Courage Mountain (1989) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Heidi decides to leave after learning that her sweetheart Peter has joined the army. Although she is initially hesitant to leave her grandfather, his urging that she should learn to take care of herself while he is still alive, combined with the recent inheritance that makes the journey financially possible, convinces her to accept Madame Hillary's invitation to attend Brookings School in Italy.

• heidi
• peter
• brookings school
• world war 1
• alps

Italian troops arrive at the school bearing a letter from the Governor and commandeer the building for use as a military post during World War I. This forces all the students to be fetched by their families except for four girls who have no family available to take them.

• italian troops
• governor
• military
• world war 1
• school

Since Heidi, Ursula, Ilsa, and Gudrun have no families who can retrieve them when the school is occupied, Madame Hillary intends to care for them. However, Signor Bonelli, the unscrupulous owner of the town orphanage, has the Governor's backing and takes custody of the girls, using his political connection to override Hillary's attempts to protect them.

• signor bonelli
• orphanage
• governor
• heidi
• ursula
• ilsa
• gudrun

An orphan named Clarissa tells Heidi about a possible escape route through the drains beneath the orphanage. Heidi, Ursula, Ilsa, Gudrun, Clarissa, and another orphan named Giovanni use this secret passage to slip away unnoticed. They then hitch a ride on a cart heading toward the countryside to put distance between themselves and their pursuers.

• clarissa
• Giovanni
• drain
• escape
• orphanage

Bonelli pursues the girls because they have seen the cruel conditions and forced labor at his orphanage. He plans to stage an accident on the mountain to send the girls tumbling to their deaths, thereby eliminating witnesses to his crimes and protecting his secrets from being exposed.

• bonelli
• mountain
• accident
• orphanage secrets

After the girls escape, soldiers on horseback spot them and report the sighting to Madame Hillary. She realizes Heidi would lead the others to her grandfather in the Alps, so she travels there herself. Grandfather learns of the crossing through Peter and asks him to guide the girls safely across the mountains to Switzerland.

• peter
• grandfather
• alps
• mountains
• guide

As Bonelli closes in on the girls to carry out his staged accident, Peter arrives with a sled just in time to protect them. During the struggle, Bonelli fights with Peter and falls to his death from the mountain. His death ends his reign of cruelty and allows the girls to continue to safety.

• bonelli
• death
• mountain
• peter
• fall

Heidi knows her grandfather lives in the Swiss Alps and understands that crossing into Switzerland will mean safety from Bonelli's pursuit and the war-torn region of Italy. Her knowledge of the terrain and her determination to protect her friends drive her to lead the dangerous mountain journey.

• heidi
• switzerland
• alps
• leadership
• escape

After the group reaches safety in Switzerland, Clarissa is adopted by Heidi's grandfather. This provides her with a loving home and represents a positive outcome for one of the orphans who helped enable the escape.

• clarissa
• grandfather
• adoption
• switzerland

Peter must return to fulfill his military duties as a soldier in World War I. Although he has helped rescue Heidi and the others, he cannot stay in Switzerland and promises to return to Heidi once the war is over.

• peter
• war
• duty
• leave
• promise

When Hillary learns from soldiers that the girls have been spotted heading toward the mountains, she travels to the Alps to assist in their rescue. She coordinates with Heidi's grandfather and helps ensure the girls receive help, ultimately reuniting with them at the grandfather's home for Christmas.

• madame hillary
• rescue
• alps
• grandfather

With Bonelli dead and his crimes exposed through the girls' escape, the authorities are able to shut down the orphanage. The children are freed from the forced labor and cruel conditions that Bonelli imposed on them.

• orphanage
• shut down
• bonelli
• children
• forced labor