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A Moment of Truth: Part II (updated Sat 9th August, page 3) http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3166

Author:	Lizzie [ Mon Aug 06, 2007 4:42 pm ]
Post subject:	A Moment of Truth: Part II (updated Sat 9th August, page 3)
Sorry it has been a while since I last posted, a combination of various part time jobs, bridesmaidly duties, holidays and writers block have meant that it has been about two months since I added any more. Until it is archived, Part I can be found here. For anyone vaguely unfamiliar with Exile or this story, I've now reached the gap between Jo, Jack, Gottfried and co. reaching the Swiss border, and Jo correcting galley proofs in her kitchen in Guernsey, over a year later. That leaves quite a lots of scope for the imagination if you ask me... Jo, Jack, Gottfried, Miss Wilson, Cornelia, Evadne, Maria, Jeanne, Hilary, Lorenz and Robin are still fleeing to Switzerland, Miss Wilson's foot is playing up, and they're heading for Gottfried's Aunt's house. EBD text is in red. The way was not dangerous or difficult, but it was sufficiently toilsome, and they had one very nasty moment when the figure of a Swiss gendarme showed up on the horizon for a moment. Swiss gendarmes at the frontier are armed, and they have no scruples about shooting at smugglers, who, thereabouts, are a handy, daring set of fellows, and as ready to shoot at the gendarmes. Luckily, something distracted his attention, and in the five minutes his head was turned, they had dashed across the frontier into Switzerland. They were safe at last! There were no celebrations as they crossed the frontier. They had reached safety, but for this weary band of travellers, the struggle to leave Austria safely had started long before their late night departure from Robin’s cave, and something pushed them to carry on walking as fast as their aching legs would carry them, to put as much distance as they could between themselves and the country they had called their home. After half an hour’s hard walking, they began their descent from ‘the smugglers’ way’ that had served them so well; the rocky wall that had shielded them from view gradually fell away to reveal tree-covered slopes, smooth green pastures and plumes of blue smoke from distant farms rising into the morning-streaked sky. “We’re safe, Joey.” Robin’s words broke the silence, and it felt to everyone as if they had been swimming underwater, and had suddenly come up for air. “Yes, liebchen.” Jo reached for her sister’s hand, and squeezed it tight. “We are.” They continued on their way, but after that, the silence that fell on the group was not one born of tension and fear, but of the increasing difficulty of the path, as it snaked steeply down into the forest. Finally, after a scramble down the last, loose rocks, they found themselves standing on a soft forest floor. “We’ll stop here for a little while.” Gottfried’s words came as a relief to the girls, and they stretched themselves out on the carpet of pine needles, peering up at the sky through the trees. Jack filled their water bottles from a little stream that ran close by, and while the girls took turns drinking from one, he used the other to bathe Miss Wilson’s foot again. It was still badly swollen, but after her grey look of pain during the past week, Doctors Maynard and Mensch were relieved to see faint colour in her cheeks. “It may be a while before she’s walking without a stick,” said Jack quietly as he and Gottfried went to fill the water bottles before setting off again, “but at least she seems stronger today. I don’t think it’s going to make her ill now.” Gottfried shook his head. “No, you’re right, and she has lost that awful grey look. Still, I think she would benefit from a few days of complete rest when we reach Tante Anna’s house. She’s going to need it if we are to continue to Guernsey.” Jack glanced at his friend, taking in the weary eyes, rough-shaven jaw and wild hair. “I think we all could.” He said with a laugh. The last few hours of the journey passed quicker than any of them could have imagined, fuelled by the relief at crossing safely into Switzerland, and the comparatively easy terrain. Once the path has stopped its gentle descent, it came out of the trees and rounded several large pastures, where wild flowers blazed in the sunshine, before once more entering the trees and following the same stream that had passed them further up on the slopes. Finally, Gottfried stopped at a break in the trees. “There.” He said, pointing down to where the chalets and barns of a small village could be seen. “That’s where we are going.”

Author:	Alison H [ Mon Aug 06, 2007 4:48 pm ]
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Lovely to see this back - I've missed it .

Author:	jonty [ Mon Aug 06, 2007 5:58 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: A Moment of Truth: Part II (updated Monday 6th August)
Lizzie wrote: Once the path has stopped its gentle descent, it came out of the trees and rounded several large pastures, where wild flowers blazed in the sunshine, before once more entering the trees What an evocative description. I hope the sight did something to restore their flagging spirits. I'm so pleased to see more of this, thanks Lizzie.

