**disclaimer (as if we don't have to say this enough)** me no own hey
arnold! doi.
chapter five. Hot Air
Helga could not believe her luck. Bad luck or good, the whole thing was way eerily circumstantial. Maybe she shouldn't even have let him in thereâ€"or, rather, dragged him in there. Maybe she was playing right into "their" hands, whoever they were. Oh wellâ€"she had started that game, right from the start three years ago, and not no one not nothing could keep Helga G. Pataki from playing.
"WHAT are you doing here?!" she exclaimed, much more in shock than anger. True, she was more-than-slightly irked with him for putting her through major emotional turmoil for three years, but that could wait till later.
Arnold stammered out the answer, trying not to let his shock have any major effect on how he presented himself (It didn't work, by the way). "I, ah, er, I-I kinda came to tell you that...um....that Iâ€""
Helga groaned loudly in frustration and impatience before he could even get the words out. Arnold, the events of the day having made him a nervous wreck, jumped.
"C'mon, footballhead," Helga exclaimed, grabbing his wrist and practically dragging the lanky 14-year-old upstairs to her room. She, in her irritated and slightly schizophrenic state, failed to realize she'd fallen back on her old mannerisms once more. "I am having a major situation here involving YOU and YOU, by the way, are NOT HELPING."
Finally reaching the plywood door and wrenching it open, Helga let go of her (former) hater's wrist. Giving Ol' Footballhead the benefit of the doubt in this case was going to be a challenge.
"Helga," Arnold blurted out finally, anxiety having reached its peak and thereby exploded. "ALL THESE YEARS WHEN I PRETENDED TO HATE YOU AND IGNORED YOU AND STUFF HAVE ALL BEEN TOTALLY POINTLESS AND IT WAS ALL A BIG MISTAKE AND I'M REALLY TRULY SORRY AND I SHOULDN'T HAVE THOUGHT YOU'D'VE EVER DONE ANYTHING LIKE THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE AND I'M REALLY SORRY AND WHEREVER THAT STUPID PAPER IS NOW I DON'T KNOW BUT YOU DIDN'T TEAR IT UP AND I'M SORRY!"
Helga stared at him for a few long seconds before saying very slowly, "Yeah. Ok then."
"I'M SERIOUS HELGA!"
"I know you are."
Arnold's jaw dangled loosely for a few seconds at her back before exclaiming, "And you're not MAD?!?" He paused, thought about it for a bit, and came up with, "WHY NOT?"
"Well of course I'm mad, doi!" Helga replied quickly, not wanting Arnold- Footballhead-whatever she should call him now to start thinking she'd grown soft. "But at least I got a head's-up about it."
Arnold's jaw didn't dangle, or drop; he just stared blankly and let it sink in.
"Oy! Footballhead! Helloo?!"
At the sound of Helga's tough-as-nails alto hitting his ears, Arnold finally snapped out of it. "You got a what now?"
For a shining half-moment, Helga softened to the boy. Then she quickly cemented again, chiding herself silently for falling back on old weaknesses. Besides, if Arnold wanted pity he would ask for it, and Arnold was never the type of guy to want or need pity. They were alike in that sense. Instead of offering any sort of comfort (or insult, but Helga didn't think of it that way), Helga walked over to her nightstand, picked up the paper and clippings and held them out to Arnold, who took them warily.
"I think you were supposed to get those, not me," she mumbled to the floor. Arnold didn't reply except to give Helga a pleading sort of look, which she couldn't return. She had suddenly become rather fascinated with the floor.
All other options pretty much gone out the window (just like that black cat, Arnold noted, seeing the creature dart out Helga's Tudor-style window), the kid-not-really-a-kid-no-more flipped over the papers and began to read.
FAMOUS EXPLORER & WIFE LOST OVERSEAS (a/n: ok, i am really truly sorry if i screw something up here. i havent seen "Parent's Day" in forever so i'm a little bit sketchy on the details. bare w/ me. i'm ignorant.)
Arnold's eyebrows rose. He chanced a side-glance over at Helga but the moment his head turned she looked back at the ground.
'Säo Maria, BRAZILâ€"Dr. Arthur' (the last name was blurred beyond recognition) 'of Hillwood City and his wife, Gwyneth, have seemly disappeared from all contacts. Last seen in the small village of Säo Maria, Brazil, the two explorers seemingly disappeared off the map. They have neither been seen nor heard from for over two weeks.
