Sheena Greene was the kindliest of girls. Although she was tallest in her class, she was by far the meekest, extolling peace and harming no one. She loved dance, painting abstract art, watching sappy musicals, health food, and most of all embracing nature. It was perhaps a bit of her family's influence. Sheena's own parents were sort of hippies. From them she got her trademark flower shirt and flower child hairstyle. But Sheena's Uncle Earl, the boatman, was an influence, too, for he would take his niece Sheena out for rides in the harbor, the waves gently lapping on his boat's hull as seagulls wheeled overhead, or the base of his boat skimming over reeds as they moored in the river entering the ocean beside Hillwood. Because of this time spent with Uncle Earl, Sheena was also quite skilled in fishing.
"Argh!" her uncle would say as he squinted his eye from the prow of their boat. He would tell Sheena all sorts of wild stories such as the Tale of the Ruby Parrot.
One day, after Sheena's Uncle retold her the Tale of the Ruby Parrot, Sheena wheeled up her reel of fishing line and set her fishing pole down gently in the bottom of the old, wooden rowboat. She had something very important to tell her uncle.
"Uncle Earl," Sheena said in her small, breathless, squeaky voice. "I have something happy to tell you! Our school has started an Earth Day Club!"
"Jump'in catfish!" said her Uncle Earl in his crusty, sea-salt voice. He slapped a hand to the side of his head. "That's good news!" Then he hugged Sheena with his yellow sea-slicker clad arms. Sitting back on the prow of his boat, Uncle Earl nodded once in approval. He pulled a hand through his gray beard.
"We be proud of ye girl!"
"Yes!" Sheena spoke excitedly though her voice was hardly more than whisper compared to voices like Helga Pataki's. "Nadine is president. I am vice president. Eugene is our first club member! Principal Wartz has entrusted us," said Sheena drawing in a deep breathe like it was something sacred, "with collecting all the recyclables from the new cans!"
"Argh! That be a mighty task indeed!" said Sheena's Uncle Earl. "Are you sure you're up it?" asked Uncle Earl.
"I'm sure Uncle Earl!" said Sheena resting her fingertips on her chest proudly. "I'll do my very best!" Sheena smiled to herself, as proud as anything. This, she thought to herself, must be what she was meant to do!
But it wasn't going to be as easy as Sheena thought. On the very first day on the job, when Sheena went over to the bins to collect bottles and cans, what Sheena found inside was trash. Sheena looked at the bins in dismay. "Oh, well," she said beginning to sort through what she could. Eugene found Sheena still sorting glass Yahoo bottles out of the trash many minutes later.
"Wow, Sheena! I thought you went home an hour ago!" said the red-headed boy. He tossed a black plastic garbage bag down to the pavement, posed and laughed. "Well, at least I'm not alone! Now we can both take these recyclables down to the recycling station!"
"Er, yeah," said Sheena sadly. She had not meant to take so long. That Eugene was still here, too, meant he had a similar problem.
"How's it going, Sheena?" asked Nadine walking up to the two of them. She checked her watch.
"Oh, hi Nadine," said Sheena, speaking sadly. "It's okay, I guess."
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, I guess!" said Nadine waving. "Don't forget, next week I'm going to do a poster to promote the appreciation of beetles!" Nadine clasped her hands together fondly. But Sheena did not share her enthusiasm.
The next day at lunch, Sheena sat at the picnic table next to the recycling bin. She stood up as a number of kids walked up to the can, scolding them not to put trash in it.
"Bottles only!" Sheena snapped. But with a laugh and a grin, most of her class dumped their lunch trays into the recycling bin while Sheena was 'kindly' telling off Stinky. Then with a wild, undisciplined grin, Curly kicked the whole thing over.
The next day Sheena tried even harder than ever to get kids to use the recycling can properly. That is, for bottles and cans only. Sheena stood right in front of it. She had painted the word, "bottles" on it in bold letters. There was a dozen yard sides circling around it like a picket fence.