Author:	Cath V-P [ Tue Aug 07, 2007 12:24 am ]
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And their destination seems so normal, such a contrast to all that they have been coping with. Thank you Lizzie.

Author:	brie [ Tue Aug 07, 2007 11:52 am ]
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Thanks Lizzie. Im glad to see this back.

Author:	MaryR [ Tue Aug 07, 2007 12:50 pm ]
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Glad Jack could find something to laugh at! Thanks, Lizzie

Author:	Rebecca [ Wed Aug 08, 2007 7:55 pm ]
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Hurrah, it's back! I love this drabble!

Author:	Lizzie [ Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:36 pm ]
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The end of their journey now seemed tantalisingly close, and after a brief walk over the short, springy turf, the track from the forest joined a larger road that ran into the village. It had, as Jo described much later, a real ‘chocolate box’ look about it. Simple farming chalets were dotted about on the smooth slopes, while closer to centre, buildings of whitewashed stone with deep, red-tiled roofs lined the wide, cobbled street. At the edge of the village, and a little raised from the buildings around it was a beautiful church, its copper weather vane turning a little in the breeze from the hills. It was still not quite midday, and as the travellers got closer, they could see dusters being shaken from upstairs windows, freshly laundered sheets blowing from balcony rails, people leaving their houses with shopping baskets over their arms. Walking at the back of the group with Jack, Jo paused at the top of the road as it sloped down and into the village, a look of confusion on her face. The scene before her was completely at odds with the worry and aching tiredness of the past few weeks, and though there was something deeply attractive about the village’s peace and quiet domesticity, she looked about her as if searching for the catch, the thing that would make it less than perfect. Finding nothing, she shook her head a little. After everything they had been through, it couldn’t be this easy, could it? She felt a squeeze of her hand, and found that, for what seemed like the hundredth time since their engagement, her fiancé had read her mind. Stumbling over her words, she tried to elaborate. “I…I mean…I just can’t believe…” Smiling, he gripped her hand and nodded. “I know. It’s nice to know that this kind of place can still exist, isn’t it?” He agreed, then. It really was going to be all right. In that moment, tired and care-worn as she was, Jo found herself looking her surroundings with new eyes, able simply to be grateful that this haven existed. It didn’t even matter how long they stayed, for she knew that they would see more signs of the turmoil when they continued on their journey into France. All that mattered was that there was at least one quiet spot untouched by the all-spoiling, unstoppable force that was surging through Europe. At the centre of the village, Gottfried left the main street, and took a smaller road that twisted up, past the church and along a tree-lined avenue. Just as it looked as though they had passed the last house, he turned onto another, yet smaller path that opened onto a little plateaux. There, with a view of the houses below and the slopes from which they had come, stood a large, square building with a deep, sloping roof of red tiles. Red and white flowers bloomed in the boxes on the sills and balconies, and pale net curtains floated from the open windows. The front door was reached by steps that went up almost to the first floor, and it was at the top of these stairs that a small woman with grey hair was standing. As she saw the group approach, she gave a gasp, and hurried down the stairs, her arms outstretched. “Gottfried, oh Gottfried, mein liebling, I am so glad you are here!” It was obvious that something was badly wrong.

Author:	Cath V-P [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 1:47 am ]
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That this normality can still exist, so close to that despoiling force must have been both reassuring and confusing. Thank you Lizzie.

Author:	Alison H [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 7:51 am ]
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What a relief ... but the last sentence is worrying me ...

Author:	jonty [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 9:10 am ]
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Lizzie wrote: It was obvious that something was badly wrong. Uh-oh. Just when I was thinking everything was going to be OK. Thanks, Lizzie. I've just started re-reading Exile in honour of this drabble and I couldn't help wondering just how rich the Russells are at the beginning. Jem apparently has no trouble finding enough ready money to buy Der Edel Ritter, a 150-room hotel complete with swimming pool, tennis courts, not to mention an extra piece of rough grassland to turn into a cricket pitch. Coo! I mean, presumably property prices were cheap, what with the troubles in Austria through the 1930s and the approaching Anschluss, but still!

Author:	MaryR [ Thu Aug 09, 2007 5:36 pm ]
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That was eloquent of the all-consuming fear they had been feeling, which makes one suspect everything. And then the blow.... Thanks, Lizzie

Author:	brie [ Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:35 am ]
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Thans Lizzie... but that last line....

Author:	Soph [ Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:09 pm ]
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Great story, Exile is my favourite book and this is filling the gaps really well.

