The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (32 page)

Gabrielle curiously examined the symbols
.
“Huh? Wait a minute
…
that’s crazy
,
Zora
. How can it be read from left to right or
r
ight to left? How would you know which way to read it?”

Zora
adjusted her glasses
.
“Awesome question
,
Gabi!
You can tell what direction to read the text because the symbols always face toward the beginning of the line.” She pointed excitedly at the bright gold symbol
.
“Like
,
you see this symbol that looks like a hand? That symbol means a letter D.” She pointed at the next symbol
.
“You see this symbol that looks like a
l
ion that’s lying down? That symbol means a letter L.”

Rosalinda planted her hands on her hips
.
“Okay
,
Miss Smarty Pants, so what does it all mean?”

“I’ll be glad to show you. Gabi, look in my backpack; I have a notepad and a pencil in there. Take it out and write down all of the symbols that I decipher.”

Quickly, Gabrielle dug into the backpack and pulled
out the items. With notepad and pencil in hand, she eagerly looked at
Zora
.

Zora
quickly adjusted her glasses and carefully ran her fingers along the first six symbols
.
“Hmmm
…o
kay, the first symbol is a chick, so that could be a U, O
,
or W
,
but I think it’s a U. The second symbol is a squiggly line
,
which means water, so that’s a
n
N. The third symbol looks like an upside-down bowl
,
but it’s really a loaf
;
that’s a T.”

Gabrielle scribbled furiously on the notepad.

“The fourth symbol is a chick, so again that could be a U, O
,
or W
,
but I think this time it’s an O. The fifth symbol is a
l
ion, so that’s a
n
L. And the sixth symbol is a hand, so that’s a D.”
Zora
paused, scratched her head
,
then
continued to the next seven symbols
.
“Hmmm
,
okay, let me see—the first symbol is a folded cloth, so that’s a
n
S
;
the second is a reed, so that could be an E or I
,
but I think it’s an E
;
the third symbol is a basket with a handle, so that’s a C
;
the fourth symbol is a mouth, so that’s a
n
R
;
the fifth is a reed, so again that’s an E
;
the sixth is a loaf, so that’s a T
;
and finally the seventh symbol is a folded cloth, so that’s an S.”

She blew
out tiredly, adjusted her glasses,
and went on to decipher the next ten letters:
“W-I-L-L-R-E-V-E-A-L
.
”

Gabrielle scribbled quickly
.
“Okay, so here’s what we have so far
:
U-N-T-O-L-D-S-E-C-R-E-T-S-W-I-L-L-R-E-V-E-A-L.” She scratched her head in confusion
.
“Okay, so what in the world does that mean?” Suddenly, she jumped up
and
down, screaming with excitement, “I got it
!
It says
,
‘U
ntold secrets will reveal.
’
”

Jessica bit her lip nervously
.
“Reveal what?”

Zora
shook her head impatiently
.
“Wait a minute
,
Gabby Girls; I’m not finished yet.” Slowly, she ran her fingers along the rest of
the
carved symbols
and translated:
“W-H-E-N-S-I-S-T-E-R-S-U-N-I-T-E
.
”

“I know! I know! That’s
‘
when sisters unite,
’
” Rosalinda screamed.

Jessica shifted from side
to
side
.
“I don’t understand—what does that mean?
‘
Untold secrets will reveal when sisters unite.
’
”

Zora
looked over at them impatiently
.
“Gabby Girls
,
give me a second now. You have to let me finish deciphering the whole thing.”

“Sorry
,
” they said in unison.

Zora
adjusted her glasses
.
“Okay, let me see
…
where was I?” She quickly went back to the wall, running her fingers across the symbols. “Okay
,
here
:
T-O-U-N-S-E-A-L. Okay, now I’m finished.” She breathed out tiredly.

Jessica
said,
“T-O-U-N-S-E-A-L? What in the world is T-O-U-N-S-E-A-L?”

Zora
looked tiredly at Gabrielle
.
“Okay, now, let’s put it all together.”

Gabrielle quickly looked down at the notepad
.
“Okay, listen
up
,
Gabby Girls, this is what I think it means
:
‘
Untold secrets will reveal when sisters unite to unseal.
’
”

They gave her a puzzled frown.

Gabrielle held
up her hands defensively
.
“Well, don’t look at me like that. I have no idea what it all means.”

Zora
gave them a defeated stare
.
“Sorry, I don’t know
,
either.”

“Okay, great—you went through all that trouble to decipher those stupid symbols and it was totally useless because we still don’t know what it really means,” Rosalinda spat as she sat on the ground tiredly.

The
other three
laughed hysterically as they watched a cloud of dust bloom around Rosalinda’s body
,
which covered her from head-to-toe.

Gabrielle chuckled loudly
.
“I can’t believe that you are actually sitting
on
the dusty ground. What happened to ‘Miss I
-C
an’t
-G
et
-M
y
-C
lothes
-D
irty
’
?”

Rosalinda shot her a nasty
look
then broke out in a fit of uncontrollable giggles
.
“Come
on,
Gabby Girls
,
don’t make fun of me. Right now, I could care less about my clothes. I’m tired and I just want to get out of here.”

Zora
bristled with excitement
.
“All kidding aside
,
Gabby Girls, I don’t think that it was a waste of time to decipher the
h
ieroglyphics. In fact, I think that it’s a clue; we just have to figure out what it means.”

Rosalinda twirled her finger around in the air
.
“Yippee! Another clue
,
” she responded dryly.

A huge smiled spread across
Zora’s
face
.
“Yep, another clue
,
Gabby Girls
.
I think that we’re close to figuring out why we’re here. But someone is making this Gabby Girls Adventure awful
ly
difficult for us.”

Gabrielle giggled loudly
.
“Duh, I think that’s the point
,
Zo
. It’s supposed to be difficult. All these clues lead to something big but I don’t know what.” She held out her hand and motioned for Rosalinda to grab it
.
“Come
,
Gabby Girls. Let’s find out why we’re here.”

Rosalinda rolled her eyes with exasperation
.
“I don’t know about you
,
Gabi
,
but I’m way too exhausted to go on.”

Zora
smiled happily as she motioned for Rosalinda to grab her hand
.
“Come on
,
Rosalinda. Gabby Girls never get tired. We’re always up for new Gabby Girls Adventures.”

Gabrielle giggled
.
“That’s right
.
”

Rosalinda looked at
Zora
then at Gabrielle and smiled hugely. Shrugging her shoulders, she grabbed both of their hands
.
“Okay
,
okay
,
pull me up
. Y
ou Gabby Girls are such pains in the behind
,
” she whined playfully.