Amanda on the Danube: The Sounds of Music (4 page)

“There you are, Sebastian. Why were you hiding behind that tree, you silly boy?”

Sebastian shook his head and sighed. “I vas not hiding,
Onkel
Klaus. I vas just standing in the shade. The sun is wery bright today.” He pronounced every word clearly except w sounded like v and v sounded like w.

“Well, now you are here.” Klaus ruffled the boy's hair. “You must meet my friends, Amanda and Leah. They are on the same cruise as us.”

Sebastian smirked. “Nice to meet you.”

“I think we've met already,” replied Amanda. “You were in Nuremberg.”

“No, that could not haf been me. I haf never been to Nuremberg.”

“Sebastian is here, in Regensburg, studying music.
He is a talented violinist.” Klaus put his arm around the boy's shoulder and pulled him toward him. “We are very proud of him.”

Sebastian grimaced and stood rigidly.

“I'm sorry, but we must be going,” said Amanda. “We promised to meet our moms.”

As they walked away, Leah whispered, “Now that was weird. I'm sure he was the same boy.

Amanda glanced back. “I know he was.”

They walked down a street on the way to the boat when Leah suddenly stopped and pointed. “Look at that!”

A painting of a warrior giant looking down at a young man aiming a slingshot at him covered the entire wall of a large building.

“OMG! That is amazing.” Amanda stared at the colourful depiction of one of her favourite Bible stories. Goliath stood three floors high and David, ready to fling a stone with his slingshot, stood between the first and second floor. “I always liked that story from Sunday school of the young boy, David, and how he killed the mean giant, Goliath with only a slingshot.”

Leah, texting again, made no comment.

Amanda saw a shadow move out of the corner of her eye. “Wait here, Leah. I want to look at the side of the building.” She went to investigate.

Her heart beating rapidly, she scanned the
shadows. A boy with a flat cap and a bandaged finger appeared.

He whispered, “Do you still have it?”

Amanda's mouth went dry. She nodded and murmured “Yes.”

“Please, don't let anyone take it from you.”

“Don't worry, it's safe.”

“
Danke
.”

Amanda heard Leah shouting, “Amanda, where are you? What are you doing?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to see the other side, but there isn't anything here.” Amanda emerged from the side of the building. She looked away from Leah and quickly changed the subject. “Now tell me about this boy you've been texting like mad. Is he, like—your boyfriend?”

“Well, I thought so, but my friend saw him snogging with another girl at the mall.” Leah hung her head.

Amanda put her arm around her friend. “I'm so sorry, Leah.”

BANG!

Someone on a skateboard ran right into them, knocking them both down. Leah's phone went flying through the air, landing with a loud crack on the cobblestones.

Amanda picked herself up and rubbed her elbow.
“Ow! Watch where you're going, you stupid idiot!” She noticed Leah laying on the ground. “Are you OK?”

Leah reached for her forehead. “I think so, but my head hurts.” A lump formed over her left eye.

“Oh no!” Leah spotted her shattered phone on the ground. She picked it up and turned it over. The screen remained black. Bits fell onto the ground. She bit her lip. “My dad will kill me.”

“I didn't see who ran into us with the skateboard. Did you?” asked Amanda.

“I got a glimpse. I'm pretty sure it was him. That moron, Sebastian. What's he playing at anyway?” Leah looked at her phone. Her lip trembled and a tear slid down her cheek.

Amanda had never seen her friend cry before. “It's only a phone.” She took Leah's hand and helped her up. “Let's get back to the boat. It looks like you'll have a black eye.”

“Oh, great. Now I'll look hideous.”

Near the famous stone bridge, they passed a small, light green building, with a slanted roof covered in terracotta tiles. Brown and white, diagonal-striped shutters trimmed the doors and windows. A large sign in old-style letters sat on top of the building:

H
ISTORIC
W
URSTKUCHE

The smell of sausages and sauerkraut wafted out the open door of the kitchen.

“I remember Karin, our tour guide, told us this sausage house is as old as the bridge. It was originally built to feed the workers building the bridge. How cool is that!”

