaretta situation and made up with Maria. Finally, everything in his life was falling into place and by that time the following day, he would be married to Maria! He could barely believe it!
Still smiling to himself, he headed down to the naval base. While he had wanted to stay longer at the hospital and talk about the wedding, unfortunately Maria had been called back to her shift at the hospital by Sister Berthe and he knew that he still had lots of work to do with his men, especially after the horrid series of explosions the couple of nights before. He had been gone from the naval base all morning attending to these personal matters so it was time to get back to work. There would be time to celebrate their upcoming nuptials later that evening.
Arriving at the naval base, Georg could see that it was a buzz of activity. As much of the remnants from the explosions at the docks had been cleaned up already, the men had all returned to the base and were in the midst of participating in their daily drills and marches. In the distance, he could see Lieutenant Franz taking Georg's unit of men through their drills. Georg frowned to himself, perplexed at why the weedy little man was commanding his unit. But as he moved forward to find out why, he heard a voice speak sharply behind him.
"Captain von Trapp."
Georg froze. He knew that voice well. Georg momentarily squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. Slowly he turned around to face his nemesis: Commander Zeller. Immediately he saluted. "Commander Zeller," he greeted the commander formally, although through somewhat gritted teeth.
"At last, you've returned to your post, Captain," Zeller sneered. "You have been surprisingly absent all day."
Georg lowered his salute and gave the commander a fake smile. "I, ah, had an urgent personal matter to attend to this morning…"
"Ah yes, you seem to always be involved in some sort of personal matter each time we make port at Pola, and yet, never once do you seek permission for these particular absences without leave that you are frequently making."
"Commander Zeller," Georg responded sharply. "It was my understanding that my position and rank afforded me several privileges that allowed me…"
"Your position and rank was awarded to you under the most exceptional circumstances," Zeller snarled, "and don't you think that I can't have your position and rank removed just as quickly as it was given. I am your commanding officer and I insist on your allegiance and obedience."
Georg narrowed his eyes at Zeller's threat, feeling his anger starting to well up inside him. He wanted to snarl back at Zeller and tell him to go to hell, especially with what he insinuated about how Georg received his rank with the circumstances surrounding the loss of the Agathe. Georg despised Zeller for his role in the mutiny against him, and he despised even more the fact that Zeller was now his commanding officer. But Georg also knew that he had to be strategic when it came to Zeller and now was not the time to get into an argument with the more senior officer.
Georg gritted his teeth together again. "Of course, sir." He saluted again and Zeller gave Georg a look of satisfaction which infuriated Georg even more, but he bit his tongue.
"Now Captain, I have instructed Lieutenant Franz to drill your men as I require you to arrange the fleet's immediate departure."
"Immediate?" Georg replied in surprise.
"Yes, we will depart at 0600 tomorrow morning." Zeller replied sharply then turned to walk away.
"Tomorrow morning?" Georg repeated. He blinked several times. If they left first thing the following morning, then he wouldn't be able to marry Maria. He felt like his heart stopped for just a moment.
"Commander, why so quickly?" he immediately questioned Zeller. Zeller stopped and turned back slowly to face Georg. He raised his eyebrows, surprised that Georg would be questioning his instructions rather than following them like a good solider would do.
Georg knew he had to be careful with how he conversed with Zeller but he couldn't just accept the order, not when it meant that he would have to delay his wedding to Maria.
"Commander," Georg began cautiously. "I only asked since we just arrived back in port two days ago," Good god, was it only that long ago? So much had happened since then… "We still have repairs to make here to the ships that I thought were quite urgent."
"Yes, they are extremely urgent," Zeller replied. "However, the explosions at the docks destroyed most of the materials needed for the repairs. We will have to go to Trieste immediately to make the necessary repairs instead."
"I was not aware of that, Commander," Georg replied. "But what about the men, though? They are all exhausted and I would have thought it would be more sensible to allow them time to recuperate before we set sail again. A couple of days or a week at least."
"Captain, this is war. The enemy does not rest, so nor shall we. I have my orders, and now you have yours."
"Commander, I understand that, however…"
"Or perhaps, you're more concerned about something other than the welfare of your men. Or, should I say, someone? A young nurse perhaps?"