"There!" said Sheena proudly. "No one will make a mistake now!" But as she watched, horrified, Principal Wartz tiptoed along and dumped his lunch tray in, too! Sheena pulled on her hair. She smiled happily, at Mr. Simmons, though, who only put a soda bottle in. They shared a simple, friendly smile.
Yet, despite her best efforts, once again, Sheena found a mess inside the barrel instead of bottles and cans. Eugene stood beside her sadly.
"You know," the boy said rolling his eyes back in thought as he scratched his chin. "Maybe it'd be best if we threw this whole thing out!"
"No!" said Sheena hugging herself to take the horror away. "Recycling is important!"
"Sheena's right!" Nadine said supportively. She put a hand on Sheena's back. "We are the Earth Club of P.S. 118! We have to save the earth! For the insects." She pumped a fist.
"Save the earth!" echoed Sheena lifting her fist high. Lowering it, she tapped her fist against Eugene's fist on a really short arm and smiled.
The next day, Sheena watched the trash barrel for recycling as closely as a mother lion does a zebra. Few people dared to approach it, but someone did! It was Helga Pataki. As she walked along, she pulled a bit of chewed gum from her mouth and wrapped it in paper from her pocket. Helga G. Pataki moved towards the barrel and was just about the drop the bit of gum into the cannister when she heard a loud (for Sheena), "ahem".
"Excuse me!" said Sheena looking cross. "You can't put that in there!" Helga's mild mood turned sour immediately. It was unheard of for meek people to try to tell her what to do.
"Oh?!" said Helga grinning a wicked smile and lifting the bit of gum even higher. "What are you going to do about it?" Her hand inched nearer to the can, her grin increasing as Sheena trembled. But in Sheena's mind reverberated one voice.
"Save the earth, save the earth!" Sheena could hear Nadine repeating. Then, in an unforeseen event untold by anyone at P.S. 118, even Curly, gentle Sheena snapped.
"Save the earth!" Sheena shouted. Leaping forward, she grasped Helga Pataki into a skillful wrestling headhold. It didn't have to be said that Helga was shocked.
"Let me go, you clod!" said Helga flailing. She threw the tall girl off. But before that, a very shocked Arnold dropped his Yahoo soda bottle all over the outdoor picnic table and leapt to his feet. He arrived at the two girls just as Helga was about to wail into Sheena.
"Sheena! Helga! STOP!" Arnold shouted. Even he didn't dare shoulder between the two very dangerous girls. Either one could beat the stuffing out of him, easily. But Sheena was not violent by nature. His shout gave her pause. As for Helga, the hand on her cuff was like a romantic plea.
"SHE attacked me!" Helga said, her fist still lifted a bit upright. But Arnold's words had calmed her just enough. The boy stepped inbetween, a mere step ahead of Helga so that Helga would have to walk around him to renew the fight. As for Sheena, her shamed face told him that it was unlikely that she would.
"I'm sorry, Arnold!" Sheena flushed. "I don't know what came over me! I just wanted... Just wanted… well, I just wanted to save the earth! Everyone keeps throwing their trash in the can instead of recyclables!" said the once more gentle girl, a steady stream of tears leaking from her eyes. Helga lowered her fist completely. She folded her arms.
"Humph! You don't need to go ballistic over that! Oh please!" Helga mocked, rolling her eyes. "Save the earth? Now that's rubbish. You nature do-goodies can go eat bark and sniff leaves for all I care! I just want a T.V. dinner and some good television. You won't find any good comic books growing off of trees!" Sheena scowled.
"Nature is SO important!" Sheena said, raising her voice. Arnold flinched as Helga and Sheena walked close enough to glare at one another's faces. The pair of girls towered over him, with Arnold squeezed inbetween. Arnold had to stop the fight, both so that the conflict was ended, and so that he himself did not get slugged.
"Sheena, Helga, stop!" the boy cried pressing either of the girls away by their shoulders with one hand. "Look, Helga is sorry about the gum, Sheena!"
