Kathryn klein ging allein in der weite Welt hinein

May 1999

Rating: G

Paramount owns all things Trek. Jeri Taylor used the lullaby first. I just corrected her German and added some more interest.

Little Kathryn

by Sängerin

Kathryn klein ging allein in der weite Welt hinein.

Stock und hut steht ihr gut, ist ganz wohlgemüt.

Aber Mutter weinet sehr, hat sie keine Kathryn mehr.

"Wünsch dir Glück," sagt ihr Blick, "kehr nur bald zurück."

Sieben Jahr, früh und klar, Kathryn in der Ferne war.

Braungebrannt, Stirn und Hand, ist er wohl erkannt.

(A loose prose translation - Little Kathryn went out into the world. With her hat and staff, she was comfortably prepared. Her mother cried, mourning the loss of her Kathryn. As she watched her daughter leave she said, ‘I wish you luck. Come back to me soon.’ Kathryn was gone from home for seven years. She returned, changed by her travels, but was still recognised by her mother.)

Gretchen sat in her favorite chair, looking out the window into the Indiana cornfields, as she had for so many days. The lullaby she had sung so often to her daughter echoed around and around her head. ‘Kathryn klein ging allein in der weite Welt hinein.’ The sing-song tune just wouldn’t go away.

‘Mom?’

Gretchen started, then turned towards the voice. ‘Phoebe. I didn’t hear you arrive.’ She turned back to watch the cornfields.

‘I transported over, Mom. I’m only here for a few hours.’

‘Why are you here, Phoebe?’ The older woman spoke tiredly, as though at the end of her tether.

‘To keep an eye on you, Mom. To do for you what I did for Kathryn, keep you from slipping away too.’

‘I’m not slipping away, Phoebe,’ Gretchen replied listlessly.

‘You are, Mom. If I have to, I’ll do the same things to you that I did to Kath - including tipping icy water over you.’ Phoebe laughed. ‘Remember how she yelled about that one!’

A smile appeared on Gretchen’s worn face. Phoebe breathed an inward sigh of relief - finally, a sign of life. ‘You wouldn’t dare, Phoebe.’ A little strength had come back into Gretchen’s voice, too.

‘Has anyone ever stopped me before? Dad couldn’t, Kathryn couldn’t, and you certainly can’t at the moment.’ Phoebe paused for a moment, then decided to go for the shock tactics. ‘I won’t let you do this to yourself, Mom. How do you think I’ll feel - left all alone? Dad’s gone, and he’s not coming back. Kathryn is gone, but she’s only missing. She’s not dead. And I know she isn’t dead. I can’t control when she’ll come back to us. But I can keep you from leaving me, even if it means ice-cold water.’

* * *

‘Stock und hut steht ihr gut, ist ganz wohlgemüt. Aber Mutter weinet sehr, hat sie keine Kathryn mehr. "Wünsch dir Glück," sagt ihr Blick, "kehr nur bald zurück."‘ The words to the old lullaby went around and around in Kathryn’s head. She thought of her mother, and Phoebe, back at home. Surely they wouldn’t believe her to be dead. Surely she could get Voyager home before they had too much time to worry.

‘Kehr nur bald zurück;’ strange how the old lullaby seemed to fit their situation so well. She would get Voyager back to Earth as soon as she could. And while she was out here, she had her strong ‘staff,’ just like in the lullaby. She knew that she could lean on Tuvok - how lucky she was to have her dear old friend here with her. And if things got really rough, there was always Chakotay. After all, that’s what a first officer was for - to depend on when things got tough. And, he didn’t seem a bad sort, for a renegade Starfleet officer turned Maquis. A damned handsome renegade Starfleet officer, at that.

Yes, with Tuvok in the Delta Quadrant with her, things would be at least a little closer to ‘comfortable.’ With Tuvok…and Chakotay.

* * *

Gretchen arrived home from her meeting in a good mood. Things at work were going well, and Phoebe was coming to dinner that night, as she did once a week. As Gretchen pottered around the kitchen, preparing the meal, she sang the old lullaby under her breath. ‘Sieben Jahr, früh und klar, Kathryn in der Ferne war. Braungebrannt, Stirn und Hand, ist er wohl erkannt.’ Gretchen quickly calculated the time - Voyager had been gone for six months. She smiled. If she believed in the words of the lullaby, Kathryn would be home in six and a half years. As long as she could see her daughter again, Gretchen had decided, she could last that long. Just enough time for her eldest daughter to fall in love with one of her officers. Gretchen smiled again - perhaps, when her beloved Kathryn came back, she would bring her mother a son-in-law, and a grandchild, too.