Chapter 9 - What Did You See?

Everyone slept in. There was a scramble with the girls as to who got in the bathroom first and it took a long time for everyone to clean up and get dressed. While the girls were still kids, they were starting to get to that age where they cared a lot more about looking nice than they had previously.

They joined the boys, who were already outside by what looked to be a large bonfire at the edge of town. It wasn't lit, but there were logs to sit on spaced around it. A village woman smilingly handed them plates that had eggs, rice and beans, chopped beef, and plantains. "This Gallo Pinto," she said to the girls. "Is tradition here."

"Children…children…" Mr. Simmons said, standing up, still holding his plate. "After breakfast we thought we would hike back to the waterfall Manuel showed us yesterday. Señorita Valdez said it's safe and a popular place for everyone here to go. We thought a little swim and fun was a great way to introduce ourselves to San Lorenzo!"

The kids all agreed to that. None of them had brought bathing suits, but they all figured they could just go in their t-shirts and shorts.

The delicious breakfast was then finished quickly and the entire class, along with Mr. Simmons, Mr. Collins, Jay and Señorita Valdez left the village to walk back down the weed choked road toward where the waterfall and swimming hole was.

The waterfall was actually a series of a few small falls, tumbling from the top of a small cliff. Above, it appeared that two or three streams fell from the top to another level, then fell to another level and finally combined to fall in one heavy stream at the bottom of the cliff, which is where a large pool had formed. The water was clear and fresh looking and the class did not hesitate to run into the pool and begin splashing around. The adults too, abandoned themselves to the cool water, which felt great after the hot and humid air.

Helga sat on a rock near the edge, moodily watching her classmates. She had taken off her shoes and had her feet dangling in the water. She had had too much of people. She hadn't been alone since she left her house, and Helga was one of those people who needed some alone time every day to keep her thoughts and emotions straight. She looked around, then looked up and decided she would try and sneak up to the higher parts of the waterfall. She was naturally curious, desiring solitude, and wasn't frightened of anything that might be there.

Phoebe waded over to her and sat down. "Everything ok Helga?" she asked.

"Mm hmm…" she said. "Pheebs I just need a few minutes alone. Can you cover for me? I'm just gonna explore up the falls," she said, gesturing vaguely up. "If Simmons misses me, tell him I went that way."

"You should tell him now before you go Helga."

"Nah, he won't let me go then," she reasoned.

"Do you want me to go with you?"

Helga looked at her and shook her head. "I…I just need a few minutes alone, Pheebs. To think. Please understand."

Phoebe nodded. "Ok. I do understand."

Helga smiled at her "You're the best Phoebe," she said, pulling her feet out and shoving them into her shoes. Phoebe watched her as she made her way closer to the rocks and boulders to the side of the pool. Phoebe was impressed watching her. She was so stealthy that Phoebe knew no one had noticed her disappear. Phoebe herself didn't even see exactly when Helga slipped out of sight. Phoebe turned her attention back to the pool to rejoin her classmates and saw Arnold on the other side, staring intently at where Helga had disappeared. Someone did notice the girl disappear after all.

Phoebe watched as Arnold swam to the side of the pool where Phoebe was and got out. He wasn't as stealthy as Helga was, but he did disappear himself around the boulder and Phoebe didn't think anyone but her noticed it. Everyone was having too much fun. Phoebe said softly to herself. "You need to stop running from it Helga," and then giggled as she swam back into the center of the large swimming hole.


Arnold had been having fun playing in a water fight with Gerald and Sid when he saw Helga getting out of the swimming hole. She had a wary expression and looked as if she were trying to sneak away. He watched curiously as she slipped around the boulder at the edge, and, being Arnold, was worried about her wandering in the jungle by herself. Besides, Helga went alone and he saw it as a perfect opportunity to finally talk to her. Without saying anything, he swam over to that side of the pool and got out, wringing his t-shirt and then running his hands through his hair to squeeze out excess water.

On the other side of the boulder, he saw that a tumble of rocks climbed up to the top of the cliff and it only took him a moment to spot Helga, already halfway up. He was impressed at how fearlessly and nimbly she scaled the rocks. 'Where the heck did she learn to do that?' he thought. He couldn't believe how fast she climbed, barely looking where she was putting her feet and hands, but that was something he had always admired about her - her fearlessness.

He waited until she disappeared over the edge above before he started climbing up too. It didn't take him long to reach the top, but he noticed that the shouts and laughter from his class had faded and was replaced by the soft roar of the waterfall. He was grateful for that, because he knew he wasn't being very quiet as he climbed, and for some reason he didn't want her to know he was following her until he could get her someplace she couldn't escape from. He stopped where the leafy bushes ended at the edge of the pool and peered through the leaves to see what she was doing.

The pool at the top was rather large - almost as large as the boarding house - and not very deep. Helga had already taken off her shoes, and was pulling some sort of necklace out from under her t-shirt. She tucked it deep in one of her shoes, which she had put on a flat boulder, looking around suspiciously as she did so. She then waded out to the middle of the pool. The water came only a few inches above her ankles. At the far edge of the pool, water spilled down toward the next level of the waterfall below, but on the opposite end, a small stream fell from a higher mossy-ridged edge about ten feet above. There was even a small space behind the waterfall, as the edge above extended past the cliff face. Arnold thought it was one of the most beautiful spots he'd ever seen.

At the side he was on, a nine-foot stretch of pebbles and small boulders ringed the edge of the pool. Behind that was the screen of plants that gave him a convenient place to hide as he watched Helga. His inner voice told him that interrupting her right now would be a disaster and he felt a twinge of self-consciousness about spying on her, but he couldn't turn away.

