Scène 11, reminiscing with sisters - 1930

November of 1930

Liesl - age 10

Friedrich - age 7

Louisa - age 6

Kurt - age 5

Brigitta - age 3

Marta - 3 months old

Hede's children:

Arnfried/Arne - age 9

Matthias - age 6

Hannelore - age 2

"Mama, you have to see the hut we built!" Kurt said with excitement, as he ran into the drawing room.

"I am coming!" his mother replied as she stood up, and followed him into the hall.

Kurt raced up the stairs, towards the nursery. Once Agathe reached the room, she couldn't help but suppress a smile.

Her husband was attaching a blanket to the closet, ordered around by Liesl, while Louisa and Friedrich, seated on the floor, were debating what they were going to name their club.

She looked around to see what Brigitta was doing. The girl was seated, book in front of her, while she was observing what was happening around her.

"It looks good, children!" she applauded them.

Louisa groaned and threw her head back in frustration. "Kurt, we told you that you could not get mother until the hut was finished!" she chided her younger brother.

Kurt shrugged. "It looks finished to me."

"Yeah, but you always say that things are finished when they're not," Friedrich joined in.

"Yes, like that time you told your teacher that you had wiped the chalkboard clean, when you hadn't," Louisa pointed out.

"That's not fair! I couldn't reach the top, so I was finished!" Kurt retorted, hands on his hips.

Louisa huffed. "You made us wait in the cold, because your teacher didn't agree with that..."

Kurt marched towards his siblings, but was stopped in time by his mother.

"Why don't you give me a tour?" she implied.

Kurt nodded eagerly, the dispute with his siblings forgotten, and showed her the entrance to the hut.

"I think we should name our club 'The Hand'," Louisa suggested.

Friedrich frowned. "Why?"

"Well, because it's me, you, Liesl, Kurt and Brigitta," she explained as she held her hand up and assigned them a finger each.

"But what about Marta?" he asked.

Louisa huffed. "She's a baby, she is too young!"

"But what do we do when she's old enough? She would be angry at us for not including her. I'm not going to be the one who tells her we didn't add her because she was too young! It would break my heart!" Friedrich said.

Louisa sighed and laid down. "Maybe you're right…"

"Maybe?! I know for a fact that she wouldn't like it! How would you like it if Liesl and I had a club, and we would have left you out, just because you were a baby?!" Friedrich turned towards his sister.

"Alright, alright, you are right."

Louisa sat up. "You don't have a secret club with Liesl, right?"

"No," Friedrich scoffed.

Louisa turned to him and raised her eyebrow.

"Really!" he defended.

She held his gaze for a bit until she shrugged. "If you say so."

"What about 'Blood Clan'?" Louisa asked after a minute.

"That sounds a bit aggressive, if you would ask me," Liesl spoke up.

"Yeah, I bet you'd like something like 'Six Hearts' better, wouldn't you?" Louisa sneered.

Georg snorted but got an elbow shoved into his ribs accompanied by a disapproving look from Agathe.

"Actually, I think I would. 'Six Hearts' sounds good to me," Liesl retorted.

"Yeah, it's not that bad," Friedrich joined in.

Louisa sighed and rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms.

"What about 'Team 36' instead?" she suggested.

"Why would it be 36?" Friedrich asked.

"Are you stupid or something? Six times six is thirty six, silly!" Louisa scoffed.

"I know that! It just doesn't make a lot of sense if you'd ask me…" he replied.

"You know, if we were with seven we could be 'The Seven Seas'," Liesl spoke up, not wanting her siblings to start an argument.

Georg and Agathe shared a look and couldn't help but smile.

Louisa sighed and laid back down. "It will take too much time before mama has a new baby! I'm not going to wait that long!"

"Who says that it has to be accurate anyways? We could be 'The Six Seas' if we wanted to," Friedrich shrugged.

"I agree! I vote for 'The Six Seas'!" Liesl piped up.

"Me too!" Kurt smiled.

Liesl raised her eyebrows in a questioning manner as she turned to Louisa.

"I suppose it's not that bad of a name… But, it would be better if we were with seven…" Louisa said as she turned to her parents with an insistent look.

