Chapter 6 - inspection
After dinner their father inspected their rooms. They had to stand at the end of their beds, while he checked their rooms. In this way he could make sure none of them were able to hide anything quickly. It was a method he often used in the navy.
"Stand straight please. Don't stand like a lump." he said to Friedrich as he patted Friedrich's chest. Friedrich straightened his back and puffed his chest up. Kurt, who stood next at the end of his bed did the same.
Their father checked all the spots they could possibly use to hide the items, but didn't find anything.
Until he came to Louisa's and Brigitta's bedroom. "What do we have here?" he said while he picked a picture up, that laid underneath Louisa's bed.
Louisa used to get in trouble quite often, even before her mother passed away, and became a decent liar. But her father was the only one that could see right through her, sometimes without her knowing.
"I don't know, father." she said innocently. He walked over to her. "Where did you get this?" he said while he held the picture up. "Mother gave it to me before she passed away. She said it was important for us to be able to remember her. You must have forgotten to take this picture, when you stole our other belongings, that 'remind us too much of her'." she said confidently.
His mask slipped off for a millisecond while she said that. He stepped closer towards Louisa. "You watch your tone and your mouth, Louisa Catharina von Trapp, before you talk yourself into trouble. We do not want that to happen, do we?" he said.
"No, certainly not father. I'm just telling you what happened". Brigitta, who stood on the end of her bed sighed, because she knew what was going to happen next. One thing their father couldn't stand was when his children had a big mouth towards adults. Although he found it important that his children could stand up for themselves, but today was not the time.
Louisa was very good at hiding her feelings and emotions, but eventually it had to burst out. It seemed like today was the day. After six months, she could not stay quiet any longer.
"Looks like you just did talk yourself into trouble". Her father walked closer to her and slightly leaned forward. "It is 'sir' for you. Understood?" She made herself taller and also stepped forward. "Yes sir, but I only stated the truth! It is not my fault you forgot something while you were stealing our possessions!" she said indignantly.
"If I were you, I would keep my mouth shut. I will not have any of my children talk to me in such a way. It would not be fair towards Liesl if you got away with this kind of behaviour. Go to my study, I will be there shortly after".
"Oh, I'm certain she wouldn't mind, sir." Louisa said while she looked him straight in the eye. "Yet, you keep giving me numerous reasons why you should be punished". Louisa stayed silent, but gave him one last look. Her father motioned towards the door. She sighed and left.
Louisa went to his study and sat down on a chair that was placed onto the other side of the desk. She looked around. This room used to be her favourite one in the whole house. She used to watch her father work, while she sat on the settee and had a marvellous time browsing through books which she found on the bookshelves. She was enchanted by the drawings of animals and insects inside the books.
But the place she once adored, would slowly turn into one she would fear. She saw a half full bottle of liquor on a cabinet and the drapes were drawn in such a way that only a bit of daylight shone in.
After what felt like ages, he finally entered the room. She straightened herself. "You may sit down." he said with a deep voice. Louisa sat down.
Her father did not sit down, which made Louisa feel small compared to him. "You know what you did. I know what you did. There is no need to deny. Where are the other things that you stole?" he inquired.
"That was all. I only took one picture, to remember mother. Nothing more, honestly fa-, sir." she said, really trying to convince him. "Ah, I see". Obviously he saw right through her. She would have to step up her game and practise more to be able to fool him. "Well in that case, I might have to get the others in here as well. Perhaps Kurt or Brigitta can tell me who took the rest. If they won't tell me, I might have to ask Marta…" he said.
Louisa really did not want to get the other children involved and really tried to convince him that it was not one of them. "I don't think any of us will be able to tell you where the possessions are, sir. Are you certain you did not throw them away? Perhaps one of the maids accidentally got rid of them when she was cleaning." she defended.
"I suppose I should ask your siblings later. Since I was not able to find evidence of who is responsible for all of this, I am going to concentrate on you first". He pulled his chair, and sat down. It was silent for a few seconds, as he thought about the proper punishment. Louisa was not able to keep her eyes from his hands, which he always placed in a way whenever he was thinking.
"For having a big mouth you will be isolated for at least a day and locked in your room. For stealing you will be occupied with schoolwork and writing lines." he started. Louisa sighed, it was not fair. It was not only her fault, was it? Friedrich also took part in the plan. But somehow she was the one that ended up in this situation. She did not want to tattle on her brother, since she hoped he would have done the same thing if he was the one that sat in this chair. Louisa did not grant her brother the same consequences as herself.
Her father was a righteous man, but had become a bit more harsh. Given his mood over the past few months, she sort of expected this outcome. Unfortunately this did not make it any better for her, in fact it made everything worse.
Louisa had been the one that often was in trouble. Before her mother passed away it had been for things such as teasing her siblings, not listening to her parents and big mouths. Soon it would be for things such as getting rid of staff members, playing tricks on people and having big mouths. Some things will never change…
The thing that would change was the reaction of her father. He used to be strict, but not too harsh and reasonable. Now he would slowly turn into a man that was strict and harsh. He still loved his children and cared about them, but would often forget how to show that.
A/N:
Normally I don't write an author's note, but I felt it was necessary for this chapter. I don't think Georg suddenly turned into the man we saw in the beginning of the movie. There are a lot of things that triggered him to become that man.
As you can see I picked Louisa to stand up the most, because I think she was the closest to her father, simply because they are so alike. She knew her father in a different way, and was the bravest. I also think she did not completely realise how her father had changed, but she will find it out slowly/soon, most likely the hard way.
Because they're so alike and they knew each other well he is the only one/one of the few people that is/are able to tell when Louisa is lying. This might also change because they grow apart and because she is going to get more experience.
Different poles attract each other, the same poles push each other away. That's why I think Louisa and her father had more arguments and often could not stand each other, because they're almost exact replicas of each other.
As you could see Liesl and Friedrich both addressed their father with 'sir', while Louisa did not. I did this for several reasons. Friedrich looks up to him and tries to please him. Liesl had more experience, since she is the oldest and simply knew. Louisa chose not to address him with 'sir' because she is just very stubborn and was challenging him.
Most of the stories I have read don't capture such moments, which I find disappointing. I think those moments are important to have in a story, so you get to learn more about their bond later when they have to 'rebond'. In order to make characters rebond you have to learn more about the previous things that happened between them, the negative ones too. This won't be the only scene I'm going to put into this story, especially between those two characters.