PART 3:

SAMMY'S HELP

Sammy was sitting behind the counter, munching on her carrots and reading a paperback when the kids came rushing in. She looked up and saw Phoebe first.

"Hey, what's up Phoebs?" she asked, putting down her book. "Aren't you supposed to be at lunch right now?"

"Well, the reason I'm here . . . " Phoebe started, but was drowned out by someone yelling.

"LET GO! When I get through with you two chuckleheads, there won't be enough left for a doggie bag!"

Sammy recognized that voice instantly, and moved to the other side of the counter to see what was going on. Arnold and Gerald had Helga by either arm and were straining to pull her through the doors, but she had planted her feet and wouldn't budge.

"Come on, Helga! We're not letting you go back there! Gwen would KILL you!" Arnold told her. His face was a dark shade of red. Sammy rolled her eyes.

What now? she thought as she shook her head. She saw that the boys were about to lose their grips, and moved quickly to help. She went around the three of them, and got behind Helga. Then she wrapped her arms around the girl's waist and lifted.

"Okay, boys. I've got her!" she told them as Helga's feet left the floor. They let go, and Sammy carried a still thrashing Helga into the library.

"Now you're going against me too? Some friend you are!" the girl yelled as Sammy took her to a nearby chair.

Sammy tightened her grip on Helga, then turned to the boys, who were still standing by the open doors.

"Close those doors! I don't want to have to chase her down if she bolts!" she called over Helga's protests. They nodded and each grabbed a door, pulling them closed. Then they stood there like sentries, waiting to see if Helga would run.

Sammy smiled. Good boys, she thought. Very good boys. Then she turned her attention back to the screaming girl in her arms. If she let go, Helga would probably just run. She leaned close to the girl's ear.

"If you don't stop it right now," Sammy told her in a low voice, "I will tell Arnold about your little, ahem, obsession."

Helga stopped struggling immediately. She looked around at Sammy with narrowed eyes.

"You wouldn't dare," she whispered. Sammy smiled slyly.

"Try me."

Helga looked at Sammy for a minute, trying to decide if the librarian meant it. Apparently, she did. Helga sighed.

"You don't fight fair," she said.

"Hey, life ain't fair. Get used to it," Sammy joked, and lowered her into a chair. "Okay, boys. I think the crisis is over. Come on in."

Arnold and Gerald looked at each other and slowly walked over to where Sammy stood over Helga. Phoebe had been watching the whole thing from her spot near the counter, and now she also joined them.

"Okay, who wants to start?" Sammy asked and looked at each kid in turn. Helga was sitting with her arms crossed, pouting. The boys looked at each other again, then up at Sammy.

"We don't really know what happened," Arnold told her. Gerald nodded.

"Yeah, all we know is, one minute everything's fine and the next, her and Gwen are going at each other."

"Who's Gwen?" Sammy asked, keeping an eye on Helga. The young blonde was starting to squirm in her seat, and Sammy didn't want her to sneak out as she and the other kids spoke.

"She's a new girl in our class," Arnold said. "She's pretty big."

"Then why on earth would these two be fighting?"

"Gwen accidentally spilled some soup on Helga at lunch," Arnold answered.

"No, she didn't."

Four heads turned to look at Phoebe. The small girl blushed slightly at being the center of attention, then stepped closer to the group.

"Wait a minute, back up," Sammy said, shaking her head. "I'm starting to get a headache. Okay now, Arnold says that this Gwen girl spilled soup on Helga, and you're telling me she didn't." She looked at Helga and shook her head again. "Well, somebody's got their wires crossed somewhere, boys and girls, because she's covered with what appears to be chicken noodle soup."

"Permit me to explain," Phoebe said. "While I agree that it was Gwen who spilled the soup, it is highly questionable to believe such an act was entirely accidental." The other kids were staring at her.

"She means Gwen did it on purpose," Sammy explained.

"Why would she do something like that?" Arnold asked, looking at Helga. She laughed nervously.

"What are you asking me for?" she asked. "How would I know?"

Sammy looked at Helga. She knew more than she was admitting to. She kept shooting quick glances at Phoebe, who looked even more nervous than her friend. Whatever these two knew, they didn't want the boys to know. Sammy understood and took control.

"Nevermind that now, boys. I've got a little job for you two," she said as she ushered the boys toward the doors. "I'm going to get Helga cleaned up and try to get to the bottom of this. What I want you guys to do is keep an eye on this Gwen. If the fight was as big as I think it was, Principal Wartz is probably at the cafeteria right now, questioning all the kids. Find out what everyone said and whether or not Gwen is planning to retaliate. Stop by after school and tell me what you found out."

"Okay, Sammy," Arnold said.

"You got it," Gerald agreed and saluted. Sammy saluted back and watched them head back to the cafeteria. Then she turned back to the girls.

"Okay, they're gone. You," she said, pointing to Helga, "off that chair and down to the locker room. Now! We're gonna get you cleaned up while Phoebe tells me all about your new classmate."

"But I don't have any clothes to change into."

"I'll take care of that," Sammy said and walked into the office behind the counter. She went to the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet and pulled out a tee-shirt and a pair of clean socks. "I don't have anything that will exactly fit you, but these will do until I can get your clothes washed."

Helga and Phoebe were staring at her.

"Why do you have clothes in your filing cabinet?" Phoebe asked, bewildered. Sammy shrugged.

"You never know when you're going to need them," she answered. "Now, come on. That soup is drying and dry chicken noodle soup is extremely hard to get out of hair." Helga was just opening her mouth to ask how she could possibly know something like that when Sammy raised a hand. "I grew up with two older brothers. Believe me, I know."

