Authors Note: I would like to thank looneytunecrazy, my first reviewer. Thanks! Also Njay, love your comment and DarkAngel886. Thanks for being my first three reviewers!
Chapter Three: The News and A Welcome Sign
Arnold didn't notice the worried glance that Gerald gave him as he left. News of the accident was probably spreading like wildfire, Hillwood being such a small town. He started to walk to the kitchen where he saw his grandparents quietly talking outside of the kitchen, they quickly quiet down as he approached them. Granpa Phil said something and lay his hand on his shoulder but, I shrugged it off as I stepped into the kitchen and saw Phoebe slumped against the chair.
"It has to be a lie. Next thing you know is that she'll come barging in calling me football head and expecting presents." Phoebe laughed sadly, "I guess that's why she was in love with you." It was quiet for a second. "But I know that she's dead. She wouldn't have missed school on her birthday. Not on yet another day where she was made to suffer. He would just ignore her like always, or worse remember and insult her. Miriam would be too drunk to remember her birthday. But Helga would pretend she didn't care. Pretend that the words didn't cut her deep."
Arnold had no idea of what Helga when through. He heard the grown ups talking about Helga's parents but always quiet down when they realized that children where around. If only he had known that she was suffering, maybe Arnold could have done something, anything to help her out. It was quiet for a few minutes, Arnold in remorse and guilt while Phoebe was lost in her thoughts before standing up. "I should go home. Helga must be trying to call me. And if she hasn't I know that she must be dead." "Phoebe—." Arnold started and for the first time his optimism had left him, what if she doesn't call. Phoebe shook her head not wanting to hear it, "Save it Arnold! I'm going home. I'll see you at school and let you know if, I mean when, when she calls."
Before Arnold could stop her, Phoebe had ran out of the kitchen, knocking something from the hall as the door of the boarding house was slammed close. Phoebe ran out of the boarding house, not stopping when she knocked into Harold, who lost his balance and was on the sidewalk. "Phoebe!" He yelled to deaf ears. She ran to her house, crashing into her parents. Pushing away from their attempts of the comfort she ran to her room. She crawled into her bed, pulled the covers over her clothes and shoes and started to silently cry for the disappearance of her best friend.
Down the street, the news of Helga and Miriam's disappearance was indeed spreading like wildfire. Mr. Johanssen, who happened to be friends with Rhonda's parents, Buckley and Brooke Lloyd, told them about the accident. With Brooke and Miriam being close friends, the officer thought that it was prudent to notify them of the accident. Rhonda had overheard the news and quickly told Nadine, Lila, and Sheena. Eventually news reached Harold, while working at Green Meats. Harold quickly realized why he had seen Phoebe so devastated.
A few blocks away, Arnold wasn't doing much better than Phoebe. He was forced to stay for dinner my his grandparents. After just moving the food from one side of his plate to the other, he excused himself and went up to his room. Almost robotic, he had changed into his pajamas before crawling into bed. He lay on his bed looking up at his skylight, it was still early and he wished that he could fall asleep and pretend that this was all a nightmare. Eventually the sky darkened from its orange hue and revealed the stars. After hours laying in bed, sleep fell upon him.
Back at the Pataki residence, instead of finding a broken man, who had lost his wife and daughter, a man is quietly drinking. Taking another sip of his scotch, Big Bob couldn't hold the smirk in. "You finally did something right!" He said to a picture of a younger Miriam. On his desk layed the life-insurance papers that he had taken out on Miriam Pataki. Sure he had seen it as a waste of money every month but, now he was so thankful. He was going to be rich. Rich! When he heard about the accident he had been lived. How dare Miriam off herself in his car! He had pretended to be the devoted parent and worried husband, hiding his rage in front of Officer Johanssen. He had walked the cop out of his house before storming into his office to look for a copy of his auto insurance when he stumbled across the life-insurance papers. Yes, he was going to be worried for a few more days before calling off the search and then collecting in the money. He chuckled darkly to himself, "All this time, and your worth more dead." He said once again to the framed picture before during himself some more scotch.
Phoebe Heyerdahl didn't show up to class the next day. Or the day after that. And no one at PS 118 blamed her. Mr. Simmons class was solemn. No one was pulling pranks, no spit balls. No crude jokes. The tormentor of the sixth grade class was gone. Phoebe walked in late. Everyone rushed up to her, hoping that they had heard something from Helga. Arnold and Gerald stayed back. Phoebe never called Arnold like she had promised and Gerald being an officers son would know before anyone else in Hillwood. Arnold saw Phoebe shake her head before stepping away from the class and walking towards them. "Arnold, I want to hold a vigil for Helga, her mom and her sister Olga, could you ask your grandparents if I can have it at the boarding house?"
Shocked and in a weird way glad that she had asked me I answered. "Yeah, I just have to ask my grandpa, k?" She nodded. "Wait." Gerald said, I turned to look at him. "Is Olga missing too? When? How did this happen?" Phoebe shrugged, "Yeah, their pig of a father is making a bigger deal out of Olga's disappearance than the death of Helga. The ass." Phoebe said. "It was on the news, oh and he called out the search, he's declaring them dead tomorrow." Everyone knew who Phoebe was referring too...Big Bob.
