Chapter 10 - Welcome Home Arnold
The girls had returned to their hut, bathed in the tub, and changed their clothes. Their damp clothing from their swim hung on a rope that Señorita Valdez had strung across the room. Rhonda had just come out of the bathroom, fresh and clean, brushing her hair. She glanced over at Helga, who had cleaned up and changed earlier and was sitting on her bed talking in a low voice to Phoebe. "Helga, where did you and Arnold disappear to this afternoon?" Her voice was mocking and she grinned knowingly at the blond girl.
Helga looked up at Rhonda, her eyes narrowed and scowled at her. She had just been telling Phoebe about what happened at the pool. Nadine and Sheena pricked up their ears and watched curiously. "Nowhere Princess," Helga said harshly. "I went exploring. I don't know what that Football Head was up to."
"You disappeared together, Helga," Rhonda said, tossing her hair. "And Mr. Jay had to go find you both. And you returned together. You both looked really upset when you came back."
They were interrupted by Señorita Valdez stepping out of her room. "If all of you are ready," the teacher said pleasantly. "We have dinner waiting for you."
The other girls, who were hungry, followed the San Lorenzo teacher from their house toward the center of the village. Helga hung back with Phoebe, her expression angry. "Calm down Helga…it's ok," the shorter girl was saying to her friend soothingly.
"What if he saw me, Phoebe? What if he heard me? I'll die of embarrassment," Helga grated out.
"It is highly unlikely you will die and I do not believe that Arnold would ever tell anyone even if he saw or heard anything," Phoebe reasoned.
"Was Rhonda right? Did he disappear when I did?"
Phoebe considered for a moment, and decided to be truthful. "Yes Helga. He went right after you did. He saw you leave and followed you."
Helga put her hands over her face and moaned.
Phoebe, however, tugged at her arm. "Helga! Think about it though. He followed you. That is a good thing!"
"He must think I'm crazy," she moaned.
"I do not think he would ever think that of you."
The boys were already there with Mr. Simmons, Mr. Collins and Jay. A few tables had been set up in the village square. It was starting to get dark by now, so torches had been placed all over the square to give enough light to see. Village children ran around the small fountain there. The class took seats at the tables and were served hot dishes of rice and chicken and unidentifiable vegetables, cooked to a mushy consistency. They all ate hungrily and Mr. Simmons informed them that after dinner, they were going to be treated to a bonfire and stories.
Helga was not enjoying her meal, in spite of how delicious it was. She was still irritated with Rhonda, who had chosen to sit next to her. Arnold and Gerald sat directly across from her and Phoebe. Phoebe seemed pleased at the arrangement, and chatted across the table with Gerald. Helga, however, couldn't control her burning cheeks. She was mortified at the thought that Arnold had seen her crying and possibly heard her talking to her locket, and angry that he had been spying on her in the first place. She kept her attention on her food, fully aware that Arnold was eating his meal across from her and kept his eyes on her the entire time. 'Probably laughing inside at me…the crazy girl…I can't imagine what he thinks…' she thought. She wanted to scream and throw her food at him then reach over and strangle Rhonda, but she controlled herself and concentrated on pushing her food around on her plate with her fork.
Arnold still felt incredibly guilty for spying on her. It was completely out of character for him to do something like that and he knew he should apologize to her, but he was glad that he had been able to see her like she was up at the waterfall…the abandoned way she danced…and even the heartbreaking crying. He felt like he was seeing the real Helga - the one she had only shown him a few times. Arnold was also fascinated with watching her reaction to him and everything he said and did on this trip. Like right now, he could tell she was bothered by him sitting across from her: the play of emotions across her features, her reddened cheeks, and the tension of her whole body as she tried to eat. Grandpa had been right about being aggressive. It was working. He was amused that he could affect a girl this much and she looked quite adorable.
Helga finally raised her eyes to meet his, just as he had shoved a forkful of rice into his mouth. He raised his eyebrows at her as he swallowed. "Good isn't it?" he said, trying to ignore the angry look in her eyes. Her eyes were so expressive and such a deep blue with her anger.
She just stared at him, her expression hard.
He smiled at her in such an engaging way that she felt a smile almost creep onto her lips, until she remembered the pool, so she dropped her gaze back to her dinner scowling.
"You're sure staring at Helga a lot, Arnold," Rhonda said suddenly.