"Humph! Who said you could apologize for me?" Helga grumped. But Arnold continued speaking. It was that or get crushed inbetween.
"Helga, let's just agree that nature is important to Sheena, alright? Sheena, can't you let the gum go?"
"Well, alright," said Sheena reluctantly. "But I don't like what you are saying about nature," Sheena said with a sniff. "Mother earth is very important! If we didn't have clean air and water, we wouldn't have a good place to live!"
"Tell that to the smokestacks down by the bay," said Helga rolling her eyes.
"Why, you!" Sheena muttered again. But Sheena was sounding calmer overall. Arnold turned completely around to face Helga and grasping both of her shoulders, he frowned into her face to press her slightly backwards. At last, the angry Helga fell speechless. It was the first time Arnold had ever forced his will on her except for the times he had directed them during dancing. In fact, the pose he used now was very much like he was correcting the stance of her feet. Although come to think of it, both Gerald and Arnold had intervened from Helga's hitting Iggie, once.
"Helga," said Arnold in a calm, low voice. "I'd rather you didn't pick a fight with Sheena. She's usually not like this! I'm certain than when you both calm down we can talk this out." But Helga was only just noticing now the very public display of Arnold's hands on her body, and yet Helga hadn't done anything to reprove him!
"Leggo!" Helga said mildly, blushing. She brushed imaginary soot off her dress when Arnold gently released his grip. Yet she almost wished he was holding onto her still. Helga's eyes gave a gentle swish back and forth toward Arnold.
"Helga," said Arnold holding out a hand, extended. "Come sit down!" The offer was tempting indeed! Helga's dream smile flitted onto her lips as for a moment, her imagination went wild. The picnic bench in a crowded schoolyard where they'd be sitting disappeared. Instead, the two of them were alone on a private Yacht. Arnold wore a white suit and Helga wore a shimmering sea-blue dress. She sat sideways across his lap as the wind curled their hair back and they both clinked the bottlenecks of to Yahoo sodas together.
"Ahhh!" said Helga smiling.
"Ah? Earth to Helga!" Arnold asked quietly. Helga shook her head to clear it. Helga prodded Arnold with her finger.
"Sure I'll let this go, but I'm only doing you a favor! I hope you appreciate what this is doing to my reputation! My reputation mandates that we go another round two!"
"Can we just forget all about that?" asked Arnold. "Sheena's a friend! And I'm sure she had reason for acting like that. She must really be having a bad day."
"Well, yeah," said Sheena eager to talk about it as she dried the tears from her eyes. "I'm having a bad day. No one understands how important recycling is."
"No, I guess we don't," said Arnold steering Helga away by her wrist. He flashed Sheena a backwards look before going his own way. They could exchange apologies properly later.
Helga came home from school. As she stepped down from the bus's step, she was unsurprised and not exactly pleased to see her older sister Olga standing there to greet her. Olga had been haunting Helga for two and half weeks, now! And it seemed she was here to stay. Now that she had finished college, Olga was working down at the local espresso shop in the morning which suited her perfectly. The woman was so perky it seemed she was full of coffee beans.
"Why, hello, baby sister!" said Olga skipping twice with joy as she opened the front door and bowed Helga in. "How was school today?"
"Alright," Helga muttered. "How was work?"
"Oh, great! Just perfect!" Olga gushed. "I just ever so enjoy our new, mint-caramel, dark-roast java oh-so-much! And some of the customers! Awe, Mrs. Dunlap is just the sweetest woman! She tells the most funny stories!" said Olga before rattling on about people Helga didn't know and didn't care about. Olga was going to go on talking for hours. But at least there was grub! As Helga got out a fork and a plate from the cupboard and sat down at the table, Olga took the cue immediately. She pulled a cooled pie from out of the cold oven.