Author:	Fiona Mc [ Sat Aug 11, 2007 1:19 am ]
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Thanks Lizzie. Am really glad this is back as its one of my favourite drabbles

Author:	ness [ Sat Aug 11, 2007 10:37 am ]
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I have been away for a week and it is sooo great to see this back!! Thanks Lizzie

Author:	Lizzie [ Tue Aug 14, 2007 11:50 pm ]
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Thanks for your lovely comments. I'm not sure that I've done as much research as I should have done, so please let me know any glaring factual/historical/EBD errors I've made! Living in a village where everyone knew everyone’s business, there were plenty people that Anna Zumwald could have expected to walk up the path to her house that sunny morning. Her nephew Gottfried was not one of them. It had been several years since she had seen him, but right then, more than her surprise at seeing him there was her amazement at the way in which her prayers had been answered. Standing in her kitchen at dawn that morning, she had prayed for help, and now, a mere seven hours later, help had arrived. With a fervent murmur of thanks, she started down the stairs. “Gottfried, oh Gottfried, mein liebling, I am so glad you are here!” It was only then that she realised that she did not know the other people walking towards the house. From a distance, she had recognised Gottfried and had assumed that he was with other members of her family, but as she reached the party, she saw that he had been travelling with another man of about the same age as him, an older woman with snow white hair, a tall girl with dark hair and eyes, and seven girls who all looked to be of school age. Putting aside her worries and her intense relief that help had come, she folded her nephew into a warm embrace and then held him at arm’s length. “Gottfried, it is truly wonderful to see you, but whatever are you doing here? Where have you come from? Surely not…” she broke off as she took in their general appearance of grime and wear, and asked, her face registering more and more incredulity, “You have come from the Tiernsee?” Gottfried nodded. “We were planning on leaving Austria in the next few weeks, but the situation became more…” he paused, choosing his words carefully, “…complex, and when I realised that we were going to have problems at all of the frontiers, the smugglers’ way seemed the only option. Of course,” he smiled fondly at his aunt, “knowing that you were just over the border made it a much less difficult decision.” Anna shook her head in disbelief. “I cannot believe that this is happening. We have heard some news, of course, but I never imagined…” She shook her head again, and turned to the rest of the party. “You are all very welcome to Weideblumen. I am only sorry such a journey was necessary. Now, will you not tell me your names?” Gottfried laughed. “I’m sorry, I have forgotten my manners. Frau Zumwald, Miss Wilson. Miss Wilson is a teacher at The Chalet School, Tante, and these girls are some of her pupils.” With the girls introduced, he turned to Jack and Jo. “This is Doctor Jack Maynard, he works with me at the sanatorium, and this is his fiancée Josephine Bettany.” Even in her tired state, Jo found the strength to pull a little face, and say, as she shook her host’s hand, “It is ever so kind of you to let us stay, Frau Zumwald, but please call me Jo.” Anna nodded gravely, a smile at the corner of her mouth. “Jo. I shall remember that. Now,” she said, turning to lead the way up the stairs and into the house, “come this way, and I shall have hot baths and beds for all of you presently.” Gottfried took her arm as they made their way into the house, and looked down at his aunt, a sudden look of concern on his face. “You are so much the hostess, Tante, that you have succeeded in making me forget that a few minutes ago, you were worried about something. What was it? Is there anything I can help with?” They had, by now, reached the front door, and going inside, found themselves in a large rectangular hallway with a wide staircase leading up to another floor. In the days when Weideblumen had been a busy Gasthaus, this was where the reception desk would have been, but today, the long wooden counter and bureaus were empty save for a few bowls of flowers. To the right and left were doors to the rooms along the front of the house, and at the back of the hallway, a large archway led into another, sunnier room, where open French windows let a breeze through the whole house. Anna opened her mouth to answer her nephew’s question, but did not get the chance, for at that moment, there were footsteps in the room at the back of the house, and the next minute, someone entered the room, someone who gave a gasp and started forward when she saw who had just arrived. “Jo! Jack! Oh thank God, thank God!” It was Maria von Trapp.

Author:	Alison H [ Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:39 am ]
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Oh good! I'd almost forgotten about the von Trapps.

Author:	Fiona Mc [ Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:24 am ]
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So had I. Thanks for the update. Please can we have some more

Author:	jonty [ Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:47 am ]
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Alison H wrote: Oh good! I'd almost forgotten about the von Trapps. I hadn't !! Glad to see her again - thanks, Lizzie.

Author:	Soph [ Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:07 pm ]
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Interesting place for them to meet again - must have been a huge relief for them.

