A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates - not writer's block, I have just been too lazy to type it up. :-)
Chapter 5:
"Liesl! Look!" Friedrich whispered to his sister, who was sitting next to him on that same stone bench. He gestured toward the figure that was behind a tree, trying to hide from everyone while attempting to capture Liesl's attention. She gasped softly. Rolf, she mouthed his name.
"Go Liesl, I'll cover for you." The young girl gave a grateful grin to her brother and hurried off toward the boy. When she reached him, she grabbed his hand and led him toward the terrace, to be out of sight from her siblings. Once far enough away, he spoke.
"Oh Liesl, I've missed you."
"And I, you." They continued to walk in the direction of the terrace, hand in hand, enjoying each others company, until Rolf heard Liesl gasp softly as she stopped walking. He looked at her eyes and followed her gaze to see Liesl's father and governess break from a kiss at the sound, which he would have questioned, had he not been so desperate to get away.
As he ran, he heard following footsteps, closer and closer, and he worried, Liesl's father is a sea captain, he is sure to catch up with me. I don't know what—His thoughts were broken when he suddenly felt his feet above his head, a sharp pain on his head, and everything went black.
Rolf opened his eyes, not sure of where he was or what had happened, but he was delighted to see Liesl knelt beside the couch where he lay. He also saw Maria and the Captain on the other side of the room talking, with worried looks on their faces, so he assumed he was on the inside of the von Trapp's house.
"Liesl?" She smiled, but shushed him.
"Father, he is awake now." Rolf sat up, and caught a water and blood soaked rag that fell off his forehead, and his eyes grew wide at the sight of the blood. The Captain walked over and crossed his arms. Rolf wasn't sure what he was expected to do, and he felt very uncomfortable, but the Captain just stood there, for he wanted to boy to feel uneasy. Ho looked at Liesl for help, but she had stood up and was under the arm of her governess, and she just gave him a half smile.
"Good evening Captain, uh, sir," Rolf stammered while looking down at his hands.
"Why were you on my property, Rolf?" He wasn't sure of how much Liesl had told her father, so he decided to stick with the truth.
"Sir, I...I came to see Liesl...sir. I am sorry." Frau Schmidt walked in and handed Georg a clean wet rag, and he placed it on the boys forehead.
"Hold that there." His voice was stern, but the fact that he was caring for him showed that he really wasn't cold hearted, so as the Captain started pacing, Rolf decided to ask a question.
"Uh, sir?" The Captain turned on his heel to face him, but said nothing. Rolf continued. "Um...what happened?"
"After you snuck onto my property to meet with my young teenaged daughter?" The Captain asked sarcastically, emphasizing the words. "You quite unwisely tried to run away from me. Doubtful that you would have escaped anyhow, but you tripped over a bloody tree root." The Captain smirked. "You hit your head and went unconscious, my eldest son and I brought you in here."
"Thank you, Captain,"
Georg looked over at his daughter's face. She really was becoming a woman. Some of his anger diminished, but there still was the matter of the boys family, and their political convictions that he certainly did not agree with. He sat down next to the boy on the couch.
"How old are you, son?"
"17, sir"
"I see. And are you my daughters, uh, boyfriend?"
"I-I'm not sure, Captain," he responded, but as he looked over at Liesl, she gave him a smile that made him quite sure, but he just smiled back and said nothing. The Captain sighed.
"Frau Schmidt will take care of your forehead," he said, and the housekeeper nodded, "Then run along home. I'm not angry but just...just go home." Rolf's eyes met Liesl's momentarily before he and Frau Schmidt disappeared through the doorway.
Later, in Georg's study, he sat at his desk, his head in his hands, unsure of what to do. He felt like everything was slipping away from him: his country, and his children, he still didn't know them. Since there has been music and laughter back into the house, things were no doubt better, but he still had a lot of catching up to do. In fact, there was only one thing in his life that he felt wasn't away from his grasp, the one thing that he felt joy and peace about, and that made everything else seem minuscule, like everything else was totally under control, and that was - Knock, Knock.
"Ave,"
And there she stood. Georg's study was dark, and the hall was light, but he could see her silhouette, and he recognized her.
"Oh Maria, darling, come in, come in." He stood up and walked toward her as she closed the door behind her. He wrapped his arms around her and she melted in his embrace.
"The children are all tucked in, even the older ones," she said into his sleeve.
"Thank you, my dear," Georg pulled apart slightly to kiss her forehead. He let her go with one arm and pulled the other tightly around her waist, and led her to a comfortable couch that sat near a fireplace, and sat down. His study was dimly lit, and warmer than the rest of the house. Books lined 2 of the walls from floor to ceiling, and he had a sliding ladder, which Maria thought to be amusing, yet impressive.
"I haven't read a third of those," he said with a chuckle, when he saw her eyeing the multitude of books, and she laughed. She pulled in toward him and laid her head on his chest as he stroked her hair. They both just watched the fire for a long time, until Georg finally spoke.
"Did you know about that boy that Liesl was with?" Maria looked down at Georg's jacket and traced the edges with her fingers, and nodded slowly.
"He was the boy that Liesl had snuck out with on my first night here, but she told me that she hadn't seen him in between then and today." Seeing the worried look in Maria's eyes, that he would be angry at her for not telling him, he drew her chin up and softly kissed her lips, and just held her there.
TSoMfan - Yes! That is where I got the idea, I love Charmian Carr's book, and that picture of her and Nicholas Hammond was so sweet :-).