Shelter From the Past

Chapter 1

Where to Go

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the Sound of Music or the people in the real life story although I'm sure my subconscious is convinced otherwise.

Author's Note: This story is AU. I realize that Maria's brother was much older then her and that they never met, but for the purposes of this story, they were very close and he was only two years older then her. This is my very first attempt at any kind of fanfic so please be gentle…

Summary: When a storm breaks out on the way to Switzerland, the family takes shelter in an unexpected place…

They'd barely been walking for an hour when it happened; the sky darkened, the clouds opened, and the nine weary members of the Von Trapp family stopped their trek and looked at each other in disbelief, each thinking the same thing.

"Why now?" After having narrowly escaped the Nazis, hiking through rain so thick it was coming down in sheets was not high on the Von Trapp's list of things they wanted to being doing. Georg grimaced, but Maria forced a smile and continued to try to keep her children's spirits up.

"It's alright, surely we can keep going, after all a little rain never hurt anybody."

The older children tried hard to look encouraged, but Maria could see that they were not overly comforted. Gretl, who was now in her father's arms instead of on his back, was shedding silent tears into his shoulder and Louisa and Brigitta were huddled close together; starting to shiver while trying to stay confident. Friedrich was pacing in an attempt to pretend like he wasn't bothered by anything. Kurt had given into fear and was clinging to Liesl who had less of a fearful look on her, then a numb, "what are we going to do now" stare. Marta was similarly clutching her mother's dress, her eyes so wide they were practically popping out of her head.

Finally, Maria looked over towards her husband. He was gently rubbing Gretls back to soothe her tears, but his eyes betrayed his worry. Their journey was dangerous enough as it was, but at night in a storm, he didn't even want to take the risk of going on.

Feeling obligated to try again, Maria put her optimistic grin back on.

"Look on the bright side, at least it's only rain. No lightning, no thun-"

BOOM! A loud crack sounded through the night air startling the nine travelers on to the ground. That was bad. Thunder meant lightning and lightning meant they needed to get out of storm before it got worse, but where could they go? They couldn't see any houses and the only other option was to turn back; a chance that none of them was willing to take.

Maria sighed deeply. There was one other place that could offer them shelter, but she was not at all eager to anywhere near it. She'd sworn to herself years ago when she ran away to the abbey that she would never step foot in that house again. On the other hand, it wasn't that far away and her family's safety was more important, right? Right. She took a deep breath and looked up at her husband.

"I know where we can go, follow me."

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