Chapter Ten
"Brainy! You scared me half to death; I thought you were Mr. Smith!"
"Sorry," he said. "Did you find anything?"
"Yeah, I found this!" She waved the picture in his face and he took it and eyed it, flipping it over to read the note on the back side.
"Where'd you get it?"
She led him to the office where she showed him the "THE PLAN" drawer and he opened it curiously. Then he pulled out the folder and held it up. "You forgot this."
She gasped. "Brainy, how'd you--I mean, I didn't realize--"
"Don't mention it. I thought there had to be more than a picture."
"We better get out before he gets back," she warned.
"I'm going to show Arnold," she said once they were safely out of the room and down the hallway. Turning her head as she spoke, she found Brainy had disappeared.
"Brainy?" Helga shrugged and darted up the stairs to Arnold's door. Without knocking, she threw the door open. "Arnold! I have to talk to you right now!"
"Come on, Helga, don't start. We already struck a truce, remember?" Arnold had been staring at the clouds through his glass ceiling and sat up to see what she wanted.
"No, you don't understand--this is serious! I know what Mr. Smith has been up to. Look!" Helga plunged toward his bed, plopped down, and handed him the picture.
Arnold examined it, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Where'd you find this? This is Mr. Smith's picture! And here's the line down the middle where we accidentally ripped it and tried to tape it back together. How'd you get ahold of this?"
"You ripped it? I wonder why he didn't get suspicious...maybe he thought his friend did it..." She was mostly talking to herself, but Arnold cut her off.
"What friend?"
She bit her lip nervously. "Flip it over."
"What? Flip--"
"Look on the back side."
"There's something on the back side?" He turned it over, stunned. "You've got to be kidding me--how did you--Helga! Gerald and I didn't know there was a back side!"
"Read it," she said with a gulp.
His eyes scrolled over the words and at each word became wider. Then he looked up at Helga. "You mean--"
"I overheard him talking last night, Arnold. He's been in a feud with the green-eyed people for half a century, and he's holding your parents captive so he can defeat them!"
"And the only reason he's living here--"
"--is to spy on you! Exactly!"
Arnold rubbed his eyes as he stared at the piece of paper in shock. "If this is some dumb prank, I--"
She gave him a steady look. "No, Arnold. This time I'm telling the truth. I swear."
"How'd you get this, though? Did you break into his room? How'd you do it?" he demanded, utterly amazed.
"I had a little help...from a friend."
"Do you have anything else?"
She handed him the folder. "There's this...but I haven't looked through it yet."
He quickly flipped through the pages. "This is our answer! I can finally find my parents! The day I've always been waiting for! Come on, Helga. We've got work to do. We're calling in sick."