Author:	wheelchairprincess [ Sat Aug 18, 2007 11:41 pm ]
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Just rediscovered this - love it and can't wait to see what comes next (hint, hint!). But I too had forgotten about the Von Trapps.

Author:	Gerrie [ Sun Aug 19, 2007 8:28 pm ]
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Thanks Lizzie. This is great. Its a part of the story that has always intrigued me. (I too forgot about the Von Trapps!!)

Author:	Miss Di [ Mon Sep 24, 2007 5:18 am ]
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Lizzie, I hope we are going to see some more of this. You can't leave me hanging like this! Di

Author:	Mona [ Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:32 am ]
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I've just discovered this and read the whole lot in one sitting. Thanks Lizzie! it would be lovely to see some more...

Author:	Elbee [ Mon Sep 24, 2007 9:38 am ]
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I hope you're able to write some more soon please Lizzie, this is very enjoyable.

Author:	di [ Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:31 pm ]
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This is fabulous, Lizzie. Having just found this I'm captivated. Like many others I've always wanted to know what happened from when the group reached Switzerland to when everyone was settled in Guernsey and you've more than satisfied my curiosity with your drabble so far. Is there any more written and if so where? If not I do hope you're able to continue; Marie Von Trapp turning up is a brilliant twist; more please!

Author:	evelyn38 [ Sun May 11, 2008 3:53 pm ]
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I have just read this from start to finish, and I think it is brilliant. Thank you so much, Lizzie. Whether or not there is any more to come, you have filled in the tantalising blanks in Exile with something believable, tense and really good to read. Thanks so much for sharing it.

Author:	Lizzie [ Mon May 12, 2008 2:17 pm ]
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Thank you so much! There actually is plenty more story to come, but at the moment, it's all in my head and I'm a little blocked. I know what's going to happen, but HOW it happens is another matter! It's really nice to know that people are still reading this, I've had such a lovely time writing it. Hopefully, I shall get on with some more soon!

Author:	Lizzie [ Mon Jun 02, 2008 10:04 pm ]
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Thank you to everyone who has been reading this story and leaving me messages, even though it's been a stupid amount of time since I last wrote some. I shall try to get some more up really soon. The sun had long since gone down, but there was plenty of light still in the sky as Louisa and Brigitta Von Trapp held a conference on the end of Louisa’s bed. Liesl was sharing the adjoining attic room with their younger sisters, and with Friedrich and Kurt in the room across the hall, this was the first opportunity they had had all day to discuss the day’s events on their own. Though they knew that their mother would never deliberately keep them in the dark, they also realised that many of the conversations that had gone on that afternoon would not have been considered suitable for children. Consequently, they and their brothers and sisters had reluctantly tried to occupy themselves in the beautiful grounds of the house that they had called home now for almost three weeks, until their mother appeared on the veranda to summon them for Abendessen. “Do you think she was looking better?” Louisa hugged her knees to her chest. “Who? Mother?” Louisa nodded. “I think she was looking less worried. Maybe less pale.” Brigitta chewed thoughtfully on the end of a long dark plait. “I think so too. She laughed when Gretl and Marta showed her their ladybird circus. Really laughed, I mean, not that polite laugh she’s been using recently.” There was a moment’s silence, and then Brigitta gestured to the floor below them, where most of the new arrivals had been in bed practically since their arrival that morning. “Do you think they’re asleep?” “I should think so. Remember how long we all slept after we arrived here?” Brigitta nodded and stretched, automatically rubbing the backs of her legs, where weeks of hard walking had just about ceased to take their toll. “Who are they, do you think Lou? All Mother said was that they were friends from Austria.” Their bedroom door opened with a creak, and they both jumped guiltily. Liesl smiled at their sheepish faces, but instead of instructing them to get into bed and go to sleep, as she most certainly would have done on any other night, joined them on the end of Louisa’s bed. Truth to tell, she had been longing to discuss the day as much as they had. “Did Mother tell you anything, Lis?” Liesl shook her head. “Nothing more than she told the rest of you, I don’t think. She just said that the people who arrived were friends that she and Father met when they were on honeymoon, and that she was really relieved to see them. I think they have something to do with a school as well.” “A school? What kind of school?” Brigitta sat up, suddenly much more interested. More than any of her brothers or sisters, she wanted to go to school. Initially, before Fraulein Maria, it had been because she hated the constant parade of governesses through the house, associating them with the mother who had died, and the father who didn’t seem to care very much. Not, of course, that she hadn’t cheerfully gone along with the frogs in the pockets, the hairbrushes in the beds, and the salt in the cups of tea; in fact, in many cases, she had actually been the mastermind of such schemes, with her shelf of school stories for inspiration. Whilst the threat of boarding school had often hung heavily over the children after the weeping departure of Frau What-Ever-Her-Name-Was, Brigitta had always secretly thought that school might actually be quite fun, and longed to sit in rows with girls her own age, learning things in a sunny school room with a teacher who was firm but fair. In the last months, with worry and stress so much a part of their lives, she had found herself retreating more and more into her own little world, and had imagined her and Liesl and Lou in neat uniforms, catching each other’s eyes over breakfast, meeting in hallways, catching up on their news. The mention of school suddenly brought her dreams crashing into reality, and she leant forward eagerly. Liesl, who had guessed her little sister’s thoughts, smiled. “I don’t know, I’m afraid Gita, Mother called me inside to tell me that we would have Mitagessen in the garden, and while I was there, she asked one of the men whether the school had closed, and if everyone was safe. She can’t have minded me hearing that, or she would have waited until I had gone,” she added anxiously, knowing their mother’s hatred of overhearing and repeating gossip. “Well, I suppose we’ll meet them tomorrow,” Louisa twisted the end of her plait absentmindedly, “and then we’ll find out what’s going on.” “And if they can do anything for…for...” Liesl trailed off, and there was silence for a moment, until Brigitta spoke. “Can they, do you think? Can they help?” Her sisters' silence spoke louder than words.