She looked up quickly at Rhonda, then at Arnold, whose cheeks looked as if they had reddened, though it was hard to tell in the faint light. However, Arnold just looked at Rhonda and shrugged with his half smile, before once again looking at Helga and calmly returning to eating. Rhonda just gaped at him while Helga looked back down at her plate and picked at the food for the rest of the meal her appetite now completely gone.
The bonfire was roaring at the edge of the village, past where the buildings ended. There were benches placed around the bonfire for everyone to sit and Helga followed Phoebe to an empty one. She wasn't even surprised when Arnold sat next to her and Gerald sat on the other side of Phoebe. She expected that he would. The blazing fire in front of them warmed her face enough that she convinced herself that the burning of her cheeks was from that instead of the blush she knew was really there. He didn't even say anything to her. He just sat down as if she wouldn't care. She felt like punching him.
When Harold went to join them on the same bench, on the other side of Arnold, they all had to scrunch in closer together. Arnold looked at her as he wriggled closer to her, pressing her between himself and Phoebe, who got squeezed against Gerald. "Sorry," he said with a grin.
"Criminy Harold!" Helga yelled at Harold around Arnold.
"I just want a little room!" he whined, forcing Arnold even closer to Helga.
"Why don't you just sit on Arnold's lap, Helga?" Rhonda teased from the bench next to theirs making Helga freeze.
Everyone laughed. "Yeah Arnold! Pull Helga onto your lap!" Sid shouted.
"Put your arms around her!" Stinky added with a laugh.
"Then you can kiss her!" Harold yelled, "Like she kissed you in that play!" That got more laughs.
Helga was mortified once again and closed in on herself, looking down at her knees, her cheeks burning so hotly that she knew she couldn't blame it on the fire. She knew she should have lashed out at them, but she just couldn't. She felt Arnold laughing though, and heard him respond. "Only if she wants me to."
Their friends laughed even harder at that and Helga felt her fists clench in her lap. She couldn't quite believe she had heard Arnold correctly, but before she could figure anything out, Mr. Simmons had stood up to quiet them down. "Class! We have a special presentation for you tonight. I know that we're all tired from our journey but I think you will really enjoy this! This is Señor Mendes," he said, introducing one of the villagers. "He's here to tell us a story about one of the legends of the area."
An older man stepped into the light from the bonfire. He looked the part of an ancient storyteller, down to his stooped back and wrinkly face. His English, however accented, was perfect and he raised his hands dramatically. The kids went silent as they leaned forward to hear his story.
"This is a recent legend," he began. His voice was rich and powerful, in spite of the small body it came from. "Most stories you hear are about times long past and about peoples that don't exist anymore. But I thought I would begin with a recent legend of a newborn God that we've come across from our most mysterious neighbors, the Green Eyes."
Helga felt Arnold tense up at her side, and she glanced at him, her own cheeks still on fire from the teasing and what he had said. His expression had turned pensive and eager and he didn't return her glance. She turned her attention back to Señor Mendes as he continued, relieved that she didn't catch Arnold's eye.
"Gods aren't born every day but in the past decade, we've seen evidence in the Green Eye temples that they believe in a new God and this is his story…
"Little is known about the Green Eyes. Though there are distant relatives of them in this village, the Green Eyes are shy of contact with people outside of their society. They are shy and elusive and rarely make contact with outsiders, but there are a few temples that appear to be abandoned, until you notice a new carving or new idol placed in them. So we know the Green Eyes exist and are still very much alive, and this legend has come to us from them…
"Just over ten years ago, the Green Eyes put their trust into a strange pair of fair skinned people who had ventured into their territory. The pair – a man and a woman – were different from anyone the Green Eyes had ever seen. Their skin was white and their clothing was strange. The man had fair, blond hair and the woman had light brown hair, which was a great difference from all they had known - their own brown skin and dark brown and black hair."
Helga glanced at Arnold again. His face was troubled. She had seen a picture of his parents and knew that Señor Mendes was describing what sounded like them.
The villager continued. "The pair learned about a stolen relic of the Green Eyes, and to thank the Green Eyes for saving their lives, they stole the relic back and returned it to the temple. This led the Green Eyes to trust the pair. The trust deepened when members of the Green Eye tribe started becoming sick and the woman worked her magic in order to save the lives of the Green Eye people."
Helga was wrapped up in the story, having already heard the gist of it from Arnold, but hearing it told like this was thrilling. The storyteller had a compelling way of talking. She had forgotten her embarrassment and was so caught up in the story that she didn't even realize that Arnold had grabbed her hand and was gripping it tightly, out of sight between them.