School went by slow for the class. Mr. Simmons didn't even bother taking row, he knew that Helga was the only one absent, and it lay heavy on his heart. The class just sat in the seats, talking quietly among themselves, some reading and others pretending to read, trying to pass the time. "I miss her." Rhonda blurted out. Everyone knew who she was referring too. "Me too." Phoebe said. "She was a good friend." "An even better bully." Harold said. Phoebe glared at him, then her look soften. "Yeah. She was good at that. Old Betsy and The Five Avengers will be missed." Arnold laughed, "Spitballs and name calling." Then they broke into stories of the beloved bully and the rest of the school day went by fast.
A few minutes before the bell rang, everyone had gathered their bags when Mr. Simmons stood up. "It was—is a great way to remember Helga by what you did, reminiscing her adventures that you had with her. Helga will be missed. She was a great student, almost rivaling Phoebe at time, she kept her intelligence secret. I often saw the problems solved correctly and then she purposely wrote the wrong answers in the blanks. Not many of you know but, Helga was kind, caring and had the gift of words and if you would allow me to read to you one of her poems." Everyone nodded, a few 'yes' where heard. "Very well,
Oh I beg you: can I follow?
Oh I ask you: why not always?
Be the ocean, where I unravel,
be my only, be the water where I'm wading.
You're my river running high,
run deep, run wild.
I I follow, I follow you
Deep sea baby, I follow you
I follow, I follow you
Dark doom honey, I follow you
He a message; I'm the runner.
He the rebel; I'm the daughter waiting for you.
You're my river running high
run deep, run wild.
I I follow you, I follow you,
Deep sea baby, I follow you
I I follow you, I follow you
Dark doom honey, I follow you
You're my river running high,
run deep, run wild."
The class was quiet, "That girl could write!" Gerald blurted out and everyone clapped for the girl who kept her poetry hidden. The bell rang and the kids left the building to their homes. Phoebe walked to Arnold's house to see if they would say yes and to help our with anything that the Shortman's may need. Hours later, the three sat watching the evening news as they waited in vain to hear of any news only to see an anchorwoman. Minutes after watching they could not believe that he had called off the search for Helga, Miriam and Olga. "He gave up on her." Arnold said quietly as he turned the television off. "That ass." Phoebe said. "What type of person does that?" Gerald asked to no one. "A person with no heart." Arnold spat as they continued to watch the news.
"Big Bob Pataki will be holding a funeral ceremony, late Sunday night and encourages the whole town to go to honor his wife and daughters. The coroner has not found any bodies around the scene of the accident but, there is a probability, and the firefighters who wore at the scene confirm that "it was a miracle that the framework of the engine was left, the fire was strong enough to have completely charred the bodies." Thus, having the ceremony with empty caskets" Grandma Gertie had turned off the television, "Its a brave thing you whipper-snappers are doing, and don't let anyone say that you doin' it for nothing. Now go on to the living room, we have guests." The three followed Arnold's grandma out of the small study to the leaving room, none of them knowing that this was going to strengthen their friendship.
The next morning mom woke me up early, it was seven a.m., the earliest time that we had ever been up since we started our new lives. I rolled out of my bed and chose something to wear I chose a purple jacket over a blue long sleeve tee, black jeans and some gray suede boots that we bought at a mall. Something that we rarely did before. Mom was running around the room picking up and making sure that we had everything packed. I came out from the bathroom, putting my toothbrush and paste in its pack before dropping it into my suitcase. Grabbing our stuff we went downstairs to grab some breakfast before we continued on the last hundred miles or so to our new home.
The drive was fast, mostly just listening to music and turning the volume up when there was a song. Most of the drive had been dreary, cloudy and cold, but for the past day or so I had started to see more specks of color. When we crossed the North Carolina border that's when I realized that I had been leaving in a world full of dullness, a life not quiet lived to the fullest; where the only specs of color had been while hanging out with the neighborhood kids, mostly Phoebe and Arnold. I was still sad that my friends thought I was dead, some will probably be sadden by my passing and they will eventually move on, just like I am. "You see that?" Mom said pointing to a small town at the bottom of a valley, nestled between hills and the sea. "The ocean?" I said trying to see it better. "Yes, that right there is New Sindo." "You didn't tell me that it was close to the sea." "Um...surprise!" Mom said. I laughed. We quickly approached the town, the sun seeming to shine around the town. They drove around a a mountain and down the hill, after a few turns they arrived to the large welcoming banner, Welcome to New Sindo, North Carolina. Our Slice of Heaven, Happiness and New Beginnings
Yes, Helga G. Pataki was dead, but Gabby Maddison, Gabby was just beginning.
Authors Note:
The poem is a song, Live at the Moon by Lykke Li. And, no, I will not have poems and song lyrics in all the chapters. I just like them and add them to the story as I write.
Yeah, I made a few changes to their ages from the series. But there's a point...promise!
And I am trying to make the chapters longer and hopefully in a chapter of two things will start picking up.
Question: Should Gabby's identity be revealed soon or be dragged on?
Thanks for reading! And double thanks for reading and reviewing! Until the next chapter, natalieiam.