"And for you, Helga!" said Olga pinching Helga's cheek. Somehow she endured. Probably because there was food. "A nice slice of fresh apple crisp!" Silently, Helga jabbed her fork into the crisp and ate it. Olga watched her, adoring, her hands clasped to her chest.
"So, how was it?" Olga trembled in excitement.
"Feh, it's okay," said Helga sticking another forkful into her mouth.
"Aw, that's fantastic!" Olga cried giving Helga another vaulting embrace that rubbed her fur backwards. As displeased as a cat whose personal space has been violated, Helga grimaced so that her teeth showed. Then she shook the sensation off and went back to eating her pie.
"So," said Olga finally calming down enough to sit down at the table across from her with a cup of java for herself. "How how school today?" she repeated from earlier. "Did anything notable happen?" A look of rage flickered across Helga's face and she jabbed her fork into the last bit of cobbler with a vengeance.
"Well, there is this one thing," Helga lamented. "There was this one girl who went all ape-wall on me today. All just because I almost threw a piece of trash in the recycling. Man, I tell you! She is almost as crazy as our friend Curly!"
"Aw, well," said Olga mildly. "Sometimes people get extra sensitive about things that are important to them. Say, you know what?" said Olga with sudden inspiration. "I've been thinking of volunteering with the local parks program here in Hillwood to restore its precious nature sanctuary! They need someone to pick up litter, you know bottles and bicycle wheels and that sort of thing! Maybe we two sisters can go together!"
"No thank you!" Helga said with a glare. But Olga's smile never faltered. "Aw, I knew you'd be thrilled, Helga! This is going to be the best Saturday, ever! All that sunshine! All the swamp water in your boots! The mosquitoes! This is going to be the thrill of your life!"
"I seriously doubt it," said Helga who was being unpleasantly smothered, again.
On a beautiful Saturday morning when Helga would much rather be watching cartoons and eating sugary cereal until she was nauseated, Olga Pataki forced Helga Pataki to wear pants. Yes, that's right pants. And not just any pants. No, not pleasant blue jeans which rumple just so in a stiff, buttery, and pleasant way and smell as pure as heaven when they come out of the dryer. But canvas which refuses to bend and frequently comes in only Khaki. In fact, the shirt that Olga forced on Helga was also Khaki, so she looked like an old Englishman visitor to India in the Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. All Helga was missing was her safari hat, but Olga provided her one of those, too!
"Now put on your boots, silly!" said Olga offering Helga the horrible, black rubber boots that are impossible to get in and even more impossible to get out of. She looked so horrible there was only one remedy. Pink, and lots of it. Helga found herself a scarf and tied it around her neck and found a pink belt to go along with it. She pinned a small pink ribbon to her surfari hat.
"Ready to go?" asked Helga.
"Nope," Helga chirped before being dragged off anyway, which was entirely expected with Olga.
Olga's pink car pulled into a dirt parking lot surrounded by swamp. A cruddy painted piece of plywood had been spray painted with the words, "Hillwood Nature Walk Trail" before leading onto a crumbling boardwalk. At the end of the walk stood a dilapidated brown building that was little more than a shed with a window that unlatched like a ticket window. Inside the gaping wall, a dismal looking woman with brown-frizzy hair and a park service badge stared at Olga's approach. But Helga was less interested in the park ranger. She was much more interested in the crowd, of sorts. Most of the people here were the nerdiest nerds imaginable. A few were hippies or sports buffs. But there was someone there she was really loathe to see- Sheena Greene. But on the other side of her, talking softly with his Grandma, was none other than Helga's secret sweetheart, Arnold Shortman!
"Arnold!" said Helga gasping. "What are you doing here?!" Arnold drum rolled his fingers along the edge of the binoculars he held loosely with one hand, although they were secured around his neck by a strap.
"I'm a geek, remember?" said Arnold. "Grandma takes me birding sometimes." Helga blinked.
"You mean catch a goose, bake it with butter and eat it or something?"
"No, not that kind of birding!" Arnold corrected. He pulled out a slim book from his pocket and flipped open to one of the pages. He showed it to Helga.