Leah wasn't listening. She stared at the group of people sitting at picnic tables outside the sausage house. “It's him; the bloke who knocked us over and broke my mobile phone.” Angry lines formed on her forehead. She marched over to the table.

“Hey you!”

“Who?” Sebastian glanced up from his plate piled high with sausages and looked around. “Me?”

“Yes, you! What are you playing at? You knocked us down and didn't even stop. You chased us in Nuremberg too.” Leah's eyes pierced the younger boy's. “What do you want from us?”

Sebastian brushed his curly hair away from his eyes and looked over at Amanda. “Ask your friend.” He got up and walked toward Amanda with an evil gleam in his eyes.

Amanda turned around and ran into the sausage house kitchen. Cooks in white hats and long aprons bent over smoky grills, lined with rows and rows of fat sausages. Visible through the smoke, gleaming copper pots hung on the walls. There was no place
to hide in the small, crowded space.

“Are you lost,
fräulein
?” asked a burly cook.

“I – I was looking for someone. Sorry.” Amanda backed out of the hazy kitchen and right into Sebastian.

“What did you do with the violin?”

Amanda didn't flinch. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“It belongs to my family and you must give it to me.” Sebastian grabbed Amanda's wrist and twisted it.

“Ouch, you're hurting me. I don't know anything about a violin. You're just a mean boy. I can't believe you're related to Klaus.”

“What is going on here?” Michael from the boat appeared behind Sebastian. “I thought I told you to stay away from the boat and the passengers. We don't like stowaways and trouble makers on
The Sound of Music
.” He grabbed the young boy by his collar. “I warn you. I will call the police.”

Sebastian struggled, escaped Michael's grasp, and ran down the street.

Amanda rubbed her wrist.

“Are you all right?” Michael looked concerned.

Leah appeared. “Amanda! Where did you go? One minute you were here and the next you disappeared. What did he want anyway?”

“I think he thought I was someone else.” Amanda stared down the street where Sebastian had disappeared.

Michael insisted he walk them back to the boat.

Once on board, the two families shared what they did on their own time over cups of tea in the lounge. Mrs. Ross and Mrs. Anderson agreed they both enjoyed the shopping.

“What did you two girls do?” asked Mr. Ross.

“We saw a giant painting of a giant,” said Amanda. She giggled.

Leah frowned. “Someone ran into us with his skateboard and knocked us over. Now I have a huge bruise and my phone is broken.”

Mrs. Anderson brushed Leah's bangs aside and looked closer at the bruise on her forehead. “Oh, my. How rude of him. This is starting to turn black. But you will live. We just can't let you girls out of our sight for long, can we?”

Leah looked hurt and her eyes welled up with tears. “But my phone. It's broken and I can't use it anymore.”

“Oh, stop your whinging. We can get you a new mobile when we get back to the UK. At least now you won't be texting all the time,” said Leah's father.

Leah brushed her cheek, stood up and stormed out of the lounge without looking at anyone.

A
manda returned to the room and found Leah lying on the bed.

“I don't want to talk to you or anyone else,” Leah mumbled into her pillow.

“I'm sorry about your phone, but it's not my fault.”

Leah rolled over and glared at Amanda. “I think it is.”

“So now it's my fault your phone is broken?”

“Like, yes. Somehow you have managed to upset this Sebastian guy. I don't know what you've done, but knowing your track record, you've done something. I don't know why I even invited you on this trip. You always get us into trouble. Now, I don't have a phone and probably don't have a boyfriend anymore.”

Amanda felt sick. “I'm sorry, Leah.”

Leah sat up. “So what have you done to upset this bloke so much?”

“He thinks I have something he wants.”

“Why would he think that? We don't even know
him. Are you sure he is Klaus's nephew?” Leah rubbed her forehead. “It all seems very dodgy to me.”

A knock on the door startled both girls.

“Are you all right, Leah?”

“Yes, Mum.”

“Can I come in? I want to have a look at your head.”

“Sure.” Leah got off the bed and opened the door to let her mother in.