Author:	di [ Tue Jun 03, 2008 6:31 am ]
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How lovely to see this again. I hope the block has gone 'cus I'm really enjoying this. 'Can they do anything for...?' Is this a reference to Geog?[Is that his name, I can't remember?] He doesn't seem around. Looking forward to more, thanks, Lizzie.

Author:	Fiona Mc [ Wed Jun 04, 2008 1:18 pm ]
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I'm really glad to see this back again. And can't wait for more

Author:	leahbelle [ Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:04 pm ]
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Great to see this back and eagerly awaiting more!

Author:	jonty [ Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:02 pm ]
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Well I call this serendipity I haven't been on the board since last summer, and here I am on my first day back and I find Lizzie's picked up her lovely drabble just in time for my return. Thanks, Lizzie!

Author:	Lizzie [ Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:37 am ]
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Thank you very much for your comments. And Jonty, I'm very glad that my story's return should have happened so serendipitously for you... Night was falling as Gottfried left the house, and sitting down on the steps from the veranda, removed his cigarette case. He smiled, despite the weight on his mind, as he remembered the times he had sat on that same veranda as a little boy, watching his father and uncles as they smoked their pipes. A few minutes later, the door opened again, and Jack joined him. For a few minutes, he stood on the top step, looking out over the darkening garden as if he was trying to decide something. Then, making up his mind, he removed his shoes and walked down the steps to stand barefoot in the dewy grass. There, he pushed his hands deep in his pockets and tensing his aching shoulders, stared up at the stars. “What do you think?” Gottfried’s words broke the silence. Jack turned, and looked at him, then down at his feet. “I haven’t done this since I was about nine.” Gottfried smiled. “I was just remembering the summers when we all came out to this house. I used to sit on this step and hope that no one would notice that it was nearly my bed time, and wish I was old enough to smoke like my father and my uncles. I remember Uncle Paul said he would teach me to blow smoke rings, and my mother heard and came chasing after him with a wooden spoon…” he smiled to himself at the memory, and then looking up at his friend again, repeated his question. “So what do you think?” Jack shook his head, and sighed, passing a weary hand across his eyes. “He’s in a bad way, Gottfried.” Gottfried swore under his breath. “I was hoping you’d have seen something I hadn’t.” “Believe me, I gave him the most optimistic examination that I possibly could have, but other than the fact that the bullet really only grazed his shoulder, I’m running short on good news for Maria.” “Yes, I wouldn’t dream of saying this to her, because I’m sure she’s already imagined it, but it really could have been so, so much worse.” Gottfried agreed. “Less than an inch to the left, and it would have hit a bone and then we’d be having an entirely different conversation.” Jack nodded. “We’re going to need to get hold of some medical supplies somehow, but if we act quickly, the bullet wound will heal in time. It’s…” he glanced over at his friend, “it’s his state of mind that I’m really worried about. I don’t think he looked at me once while I was examining him; he hardly even acknowledged there was someone in the room. Your Aunt says that he’s hardly eating anything, he sleeps for most of the day and then has dreadful nightmares.” “Maria says that he hasn’t asked about the children in over a week.” Gottfried finished his cigarette. “That’s what worries me the most.” Jack was silent for a moment, then he looked up. “We can’t help Georg by talking like this, Gottfried, and we won’t help him by worrying. The journey from Salzburg must have been an ordeal for all of them, but I think Georg must have expended so much of his energy in making sure that Maria and the children were safe that he wasn’t aware of the strain he was under until were able to stop running. Hopefully, if we can help him to recover physically, he will be able to start putting everything back into perspective and see that the fact that they’re all here and that they’re all alive is a miracle by any stretch of the imagination.” “You’re right.” Gottfried got up from his place on the steps and stretched. “First thing tomorrow, we must try and find a way of getting hold of some supplies. I’ll go and check on Georg now and then turn in, if you don’t mind, I can hardly see straight I’m so tired.” “That’s fine. Sleep well. Oh, and Gottfried,” Jack came up the steps and took his friend’s hand, “Thank you. For everything. I know it can’t be easy with Gisela and the children so far away.” Gottfried brushed his thanks aside with a weary smile. “Don’t thank me, Jack. Honestly, this Austria, Hitler’s Austria, it’s not the country I love. Maybe one day, when all this is over…,” he trailed off and shrugged. “I just wish it had never come to this. Good night, my friend.” With a final grip of Jack’s hand, he turned and went back into the house. Jack turned back to the garden and sitting down on