Georg blinked in surprise as Zeller had caught him off guard.
"Yes, I've heard some rumours about you, Captain, and this young nurse from the hospital," Zeller continued as he began to pace back and forth in front of Georg. "Apparently you're quite taken with her, from what I understand. Maria, was it?" Georg stared daggers at Zeller at the mention of Maria's name, but thankfully this look went unnoticed by Zeller who has his back to him as he continued to pace. "Your reluctance to follow orders and leave in the morning wouldn't have anything to do with her, would it?"
Georg's mouth was dry. He only had a mere second to decide what to say next. He could say nothing about Maria and Zeller would stick to his orders to leave in the morning, or he could risk everything by telling Zeller about Maria and hope that Zeller would delay their departure by several days. Swallowing hard, he knew Maria and their upcoming marriage was more important. He'd have to take the risk.
"Well, as a matter of fact," Georg began, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. He didn't want Zeller to know how desperate he was to be able to stay several more days. "I had promised the young lady something of the utmost importance tomorrow, and I'm afraid that I cannot let her down."
"Utmost importance?" Zeller questioned, eyebrows raised. "More important than following orders from your commanding officer?"
"No, not at all," Georg quickly replied trying to appear completely relaxed, even giving Zeller a small and yet charming smile. "It's just, well, you know how women can be." He let out a low laugh.
Zeller scrutinised Georg carefully. It was not like the Captain to be so bold to question his orders directly. He narrowed his eyes. There was something going on. He needed to find out what the Captain was up to. "Oh come on now, Captain. You're going to have to do better than that. What exactly have you promised the young lady? And don't hold back now."
Georg let out a defeated sigh. He would have to tell Zeller everything. "Er, well, the thing is, er, we're getting married in the morning."
"Married?" Zeller's eyes gleamed. "You mean to tell me that the famous Captain von Trapp, the great rake of the Imperial Navy, known by all woman around town as Captain von Handsomepants, has actually been tamed and is going to settle down? Well, well, well… This is interesting." He let out a raucous laugh.
Georg said nothing, biting the inside of the lip and trying not to let his rising anger out. Zeller stopped laughing after a moment and looked hard at Georg, seizing him up. He clicked his tongue against his teeth and tapped his chin thoughtfully as he weighed up his options. Finally, Zeller made his decision. "I don't suppose a small delay in my orders would be that much of a problem, for as you said, Captain, the men are exhausted after the explosions at the docks and all the chaos that it caused. So we will stay, and you will marry. Only because that is the way I wish it to be. One day, Captain. I'll give you one day. We will leave at 0600 the day after tomorrow."
Zeller lifted his arm in a salute. Georg immediately responded in his own salute. Without another word, Zeller spun on his heel and left, leaving Georg dumbfounded that his commander had actually agreed to a delay in their departure.
Just at that moment and right on cue, Max came strolling up. "What was that all about?" he asked Georg.
"Zeller. He wanted to move the fleet out tomorrow morning…"
"Tomorrow?" Max interrupted, sounding surprised. "But we have only just gotten back into port. We have repairs to make and with the explosion and everything, it's insane. I don't understand."
"Orders from above, or so I was told. Apparently all the materials needed to make the repairs for the ships were destroyed with the explosion so we have to go to Trieste instead. But it is insane; the men are exhausted and I hardly know how they'll have the energy to get back to Triste, especially with the ships in the state they are in. But my major concern was that I had promised Maria that we would get married in the morning."
"Married in the morning?" Max immediately exclaimed. "Georg, why didn't you tell me?" Max looked hurt.
"It was only just arranged," Georg explained. "Do try and keep up." He gave Max a playful couple of taps across his cheek. "Thankfully, Zeller said he'd delay our departure by a day. But unfortunately, I had to tell him about the wedding to get him to agree to do so." He shuddered. "At least, though, he didn't invite himself to the wedding. That would have been horrendous."
"Well if he turns up, I'll try and keep him occupied so that you can enjoy your time with Maria, while you still have it. Perhaps I'll distract him with a festival performance of Elsa's can-can girls complete with multiple bowing Frauleins and encores, while you and Maria escape to somewhere more quiet."