Georg rolled his eyes, and playfully flicked her nose. "You are always complaining about the babies, but now not, eh?" he said as he shook his head.

"Well, even though Kurt and Brigitta are very annoying, they can be fun too, only sometimes though. Marta isn't too bad, she is quiet and has a cute smile," she defended.

Her mother couldn't help but burst out laughing. Louisa glared at her.

"Eh, so that is why you didn't kidnap Marta? Just because she is quiet, and has a cute smile, eh?" her father teased, his eyebrow and corner of his mouth raised.

Louisa's mouth was set in a tight line, her eyes glaring at her father. "I didn't kidnap Brigitta! We went adventuring!"

"So you have said," he said, trying to keep his face in control.

"What do you mean?" Brigitta asked, curious to know what they were talking about.

"You promised you wouldn't tell," Louisa reminded her father.

"I did. So, unless Louisa wants to tell you what happened, I'm afraid I cannot tell you anything, since I have taken an oath. I'm quite keen on my left pinky, you know," he told Brigitta.

The other children giggled at their father's explanation.

"Good," Louisa said with a nod, arms crossed. Agathe had to suppress a smile. Louisa's mannerisms reminded her an awful lot of Georg.

"Because I'm not afraid to chop your pinky off if you break your promise," Louisa added evenly.

Her siblings all gasped.

"If you do that, you will be in trouble with me. I do not care whether or not anyone has taken an oath or not, no one is chopping anyone's finger off," Agathe intervened.

"So, we can chop an arm off instead?" Kurt asked.

"No!" Agathe and Georg replied in despair.

"No chopping allowed at all, or you will be dealing with me, after your mother has dealt with you," Georg warned, as he gently smacked the back of Kurt's head.

"Alright, so that is settled, now isn't it? Everyone agrees on the name?" Friedrich asked.

Liesl nodded in agreement. "Yes, 'Six Seas' it is."

"Papa, mama, you need to leave. We have some very important things to discuss, and you're not a part of our club, so you have to leave," Kurt announced.

Soon Agathe and Georg found themselves in the hallway, with the door being closed in their faces.

"Well… At least they are working together, eh?" Georg said, as he turned towards his wife and wrapped an arm around her.

Agathe giggled as she leaned into his chest. "As long as we don't have a mutiny on our hands…"

𖡼

"Aunt Hede!" Kurt yelled as he ran towards his aunt. He didn't waste a second and embraced his aunt tightly.

"Hello, my sweet Kurt," she said as she ruffled his hair.

"Let me take a look at you, hmm?" Kurt released his aunt and stepped back.

"Oh my! Haven't you grown?" she gasped theatrically. Kurt nodded eagerly.

"Yeah look, I'm now this tall! Last time I was this tall!" Kurt showed with his hand.

The other children had now arrived in the hallway too. Louisa and Friedrich immediately turned to their cousins.

"Hello, Aunt Hede," Liesl smiled. Her aunt pulled her in for a side hug and squeezed her arm.

"Elisabeth, look at you! You are growing into a young beautiful woman, aren't you?" Hede winked.

"Yes, but as for now she is still a little girl," Georg interrupted.

Hede and Liesl shared a look. Both broke out laughing. Georg shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Alright, perhaps not a little girl anymore…" he admitted.

Hede and Liesl nodded in agreement.

"Lili, Hannelore wants to say hello to you," Louisa called from across the hallway.

Both Liesl and Kurt walked towards their siblings and cousins, to see what they were up to.

"Hello, brother," Hede greeted her brother properly, while she embraced him.

"Hello, Hedie."

Hede pulled back, and studied his face for a bit. "You look awful," she stated.

Georg pushed her hands away. "I am fine."

"Keep telling yourself that," she scoffed.

Georg averted his eyes.

"You have been having those nightmares and flashbacks again, haven't you?" she asked, realisation and worry kicking in.

He didn't answer. He didn't need to, because she already knew.

"Hmm, let's drink some tea, and after that you are going to tell me everything."

"Hede, please…" he whispered.

"No. Let me take care of you, for once. You have taken care of me my whole life," she said firmly.

Georg didn't have the time to object, because his sister had already walked towards his wife, to greet her.