Mrs. Anderson examined the bruise more closely. “At least the skin is not broken. Look, love, you can manage without a phone for now. Don't let this ruin our lovely holiday.” She ran her fingers over the lump on Leah's forehead. “Now get ready for dinner. The scenery is lovely. We may even pass some castles.” She glanced at Amanda. “You would like that, wouldn't you?”

“I am not interested in any silly old castles,” muttered Leah as she walked to the bathroom. “I'm going to take a shower.”

After they both showered and put on dresses, the girls left for the dining room. Amanda checked to make sure she had her door pass and pulled the door shut behind her.

Once again, Michael greeted them at the entrance to the restaurant. He seemed very concerned about Leah. He linked his arm with hers and walked her to the table. Leah thanked him with a sweet smile,
clearly enjoying the attention.

Amanda chose
kaisespaetzle
and
sauerkraut
for her dinner.
“
Yum, is this ever good,” she commented as she took another bite of the cheesy noodle dish. “What did you order, Leah?”

“I ordered the
roulade,
just because it sounded interesting; meat rolls filled with bacon, onions and pickles. It is actually very tasty.”

Amanda, pleased to see her friend smiling again, nodded and grinned.

After dinner, the two families relaxed in the lounge while some of the staff did a presentation on growing up in a communist country. Michael, who grew up in Hungary, shared his experiences. “Communism was all we knew, so it wasn't that bad. We had parents who loved us and food on the table. We were happy. Of course, American television was not available to watch at that time, so we did not know what we were missing. Things are much better now,” he admitted.

After the presentation, the girls said goodnight to their parents and headed back to their room. Amanda noticed the door to their cabin was slightly ajar. She pushed it open and froze. The room had been turned upside down, their things strewn all over the place. Leah stepped past her and entered the dishevelled room.

“Blimey! What's happened here?” Leah backed
out into the hallway, right into Michael.

“What is wrong?” Michael looked past Leah and into the room. “Oh, no! Who would do this thing?” He looked from Amanda to Leah. “Are you sure you locked the door?”

“Yes, I'm sure,” said Amanda. “I shut it tight myself.”

Michael surveyed the room. He took note of the opened drawers, clothes all over the floor and the bed covers pulled back. “It is as if they were looking for something.” He looked back at the girls. “Is anything missing, do you know?”

Leah ran over to her purse and looked inside. “Everything is in my purse.”

Amanda checked her backpack. “Everything is in here too.”

Michael studied the door frame. “It looks like the door was not forced open. I am so sorry. This has never happened on our boat before.” He scratched his head. “I promise I will find who did this. Let me know if you notice anything missing. I will be right back.”

The girls began to put things back in place. Amanda didn't dare look in the unopened bottom dresser drawer.

A few minutes later, both sets of parents appeared.

“Michael told us what happened,” said Amanda's
dad.

“This is awful.” Leah's mum began to pick things up off the floor.

“Will it be safe for you to stay in here tonight?” asked a concerned Mrs. Ross.

Mr. Anderson returned with Michael who installed a new lock and a double lock for the inside. “This will keep anyone out. You will be safe in here.”

After everything was tidied up, the parents left strict instructions to not let anyone in and to call if they felt afraid. Leah went into the bathroom. Amanda took the opportunity to open the bottom drawer. Holding her breath, she felt beneath her underwear. Her fingers touched the violin case. Pulling it out, she unlatched it. The violin was still in the case, unharmed. She exhaled.

“What on earth is that?” Leah stood behind her.

Amanda flinched. “The—the violin I bought my dad.”

“Is that what Sebastian wants from you? Is that why someone broke into our room?” Leah scowled. “Amanda, it's time to fess up. What is going on?”

Amanda swallowed as she stared at the violin and said nothing.

“You can really get right up my nose sometimes. You usually gob on. Why aren't you saying anything right now?”

A
manda closed the lid on the violin case without looking at her friend. “Sebastian wants this violin.” She shook her head and looked at Leah. “But I don't know why. He couldn't possibly be the one who broke into our room. It had to be someone with a key.”