the top step, resumed his star-gazing with a sigh that started at his toes. It had been a long day. On their arrival, Frau Zumwald had become the complete hostess, disappearing to the kitchen to ask her excellent cook Zita to provide them with bowls of delicious hot soup and rolls. It was by no means a large meal, but before they were finished, most of the girls were half asleep, and it was all they could do to make it up the stairs, where hot baths and freshly made beds were waiting for them. Miss Wilson’s foot was bathed and re-dressed once more, and then she too followed her pupils’ example and went to bed. Jo, though extremely tired, had wanted to stay up and talk to Maria. She had gone up for her bath protesting that she was going to come right back downstairs and hear the extraordinary story of the Von Trapp’s flight from Salzburg, but twenty minutes later Anna Zumwald had returned to the Salon to tell them that Jo had fallen asleep twice in the bath and had finally been persuaded to go to bed. Though he was sure that Maria would have loved the chance to sit and talk with Jo, Jack was pleased that Anna had managed to convince her to get some rest. Like Jem, he had never quite got out of the habit of keeping an eye on her health, and though she was obviously exhausted and somewhat bedraggled after their ordeal, he was cautiously optimistic that with plenty of sleep, good food and fresh air, they might avoid any of the complications they might have expected in sixteen year-old Jo. A sudden wave of intense thankfulness for their safety swept over him, and when he heard the door open again and turned to his fiancée, he forgot to ask why she was awake and jumped to his feet, pulling her close and wrapping his arms round her. “Are you all right darling?” he asked a moment later. Jo nodded. “I woke up and looked at the clock and realised that I’d been asleep for over nine hours! I meant to only have a little sleep and then go and see Maria. Is she all right? What about Georg and the children?” Jack led her to a low bench next to the door, and sat down with her. “The children are fine. Apart from the odd blister, a couple of scraped knees and a lot of stiff legs, they escaped without any serious injury. It’s Georg that is rather worse off.” Jo’s eyes filled with tears as he told her what he and Gottfried had been discussing earlier. “Oh Jack, will he…I mean are you and Gottfried going to be able to…” “I don’t know, Joey.” Jack interrupted gently. “Neither Gottfried or I have very much experience in this area, but I do know that although we must help as much as we possibly can, time can be a great healer.” “Does that mean that you think we will be staying here for a while?” Jack turned to her, trying to read her expression. He knew how anxious she was to see Madge. “I think so. If we had not found the Von Trapps here this morning, I think that I would be telling Gottfried’s Aunt that we would be moving on as soon as everyone was rested, but…” “We can’t leave them here, Jack.” Jo interrupted him, effectively answering his unasked question. “I do want to get to Guernsey as soon as possible, but if Georg were half as bad as your face is telling me, I would want to stay. And if…if you were the one who had been…” she shuddered at the word, “shot, I don’t know what I’d do. You can help, Jack, and you should.” Jack got slowly to his feet. “Well, I shall be absolutely no help at all tomorrow if I don’t go and get some sleep.” “Oh!” Jo got up too, looked stricken. “You haven’t had any sleep at all since we arrived? Oh Jack, I’m sorry, making you tell me all the news when you’re so exhausted.” Jack laughed. “That’s all right, it’s been nice to talk to you. We haven’t really had much time for that recently, have we?” “No, I suppose we had rather more pressing business to attend to.” Jo tucked her arm through his. “I’ve missed this.” They started towards the door, but Jack stopped with his hand outstretched for the handle. “You know…” “Yes?” “The other reason why I want to get to Guernsey as soon as possible…” “Besides seeing Madge and Jem?” “Besides that.” He coughed a little nervously. “The other reason why I want to get to Guernsey is that I’m planning to marry you there.” Jo looked startled. “But…but I thought…” Jack smiled. “I know it’s not what we had planned. After Hanson managed to get me out of that holding cell in Innsbruck, you know that Jem and I discussed what was best to be done, and we thought that maybe the thing to do would be for the two of us to marry straight away.” Jo nodded. “And then our trip to Spärtz put pay to that plan.” “It did. I think our recent exploits rather seriously overshadowed any plans we might have been making, but I don’t want to forget about them, just because they are temporarily postponed. I don’t,” he slid an arm round her waist and drew her close, “want to marry you in a rush because some of some Mad Man, I never did, really. It seemed like a fair price to pay for our safety at the time, but now I’m not so sure. I want to marry you in front of the people we love, Joey, and I want to wait until the time is absolutely right. Do you mind?” he looked anxiously down at her. Jo blinked back tears for the second time in almost as many minutes and looking up at the man before her, realised that she could not remember a time when she had not loved him. “No,” she took his hands in hers and stepped closer, “I don’t mind.”

