The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (23 page)

“Stop
,
Rosa, don’t move,”
Zora
instructed anxiously.

Rosalinda froze in mid-hop, wobbling on the blue square unsteadily.

Gabrielle looked over at
Zora
impatiently
.
“What’s wrong now?”

“There’s something bothering me about the clue but I can’t put my finger on it,”
Zora
said anxiously. She adjusted her glasses as she read the clue again
:

First step on blue then step on green, reverse it back and count t
w
o three. At the wall you multiply, ten times two then add a five.

“I just have this nagging feeling that we’re missing something very important,” she mumbled.

“Well
,
hurry
up and figure it out!” Rosalinda said nervously as she wobbled on the blue square.

Zora
adjusted her glasses and read the clue again. A slow smile spread across her face
.
“I figured it out! Wow! Whoever wrote this clue is very clever, very clever indeed
,
but they truly underestimated the brilliance of the Gabby Girls,” she said proudly.

They looked at her with wide
,
puzzled eyes.

“Don’t you see?”
Zora
asked incredulously.

They gave her blank stares.

“We read the clue wrong. You don’t count to three; you count to twenty-three. You see, look right here. It says
‘
count two three,
’
which means
twenty-three
,”
Zora
said matter-of-factly.

With disbelief, Gabrielle and Jessica gathered around her to look at the clue.

Jessica looked at
Zora
with adoration
.
“Wow!
Zora
, you’re absolutely awesome.”

Gabrielle smiled hugely
.
“Whew! You are awesome. I’m sure glad you caught that one
,
Zora
.
G
reat job
,
Gabby Girl.”

Zora
beamed with pride
.
“Okay
,
Rosalinda, did you hear all of that? We’ll start counting to
twenty-three
,” she instructed.

“
One, two, three,
four
…
” Rosalinda started; her voice was low and shaky.

With each number, the pathway slowly inched its way up.

They counted loudly
:
“
five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two,
twenty
-three…
”

By the time they reached
twenty-three,
the pathway had inched all the way up. In fact, there was no way you could even tell that
i
t
had ever collapsed.

“Okay
,
Rosalinda, quick
…
hop
off now,”
Zora
said anxiously.

Rosalinda’s face
was set in
determination as she hopped off the blue square and onto the gr
a
y section of the pathway
.
They all breathed a sigh of relief.

Gabrielle looked over at
Zora
and Jessica and smiled. “All right
,
Gabby Girls
,
it’s our turn,” she said as she nudged Jessica softly. “Are you ready?
Remember, hop on blue then on green, and then reverse it back by hopping on green then blue
,
okay? And
,
please
,
whatever you do, don’t forget to count to
twenty-three
on the last square.”

Jessica quickly backed away, waving her hands nervously
.
“N-
n
o!
Not me
.
I can
’
t do this
…
I just c-can
’
t,” she stuttered nervously.

“Of course you can
,
Jess. Gabby Girls can do anything we put our mind
s
to,” Gabrielle said confidently.

Jessica gave her a look of doubt.

“Okay, I see that you don’t believe me, so I
’
ll go first
,
okay?” Gabrielle took a deep breath as she walked over to the stone gr
a
y squares and hopped on blue then effortlessly hopped on green. She wobbled on one foot
,
barely missing stepping on the gold square.

Jessica squealed nervously
, b
ut Gabrielle quickly regained her footing and gritted her teeth with determination. She hopped on green then on blue, quickly hopping alternatively between the blue and green until she reached the last blue square.

Smiling confidently, she counted loudly
to twenty-three
and quickly hopped onto the gr
a
y pathway. Looking confidently over at Jessica,
she said,
“See
?
I
t was real easy
.
C
ome on
,
Gabby Girls
,
y
ou can do it
.
I believe in you
,
but most importantly, believe in yourself.”

Zora
smiled back confidently as she adjusted her glasses
.
“I’ll go next
,
Jessica.”

Jessica backed away nervously
.
“Please be my guest. Believe me, I’m in no rush.”

Zora
hopped from blue then green then back to green then blue all the way down to the last blue square.
Jessica nervously bit her bottom lip as she looked on.

Zora
stood deathly still as she counted
to twenty-three then
hopped onto the gr
a
y pathway confidently.

“Come on
,
Jess. You can do it,” Gabrielle and
Zora
encouraged.

Rosalinda looked over at Jessica as she tapped her foot impatiently
.
“Come on, come on, we don’t have all day.”

Gabrielle twirled around, giving Rosalinda a nasty stare.

“Come on
,
Jess, it’s your turn,”
Zora
said softly.

Jessica looked at the pathway nervously
.
“I-I can’t
,
I just c-can’t,” she
repeated.

“Oh
,
please! Give me a break,” Rosalinda muttered under her breath.

Gabrielle smiled encouragingly
.
“Yes
,
you can
,
Jess. Remember
,
Gabby Girls can do anything. We’ll help you through it,” she said loudly. She quickly looked over at
Zora
and Rosalinda for support but Rosalinda gave her an angry look.

“Come on
,
Jess, you can do it. We believe in you,”
Zora
said loudly.

“Are you ready
,
Jess? We’ll talk you through it,” Gabrielle chirped
.
“Okay, hop on blue.”

Jessica looked at them nervously then hopped on a blue square. She wobbled on one foot.

Zora
smiled
.
“Now green
.
”

Jessica bit her lip as she hopped on green, barely missing stepping on a gold square.

Gabrielle smiled encouragingly
.
“Come on
,
Gabby Girl. Step on green,” she chirped.

Jessica smiled nervously as she hopped on green.

“Come on, now blue,”
Zora
said.

With each hop, Jessica became more confident
. But
when she finally reached the last blue square
,
she looked over at them nervously.

“Okay
,
Jess. Gabi and I will help you count to
twenty-three
,”
Zora
shouted.
“One, two,
three
…” They continued to the last numbers: “Twenty-two, twenty-three!
Now
…h
op off now
,
Jess!” they shouted.

Jessica nervously hopped off the blue square, letting out a huge sigh of relief. Gabrielle and
Zora
hugged her as they jumped
up
and
down with joy.

“All right, all right, enough of this jumping up
and
down stuff. What’s next?” Rosalinda growled angrily.

“Sorry, Princess Rosalinda. We didn’t realize that we were keeping you from something important,” Gabrielle responded.

“It’s Miss Princess Rosalinda to you,” Rosalinda shouted angrily.