Damn his stubborn little sister. He was supposed to take care of her, not the other way around.

𖡼

"So, how are you doing?" Hede asked her brother, when they were alone.

Agathe and Heinrich had taken the children into town, giving the siblings time to talk.

"I am alright, thank you," he said dismissively.

Hede sighed. "No. Tell me how you are really doing. I want to hear everything."

Georg leaned back in his seat. "I have absolutely nothing to complain about. I'm healthy, my wife and children are healthy, we have a nice mansion, food-" he started casually, until he was interrupted by his sister.

"You know exactly what I mean, Georg," Hede said as she held his gaze.

He sighed. Why couldn't she leave the matter? Telling his younger sister about his burdens felt even worse than telling his own wife about it.

"I suppose it could be better…" he admitted.

"Agathe confirmed that you were having flashbacks and nightmares again," she dropped, watching his reaction.

Georg's body tensed. "You could put it that way…"

"What were they about? The war? Father? School?" she asked.

He scoffed as he rolled his eyes. He did absolutely not want to talk about this.

"Georg… please just let me in…" Hede almost begged.

He still had no intention of dumping all his burdens onto his sister. So he stood up, made his way towards the liquor cabinet, and he poured himself a glass of whiskey.

"Just at least tell me what they were about! Please…"

He made the mistake of looking at his sister. How could he resist those eyes… He swallowed the liquid.

"Truth to be told… All three of them… all fucking three of them…" he repeated as he nodded, and walked towards the window.

"And Agathe knows?" Hede asked.

"Yes… Not everything, but she knows," he said absentmindedly as he stared through the window.

"Perhaps she thinks it is mainly the war… Which it is… But frankly… everything seems to return to me all at once, this time. It is like someone wants to drown me in my own fucking memories." He turned back around, to face her.

Hede nodded. "Yes… I should have expected that, eh? First our mean old bastard, then whatever happened to you at school, in the navy, and at war… and finally…" She couldn't finish that sentence. Even after all those years, she still couldn't—the loss of their brother still hurt too much.

Georg nodded sadly.

She stood up and walked over to her brother. "I know you don't like to talk about what has happened, you never did… But you can't stay strong forever. Perhaps that is why it has gotten to this point, hmm?"

"I don't enjoy telling people things that could only worry them—it is no use. Not for me, and most certainly not for them."

"But I could have saved you if you told me, if you let me in! Werner and I could have done something! You wouldn't have been the one taking all the blame for our trouble," she argued.

"So you know, eh?" he nodded grimly.

"Yes, I have figured some things out. Memories have catched up to me too, and I started to realise some things," Hede said.

"How fantastic," he said, the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"I appreciate that you took care of me. I feel stupid for never realising how much you did for us... I suppose I noticed it when you went to boarding school, but even then you still managed to take care of us. It wasn't until much later before they sent us away too that I finally realised how big the void was without you... I am sorry that you felt like you had to take care of us, Georg."

He could not start to break now! He had to keep himself together and talk himself out of this horrible situation.

Unfortunately his lower lip started to twitch already.

"I had to take care of you, of both of you. I knew what he could be like, and I did not want him to break you two too! You deserved a nice childhood. With someone who was gentle and showed you love," he said loud enough, so that he didn't burst out crying, as he pointed a finger at her.

Anger was going to save him. If he softened his voice, he would break entirely.

A silent tear rolled down Hede's cheek. "And I had all that, because of you," she said softly. Her heart broke for her brother, her hero, her parental figure.

"No, you did not! I fucked it up!" Georg yelled.

He broke. Tears were streaming down his face.

Hede embraced her brother. "Werner's death is not your fault, it's not," she said firmly.

"Then why does it feel like it is?" he sobbed.

"Most likely because you felt responsible for him—for us. That is not your fault, it is theirs for not doing their job as parents properly…"

They hugged each other tightly for some time.

"Tell me, what do you remember?" Georg asked after a while. He was terrified of the answer that his sister was going to give him. He was terrified that she knew more than what was good for her.

Hede shook her head.

Georg raised his eyebrow. "You can't come in here, order me to tell you everything, and then not be truthful yourself."