Author:	di [ Fri Jun 06, 2008 6:42 am ]
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Yeh! I'm the first to put my two penn'worth on the board and I guessed right; it is Georg. Lizzie, this is a lovely story, plugging the gap in 'Exile' and linking it so well with The Von Trapp story. Poor Georg, did he get shot crossing the border or when they left Salzburg? I know Jack and Gottfried are not 'head' doctors so perhaps they'll let Joey try to break through to him. Thanks, Lizzie and more, more please

Author:	PaulineS [ Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:18 pm ]
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Seeing his own children once the bullet is removed should help as well. Hope they can get the equipment they need to do it soon.

Author:	abbeybufo [ Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:41 pm ]
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Thanks Lizzie, good to see more of this

Author:	Alison H [ Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:21 am ]
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Great to see this back!

Author:	Fiona Mc [ Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:36 am ]
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Thanks. Am really glad to see this back again

Author:	jonty [ Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:56 pm ]
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Poor, poor Georg, and poor Maria, left to cope with that big family. I really like Jack in this drabble - there's something very warm and down-to-earth about him. Thanks, Lizzie.

Author:	Lizzie [ Sat Aug 09, 2008 11:16 pm ]
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It was only last week that I realised that there was a chapter in the hardback version of Exile that came between the dash into Switzerland, and Jo correcting galley proofs in Guernsey, over a year later. A kind CBBer emailed it to me, and I read it, but now have to pretend that I hadn't. It's great, but the von Trapps are, of course, conspicuously absent. Oh, and for anyone who is reading this thinking "Who's Frau Zumwald? Surely Gottfried's Aunt is called Frau von Hessel?" I made up her surname before I realised that EBD had actually given her one... It was very early the next morning when Liesl awoke after an uneasy night’s sleep. She climbed out of bed and dressed, being careful not to wake Marta and Gretl who, worn out from climbing trees with the boys the previous day, were still fast asleep. She had to take extra care to avoid the creaky boards in the hallway outside her room and on the attic staircase, but a few minutes later, she was unlatching the door that lead to the veranda. She could hear the murmur of voices coming from the kitchen, and thought for a moment of going to ask for a glass of milk and maybe a piece of bread and jam, but thought better of it as the grandfather clock in the hall struck six. Zita and the other girls in the kitchen would be making bread for the day, bread for Wiedeblumen’s unexpectedly large number of guests. Resolving to go back a bit later, she pushed open the door and went out into the early sunshine. It was a beautiful morning. Mist rose from the lawn and wreathed the trees that still stood in shadow at the edge of the grass. From where she stood on the top step of the veranda, Liesl could see that the sun was creeping across the pastures and would soon be glinting on the weathervane of the church in the valley below. The buzz of voices from the kitchen was no longer audible, and in that moment, it felt to her that she was the only person awake on that sunny, misty morning. Feeling as young as Gretl, she hopped down the steps and crossed the lawn, going through the shrubbery and up a short grassy slope to the orchard. A number of times in the previous few weeks, she had gone with Zita to pick fruit, and had fallen in love with the shady lines of trees, with their stooping boughs of blossom and their gnarled branches knotted overhead. She walked slowly through the long grass, the dew soaking into her canvas plimsolls, until she reached her favourite tree. This was clearly an apricot tree loved not so much for its fruit producing capabilities as its potential as an excellent climbing frame. A few wooden pegs had been driven into the trunk, and years of small hands and feet climbing on it had resulted in a smooth, worn strip along the top of one of the branches about four feet off the ground. Liesl climbed up and sat with her back against the trunk, looking down the avenue of trees towards the house. The sun had already reached this part of the garden and when