Their final destination was apparently to be Tikal, Brazil, a village named for the former Mayan city-state. The doctor was going as a favor for his childhood friend and fellow doctor Parker Muntz and, rather than be separated, he took his wife along with him.
"Arthur had called me from Säo Maria on a Monday, maybe the 7th," recalled Muntz, the stress and anxiety of the ordeal apparent in his voice. "We talked for five or so minutes. Said he was doing fine, so was Gwennie. The weather was supposedly great for air travel and all the needed supplies were full, seeing as they'd gotten refueled at Säo. Everything was peachy keen. Then he hung up, said he had to call his kid and wish him a happy 1st birthday. And I haven't heard from him since."
Arthur and Gwyneth, one of Hillwood's many claims to fame, took off apparently from Säo Maria at 8:29 p.m. on the 7th. This claim has been supported by several eyewitnesses who say they saw them take off in the direction of Tikal.
"I asked the couple if they wanted to stay for the night," says friend Queti Riverez, owner of El Hotel de la Gato Romantica, dubbed by many as "The Hole". "But they said they had to hurry if they wanted to make it to Tikal before the epidemic spread. I didn't bother to argue with them...after all, this was Arthur and Gwennie we're talking about. Once they decided something, it was decided. Especially if they decided it together."
"The distance between Säo Maria and Tikal isn't far," Riverez went on later. "Only about three to four hours by plane. After three days had passed and no one had heard from them, I became so anxious I called Suzie."
Suzanne Montes de Oca was yet another distant friend of the couple, co- creator of the archeology-based webzine "Dig". The other creator was Gwyneth.
"I was set to meet the couple," Montes de Oca recollected. "Parker had called about the sudden change for Arthur and Gwennie to come in his place only a few days before. I figured, oh well that's okay. After all, I knew Gwennie from the zine and was eager to meet the husband I'd heard so much about. Then Queti called from Säo Maria on the 10th, wondering if Gwennie and Arthur had gotten there yet. I said no, and he began to panic. Apparently Gwennie's Arthur had called on the 7th from Säo Maria. I confess; I started freaking out."
Montes de Oca told Riverez to call Parker Muntz about the disappearance. Muntz immediately caught a plane to Lima, and from there rented a jeep and drove to Säo Maria. He and Riverez organized a quick search party and set out for the missing pair. They have so far found nothing.
"I don't understand it," Muntz says, shaking his head and sighing. "One minute they're there; the nextâ€"poof! they're gone. There had been no hostile weather to bring them downâ€"and it wasn't as if they were flying over the Bermuda Triangle either. They just vanished. We can't even find wreckage to suggest that they crashed. We've got miles of Amazon to go through and no leads. Unless a miracle comes along, Arthur and Gwennie are gone forever."
The pair have left behind an only son, who lives with his grandmother and grandfather. Their location cannot be disclosed.'
Arnold didn't feel so much sad as very confused.
"Read the letter," Helga sighed.
He didn't have to be told twice. Setting the yellowing newspaper clipping down on Helga's pink bedspread, he turned his boyish attention to the piece of lined paper ripped from a spiral bound notebook.
"Dear Arnold,
I'm guessing (and hoping, rather) that you've figured this out by now. If not, then your little friend (or ex-friend; whatever you prefer) Miss. Pataki has come across both this and the clipping from her pet cat. He really is a remarkable creature, if you look at him twice. And very intelligent. Coincidently just like his owner, but you probably have yet to discover that about her. Anyway, if you are coming by these by mere chance or if Helga has come to tell you about them I suppose I should explain what's going on.
Hopefully you've discovered the package I left for you earlier today. And, if you're as smart as I think you are, you've hopefully discovered the message I left for you on the box that said 'Go Find Malachi'. If you looked for Malachi in the phone books and computers, you've done what I feared you would do and that was see Malachi as a person. Malachi is not a person. Malachi is a cat. A black cat in fact, alley cat at heart, which I only recently discovered has formed a rather strong bond with your classmate Helga G. Pataki. I had hoped to get you to talk to her and discover Malachi by means of giving you the pieces you so foolishly left behind three years ago. But, if you are reading this, you've discovered the letter by one way or another and that's all that really matters. And if Miss. Pataki is reading this (which I'm sure she is) she should take note in what I have to say as well. My points are thus, and I shall be thorough and brief in them so, class, take notes!