"She gave them a magic potion she had made - she left it in one of their temples - and the Green Eyes were cured."
He paused in his story telling, looking around at the group of children, at their rapt faces waiting for him to go on.
"Months later, the mountain…" he said, gesturing vaguely toward the darkness, where the kids assumed the mountain stood "…grew angry and voiced its' fury! It erupted in smoke and fire!" he shouted, startling the kids, some into nervous laughter. "The Green Eyes were frightened that they had angered their Gods. They didn't know why the Gods were angry and they didn't know what to do. There was nowhere they could go. A river of fire was coming toward their village to devour their homes and their temples. As they were fleeing, they spotted their white-skinned friends traveling through the jungle themselves. They saw right away that the woman was in labor and her fair-skinned mate, along with a man that looked like them, were carrying the woman somewhere to give birth…
"The Green Eyes hurried ahead of them to their most sacred temple on a hill, away from the river of fire, and prepared a bed for the woman to give birth on. Then they drew back into the trees to await them. Something told them that this couple would save them once again…
"The three made it to the temple and were surprised to see the bed laid out for them, but there was no time to question anything. The woman's cries increased as the time to deliver her baby came near. The two men helped her to the bed and lay her down, encouraging her and helping her as much as they could. The volcano erupted noisily in the distance and the lava flowed toward the temple. The Green Eyes waited patiently, watching and trusting…
"Eventually the baby came, and with it came silence. The volcano stopped!" he said that last sentence loudly, causing the class to gasp. Then he spoke normally. "The moment the baby was born, nature was silenced. It was a miracle. And into the silence came the first cry of the newborn and the Green Eyes rejoiced among themselves. They had just witnessed the birth of their new God!"
The storyteller ended his tale abruptly and the silence around the bonfire was absolute. All the kids stared at him, except for Helga, who had turned her head to stare at Arnold. She could tell, in spite of the flickering color of the bonfire on his face, that he had gone pale, and his mouth had dropped open. Both Phoebe and Gerald also stared around her at him.
"You're a God, Football Head?" she asked in a low voice.
He looked at her blankly and didn't respond.
"Oh that was a wonderful story," Mr. Simmons finally said, and some of the kids cheered - everyone except for the four friends sitting together on the bench who had heard the same story quite differently before.
"Not a story. There is some truth to it," said one of the villagers.
"There is?" asked Mr. Collins.
"Oh yes. Just over ten years ago there really was a volcanic eruption. It threatened this area as well. We were able to evacuate but we were unsure of the Green Eyes. They are a mysterious people and we have little contact with them. Some, but not much. We were more worried, however, of getting our people out," the man explained.
A woman spoke up. "What is strange though, about the story, is that the volcano DID stop erupting abruptly. It was very unusual."
"It did?" asked Jay, taking notes in his notebook for his article.
"Mmm hmm…" added Señorita Valdez. "Usually an eruption can go on for quite some time after it begins. Then there are aftershocks and so on. With this eruption it was almost like a switch turned it off. Yes, there had been lava flows that had damaged quite a bit of the jungle growth, but as far as we can tell, no Temples of the Green Eyes were much damaged."
"So it could have been considered a miracle?" asked Jay.
"On the surface, at least for them, it does look like that. I do know that couple did leave the village earlier in the day to head to the hospital in one of the larger towns. She was pregnant but she went into labor earlier than expected. Not dangerously early, but they tried to get her to a hospital. They didn't make it. She did give birth in the temple."
"She did," a new voice sounded, from a man who stepped into the light of the bonfire. He was a man who looked to be in his early forties, and spoke in accented English. "And the world was silenced as her baby was born. I was there."
"Eduardo…" said Señorita Valdez.
Helga heard Arnold gasp when he heard that name and he involuntarily squeezed her hand, which made her notice that he was holding it. She was shocked and didn't know what to do in that brief moment before Eduardo spoke again.
"I saw the birth of the Green Eyes God…and have heard the legends…that one day he would return. And he has."
Everyone looked around at each other, but Arnold, Helga, Phoebe and Gerald sat holding their breath. Arnold's hand clung desperately to Helga's. She didn't know what to do or why he was gripping her hand so tightly. Her anger and humiliation disappeared as her heart went out to him. She stared at Arnold as she heard Eduardo say. "Welcome home, Arnold."