Hede sighed. She knew he had a point.

"Alright… I don't remember much… but I remember Werner and I doing something stupid, and then you disappearing for a bit. Unless he used those horrible 'shaming tactics'. I have to admit that I never fully understood what was happening and what it was for," she told him.

He knew what she was talking about. His father was convinced that shame was the key factor to learning lessons. That meant he lost 'privileges' – sometimes even going as far as losing the privilege of being a human being. His wife knew about the time he was treated like a dog – she found it incredibly inhumane, and felt ill when she heard about it. He hadn't even told her everything he had ever been treated like. His father could be very creative with what he called 'discipline'.

Georg pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I do remember that you and Werner once got belted, for something that the three of us did, and that father made me watch, which was my punishment… I remember that he kept slamming his belt into your bare backs, as you were kneeling on the ground… and… eventually you… you had enough… So, you pulled Werner to the ground and covered his body with your own body…"

"Fucking hell," he cursed as he turned around to run his hand over his face.

He turned back around to face her. "I was praying that you would forget that. The worst part about all that was that you saw it happen. It looks like my worst nightmare came true, eh?"

"Oh shut up! I felt terrible because there was nothing I could do to save you in that moment! I had to watch you take a beating, because of something the three of us did wrong! Don't you dare feel sorry for me!" Hede yelled.

Both fell silent for a moment. They could hear the wind blowing outside the house.

"Up until that moment I had never realised that he treated you two differently—I feel so stupid… Compared to you, I was lucky. He was an overly strict martinet, but he had his softer sides, to me atleast... I never noticed how hard he was on you," she said in a softer tone.

"He never…" he wanted to ask.

"No. He never treated me like you, never even anything near to that."

Georg's muscles softened. He was glad that Hede never went through those things.

"I am so sorry. There were many times I should have just stood up to him, owned up to my mistakes, or even just have come up to you, even though he told us that we weren't to disturb you."

Georg held his hand up, shook his head and wanted to tell her that she shouldn't apologise, but Hede shut him down.

"No. What kind of sister doesn't even have the courage to tell her brother, who has been treated inhumanely, for hours and sometimes even days, that she loves him, or that she is sorry? I will never forgive myself for that. I can't imagine how alone and small you must have felt, especially during those times he tried to make you feel ashamed," she managed to get out, before she burst out crying.

This time Georg pulled his sister in for a hug. "Shh," he cooed.

"And… I feel horrible for all the times I lashed out at you. You didn't deserve that."

Hede reminded him of Louisa. Both eventually had their breaking point, and their energy and frustration came out in a negative way. Because he was a father himself, he now finally understood why Hede lashed out at him—he was the person she felt safe with, and she dared to show her emotions. Neither of them ever felt like they could with their parents.

"I don't blame you," he sighed and looked up, furiously trying to blink the wetness in his eyes away. "Man, the reason I am still here is because I had your smile to look forward to seeing, eh. You were just a baby… We were just babies…," he whispered softly.

"I don't know if I can forgive him… them…" she whispered.

"I know…" he answered absentmindedly.

"Being a father myself helps me process it better. Though in a way it makes me angry too. When I look at my children, I can not understand how one could be so cold and cruel towards them," he confessed.

"I have that too…"

Georg suddenly chuckled. Hede shot him a confused glance.

"I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him around my children. It is weird to think that he has a soft spot, after all," he said.

Hede pulled back. "I know, right?! I was in absolute shock! Who would have believed that he could actually be loving towards someone, let alone towards children?!"

Georg smiled. "I suppose he applied whatever his own father did with them. Großvater Trapp was not the most loving person either…," he said, remembering his grandfather, and the interactions between his father and grandfather.

"Yes… I wish we could meet him when he was a boy himself. I wonder what he was like," Hede said, lost in her thoughts.

"You know what mother told me? She told me that our father used to take me into town, and that he bought me sweets!" he told her.

"I did not see that coming, I wonder why he changed…"

He hummed in agreement. That was a mystery for another day.

"I suppose I should read his 'fatherhood diary' he gave me when Liesl was born," he said.