First: In case you haven't discovered or processed this yet, no, Miss. Helga Geraldine Pataki did NOT destroy the letter you poured over day in and day out years and years ago. I repeat (for it is quite likely young Helga will need to hear the news again) Helga G. Pataki did NOT destroy your parent's "ticket to freedom" and is hereby cleared of those accusations. What she did destroy was a draft of your homework, so if you wish to go down on her for destroying your homework you can be certain those charges are valid.
Second: If you're smart which I know you are, you've certainly come to ask "well, if Helga didn't touch it, what did happen to the letter of freedom?" What happened, Arnold son of Arthur and Gwennie, is that it was stolen. I can say that as a fact seeing as I and I alone know who stole it. That paper had valuable information upon it about Arthur and Gwennie's whereabouts, which is what they needed. And still need.
Third: They, the they who stole your precious letter, need more information than just that on the letter. Three years ago you thought everything you ever needed to know about your parent's disappearance was on that paper; I'm fairly certain if you saw it now you'd think quite the same thing. Nevertheless there is still one more thing they need to know, one more thing that ISN'T on the paper, one thing that isn't a fact but an answer.
Fourth: You know what it is.
Fifth: In order to find out the answer you shall need to discover the question and that I'm afraid I cannot tell you. They know who I am and they know my trust cannot be valued as much as it used to. The question is on the letter, however, and if you use your mind and skills I can lead you to it. Once you discover your answer, you will find your parents.
Sixth: To sum up, find the letter and you find your parents BUT, for there is always a "but", you must watch your step for they know far more than you do in this category. They know who you are, for instance, a thing which you do not know about them. They also have the letter. The only thing they don't have is the answer, for which I thank the Lord, for if they did have the answer Arthur and Gwennie would be finished for certain.
Seventh: If a tired old man may give some advice, I would like to advise you to bring along Miss. Pataki and your apparent best friend Mr. Johansson in this little mission. They both have skills which could help along the way. That is, if they will go. Also, I equally advise you to trust no one but those two for they are the only two to be trusted. One more piece of advice, if you will: Miss. Pataki has a best friend by the name of Phoebe Hyerdahl, one of the brightest book-smarts I've seen in quite some time. She can be trusted but is not, unlike Gerald and Helga, a person of action, thereby I do not advise you to bring her along, for action is needed to win the game.
Eighth: Pay careful attention to this last segment: find the author of the article on Arthur and Gwennie and find out where she got her source. Then, whoever that source may be, find them.
That is all the help I can give you. You are now officially on your own, Arnold. Whether you choose to take my advice or even undergo this adventure is your own choice, but I must urge you to not sit still for a moment because they know who you are. I shall be frank: they have the upper hand. However, I have complete faith in that you have the power, especially with your best friend and the girl at your side, to completely destroy them and their promise. I leave you with all I've given you and offer nothing but the simple chatterings of someone much wiser than I:
"We are, all of us, angels with one wing, and we can fly only by embracing each other."
The best to you,
And there it stopped.
*~*
a/n: whew. sorry for all the talking and reading in this chapter but the action's coming later on so keep yer shirts on. if that very much confused you i apologize too so here's a summery: "They" (the group of people who have Arnold's letter) are the bad guys. somehow in the letter They came up with a question which they need answered in order to get to arnold's parents. only arnold has the answer, only he doesnt know what it is and needs the letter to figure it out. ta da! i give you plot!! oh, one more thing: is anybody else out there seriously hyped up that the hey arnold movie is coming out friday? please tell me i'm not alone!!!!!!!
Author's Clue: Gwyneth (arnold's mother) is only called Gwennie by close friends.
rantings: AHHHHH!!!! I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOREVER TO UPLOAD THIS! WHAT IS UP W/ FF.NET?! WHY CANT THEY GET THEIR STUFF FIXED ALREADY SO I CAN UPLOAD?!?!?! I WANNA UPLOAD!!! I WANNA UPLOAD NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! ah much better :)
till 6 everybody!
keep a mild groove on,
rock-steady13
chapter five. Hot Air
Helga could not believe her luck. Bad luck or good, the whole thing was way eerily circumstantial. Maybe she shouldn't even have let him in thereâ€"or, rather, dragged him in there. Maybe she was playing right into "their" hands, whoever they were. Oh wellâ€"she had started that game, right from the start three years ago, and not no one not nothing could keep Helga G. Pataki from playing.
