Maria watched as Friedrich, Kurt, and Brigitta mechanically gathered firewood, dumping it in a pile where she had asked. Unlike previous nights, there was no laughing or joking as they did so; instead, an eerie quiet had descended over the family. Even the youngest seemed affected by it; Gretl, Phillip, and Johannes were sitting quietly on a couple small stones, watching their siblings. Maria supposed it was not too surprising–they had been in the mountains for six days, and she could see hope beginning to dim in everyone's eyes. Even Georg had been unusually quiet; after a simple declaration that they would camp in the current spot, he had slipped Gretl off his back and left silently to search for food.

Maria knew lack of food was also taking its toll. They no longer had any provisions from home, and they had not been able to find much growing in the forest. Georg had managed to kill five more rabbits, but after splitting them eleven ways, no one had truly had as much as they needed, especially given their arduous journey. They had started moving downhill that morning, a fact Maria had pointed out in an attempt to boost their spirits, but no one had seemed to care much. Maria had not pressed the issue, for she had been feeling out of sorts and had actually vomited what little she had in her stomach after breakfast that morning. Fortunately, she had been able to slip away from the group when she had started to feel sick with an excuse of gathering more wood for the breakfast fire, so no one knew. Maria knew if Georg found out, he would worry unnecessarily, and she refused to add to his burden.

Maria was still feeling queasy an hour later when Georg and Liesl passed around dinner for the night–a thin stew with rabbit meat, mushrooms, and some sort of greens that Georg had found and knew were edible. If Maria thought she could refuse and avoid suspicion, she would have; as it was, she simply smiled and thanked Liesl as she accepted her portion of the stew, eating slowly to let her stomach adjust. When she finished, she did feel slightly better, and she wondered if perhaps lack of food and over exertion were causing her nausea.

Once they were done eating, the children lay down on the blankets that formed their bed, and Georg began to sing softly, something that had become a nightly tradition of sorts during their journey. Maria smiled as she heard his baritone, suddenly finding that she was quite tired as well. She lay down on her own blanket, pulling it tight around herself as she let her husband's voice lull her to sleep.

Maria woke the following morning when only a few streaks of daylight crisscrossed the sky. She blinked for a moment, wondering what had woken her so early, but then her stomach rolled warningly. As quick as she dared, she slipped out of her makeshift bed and moved as far away from camp as she could. She did not make it far, however, before her rebellious stomach heaved, bringing up everything she had eaten for dinner the previous night. Unfortunately, it was not done, and she continued to heave until she was bringing up nothing but foul-tasting bile. She fell to her knees, her entire body shaking, and she was so focused on her misery that she did not feel a gentle hand on her shoulder at first. "Oh, my love," a familiar voice said, and Maria knew her secret was a secret no longer. Fortunately, his presence seemed to have a calming effect on her stomach, and she was able to stop heaving. She fell backwards, and he caught her, sitting down on the ground behind her and pulling her into his embrace. "How long has this been going on?" he asked after a moment of silence.

Briefly, Maria thought about lying and telling him it had just started, but she knew he would see right through such a lie. Besides, she had always found it difficult to lie, especially to him. They had built their marriage on a foundation of honesty, and Maria had always felt they were stronger for it. "Just today and yesterday," she told him.

"I'm worried about you," he said, wrapping her more tightly in his arms. "You've lost weight you couldn't afford to lose. If only I-"

"Don't, Georg," she told him firmly. "Don't you dare blame yourself for this. I made my own choices. In fact, I believe I was the one who proposed going on foot."

"But if I had just kept my head down and played along, they likely would have left us alone."

"And maybe they would not have. You and I both know the Nazis are rather indiscriminate with their wrath. We could have come into their crosshairs for other reasons. And even if that did not happen, I could never ask you to be less than you are."

"Maybe you should rest here," he suggested. "I can continue on and bring back help."

"No," Maria told him firmly. "I will be fine in a few minutes. I was yesterday."

"Maria, if anything happens to you. . ." His voice broke as his words trailed off, but she understood perfectly well what he was saying. The loss of his first wife had devastated him. He likely would not survive losing her.

"Nothing is going to happen to me. We should be almost in Switzerland now." Maria knew Georg wanted to object more, but he also knew they had no choice but to continue. And so he did not argue; instead, he pulled her more tightly into his embrace and dropped a kiss to the top of her head as they watched the sun rise together.

Sleep did not seem to have improved the children's spirits much, and they once more mechanically broke camp before starting to hike once more. They were quiet for the first hour or so of the journey until Louisa's voice broke the silence. "Perhaps we should have continued with all the marching about the grounds Father made us do before Maria came. It would have come in handy now."

The comment startled a laugh out of Georg, and the other children followed suit. "I had forgotten about that," he admitted. "Though I seem to recall someone never followed orders to march anyway." He glanced teasingly at Louisa who shrugged.

"Do you remember the one time he tried to call us with that whistle?" Friedrich teased.

"It worked in the Navy," Georg protested.

"But not with us," Liesl said, warming to the topic. "Marta burst into tears, Kurt and Friedrich began arguing about who got to use it next, and Brigitta and Louisa completely ignored it."

"And you told Father that if he blew it again, you were running away from home," Louisa added.