He had never even opened that thing. As soon as his father had given it to him, he had packed it away, not willing to take advice from his own father. He was too scared he was going to turn out like him. But now, years later, he was wondering what even was written in that diary.

"He gave you what?" Hede asked in disbelief.

Georg shook his head. "He told me he had written all of his experiences as a father in that diary. He said that it would be useful for me to have."

Hede nodded in understanding.

"Now I'm curious. I wonder especially what he has written about the time when he took you to town to buy sweets," she said.

They both shared a laugh.

"Georg?"

"Hmm, yes, Hede?"

"Promise me that you will tell me if you are struggling, will you? Agathe is a dear, but sometimes it helps to talk to someone who went through the same thing… or something similar," Hede spoke up.

Georg sighed. "I will try… I suppose."

Hede nodded. "Good… That is an improvement, at least."

𖡼

The rest of the family was spending time together in Salzburg. The Von Trapps were showing their cousins and uncle their favourite places in town.

"Last, but not least… The Mirabell Gardens!" Kurt exclaimed.

"Yeah, they can tell, silly. They have been here before," Louisa said as she rolled her eyes, and bumped into her brother with her shoulder.

Kurt pushed back. It didn't take long for them to start a pushing contest.

Agathe wanted to intervene when Kurt stumbled to the ground, until she heard his giggles. She smiled as she shook her head.

Not much later, all the children, except for Liesl, who was walking next to her mother, were pushing each other with their shoulders.

Brigitta tried to keep up with the older children, but didn't quite succeed. The girl fell… a lot. Luckily her older brother, Friedrich, put her right back on her feet, and made sure she didn't get hurt.

"Watch out, will you? There are decent people, trying to walk on the street, without getting involved in a war," Heinrich, their uncle, scolded the children, when they were nearing some other pedestrians.

"Sir, yes, sir," Matthias, the second eldest of the Arneth clan, saluted his father with a huge grin. The rest echoed his response with a matching salute and grin.

When Louisa fell into a puddle, Arnfried had had enough. "Watch out! Isa just fell," he scolded his cousins and younger brother.

"I'm alright, Arne. You don't have to worry about me."

Arnfried offered Louisa a hand, which she took and allowed herself to be pulled upright.

It was sort of sweet. Her cousin had a soft spot for her, and always looked out for her. Though it could be very annoying at times.

Friedrich and Kurt snorted.

"Oi! I'll smack that look on your face right off!"

She might have allowed her cousin to pull her back up, but she wasn't going to tolerate any teasing or disrespect from her siblings. In the midst of all these boys she had to keep up her reputation.

"Louisa von Trapp!" her mother warned.

Giving her brothers one last glare, she turned around to face her mother.

"We do not use such coarse language, young lady," her mother scolded her.

"Sorry, mother," she apologised. Her mother nodded in satisfaction.

"Come, give me a hand."

Reluctantly Louisa made her way towards her mother, and gave her a hand.

Surprisingly it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. She enjoyed the time she spent with her mother and older sister. They weren't as loud and as pressing as the boys.

𖡼

"How was it in town, hm?" Georg asked as he took his cuff links off, seated on the side of the bed.

"It was nice. The fresh air did us all good."

"How were the children?"

"I think they enjoyed themselves. They love spending time with their cousins," Agathe answered, wiping her lipstick off.

Georg hummed, knowing all too well how excited they always were to see their kin.

"No troubles?"

"Just the usual banter," she replied, taking off her jewellery.

"I heard that Louisa fell," he said.

"Hm, yes. She was not the only one, but she was the unfortunate one that fell in a puddle," she explained.

He nodded, neatly folding his waistcoat.

"Could she keep up with the boys?" he asked, wondering if the boys allowed her to join them.

"Do you actually need to ask that? I think the question here is whether or not the boys could keep up with her."

Georg smiled to himself. "Yes, of course."

"And, could they?" he asked, curious.

This time Agathe smiled. "I had to intervene when she threatened her brothers that she would smack their smirks off of their faces, after she had fallen into the puddle."

"Ah, of course you had," he said with a grin.

He folded his shirt.

"What about Liesl and Brigitta, eh?" he asked, really not wanting the conversation to shift to what he had been up to that day.