"WHAT are you doing here?!" she exclaimed, much more in shock than anger. True, she was more-than-slightly irked with him for putting her through major emotional turmoil for three years, but that could wait till later.
Arnold stammered out the answer, trying not to let his shock have any major effect on how he presented himself (It didn't work, by the way). "I, ah, er, I-I kinda came to tell you that...um....that Iâ€""
Helga groaned loudly in frustration and impatience before he could even get the words out. Arnold, the events of the day having made him a nervous wreck, jumped.
"C'mon, footballhead," Helga exclaimed, grabbing his wrist and practically dragging the lanky 14-year-old upstairs to her room. She, in her irritated and slightly schizophrenic state, failed to realize she'd fallen back on her old mannerisms once more. "I am having a major situation here involving YOU and YOU, by the way, are NOT HELPING."
Finally reaching the plywood door and wrenching it open, Helga let go of her (former) hater's wrist. Giving Ol' Footballhead the benefit of the doubt in this case was going to be a challenge.
"Helga," Arnold blurted out finally, anxiety having reached its peak and thereby exploded. "ALL THESE YEARS WHEN I PRETENDED TO HATE YOU AND IGNORED YOU AND STUFF HAVE ALL BEEN TOTALLY POINTLESS AND IT WAS ALL A BIG MISTAKE AND I'M REALLY TRULY SORRY AND I SHOULDN'T HAVE THOUGHT YOU'D'VE EVER DONE ANYTHING LIKE THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE AND I'M REALLY SORRY AND WHEREVER THAT STUPID PAPER IS NOW I DON'T KNOW BUT YOU DIDN'T TEAR IT UP AND I'M SORRY!"
Helga stared at him for a few long seconds before saying very slowly, "Yeah. Ok then."
"I'M SERIOUS HELGA!"
"I know you are."
Arnold's jaw dangled loosely for a few seconds at her back before exclaiming, "And you're not MAD?!?" He paused, thought about it for a bit, and came up with, "WHY NOT?"
"Well of course I'm mad, doi!" Helga replied quickly, not wanting Arnold- Footballhead-whatever she should call him now to start thinking she'd grown soft. "But at least I got a head's-up about it."
Arnold's jaw didn't dangle, or drop; he just stared blankly and let it sink in.
"Oy! Footballhead! Helloo?!"
At the sound of Helga's tough-as-nails alto hitting his ears, Arnold finally snapped out of it. "You got a what now?"
For a shining half-moment, Helga softened to the boy. Then she quickly cemented again, chiding herself silently for falling back on old weaknesses. Besides, if Arnold wanted pity he would ask for it, and Arnold was never the type of guy to want or need pity. They were alike in that sense. Instead of offering any sort of comfort (or insult, but Helga didn't think of it that way), Helga walked over to her nightstand, picked up the paper and clippings and held them out to Arnold, who took them warily.
"I think you were supposed to get those, not me," she mumbled to the floor. Arnold didn't reply except to give Helga a pleading sort of look, which she couldn't return. She had suddenly become rather fascinated with the floor.
All other options pretty much gone out the window (just like that black cat, Arnold noted, seeing the creature dart out Helga's Tudor-style window), the kid-not-really-a-kid-no-more flipped over the papers and began to read.
FAMOUS EXPLORER & WIFE LOST OVERSEAS (a/n: ok, i am really truly sorry if i screw something up here. i havent seen "Parent's Day" in forever so i'm a little bit sketchy on the details. bare w/ me. i'm ignorant.)
Arnold's eyebrows rose. He chanced a side-glance over at Helga but the moment his head turned she looked back at the ground.
'Säo Maria, BRAZILâ€"Dr. Arthur' (the last name was blurred beyond recognition) 'of Hillwood City and his wife, Gwyneth, have seemly disappeared from all contacts. Last seen in the small village of Säo Maria, Brazil, the two explorers seemingly disappeared off the map. They have neither been seen nor heard from for over two weeks.