The three friends traveled to the locker room and Phoebe told Sammy the whole story as Helga showered. She told everything, starting with the incident in class and ending with what had happened at lunch.

The shower stopped a few minutes before Phoebe finished and Sammy had an idea that Helga was probably listening from the stall.

"Did anyone else see or hear her threaten you two?" Sammy asked after Phoebe was quiet.

"No. We were alone in the hallway when she did it," Phoebe answered.

"Besides," Helga called from the showers, "she never really came out and threatened us."

"Not in so many words, no," Sammy called back. "But the intent was very clear. I've got to hand it to her, she's clever. You can't tell anyone, because she'll just deny it. You've got no witnesses. It's just your word against hers and everyone knows what a bully Helga is. No offense, kiddo."

"None taken." Helga was just coming out, drying her hair. She had Sammy's tee-shirt on and it billowed around her as she walked. Sammy had to smile at the sight. Then she noticed Helga's nose was bleeding again.

"Uh, oh. Got a little leak there, kid," she said and pulled a tissue from her pocket. She cleaned the blood from under Helga's nose and produced a new tissue. "It must have started again from the humidity in here. Hold your head back."

Helga did and Sammy gave her the tissue to hold. Then she took the towel from Helga's hand, went behind her and finished drying the girl's hair as best she could. Phoebe held a hand up to hide a smile. The shirt Helga was wearing made her look about five years old, and Sammy was fussing over her as a mother would a daughter.

Sammy looked up and saw Phoebe smiling.

"What's so funny?" she asked, smiling herself. Phoebe shook her head.

"Nothing. I was just thinking."

"Oh."

When Helga's hair was almost dry, Sammy went to the canvas bag she had brought with them and fished out a hair brush and a plastic bag. She handed the bag to Phoebe.

"Would you gather her clothes and put them in here? I'll run down to the closest Laundromat and get them washed during my free period," she said.

"Okay."

Phoebe went into the showers and Sammy moved Helga to the bench. She sat the girl down and started brushing her hair.

"Phoebe didn't leave anything out, did she?" Sammy asked quietly. "I mean, you didn't do anything to this girl first, did you?" Helga was shocked.

"Are you saying this is all my fault?"

"No, I'm just asking if what Phoebe told me was the complete truth. I know you, Helga. You withhold information when it suits you. If this girl is picking on you because of something you did or said-" Helga stood up and whirled around.

"You ARE saying this is my fault! 'I'm mean old Helga, I always pick on everybody, it's always MY fault!' Well, maybe I did say something to her, but it's the same thing I say to ALL the new kids!" she shouted. She was trying very hard to hold back tears, without much success.

Sammy stood and looked Helga in the eyes.

"Okay."

"What?" Helga asked, confused.

"I said, 'okay'. I believe you, Helga."

Helga just stared at Sammy for a minute. Sometimes, she just couldn't figure the young librarian out. Sometimes, she made absolutely no sense at all.

"Well then, why . . ." she began. Sammy walked up to her and put her hands on the girl's shoulders.

"I didn't mean to upset you, Helga, but I just had to make sure. I need to know the whole story before I can start to help you."

"Oh," Helga said, relaxing. Sammy didn't mean to make her angry, she just knew how to get information out of her. Sometimes she knew so much about Helga, it was scary.

"Okay, Phoebe, you can come out now. We're done yelling," Sammy called. Helga turned and watched her friend slowly walk out of the shower area, holding the plastic bag in one hand, and carrying Helga's shoes in the other.

"Here, Helga," she said quietly, and handed the girl her shoes.

"Thanks, Phoebs," Helga said, gently. Just then, the bell signaling the start of afternoon classes rang. It was very loud in the locker room and all three girls jumped. Phoebe looked at Sammy worriedly.

"Don't worry, Phoebs. I'll talk to Mr. Simmons. I'll tell him about Helga's little 'accident' at lunch, and see if I can get him to give you both a free period so you can actually eat something. I'll also see if I can get him to let her serve her detention in the library." She looked at the young blonde. "I don't want you and this Gwen person together for too long until I can talk to her and try to figure out why she's acting like this."

"Thanks, Sammy," Helga said, smiling. Sammy smiled back and gave the girls a quick hug.

"Hey, no problem," she said. "Nothing's too much for my favorite girls!"

They went to their classroom and the girls waited outside while Sammy spoke to Mr. Simmons. He agreed to let them stay with Sammy until they had eaten, then they would return to class. He also allowed Helga's detention to be worked off at the library, helping Sam. The librarian thanked him and led the girls to the cafeteria to retrieve their lunches. Then they headed back to the library, discussing their next course of action.

"So, what do we do until you talk to her?" Helga asked.

"Stay away from her. Some people were put on this earth simply to cause trouble. Maybe Gwen's one of them. She already knows how to push your buttons," she said, looking at Helga. "She's just trying to get a rise out of you. Just ignore her and don't let anything she says get to you."

"What if she goes after Phoebe again?"

"Don't give her the chance. Phoebe, stay as far away from her as possible. If it looks like she is going to try something, come to me. After Helga's detention, I'll take you both home," she told them as they entered the library.

The girls were feeling a little better as they sat at the counter and started eating. Sammy sat and ate with them, casually changing the flow of conversation to subjects a little less worrisome. By the time the girls left to return to class, they were feeling much calmer.

If they had known what would come next, they probably would have stayed in the library.

~End of Part 3~