she reached out to pick an apricot, it felt warm in her palm. She ate it slowly, and for the first time that morning, allowed herself to dwell on the events of the past weeks. Considering their immensely tiring ordeal, her brothers and sisters had bounced back incredibly quickly, needing a remarkably short time to get over their blisters, scraped knees and aching limbs. She wasn’t entirely sure about the older ones, but the little girls were also sleeping well, relieved to be in a place where they didn’t have to run any more, and relieved to see their mother no longer so frightened. It was not, thought Liesl, that Mother wasn’t worried, it was simply that she was getting better at hiding it. Frau Zumwald’s hospitality had solved a lot of their problems, but there were other things that couldn’t be resolved so easily. What were they going to do when Father was better? Where were they going to go? And what if he didn’t get better? How were they going to be able to move on if he hadn’t left his room in over two weeks? Unbidden, the image of her father’s face passed before her eyes. A few days after their arrival at Weideblumen, he had been sitting up by the window in his bedroom, a little pale and with his arm heavily strapped. The next day, they had been told that Father was not feeling so well, that he couldn’t have an visitors, and that had been the last time any of them had seen him. Any of them except Liesl. After a week of creeping round the house, after a week of seeing Frau Zumwald and Mother hurriedly rearranging their faces to hide their worry, she had crept downstairs in the middle of the night, and slipped into the room that her parents had shared until his decline. With the shutters left only just ajar, the room had been too gloomy to see very much, but a single stripe of moonlight had fallen across her father’s bed, illuminating his face. In the days afterwards, she had tried to tell herself that it had been the light that had made him look so awful, the shadows that had made his face so lined, so drawn. Harder to explain away had been the moment when a floorboard had creaked under her bare feet and he had opened his eyes. In the years after their mother had died, Liesl had become accustomed to her father looking at her with exasperation, with anger, with disappointment. Never, though, no matter what she or her siblings had done, had he looked at her as if she were a perfect stranger. In the silence of his bedroom, with his eldest daughter standing at the foot of his bed, Georg had blinked once, twice, and then looked away, and Liesl had fled to her attic room. Now, as she sat with the sunshine on her face and her toes swinging, it wasn’t just that moment that played itself out in her mind, but others. Hiding behind the gravestones in the convent, walking, walking and climbing for days, running from figures on the horizon, the crack of gunfire. She could still hear the applause from the music festival echoing down the corridors as they fled towards the waiting car, she could still see Rolf’s face in the torchlight. Rolf. The realisation hit her, and she grabbed the nearest branch for support, suddenly frightened of falling. She had almost forgotten Rolf. The only boy she had ever loved, the only boy she had ever kissed, and he was gone. How could she have been awake for so long without thinking of him? Liesl threw her apricot stone away and jumped down after it, landing awkwardly in the wet grass. She picked herself up and ran, ran from the orchard, across the lawn and into the trees. She ran until her lungs felt that they were going to burst and she thought her legs would give way. She stopped, almost crashing into a tree, and leant against it, sliding down until she was sitting on the floor. She tried to take a few deep breaths, but they turned into hiccups and they turned into sobs. Hugging her knees to her chest, Liesl buried her head in her arms and cried.

Author:	Alison H [ Sun Aug 10, 2008 8:18 am ]
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Good to see this back, but that was so sad .

Author:	di [ Tue Aug 12, 2008 9:06 am ]
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Poor Liesl, what an awakening to love. How Rolf's actions must have hurt her and left her feeling betrayed. She can't even share her worries with Maria who must be so worried about Georg.. Perhaps Joey will be able to help her. Thanks, Lizzie, good to see more of this.

Author:	stuffs [ Sun Nov 02, 2008 7:47 pm ]
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Found it - fantastic - please keep writing!

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