Their final destination was apparently to be Tikal, Brazil, a village named for the former Mayan city-state. The doctor was going as a favor for his childhood friend and fellow doctor Parker Muntz and, rather than be separated, he took his wife along with him.
"Arthur had called me from Säo Maria on a Monday, maybe the 7th," recalled Muntz, the stress and anxiety of the ordeal apparent in his voice. "We talked for five or so minutes. Said he was doing fine, so was Gwennie. The weather was supposedly great for air travel and all the needed supplies were full, seeing as they'd gotten refueled at Säo. Everything was peachy keen. Then he hung up, said he had to call his kid and wish him a happy 1st birthday. And I haven't heard from him since."
Arthur and Gwyneth, one of Hillwood's many claims to fame, took off apparently from Säo Maria at 8:29 p.m. on the 7th. This claim has been supported by several eyewitnesses who say they saw them take off in the direction of Tikal.
"I asked the couple if they wanted to stay for the night," says friend Queti Riverez, owner of El Hotel de la Gato Romantica, dubbed by many as "The Hole". "But they said they had to hurry if they wanted to make it to Tikal before the epidemic spread. I didn't bother to argue with them...after all, this was Arthur and Gwennie we're talking about. Once they decided something, it was decided. Especially if they decided it together."
"The distance between Säo Maria and Tikal isn't far," Riverez went on later. "Only about three to four hours by plane. After three days had passed and no one had heard from them, I became so anxious I called Suzie."
Suzanne Montes de Oca was yet another distant friend of the couple, co- creator of the archeology-based webzine "Dig". The other creator was Gwyneth.
"I was set to meet the couple," Montes de Oca recollected. "Parker had called about the sudden change for Arthur and Gwennie to come in his place only a few days before. I figured, oh well that's okay. After all, I knew Gwennie from the zine and was eager to meet the husband I'd heard so much about. Then Queti called from Säo Maria on the 10th, wondering if Gwennie and Arthur had gotten there yet. I said no, and he began to panic. Apparently Gwennie's Arthur had called on the 7th from Säo Maria. I confess; I started freaking out."
Montes de Oca told Riverez to call Parker Muntz about the disappearance. Muntz immediately caught a plane to Lima, and from there rented a jeep and drove to Säo Maria. He and Riverez organized a quick search party and set out for the missing pair. They have so far found nothing.
"I don't understand it," Muntz says, shaking his head and sighing. "One minute they're there; the nextâ€"poof! they're gone. There had been no hostile weather to bring them downâ€"and it wasn't as if they were flying over the Bermuda Triangle either. They just vanished. We can't even find wreckage to suggest that they crashed. We've got miles of Amazon to go through and no leads. Unless a miracle comes along, Arthur and Gwennie are gone forever."
The pair have left behind an only son, who lives with his grandmother and grandfather. Their location cannot be disclosed.'
Arnold didn't feel so much sad as very confused.
"Read the letter," Helga sighed.
He didn't have to be told twice. Setting the yellowing newspaper clipping down on Helga's pink bedspread, he turned his boyish attention to the piece of lined paper ripped from a spiral bound notebook.
"Dear Arnold,
I'm guessing (and hoping, rather) that you've figured this out by now. If not, then your little friend (or ex-friend; whatever you prefer) Miss. Pataki has come across both this and the clipping from her pet cat. He really is a remarkable creature, if you look at him twice. And very intelligent. Coincidently just like his owner, but you probably have yet to discover that about her. Anyway, if you are coming by these by mere chance or if Helga has come to tell you about them I suppose I should explain what's going on.
Hopefully you've discovered the package I left for you earlier today. And, if you're as smart as I think you are, you've hopefully discovered the message I left for you on the box that said 'Go Find Malachi'. If you looked for Malachi in the phone books and computers, you've done what I feared you would do and that was see Malachi as a person. Malachi is not a person. Malachi is a cat. A black cat in fact, alley cat at heart, which I only recently discovered has formed a rather strong bond with your classmate Helga G. Pataki. I had hoped to get you to talk to her and discover Malachi by means of giving you the pieces you so foolishly left behind three years ago. But, if you are reading this, you've discovered the letter by one way or another and that's all that really matters. And if Miss. Pataki is reading this (which I'm sure she is) she should take note in what I have to say as well. My points are thus, and I shall be thorough and brief in them so, class, take notes!