She stood watching the waterfall for a few minutes, then slowly waded toward it, stretching out both her hands palms up. She stuck her hands under the stream as if to feel the strength of the water. It wasn't a large stream, but it was a strong flow. She splashed at and played with the water and he thought he could hear her laughing, though it was difficult to tell over the sound of the water.

Then she surprised him, by wading directly into the stream, her hands uplifted above her head. Helga let herself become fully soaked and slowly turned under the water. She turned around again and again, finally just spinning out of control under the water her arms flung out. Arnold watched, fascinated as she did that, not really sure what she was doing. She ended up falling back more into the pool with a splash, right onto her butt, and he really did hear her loud laughter as she sat there, tilted back and resting her weight on her hands.

Helga sat in the water for a few minutes, waiting for her dizziness to pass before she stood up again. This time, surprising him even more, she started to dance around the pool, kicking up water and abandoning herself in a way he had never seen her do. She spun around and pirouetted and danced, around the waterfall and through it, laughing and playing in complete surrender. Her dance seemed to have no rhyme or reason, but he did notice how graceful she was in her movements.

She had an engaging laugh that he rarely heard. Arnold wished she was like this more often and he couldn't help but smile. She kept this Helga hidden - a Helga that was someone who loved fun and laughter and dancing. She was apparently someone who could dance to only the music of a waterfall and all he wanted to do was wade out into that pool and dance with her. He had even gone so far as to shift his weight to take that step when he saw her stop, breathless, facing the waterfall once again. He was positioned in a way so that he could see her in slight profile, but couldn't read her expression from the angle he had.

Helga stood like that for what seemed like a long time to him, just watching the water. Arnold was just about to join her, thinking that he would make an excuse that he had just wandered up there himself. He knew that if she knew he had seen her dancing, she would close herself off. Before he could move, he saw her reach up a hand to wipe at her cheek with her palm. He froze, mystified. She did it again to her other cheek, and then again. Then she completely surprised him as she put her hands over her face and dropped to her knees in the shallow water.

Arnold watched, mouth hanging open, as she sat back on her heels, but hunched over herself, her ponytails hanging wet and stringy down her back and her pink bow sagging limply on her head. Her shoulders shook as she cried and he could hear her sobs faintly over the sound of the waterfall. He had no idea what to do. He wanted to go and see if he could comfort her, but that oh-so-wise voice in his head told him that if he did he would regret it. He somehow knew that Helga had snuck away just for this - to be alone and give vent to her emotions with no one around to watch, but her sobs tore at his heart.

Her crying eventually slowed, then stopped. She finally took her hands away from her face, and played them in the water listlessly for a few moments, the she stood, straightening up her spine. Helga went to the waterfall once again and using her hands, cupped water up to her face to wash it. Then she waded toward the edge of the pool where Arnold stood hidden, and he was afraid that she would discover him, but she just sat on a rock at the edge, not far from where he was, and grabbed her shoes. She pulled the necklace out and set it next to her as she put her shoes back on. She picked up the necklace and looked down at it for a long time and he could hear her voice, but she was talking in too low a tone to make out more than a few words, but he was positive he heard his own name. She put the necklace back on, tucked it out of sight, then sat quietly, her expression settling back into her normal one of disdain and cynicism, but he was no longer fooled by it.

He backed quietly back away from the pool. He still wanted to join her, but he knew that probably wouldn't be the best idea he'd ever had. Arnold turned to head back down below when he heard his name called in a friendly tone. Appearing through the trees was Jay, the Travel Frontiers reporter.

"Ah good I found you!" he said, coming closer to Arnold, whose heart felt like it had stopped. "You haven't seen Helga have you? I told Mr. Simmons I'd look for the both of you."

Arnold involuntarily glanced toward the pool and Jay pushed through the bushes. "Oh! Helga! There you are!" Jay said startling the girl, whose head whipped around. "Mr. Simmons sent me to look for you two. Time to head back to the village!"

Her eyes were narrowed and her expression angry at being interrupted, but when Jay said 'you two', her eyes widened. She looked past Jay and saw Arnold behind him wearing a look of chagrin.

Jay continued. "Señorita Valdez said they were going to treat us to a welcome dinner tonight." He turned, beckoning to her, "Come on…"

Helga slowly got up, her face white and her lips pressed together. She pushed through the bushes at the side of the pool and brushed past Arnold to follow Jay. Jay took a much easier path down the cliff, one that took longer than the more direct route Helga (and then Arnold) had climbed. Arnold followed her meekly.

They were halfway down when she hissed over her shoulder, "How long were you up there?"

"Um…I…I had just gotten there ahead of Mr. Jay?" He was horrible at lying and ending the statement with a questioning lift of his voice did not help matters.

She turned her head enough to glare at him, "What did you see?"

"N-n-nothing Helga," he said desperately.

He felt so guilty and his face reflected it. He saw her face flush bright red and she turned forward again, her body posture stiff and unyielding as she followed the unsuspecting Jay. His heart sank. He had been able, the past few days, to get her to talk to him and open up a little and he'd been hoping to do more of that. He believed he had blown it.

When they rejoined the group at the bottom of the waterfall, Helga's arms were crossed in front of her and she looked angry as she stalked away from Arnold to be by Phoebe. Arnold's face still reflected his guilt. Rhonda, of course, noticed this. "Nadine, check them out. Something is going on. They left the pool together and they come back together, and look how upset they both look."

"What do you think it is Rhonda?" Nadine asked.

"Maybe they snuck off to kiss or something and got caught."

"Rhonda! Do you think so?"

"That would explain why Arnold looks guilty and Helga looks mad."

Nadine giggled. "True! Aw that would be so cute though!"

Rhonda nodded. "Oh yeah it would be. But still, I am going to keep my eye on them, and I have a few questions for Phoebe…"