Georg chuckled at the thought before his eyes darkened somewhat. "I just don't know how I'm going to tell Maria that I'll be leaving again so soon. I've only just gotten back and we've hardly seen each other. At least we'll have our wedding night together," Georg paused as Max gave him a nudge in the ribs and a sly wink, "but after that, I suspect, knowing Zeller, that he'll keep us away out at sea for even longer than last time, so who knows when we'll get to see each other again."
"Zeller's is a cunning beast, determined to always get one on you. But you don't suspect that he'd do something deliberate to stop you coming back here?"
"I wouldn't put it past him, he's betrayed me before," Georg replied dryly. "I despise the man. And I despise having to serve under him. But I suppose at this point there is nothing I can do, except keep my head down and be thankful that I'll get to have this final time with Maria."
Georg could see Zeller off in the distance talking with Lieutenant Franz. It was unusual for Zeller to spend any time with more lowly officers, now that he was the Commander of the naval base so it seemed strange to see Zeller speaking so intently with Franz. He wondered what they were talking about. Georg narrowed his eyes as he tried to lip-read what they were saying but they were too far away.
"I don't know, Max." Georg muttered as he watched the two men converse. "I can't put my finger on it but I sense that Zeller's up to something."
"He can't mutiny again, now that he's the commander. So what?" Max asked.
"I'm not sure. I don't even have any proof that anything's going on. I just have this feeling." Georg tapped his left fingers against his leg as he continued to watch them. But just at that moment, he saw Zeller turn is head and gaze in Georg's direction, glaring as he watched Georg talk to Max.
"Max, I have to go and start making arrangements for the fleet's departure. I'll need to be careful. I think Zeller will be watching me more closely now so I can't sneak off to tell Maria about what's going on right now: it'll have to wait until tonight."
"Tonight? Your last night of freedom before you're married. Stag night?" Max hinted, his face hopeful.
"Stag night? O-ho! No." Georg replied firmly. "Last time you dragged me out on one of your crazy adventures, I ended up handcuffed to a pole wearing woman's clothes. Remember?"
Max chuckled. "I do indeed. That was fun, wasn't it?" But seeing the look on Georg's face, he stopped laughing, then cleared his throat and twitched his moustache. "Well, perhaps not. But Georg, I think we need to do something to mark the occasion. Even if it's just drinks at The Lonely Goatherd."
"I think I can agree to that. Alright. I must go. I'll see you tonight."
XxXxXxXxXxXx
Even though she'd had to return to her shift so quickly after Georg's visit to the hospital, Maria felt like she couldn't keep the smile off her face. Her misery early that morning had quickly turned to elation once she'd realised that she'd been wrong about Georg and that he wanted to marry her immediately. Even working closely with Margaretta had been more pleasant after finding out how Georg had arranged for Margaretta and her unborn baby to be taken care of. Margaretta had been in a much happier mood since their meeting with Sister Berthe, Elsa and Georg and had been happily chatting to Maria about her plans to move into The Lonely Goatherd in a few months' time.
Maria put away the last of the medical equipment in the supply cupboard at the end of her shift and made her way back to her room. Although she had felt absolutely exhausted earlier that day with all her worry about Georg and their relationship, their reconciliation and upcoming wedding plans had completely revitalised her, so sleep and rest was furthest from her mind.
Arriving back at her room, Maria let out a deep sigh as she opened her closet. The only concern she had about their wedding the following day was she had no idea whether she had anything to wear. While she knew that the clothes she'd made from the material that Georg had bought her were pretty, she didn't quite think any of them would be appropriate for a bride.
Maria undressed down to her underwear with the thought of trying each dress on as she decided. She began to pull out each and every dress she owned from the closet. She held each one up against her body in front of the small mirror before shaking her head and discarding the item onto the nearby bed. With only a couple of options left, Maria let out a defeated sigh and sank down onto the bed, surrounded by all the rejected dresses. That's when she looked up to see Elsa standing in her doorway, still dressed in the spectacular deep crimson dress with the high collar and the plunging neckline from earlier that day.