First: In case you haven't discovered or processed this yet, no, Miss. Helga Geraldine Pataki did NOT destroy the letter you poured over day in and day out years and years ago. I repeat (for it is quite likely young Helga will need to hear the news again) Helga G. Pataki did NOT destroy your parent's "ticket to freedom" and is hereby cleared of those accusations. What she did destroy was a draft of your homework, so if you wish to go down on her for destroying your homework you can be certain those charges are valid.
Second: If you're smart which I know you are, you've certainly come to ask "well, if Helga didn't touch it, what did happen to the letter of freedom?" What happened, Arnold son of Arthur and Gwennie, is that it was stolen. I can say that as a fact seeing as I and I alone know who stole it. That paper had valuable information upon it about Arthur and Gwennie's whereabouts, which is what they needed. And still need.
Third: They, the they who stole your precious letter, need more information than just that on the letter. Three years ago you thought everything you ever needed to know about your parent's disappearance was on that paper; I'm fairly certain if you saw it now you'd think quite the same thing. Nevertheless there is still one more thing they need to know, one more thing that ISN'T on the paper, one thing that isn't a fact but an answer.
Fourth: You know what it is.
Fifth: In order to find out the answer you shall need to discover the question and that I'm afraid I cannot tell you. They know who I am and they know my trust cannot be valued as much as it used to. The question is on the letter, however, and if you use your mind and skills I can lead you to it. Once you discover your answer, you will find your parents.
Sixth: To sum up, find the letter and you find your parents BUT, for there is always a "but", you must watch your step for they know far more than you do in this category. They know who you are, for instance, a thing which you do not know about them. They also have the letter. The only thing they don't have is the answer, for which I thank the Lord, for if they did have the answer Arthur and Gwennie would be finished for certain.
Seventh: If a tired old man may give some advice, I would like to advise you to bring along Miss. Pataki and your apparent best friend Mr. Johansson in this little mission. They both have skills which could help along the way. That is, if they will go. Also, I equally advise you to trust no one but those two for they are the only two to be trusted. One more piece of advice, if you will: Miss. Pataki has a best friend by the name of Phoebe Hyerdahl, one of the brightest book-smarts I've seen in quite some time. She can be trusted but is not, unlike Gerald and Helga, a person of action, thereby I do not advise you to bring her along, for action is needed to win the game.
Eighth: Pay careful attention to this last segment: find the author of the article on Arthur and Gwennie and find out where she got her source. Then, whoever that source may be, find them.
That is all the help I can give you. You are now officially on your own, Arnold. Whether you choose to take my advice or even undergo this adventure is your own choice, but I must urge you to not sit still for a moment because they know who you are. I shall be frank: they have the upper hand. However, I have complete faith in that you have the power, especially with your best friend and the girl at your side, to completely destroy them and their promise. I leave you with all I've given you and offer nothing but the simple chatterings of someone much wiser than I:
"We are, all of us, angels with one wing, and we can fly only by embracing each other."
The best to you,
And there it stopped.
*~*
a/n: whew. sorry for all the talking and reading in this chapter but the action's coming later on so keep yer shirts on. if that very much confused you i apologize too so here's a summery: "They" (the group of people who have Arnold's letter) are the bad guys. somehow in the letter They came up with a question which they need answered in order to get to arnold's parents. only arnold has the answer, only he doesnt know what it is and needs the letter to figure it out. ta da! i give you plot!! oh, one more thing: is anybody else out there seriously hyped up that the hey arnold movie is coming out friday? please tell me i'm not alone!!!!!!!
Author's Clue: Gwyneth (arnold's mother) is only called Gwennie by close friends.
rantings: AHHHHH!!!! I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOREVER TO UPLOAD THIS! WHAT IS UP W/ FF.NET?! WHY CANT THEY GET THEIR STUFF FIXED ALREADY SO I CAN UPLOAD?!?!?! I WANNA UPLOAD!!! I WANNA UPLOAD NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! ah much better :)
till 6 everybody!
keep a mild groove on,
rock-steady13