The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (25 page)

“Oh
,
tricky, tricky, tricky
,
”
Zora
mumbled as a wide smile spread across her face. “Okay, listen
up
.
I just figured it out. We came up with the wrong answer. You see, we multiplied
two
times
ten
and then added
five,
which gave us the answer of
twenty-five,
but that
’
s incorrect. The correct answer is
two
times
ten
, which is
twenty
, but when you add
five
to the end
,
it becomes
two hundred and five
.”

Gabrielle slapped her hand to her forehead
.
“Duh, you’re right…it was another trick. Okay, quick
…
everyone look for
two hundred and five
, which is CCV.”

They frantically looked around for the tile marked CCV.

Standing frozen at the wall, Rosalinda looked over at them
.
“I think I found it. It
’
s way over here.”

Zora
adjusted her glasses impatiently
.
“Awesome
…
quick, push the tile in
,
Rosalinda.”

Rosalinda nervously backed away from the tile
.
“No way
.
I’m not stupid
.
T
here’s no way I
’
m getting my hand stuck in that wall.”

Gabrielle stomped over to Rosalinda and pushed her out of the way. She quickly slammed her palm against the tile
,
which caused
i
t
to inch in slightly
;
encouraged, she pushed harder. With each push, the tile slowly inched its way back into the wall. A trickle of sweat ran down Gabrielle’s face
.
“Wow
,
this tile is a tough one.”

Jessica looked at her pleadingly
.
“Hurry
,
Gabi, my arm is really hurting now.”

Gabrielle gritted her teeth with determination as she dug her feet firmly into the ground and pushed harder. With her
fore
arm now completely buried in the wall and her elbow dangling outside, she looked around the passageway with anticipation. She didn’t have to wait long
;
booming clicks erupted throughout the passageway, shaking the ground violently. The wall vibrated
,
slowly pushing Jessica and Gabrielle
’
s arms out.

Jessica rubbed the angry red welts on her arm gingerly.

Gabrielle smiled broadly as
she
held up the large
,
dusty envelope grasped firmly in her hand. “Now look what I found! I just love it when a plan comes together
,
” she chirped happily.

“Wow—now
that
’
s teamwork,”
Zora
said gleefully.

“Well, what’s in it?” Rosalinda demanded impatiently.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes
.
“Duh!
What the heck do you think it is? It’s another clue
,
Princess Rosalinda.”

They eagerly huddle
d
around her as she tore open the dusty envelope. She carefully pulled
out several large gold objects and handed them over to Rosalinda
; then Gabrielle
pulled out a small piece of paper.

Rosalinda held the objects cautiously with the tips of her fingers as if
they were
a rattlesnake waiting to bit
e
her
.
“Gold
s
tars? What in the world are we going to do with these?”

Zora
adjusted her glasses
.
“Let me see them
,
Rosa.”

Rosalinda’s eyes filled with relief as she quickly handed them over.
Zora
squatted down, laying each of the gold stars in a straight line on the dusty ground
and s
quinting as she passed the magnifying glass over each of them. “What does the clue say
,
Gabrielle?”

Gabrielle rubbed her hands together with excitement
.
“Okay
,
Gabby Girls, listen to the next clue
:

 
The night sky is full of shining points that twinkle in your eyes. Twinkle five and
t
winkle four. Work together, use your gifts, turn clockwise
,
and do it quick
.
”

Jessica
nervous
ly bit her nails
.
“I don’t like this one bit. What does that mean?”

Gabrielle’s face crumpled with puzzlement
.
“I don’t know.”

A loud booming sound exploded from the passageway
,
causing them to jump back. Their mouths fell open with shock as they stared at the gold tiled wall that slowly rose into the ceiling.

“No freaking way!” Gabrielle screamed with amazement.

They looked at each other as the wall opened to reveal another secret passageway.

Gabrielle smiled at them bravely
.
“I guess we’re about to find out what the next clue means. Well, Gabby Girls
,
the adventure absolutely continues.”

T
hey walked cautiously through the dark passageway with only the wobbly light of the flashlight to guide them.

“I hate this
…
I really
,
really hate this. This place is absolutely awful. So far I’ve broken two nails, my hair is a mess
,
and my clothes are absolutely filthy,” Rosalinda s
ai
d with disgust as she frantically pulled the cobwebs from her hair.

Gabrielle snorted
.
“We’re so sorry
,
Princess Rosalinda—please forgive us. We know how important your hair and nails are.” She daintily held
out
the edges of her sweatshirt and mockingly curtsied.

Rosalinda sniffed disdainfully
.
“I can’t help it if
,
unlike other people,” she looked pointedly at Gabrielle’s dusty shirt and jeans
,
“I happen to care a lot about my appearance.”

Gabrielle pushed
up her sleeves and stepped menacingly toward Rosalinda
.
“All right
,
Princess Rosalinda, I’ve had about enough of you.”

Gabrielle and Rosalinda stared angrily at each other.

Zora
abruptly turned around, pointing the flashlight toward what seemed to be the end of the passageway
.
“Look, I think see a faint light
…
we’ve got to hurry.”

Gabrielle and Rosalinda’s anger disappeared at
the
thought of finally getting out of the passageway. They quickly walked toward the faint light
;
the closer they got, the brighter the light became
. T
hey
soon
found themselves standing in a large cavern with walls painted in a bright shade of sky blue and covered with lots of tiny gold stars.

“Wow, this is gosh
-
darn awesome,” Jessica exclaimed as she twirled around to look at the strange walls.

Zora
adjusted her glasses as she glanced around curiously
.
“Gabby Girls, whatever you do
,
please don’t touch anything. We can’t afford to get caught in another booby-trap.”

Jessica’s blue eyes darted around nervously
.
“Do you hear something? I-it sounds like gurgling.”

With eyes filled with panic, they quickly scanned the cavern, taking in the fact that somehow they were standing in the middle of a huge stone platform that was surrounded by some sort of deep pit.

Gabrielle’s face dropped with disappointment
.
“I just don’t see a way out of here. It seems that the only way out is the way we just came in. We must have made a wrong turn somewhere.”

Zora
scratched her head
.
“Nope, I don’t think so
;
the passageway definitely led us here. But, just in case, let me see the clue again.”

Gabrielle handed over the clue
and
Zora
read quickly
:

The night sky is full of shining points that twinkle in your eyes. Twinkle five and
t
winkle four. Work together, use your gifts, turn clockwise
,
and do it quick.