"Elsa! I didn't see you there," Maria exclaimed. "Was there something you wanted?" Maria protectively grabbed the nearest dress from the pile and held it up over her exposed undergarments, trying to maintain some sense of modesty. While Elsa's style of dressing was definitely not Maria's style – too much flesh and bosom always showing, Elsa's sophisticated and elegant style did make Maria feel quite self-conscious of her own, more simple style.
"Georg told me of his plans to marry you as soon as he could, so I thought I might help you find something to wear for your wedding." Elsa breathed, taking several steps into the room and shutting the door behind her.
Maria was taken back. "It's very kind of you to offer to help me,"
"I'm delighted Maria."
"…but I really don't think that I have anything that will be appropriate." Maria stood, glancing around the disarray of clothes discarded on the bed.
Not to be put off, Elsa swept around the room and went straight to Maria's closet and started to rummage about. "Where is the lovely little thing I saw you working on the other evening?" Elsa pushed the few remaining items aside and for she grabbed the last dress on the hanger out of the closet. "Here we are." Elsa held up the light blue dress made of flowing chiffon material that Maria had been painstakingly working on over the past month or so, yet had never worn.
"I'm sure wearing this, Georg won't be able to take his eyes off you," she smiled a knowing smile.
"Won't be able to keep his eyes off me?" Maria repeated, turning slightly away from Elsa so that she wouldn't see the blush that was coming to her cheeks.
"Come my dear, we are women. Let's not pretend we don't know when a man notices us."
"Georg notices everybody and everything."
"There's no need to feel so defensive, Maria," Elsa said kindly. "You're quite attractive, you know. Georg would hardly be a man if he didn't notice you."
Maria felt her blush grow thinking about the way Georg would look at her. "But I never done a thing!"
"You don't have to, my dear. There's nothing more irresistible to a man than a woman who's in love with him. And what makes it so nice is that he's desperately in love with you too."
Maria nodded faintly, a small smile coming to her lips. Once upon a time, she would have be horrified being confronted by someone like the Baroness about her feelings for a man. So much so, that she would have fled and found a place where she could have been away from her feelings, a place she could have been safe, like a convent or an abbey. But now, nothing filled her with more joy than thinking about how much she loved Georg and how he loved her back.
Elsa continued. "I've noticed the way he looks into your eyes, and you know, you blush whenever I mention his name." Maria instinctively placed her hand over her burning cheeks.
She held up the light blue dress and passed it to Maria. "Wear this, Maria. I'm sure you'll make a very fine wife."
Elsa opened her mouth like she wanted to say something else, but she quickly closed it again, almost like she'd decided against it. Maria noticed the faint glistening of tears in her eyes. It was strange as was not like Elsa to show so much emotion. Maria was puzzled. Quickly Elsa blinked the tears away and broke eye contact with Maria. She began to busy herself by picking up one of Maria's discarded dresses and re-hanging it on its hanger. Maria watched her carefully for a moment, wondering what Elsa was thinking as she was not behaving like her usual self. There was something going on. But then it suddenly hit her.
"You love him, don't you?" Maria whispered hesitantly.
Elsa froze and flinched slightly. Not even turning around to face Maria, she continued her task of hanging up the dress in her hand before she replied, somewhat shakily. "He is my oldest and dearest friend. Of course I love him."
Maria moved so that she was standing right beside Elsa. "That's not what I meant," Maria said softly.
Elsa didn't reply straightway but turned away from Maria and picked up another dress to re-hang. "I knew exactly what you meant," Elsa said eventually, her back still to Maria. "You have nothing to worry about, you know," Elsa continued after a moment, finally turning her head so that she could make eye contact with Maria. "He's never loved me like that. I've only ever seen him look that way at a woman once, and that's at you Maria."
"Elsa…" Maria began but Elsa cut her off.
"We're good friends, that's all. We were never meant to be, and I accepted that a long time ago. But I am very happy for both you and Georg, you know that, don't you?" Elsa asked tentatively. Maria nodded.
Elsa quickly embraced her then squeezed her hand before she quickly swept from the room leaving Maria alone with her thoughts of her upcoming wedding the following day.
A/N: It's sometimes really hard to find the time to write and update stories, but there is more to come so I hope people will be sticking with this story. Reviews are great motivation to update more quickly, so please review!