May of 1930
Liesl - age 9
Friedrich - age 7
Louisa - age 6
Kurt - age 4
Brigitta - age 3
"Make sure you're ready to go, in the hallway at 1345." Georg yelled after the children as they ran upstairs.
He had promised to take the children out on the lake in the rowboat. "No child of mine will be a stranger to water or boats." he'd said earlier that day to Agathe. She had been reluctant, since they could be a handful and rock the boat with their bursting energy, causing it to flip over.
Around 1348 everyone was gathered in the hallway. "Mind the time next time please. When I say 45, it's 45, not 48." he said.
"Yes captain!" Agathe said and gave him a mock salute. Georg playfully rolled his eyes and couldn't help but chuckle. Agathe always mocked him whenever she thought he was being too much of a captain towards the children.
"Alright! Everyone to the boathouse!" Georg ordered. He stayed behind, and put an arm around Agathe's shoulder.
"Still can't get rid of your disciplined habits, captain?" she joked.
"Oh, you know that you can't get a man to unlearn their navy training," he smiled.
"Besides, a bit of discipline might be exactly what our children need. It's better to teach them young, don't you think?." he added
"Yes, I suppose they could use a bit of your discipline." she laughed.
"Papa, are you coming?!" Liesl yelled from the terrace.
"Well, that's my cue. We'll be back in an hour." Georg said as he kissed Agathe.
Kurt came back running in the house, to see why it took his father so long. "Ew!" Kurt exclaimed as he saw the two adults.
"Alright, let's go." Georg said to Kurt as he ushered him out. Kurt ran through the hallway, on his way to his siblings.
"Halt!" his father reminded. Kurt slowed his steps at the reprimand of his father.
"Thank you" he said when the boy listened and walked to the boat house.
After they readied the boat for use, they brought it out to the water. Georg carried each child into the boat, and made sure they were settled.
"I do want to go over the two most important rules once more," Georg started. The children sighed at having to go over the rules again. He had made each of his children write the rules several times, to make sure each one understood.
"Hey, no sighing at me. Each one of you must obey my orders or I won't take you out next time. I do not want to see any part of your body out of the boat when it's moving and you are all to remain seated. Understood?" All the children nodded.
Georg had taught Kurt how to swim the summer before, so now every child in the boat could swim.
Both Friedrich and Louisa wanted to be the captain, and started bickering. "Why don't you two take turns, hmm?" their father suggested.
"Yes, papa." Friedrich agreed. Louisa shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "Fine".
When everyone was ready they left the shore and started rowing.
Friedrich took the map, which their mother gave them before they left, and looked for the x. When he had found it, Louisa took the binoculars and searched for the place where they could moor.
After thirty minutes of rowing, they reached their destination.
"Papa, are we good pirates, or bad ones?" Kurt asked. "Well, that depends on it. Were you planning on plundering?" Georg asked in a mock-serious tone. Kurt shook his head, he didn't plan on plundering, as long as there was something to eat. After all, he had gotten hungry after all that rowing.
Luckily his mother had made a picnic basket, filled with all different sorts of food.
After everyone had finished eating, the children started exploring the grounds.
"Look! I've found the x!" Liesl exclaimed. Quickly everyone came, to take a look. Georg handed the shovel to Liesl, and she started digging.
Fairly soon they found a box. "What are you waiting for?! Open it!" Louisa expressed impatiently.
Liesl opened the box. Inside there was a crumpled piece of paper. Carefully she picked it up, and read it out loud.
"To whoever has found it, the next clue shall be found where it's not wet, but not guaranteed to be dry. Where a duck makes its bed, but does not lie up high".
"What is that supposed to mean?" Kurt asked. It was tough being the youngest one on such trips. After all, he just started to learn how to write and read.
"It's a riddle, we have to solve it." Liesl explained.
Louisa grabbed the piece of paper out of Liesl's hands and stared at it for a couple of seconds.
"A duck's bed is a nest. Where do they make them?" Louisa asked.
"Near the water!" Friedrich answered.
"Right! So shouldn't we be looking there then?"
Liesl and Friedrich nodded. All of the children ran away and started looking for the next clue.
"Found it!" Louisa yelled from the other side.
After everyone had gathered, she read the next hint.
"I can be found in the garden or in the park,
Sometimes even on the sidewalk.
You can sit on me and read,
Well don't wait and get back on your feet." Louisa read.
"That's not hard, it's a bench!" Friedrich gushed.
Not much later they found the bench near the water. Underneath was a small box. Friedrich picked it up, opened it and read the next note.
"That was fun, go back to your ship,
watch out that you don't flip."
All the children ran to the rowboat. "Well do help me please." their father said as he was collecting their belongings.
"Sorry, papa!" quickly they came back to help their father.
The way back went peacefully. In the boathouse Liesl found the next clue.
"I'm green, brown, and tall.
I change colours during the fall." she read outloud.
"I know it, I know it! It's a tree!" Kurt exclaimed happily. Finally he knew the answer to a clue. "Yeah, we know that Sherlock. But which tree? There are lots of them." Louisa said, rolling her eyes.
"Well, yes Louisa, there are lots of trees, but there is only one tree that's special. The one near the gazebo, with the swing and cloths in it to climb!" Liesl said while running towards the beloved tree.
She climbed in the tree and found a box in it. She handed the box over to Kurt, who excitedly took it and placed it on the bench.
"Well, open it silly!" Friedrich cried out.
Kurt opened the box and gasped. Louisa pushed Kurt aside to see with her own eyes what amazed her brother. "That's gorgeous!" Liesl gushed.
The box was filled with beautiful stones, varying in colour and shininess. There were also five chocolate bars in it. Kurt especially was happy with those, he loved chocolate.
"Why don't you show your mother and sister the treasure you've found, eh?" Georg said.
The four children ran inside, each holding a bit of the treasury. Although he was pretty sure that it wouldn't make a difference if Kurt let go of the box.
The troup ran towards their mother, who sat in the drawing room with Brigitta. The little girl was engaged in a puzzle and didn't look up when her siblings stormed in.
She was greeted by a chorus with sentences such as "Mama, look what we found!" and "It is so pretty!".
"Why don't you all take a breath, and you can show me what treasure you've found".
Friedrich put the treasury next to their mother on the sofa. He opened it and showed it with pride.
"That's stunning, dear!" his mother exclaimed. Now Brigitta was curious too. She stood up and walked over to the rest, to see what was happening. She tried to grab a stone, but Louisa smacked her hand away.
"That's not yours, we found it. Besides you're too little for stones, you might choke." she said.
"I am not! I won't choke!" Brigitta retorted.
"Let's slow down, huh. There is something in there, for each and every one of you, including Brigitta. You can divide the stones, and I counted five bars of chocolate, so one for each." Georg said.
Louisa scowled at her father, and crossed her arms. Georg took her chin in his hand and turned her face up to meet his. "Get that look off your face, or you won't get anything. I'm not putting up with that stuff." he reprimanded.
Louisa quickly changed her attitude and they started dividing the stones.
With a few disputes that Agathe easily solved they evenly divided the stones, without any tears or pouting.
At last everyone was content.
A/N: Happy new year to all! Sorry that it took so long to post again. I've been dealing with chronic fatigue over the past few years, and I had multiple flares over the past few months. Hopefully I'll get an official diagnosis soon, it's terrible not knowing what's wrong with your own body. Whenever I'm not laying down I just feel sick (dizzy, nausea and eventually my body starts hurting). Wish everyone an amazing new year, with lots of health, fun and warmth.