Chapter 33
Where is she?
Arnold swam up to the surface, gasping for breath.
"Where is she?" he wondered, glancing panickedly every which way. "Where'd she go?"
He ducked back under the water and opened his eyes. The water was so dark that he could hardly see anything. Everything looked the same.
His lungs started to burn. He swam back to the surface and took a deep breath. He scanned the top of the water.
"HELGA!" he screamed.
No answer.
Suddenly, something bumped into him.
"Helga?" he cried, turning around. But it wasn't. It was just a wooden platform. Off of some building that had already caved in under the pressure of the water, no doubt.
Frustrated, he dove back under the water again. This time he swam straight down. The water was over thirty feet deep. She couldn't have made it to the bottom yet. He would get there before her, and then he could find her when she came down.
He swam about twenty feet deep, before running out of breath. He quickly started to swim toward the surface. About halfway there, his hand grazed something. Hoping against hope, he grabbed it. It was a hand.
"Please," he prayed, as he frantically swam to the surface. "Please let it be her."
He burst out of the water, gasping for breath. He looked down. It was Helga.
"Thank you," Arnold whispered to no one in particular. He grasped her around the waist and pulled her to the platform. He lifted her onto it and then climbed onto it himself. He glanced at her quickly.
"Okay. She's breathing."
He suddenly was overcome with exhaustion from rescuing her. He lay down next to her and closed his eyes.
"She's alive."