"See? American mallard?" Arnold explained. There was a caw overhead and Arnold pointed to a glossy, black crow perched in the tree overhead.
"Do you know what that bird is?" he quizzed.
"Uh, an American mallard?" said Helga. Arnold gave Helga a dismayed look. If you can't tell a duck from a crow, you're hopeless!
"Aw, who cares!" said Helga. "I get my groceries at the supermarket anyway!" Arnold snapped his book shut and pocketed it. Yup, that was Helga for you!
"Well," said the boy. "Since Grandma and me come here sometimes, we thought we'd help out. Grandma loves save-the-nature stuff."
"That's right!" said Grandma Pookie, cackling. She was wearing her Hippie uniform again. But there more hippies than Arnold's Grandma in the crowd. Sheena was standing between her parents, and they both were dressed in Hippie clothes from head to toe.
"Oh, hi, Helga," Sheena said awkwardly at the sight of her. "I really, um, want to apologize for what I did and said earlier. It was really very wrong of me! Especially since, well, I'm opposed to violence!" said Sheena feeling very ashamed. But her mother patted her on the back.
"Well, said, honey!" said her mom. Helga humphed.
"Yeah, well thanks to you, my reputation as a real bad-girl is damaged. But I suppose that's happened before. With Olga!" Helga said rolling her eyes meaningfully in Olga's direction. She had still not forgotten about the bed-wetting stories Olga had told about her, and she had lived through that. Somehow.
"I'm really, really, sorry," said Sheena. "Although I don't understand why you want people to see you as a bully, anyway."
"It's complicated!" Helga defended before stalking away. With a backwards glance towards Sheena, Arnold followed after Helga.
"Um, so Helga," Arnold asked delicately. "What are you doing here? This isn't the sort of place you hang out ordinarily."
"Bah, Olga dragged me along with her. More 'quality bonding time' between sisters. She's held me captive ever since she got here. But at least I've got apple crisp out of the deal."
"Well, that's something," Arnold said with false enthusiasm. Olga wasn't exactly endearing to him either. Not since she had decided to deliberately get in the way of them spending time with one another, and speaking of Olga, Helga's older sister headed in their direction. She squeezed herself right in between Arnold and Helga so that both had to stumble backwards.
"Helga!" Olga protested. "Imagine your little friend being here! Well, that's okay! It's a large swamp!" said Olga. "Let's partner up with your dear little school friend over there! What's her name, again?" Olga asked, pointing.
"Sheena?!" asked Helga, horrified. She didn't want to spend time with Sheena and her hippie family. She wanted to stay around Arnold! But in one hour's time, Olga had donned a hippie headband, too. She was laughing and talking with Sheena's parents.
"Oh, wow, you don't seem very happy," Sheena muttered. Of course Helga wasn't. She sat on a log with her head between her hands.
"No," Helga bit out moodily. "I'm not!"
"You can share my bag, if you like!" Sheena offered politely. She held up a collecting bag half-filled with bottles, cans, and other trash. Helga kicked a can laying loose on the ground.
"Why are we doing this?!" asked Helga. "Who cares? Someone is only going to fill it up again!"
"Well, the litter is not good for the wildlife," Sheena explained nervously. "Plus, it doesn't look beautiful. We want everyone to enjoy the park!" Sheena spread her hands out wide like an angel in a proud, dramatic gesture.
"How charitable of you," Helga scoffed. "Well, I wanna go find Arnold! His company is much more interesting than Olga's!"
"Helga, you shouldn't!" Sheena fretted. But Helga had spotted Arnold's tufty locks across a patch of water. The boy was looking out across the marshland with his binoculars like a scout. Helga admired him for a moment, then shook her head. Her eyebrows lowered with determination. She spotted a little white duck-hunting boat in the reeds.
"Oooh!" said Helga cackling. "Mums the word, Sheena! I'm going to jailbreak out of here! What's that island over there? It's begging to be explored!"