"And I did not use it again," Georg pointed out. "It became a moot point a few months later anyway." He glanced gratefully at Maria who gave him a small smile in return. That discussion launched them into a discussion of the children's various exploits over the years, a discussion that kept them happily occupied until they stopped for lunch. Maria noted that spirits were considerably higher as they ate than they were the previous day despite the rather meager meal. She tried to join in the discussion enough to avoid arousing suspicion, but her stomach had begun to rebel again, and it took a good deal of concentration to keep her lunch down. Fortunately, she managed though she did catch Georg looking at her sharply from time to time and noticed that he never suggested she carry one of the younger children. For once, she did not insist on carrying her share of the burden, knowing just the small pack she had would be difficult enough in her current state. Focusing on the children's laughter, she managed to put one foot in front of the other for the entire afternoon. When they stopped, Georg suggested she watch the youngest children while he and the older ones set up camp, and she agreed immediately. If any of the children found that suspicious, they did not voice those suspicions aloud for which Maria was grateful.

Despite her exhaustion, Maria slept fitfully that night, struggling to find a comfortable position. "Can I do something to help, Darling?" Georg mumbled sleepily after nearly an hour of her tossing and turning.

"Why don't I move somewhere else so I don't keep you awake?" Maria suggested, but before she could move away, his arm tightened around her.

"I'm more worried about you being awake than me. You need sleep."

"It seems my body disagrees." Georg glanced over to where their children were sleeping a few meters away before turning back to Maria, kissing her hard on the lips and helping her turn over.

"What are you doing?"

"Helping you to relax," he muttered as his hands began to gently knead the muscles on her back. His hands quickly worked their magic, loosening the muscles of her back. As those muscles relaxed, she was happy to note that her stomach muscles did as well. For the first time in two days, she was not feeling nauseous. Her eyelids started to grow heavy, but she forced them to remain open as she turned back to him, kissing him gently on the lips.

"Thank you," she told him.

He smiled. "It's my pleasure." With a final kiss, he reached out an arm to let her curl up into his side where she quickly fell asleep.

Unfortunately, Maria's relief was short-lived; by the time she awoke the following morning, the nausea had returned. This time, she was not able to slip away without Georg noticing, but she did manage to move far enough away from the campsite that she hoped none of the children would discover her. Georg, of course, followed, pulling her hair back from her face and keeping an arm around her chest to support her as she heaved. When she finally finished, he helped her sit and then passed her a water skein. "I had hoped things would be getting better, but this seems worse than yesterday."

"I don't know about worse," Maria said, rinsing her mouth with the water. She dared not drink any, for her stomach was far from settled.

"Maria, maybe-"

"Please, Georg, we surely cannot be far from a town where we can rest now. Let me go with you just one more day, and if we still have not found a town by tonight, then we can talk." He frowned but nodded in agreement. They returned together to the camp, Maria refusing to lean on his arm though she would have loved its support. However, she refused to worry him more than he already was.

They had very little food for breakfast, and Maria managed to sneak most of her portion onto the plates of the children. Georg looked at her sharply, but she simply shook her head. She knew enough about her body to realize that if she ate anything, it would simply come back up again. She would rather the food go to someone who could keep it in his or her stomach.

Brigitta was the first to spot what they had all been searching for since the beginning of their journey—a few small wisps of smoke rising over a low foothill in front of them. She pointed it out to her father who smiled for the first time that day. "Well spotted, my dear," he told her. "That is too much smoke to belong to a campsite."

"So is it a town?"

"Most likely. I suppose the only way we will know for sure is to find our way there."

"Do you think we'll get there today?" Kurt asked eagerly.

Georg studied the smoke for a few moments before nodding. "I think there is a good chance." That declaration cheered the children considerably, and Maria noticed their steps quickened. She pushed herself to keep up, but she was finding it harder to do so. In addition to nausea, she was now experiencing waves of dizziness which caused her to stumble more than once. Her eagle-eyed husband noticed. "Do we need to slow down?" he asked, dropping back to walk with her. For once, he did not have a child on his back, for Gretl had slid down a few minutes before to walk with her siblings, excited about the town in front of them.

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine."

"Well, I am fine enough to make it to the town," Maria corrected though she was beginning to doubt that statement herself. On her next stumble, Georg put an arm around her, and she allowed herself to lean on him slightly, knowing she would need that support to make it to the town.

By the time the sun was high in the sky, Maria was sweaty and shaking and staying upright mostly by leaning on Georg's arm. She saw the older children shooting her surreptitious glances and knew that they now realized that she was unwell, but she did not have the energy to care. She had to focus all of her energy on putting one foot in front of the other. Georg declared they would stop for lunch, a declaration that some of the children protested immediately, for the town was close enough now that they could make out the shapes of buildings. However, Georg was insistent, and Friedrich and Liesl backed him up, casting worried glances at Maria as they did so.

They did not have much to eat for lunch, just a few things left from breakfast that morning, so everyone finished quickly. For once, however, Georg did not insist on moving on immediately, instead instructing his children to go play. Maria tried to tell him she was fine, but he shook his head firmly. "You are most certainly not fine, and you are going to rest here for at least half an hour before we continue. We will still reach the town before nightfall." He then reinforced his words by wrapping his arms around her and pulling her down beside him. Maria did not have the strength to argue with him.

They set off forty-five minutes later. "What's wrong with Mama?" Gretl questioned from her perch on Friedrich's back. Her older brother glanced back at Maria who could see the worry on his face even through her dizziness. However, his response was calm and assured, displaying a wisdom much greater than his fourteen years.

"She just isn't feeling well right now, but she's with Father and you know how he always makes everything better. I am sure she will be fine in no time."

An hour later, Maria stumbled slightly, tightening her hold on Georg's arm. Her vision blurred until she could not see anything right in front of her. She tried to call her husband's name, but it seemed like her tongue no longer worked correctly. Vaguely, she heard him give a low curse as two strong arms encircled her. The last thing she was aware of was being surrounded by his scent before she let darkness claim her.