The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (31 page)

Zora’s
feet slipped sideways as she huffed
and
puffed, struggling to keep the bridge upright
.
“Rosalinda, stop moving! I’m barely hanging on here!”

“Please, I’m going to fall. Help me!” Rosalinda screamed.

Gabrielle peered over at them anxiously
.
“Rosalinda, listen to me
…
stop moving and try to stay calm. The bridge is way too old to handle you squirming around like that.” Taking a deep breath, she continued
.
“Listen to me carefully. On the count of three, swing your left leg onto the platform of the bridge.”

“I can’t! I just can’t
,
Gabi,” Rosalinda screamed.

Gabrielle looked frantically over at
Zora
, who was struggling to keep the bridge from flipping over. She gritted her teeth with determination
.
“Yes
,
you can
,
Rosalinda! Gabby Girls can do anything. Now, swing your left leg onto the bridge platform on the count of three.
Zora
, hold on as tight as you can and brace yourself.”

Zora
nodded her head in agreement as Jessica looked on in horror.

“Okay,
one, two, three—
now
,
Rosalinda, swing your leg up!” Gabrielle screamed over the deafening roar of the river.

Hesitantly, Rosalinda swung her left leg up but it missed the bridge platform and
fell
back down violently. The bridge swung to the left
,
causing
Zora’s
legs to buckle under her
.
G
ritting her teeth, she struggled to stand
up and steady the swinging bridge.

Gabrielle smiled hugely with false assurance
.
“That’s
o
kay
,
Rosalinda. Let’s try again. Here we go—
one, two,
three
!
”

Rosalinda bit her lip with determination as she swung her leg up and onto the bridge platform
;
this time her effort was met with success.

Jessica breathed a sigh of relief
.
“Good
,
Rosalinda.” She looked over anxiously at
Zora
.
“Are you okay
,
Zora
?”

Zora
looked on nervously
.
“Yes!”

Gabrielle carefully wiped the bead of sweat that ran down her forehead
.
“Listen to me
,
Rosalinda. This is very important; slowly pull your body up onto the bridge, pulling your right leg up onto the platform.”

Rosalinda grunted loudly as she slithered her body onto the bridge platform. Slowly, she pulled her right leg up, causing the bridge to swing violently.

Jessica screamed in horror.

“Oh
,
no!”
Zora
yelped as her grip slipped
;
she quickly steadied herself and tightly gripped the ropes.

Gabrielle looked down at the thrashing river
.
“Okay, Gabby Girls
,
please calm down.” With confidence that she was far from feeling, she smiled calmly at Rosalinda
.
“Listen to me
,
Rosalinda; you have to do this slowly. If you move too fast,
Zora
will fall.”

Rosalinda gritted her teeth and slowly pulled
up her right leg. Her body was now lying firmly on the bridge platform.
Zora
sighed with relief.

Slowly, Rosalinda reached
up for the ropes and pulled herself up to stand.

Gabrielle looked over at them with relief
.
“Okay
,
Gab
by
Girls, let’s go
…
but slowly this time
,
okay?”

They inched their way across the bridge, quietly making their way to the section of the two bridges that was merged into one.

Gabrielle looked over at
Zora
.
“You and Rosalinda should step onto the bridge first
,
then
Jess and I will follow.”

Zora
cautiously stepped onto the middle bridge, holding her breath nervously as if bracing for the wors
t
. Minutes passed and only the sound of thrashing water could be heard
;
she looked around with relief. Confidently, she looked over her shoulder at Rosalinda.

“I guess
it
’
s
okay. Come on
,
Rosalinda, this bridge is a lot steadier than the first one.”

Rosalinda gulped nervously as she stepped onto the middle bridge. Relief
was
written all over her face when the bridge stood still. Gabrielle boldly stepped onto the middle bridge with Jessica nervously following. Looking around, they inched along the bridge, their steps growing more confident as they neared what seemed to be an exit
—
the huge gaping hole in the wall.

“Don’t you think it’s strange that this bridge is so sturdy and the first one was so shaky?” Jessica whispered nervously.

Gabrielle looked around suspiciously
.
“Jess, right now I really don’t care. I just want to get the heck off this bridge in one piece.”

Zora
stood nervously in front of the gaping hole
.
“Okay, this is it
,
Gabby Girls. Is everyone all right?”

Rosalinda’s face scrunched with annoyance
.
“For goodness sake
,
Zora
, just step through the hole so we can get off this bridge.”

Taking a deep breath,
Zora
took
a step through the hole.

“Wait
,
Zora
! This could be another trap. Please be very careful of where you step,” Gabrielle warned.

Zora
nodded in agreement as she gulped nervously
.
“You don’t have to tell me twice
,
Gabi. I’m going to be extra careful.” Cautiously, she pee
k
ed through the brightly lit hole.

The other girls
held their breath as they watched
Zora
turn to look back at them with a huge smile spread across her face. She adjusted her glasses
.
“Gabby Girls, it’s
o
kay. Come on
…
I have a feeling that the Gabby Girls Adventure has really just begun.”

Confidently, she stepped through the hole and disappeared.

Rosalinda, Gabrielle, and Jessica looked at each other
in
confusion, shrugging their shoulders
. T
hey quickly followed
Zora
to the continuation of the Gabby Girls Adventure.

U-N-T-O-L-D--S-E-C-R-E-T-S-W-I-L-L-R-E-V-E-A-L-W-H-E-N-S-I-S-T-E-R-S-U-N-I-T-E-T-O-U-N-S-E-A-L

T
hey looked around in awe at the brightly painted passageway with walls and ceilings covered with large
,
intricate
gold
symbols.

Zora
carefully ran her fingers across the brightly painted walls
.
“Wow, check out these walls!”

They looked around shocked with wide-open mouths.

In amazement, Jessica ran her hands across the bright symbols that were painstakingly drawn
.
“I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life. Does anyone know what these symbols mean?”

Zora
smiled hugely, barely containing her excitement
.
“Yep, now these symbols I understand. They’re
h
ieroglyphs.”

Rosalinda slammed her hands on her hips
.
“Finally, she knows something that could actually help us.”

Gabrielle curiously examined the wall
.
“Hieroglyphs?”
She
propped
her hands on her hips with exasperation. “What in the world are
h
ieroglyphs?”

Zora
adjusted her glasses excitedly
.
“It
’
s Egyptian writing.
H
ieroglyphics are a part of a system of picture
-
writing that dates way back to about 3
,
000 B
.
C. Egyptians called
h
ieroglyphs the words of God.” She carefully ran her fingers across the brightly drawn symbols
.
“You see, these pictures actually represent a combination of sound-signs, pictograms, and ideograms.”

Silently, they looked at her
in
confusion.

Zora
took off her glasses, wiping them clean on the end of her shirt
.
“Okay, everyone come closer.” She pointed to the large
,
brightly drawn symbols that stretched across the walls
.
“Okay, look closely at these symbols. You see how the
h
ieroglyphs are written in rows or columns?” Ignoring their blank stares, she continued excitedly
.
“Well, they can be read from left to right or right to left.”