"Cawlie's Sandbar," said Sheena. "But you shouldn't go! You'll get lost!"
"Nah, I'll be right back!" said Helga. But Sheena scrambled on board the little craft.
"If you're going, I'm going too!" she squeaked. Helga handed her an oar.
Within a few strokes of the paddle, their flat-bottomed craft pulled out in front of Arnold and hit the sandbar with a soft skid. Helga and Sheena climbed out. Arnold stared back at the two girls, smileless, but not frowning.
"Helga what are you doing here? Isn't your sister going to be worried?"
"Hm, how about I make her angry instead?" Helga walked to the edge of the few feet of water they had just crossed, stuck her finger in her mouth, and gave a loud, piercing whistle such as a few use as fans at sports arenas. Olga popped her head out of the marsh reeds, looking for the source of the whistle.
"Helga? What are you doing over there, baby sister?" she fretted, although she already knew why. Arnold was standing beside Helga and Sheena's side, his hand still resting softly on a pair of binoculars. With a casual, but mischievous grin, Helga strolled up beside Arnold and tucked her arm in his. Arnold jumped a bit at the sudden move.
"We 'accidentally' got on the wrong side of the water somehow!" Helga teased Olga mercilessly. She pressed her cheek next to his. "I'll just have to have Arnold here walk me around! Which is only…"
"Half a mile," said the boy. Helga smiled.
"Half a mile!" Helga shouted back across the water. "I'll meet you back at the car in say… one hour!" She gave a cheery wave.
"One hour!" Olga protested. "With that boy?!"
"Oh, why look it's Betty Grable!" said Grandma appearing from the reeds. "Hello Betty! Can I get your autograph! She's a really good actress, don't you know," Grandma said dropping her voice softly to speak to Arnold.
"I wouldn't know, Grandma," he said shaking his head softly. "I don't watch black and white films."
"Don't worry! We'll take good care of Eleanor for you!" Grandma Pookie said with a soft wave. Helga snickered with joy. Unless Olga decided to swim the river, she was safe. Besides, unlike Helga, Olga was afraid to make a scene.
"Well, okay, baby sister," Olga said not liking it as Sheena's parents observed the scene. Sheena waved to her own folks.
"I'll come back around with my friends!" Sheena said. Her Dad gave her a thumbs up.
"Peace, little earth warrior," he shrugged. Helga grinned. Hanging out with Sheena wasn't so bad at all.
"One hour, hm?" said Arnold with a suave smile. "Care to do a little birdwatching?"
"Any kind!" Helga chirped. Arnold flushed bright red. He whipped round to check his zipper real quick to make sure it was zipped tight and Helga wasn't using old fashioned slang.
"Well, Grandma and me were just checking out the duck houses," Arnold said trying to get Helga's mind back on track. At this time of year, all of the ducklings should be fledged and no one would be using the houses. Although it was already August, the weather was warm and so there were a few quacking ducks who had not flown south. Instead, they waited for the great gatherings of October. So as not to scare them, Helga and Sheena lay down on their stomachs and watched. Helga had found something that interested her at last.
"You know, in all the picture books ducks are either white or yellow," she commented.
"Well, that's true for some domesticated varieties," said Sheena. "But they're almost not ducks anymore! Wolves are different from dogs," Sheena observed.
"I guess they are!" said Helga. She grabbed hold of the binoculars from around Arnold's neck. As she looked through them, the neckstrap pulled a little unpleasantly at his neck and he made a face.
"Will you please learn to ask for something before you take it?" Arnold complained mildly. He rubbed his neck. These Pataki sisters were dangerous customers!
"Sorry?" asked Helga. Arnold rolled his eyes. There were a lot of things he had to work out with this girl.
"Repeat after me. I..am..sorry," Arnold pronounced slowly. Helga began to copy.