"They enjoyed it too. Brigitta tried to keep up with the older children, Friedrich looked out for her, making sure she didn't get hurt in the crossfire of the older children, and Liesl stayed near me," she answered.

"Good… I'm proud to see that he has listened to us," he said.

Agathe hummed.

They fell silent. Both continued preparing themselves for bed.

"How did it go?" Agathe asked Georg after a moment. She made eye contact with him through the vanity mirror.

Georg sighed. He wanted to keep the conversation going about the children, so that he wouldn't have to talk about this.

"It went alright," he replied. He didn't manage to keep eye contact with her.

"If you want to talk about it, I'm here for you," Agathe said softly. She didn't want to force him into a conversation he didn't want to have, or wasn't ready to have.

"Thank you, my love," he replied, a small smile appearing on his face.

𖡼

"Alright, here is the plan. You," Georg pointed at Louisa and Friedrich, "are going to clear one side of Louisa's room, while you," he pointed at Liesl, Kurt and Brigitta, "are going to pack Brigitta's things."

"Is that clear?" he asked.

"Yes, father," they replied.

"I will be helping you in both rooms. If you're planning on moving furniture, ask me for help—I don't want any of you hurt."

"Yes, father."

"Off you go then."

The children ran off and got to work.

Initially Agathe and he wanted to move Brigitta to Louisa's room during the autumn break, but because of different circumstances they never got to it.

They were worried that Louisa wouldn't want to share her room, but the girl seemed excited.

"Hmm, how are things going here?" Agathe asked as she stepped into Louisa's room.

"Louisa keeps getting distracted!" Friedrich said in exasperation, motioning at the girl who was flipping through an old sketchbook.

"I just have to see if I have to keep it, or if it can be thrown out!" she defended.

"Such valuable things will be kept. If you plan on throwing things away, you have to run it by me first," her mother said.

"Uhuh," Louisa mumbled absentmindedly.

"Use proper sentences," her mother scolded her.

"Yes, mother."

"And sit up straight, please."

Louisa refrained from sighing, and corrected her posture.

"Thank you."

Agathe glanced around the room.

"Lunch will be served in a couple of minutes, you can continue after," she told them.

Without a doubt Friedrich stopped with what he was doing and walked out of the room.

"Are you coming, Louisa?" her mother asked.

Casting the sketchbook one final glance, Louisa stood up. "Yes, mama."

𖡼

After a long day of moving Brigitta into Louisa's room, both girls were eager for their first night together.

"We're a team now, you know? Me and you, together," Louisa said, as she laid on her back, staring at the ceiling.

"Mhm," Brigitta hummed.

Louisa looked forward to having someone she could talk to in the evenings, after they were already supposed to be quiet. She was quite jealous, really, of Friedrich and Kurt. They were able to discuss things and create plans together after bedtime. But now, she finally had her own camarade.

"I mean, we have to stick together, don't we? With all these brothers we have."

"Yes," Brigitta giggled.

The door opened. "Ladies, we understand that sharing a room is very exciting, therefore you will get ten minutes extra to read or talk. Your father will come to check on you, once it is time," their mother said.

"Thank you!"

Their mother kissed them goodnight.

Louisa read to Brigitta, both laying on their stomachs in Louisa's bed. The minutes flew by.

"I hate to interrupt you, but it is time to sleep," they heard their father's voice say.

"Noo! We can't stop here!" Louisa whined.

"Yes! I need to know how it ends!" Brigitta added.

"I'm sorry, but it is time. You can continue tomorrow."

When neither of them responded, their father walked over to them, and lifted Brigitta up, tickling the girl.

"No, papa stop!" she laughed.

"You should've just listened to me then, eh?"

He dumped Brigitta on her bed.

He then walked over to Louisa, who laid on her stomach and had now twisted around to face her father. He raised his eyebrow, and held out his hand, indicating that she should hand the book over.

A smile crossed Louisa's face as she shook her head.

Cheeky, he thought to himself.

He saw her clutch the book more tightly, while her eyes were challenging him to take it.

It only took for him to tickle her, to make her lose the grip she had in the book.

"No!" she shrieked, unable to stop her laughter, as he took the book from her.