"I...am… ss-ss-s-ughh!" she said before throwing a stick of gum in her mouth. "Sorry, I need to brush my teeth!" Arnold rolled his eyes. Yup, he had a lot to work out with this one! He lifted the binoculars to his eyes again. But with her sharp eyes, Helga noticed something in the reeds.
"Hey, look!" she complained. By the water's edge was a little duckling who was separated from all the others. It didn't flee properly, either. When Helga pointed it out, it waddled over and fell. It nearly expired from fear when Helga reached over and plucked it up from the ground. Around its middle was the ring from a drink-six pack.
"Grandma?" Arnold asked his grandmother. She pulled a swiss army knife from her pocket and carefully removed the plastic ring. Then Grandma Pookie set the duckling down on the ground again. The nearly grown duckling flapped its wings trying to get away, but only one of the wings moved.
"Aw," said Grandma Pookie sadly. "It looks like one of its wings is broken! Poor thing! We'll have to take it to the ranger station with us!"
"I'll carry it!" Helga said unexpectedly. "After all, I found it!"
"Grandma, should we really be handling wildlife like that?" Arnold fretted.
"Not usually," his grandmother began.
"But this is Humphrey we're talking about!" said Helga smiling down at the warm and silky young duck in her arms. "Poor Humphrey!" The duck peered back towards her.
"Humphrey?" Arnold asked softly in disbelief. "Should you really be naming that thing?"
"Probably not, Football-Head, but let's go! Daylight's burning!" They turned from the row of duck houses onto a trail which should lead them back to the parking lot.
"You see, Helga?" Sheena said softly, lifting a hand up as she spoke. "If someone hadn't left that litter there, well, poor Humphrey wouldn't have gotten into trouble! That's why it's important people put their garbage in the right place, and we clean up litter! He's lucky you found him."
"Yeah, well, I'm a good samaritan sometimes, aren't I?" said Helga. They walked down the trail to the ranger's hut and placed the duck in the bottom of a cardboard box.
"Well, I'll take it over to the nature center and see if they can set its wing!" the park ranger promised. Feeling proud of themselves, Arnold, Helga, Sheena, and Grandma Pookie all stared down at the box while something slinky crept out of the reeds. A weasel reached over the side of the cardboard box and tried to snatch "Humphrey".
"Oh, no you don't!" said Helga. She flopped forward onto the weasel and soon there was the sound of a weasel spitting in rage as well as a quacking duck. An hour later, Helga, Arnold, and Sheena exited Hillwood's hospital, Helga's arms all wrapped white with bandages.
"Wow," said Sheena. "I never thought you would wrestle a live, potentially rabid weasel to protect poor, defenseless wildlife! I'm impressed!" But Helga humphed and pointed to herself.
"Are you kidding?" said Helga still pointing a thumb backwards to herself. "I would never let anybody or anything mess with my duckling!" Behind her back, Helga missed the adoring, dopey, smitten look that spread across Arnold's face.
"Well, Helga," said Sheena meekly. "It's all settled! The nature center will take good care of Humphrey and when he's all healed up, they will release him back into the nature preserve!"
"The nature preserve, huh?" said Helga, her hands at her waist. "I guess that means we'd better get it ready for his homecoming, huh?" Sheena clasped her hands together with joy.
"You mean?!" the girl said with much hope. Helga nodded.
"Yup! I guess I will be helping you clean up the nature trail. For now anyway."
"That's great, Helga!" said Sheena leaping forward towards Helga. But the pink-dressed girl stepped back and Sheena missed. She fell into the dirt instead onto Helga.
"No need to get too friendly about it," Helga explained to the girl who now sprawled out on the ground. But the next weekend, true to her word, Helga showed up to help Sheena. Wearing rubber boots, Helga waved, wearing a smile, but her eyebrows cross.
"Now get on over here!" Helga complained. Her booming voice echoed. "I need help lifting this signpost!" As Helga spoke, Sheena jogged over and together, the two girls lifted up a signpost, a finely chiseled archway saying "Hillwood Nature Walk Trail". And side-by-side, they admired it! The end.