"Oh that will teach you to listen to me, my darling," he smiled as he playfully smacked her behind with the book.

"It's not fair!"

"Oi, not fair, is it? I will tell you what's not fair – two little girls who are up past their bedtimes, and not listening to their old man – that's what's not fair," he said dramatically.

Brigitta giggled.

"And what are we going to do about your unruly sister, my Gittes?" he asked her.

The young girl giggled again. "I don't know," she smiled, her hand covering her mouth.

"Yeah, see, Bri and I are a team now," Louisa told him.

"Ah, is that so?"

"Yes! We're sticking together against the boys!" Brigitta beamed.

He saw Louisa roll her eyes from the corner of his eyes.

Questioningly, he turned towards Louisa. "The boys, eh?"

"Well, yes, but no... It's just… if they do anything, we can stick together, you know?" she explained.

"I see," he nodded.

"Well, it is time. I will tuck you in, but after that I want to hear nothing from you, understood?" he asked seriously.

"Yes, papa."

Their father tucked them in.

"I will be taking this with me. You may get it back tomorrow morning," their father said as he held the book up.

"Goodnight papa," they echoed.

"Goodnight, my loves," their father said as he closed the door behind him.

After some silence Brigitta spoke up.

"Louisa?" she whispered.

"Yes?"

"What did papa mean with that you kidnapped me?" Brigitta asked.

A best of silence followed.

"Louisa? Please tell me."

Louisa sighed. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yeah!"

"Shh! Not so loud."

"Sorry."

Louisa wiggled herself into a more comfortable position.

"Alright, so, a few weeks - maybe a month - after you were born, I put you in my pram, and took you with me, away from home. I placed a blanket in your crib so that they wouldn't notice you were gone," Louisa started.

"Why?"

"I wanted to see if they cared."

"What?"

Louisa rolled her eyes. Brigitta always wanted to know everything.

"Well, you got a lot of attention, and I wanted to see if they actually liked you, and if they liked me still."

"Oh."

"Yeah… But I was little back then, so you can't really blame me. I didn't want anyone to tell you, because I was afraid that you wouldn't like me very much then," Louisa confessed.

"I still like you," Brigitta reassured her sister.

Louisa smiled, though it was too dark for Brigitta to see.

"Where did we go?"

"I'm not sure. I tried to walk around the lake, but it was too large, you see, I had little legs back then. So when I realised that, I hid with you at the stables instead."

"What happened after?"

"Well, the stable boy eventually spotted us, and told papa and mama. Apparently everyone was worried and looking for us. Papa and mana weren't too happy that I took you, nor that I ran away."

"Did you get in trouble?"

"Yeah, I did, but not in a lot. I can't remember what my punishment was exactly, I just know they felt a little bad because I thought they didn't like me anymore."

"Did I get in trouble?"

Brigitta could ask such silly questions sometimes.

"Of course not! You were a baby! It wasn't your fault that I took you with me!"

"I didn't think so, I just wanted to make sure!" Brigitta defended.

"If you say so."

They were silent.

"Louisa, why do people have names?" Brigitta asked after a moment.

Louisa frowned.

"Probably just so you can call people over more easily. Otherwise you would have ten other people running towards you if you yell, 'Come here!', you know? And so that parents have something to shout so that their children know that they're in trouble, I reckon," Louisa thought out loud.

"Ah, yes. That makes sense… But still… why names?"

Before Louisa had the time to respond, she was interrupted by her mother opening the door.

"Girls, it is now well past your bedtimes. This is your last warning," their mother said.

"We'll go to sleep, sorry, mama," Louisa said.

"Sorry, mama," Brigitta echoed.

"Sleep well, girls."

"Goodnight," they replied.

Aside from Brigitta's, sometimes weird and silly, questions, Louisa was very happy to share her room with her sister.

𖡼

Started: 20/November/2024

Finished: 31/January/2025

A/N: Thanks to indigoblue (freeforum) I was inspired enough to find the children a name for their club.

Special thanks to all the guest reviews!

For some reason I had a hard time writing this chapter. I couldn't find the right words and the sentences all seem off to me. I needed to get this chapter out so I can hopefully write something better again.