The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (42 page)

Long ago, we too started out as strangers but ended the journey as true sisters in every sense of the word. We accepted the Circle Sisterhood with all our hearts and minds
,
and we know that you will
,
too.

We based our lives on our vow to uphold all that is good and pure, in hope that this legacy, our legacy, will never end. With our very last breath, we wish and we know that you will choose to do the same. Until we meet again, blessed be.

Your Mothers and Circle Sisters to the End

 
Rosalinda
quickly wiped away the tear that trickled down her cheek.

Zora
adjusted her glasses, looking over at Grandma Celeste sadly. “What is the Circle Sisterhood? And is it just a twist of fate that all our mothers died?”

Grandma Priscilla slapped her knee with excitement
.
“Gosh darn! Those are very good questions
,
Zora
.”

Grandma Celeste smiled softly
.
“Let’s start with the basics; the Circle Sisterhood is a group of women with very unique gifts and powers.”

Jessica nervously bit her lip
.
“What do you mean by gifts and powers?”

Grandma Priscilla chuckled softly
.
“Honey child! What did I tell you about biting your lip? Listen to me
;
there’s nothing to be nervous about
,
ya
hear.”

Jessica stopped instantly
.
“Sorry, Grandma Priscilla.”

“Well, as the teachings of the Circle Sisters
have said
for centuries, there is a big difference between gifts and powers. Gifts are what all sisters are born with
; they’re
something that you have deep within you. Powers are given to the chosen few of the Circle Sisterhood. As we always say, many are called but chosen are few
,
” Grandma Celeste said softly as she looked over at each of them.

“But don’t you worry, the gifts you have are just busting to come out,” Grandma Priscilla said loudly.

Grandma Celeste looked over at
Zora
.
“Like you
,
Zora
; your gift is that you can sense where an object came from with just one little touch.”

Zora
looked over at her with shock.

Grandma Priscilla pointed at Gabrielle
.
“And you
,
Gabrielle, you have the gift over the mind and can wish things then make them happen. And you
,
baby Jessica
,
your gift is the ability to make all visible invisible.”

Rosalinda looked over at them anxiously
.
“What about me? What
’
s
my gift? Is it the ability to see things that will happen in the future?”

Grandma Priscilla smiled widely
.
“Well, it just might be, but you have to keep in mind that your gifts are as strong as you want them to be
;
in other words
,
you control your destiny and gifts.”

Grandma Celeste chuckled softly
.
“You see
,
that’s the beauty of all your gifts. You will discover them in time. Some sisters discover them early
,
but for most it takes time.”

Rosalinda gave her a disappointed stare.

Grandma Celeste smiled softly
.
“
D
on’t you worry
,
Rosalinda
;
that’s the fun part of it all
—
the journey of discovery.”

Grandma Priscilla
laughed out loud.
“You’re sure right! Remember
,
Celeste
?
”
S
he nudged her playfully with her elbow. “Shucks, I didn’t discover what all my gifts were for years. Gosh, I was as nervous as a fly in a glue pot as I watched Celeste and all the other sisters start to discover their gifts.” She leaned in closely to
Zora
, Rosalinda, Jessica, and Gabrielle.
“Then—BAM!”
She clapped her hands together loudly. “It just happened
;
one morning I woke
up and discovered what my gifts were
,
and they were as strong as everyone else’s. Believe me, I was one happy camper that day.”

Gabrielle looked over at her curiously
.
“You keep talking about the journey
,
but who will help us on it?”

Grandma Celeste smiled softly
.
“Well if you accept your destiny, you will have to help each other on the journey. Of course, Priscilla and I will be there to guide you for as long as we can.”

Grandma Priscilla chuckled loudly
.
“Fact be told, your mothers should be guiding you through this journey, not us old swans.”

Jessica looked at them tearfully
.
“But what really happened to them?”

“Now, this is the question that I’ve been waiting to answer for years,” Grandma Celeste responded as she sternly looked at each of them. “Did you notice that five names
are
signed in the last entry?”

Zora
adjusted her glasses nervously
.
“Yes, I wondered about that because I didn’t recognize the fifth name.”

Grandma Priscilla looked at them s
eriously.
“The fifth name is Hannah Smith. You see, when your mothers made this journey long ago, there were five of them and they all accepted their legacy into the Circle Sisterhood
. T
hen they began their long journey toward discovering and strengthening all their gifts.”

Grandma Celeste looked at them sadly
.
“You see, Hannah’s gifts were slow to develop; in fact, she worried that she would never discover them because each and every one of your mothers discovered their gifts rather quickly. So, Hannah became very jealous
;
in fact, the jealously consumed her every waking breath.”

“Eventually
,
she discovered all her gifts
,
but her discovery was not from natural means
;
she used other things to attain them. She used things that were so dark and evil that the Circle Sisterhood dare not mention them. Hannah also became consumed with
the
idea of becoming more powerful than any of the other sisters. In fact, she worked day
and
night on receiving powers
;
the more powers she received
,
the more evil and mean
-
spirited she became. Shucks, I remember that she was as friendly as fire ants,” Grandma Priscilla
exclaimed.
 

“Anyway, one day, the Circle Sisterhood discovered the true force of her powers and knew instantly that all of
them
were pure evil. You see, she sacrificed all of her gifts just to be the most powerful one, a chosen one
,
but she forgot the true purpose of the Circle Sisterhood, which is to use our gifts and powers only for good and never for evil
,”
Grandma Celeste
said.
“The truth is that by the time we all figured
out what was really going on with
Hannah,
her powers had became too strong for the Circle Sisterhood to control.”

Jessica bit her lip nervously
.
“So, what happened to her?”

Grandma Celeste’s eyes got misty as she shook her head regretfully. “Your mothers and the Circle Sisterhood confronted Hannah in this very room. In fact, we pleaded with her to give up her powers but she angrily refused. So, we did something that hadn’t been done in the history of the Circle Sisterhood
;
we banded together and used all of our gifts and powers to cast a spell.
 
When the spell of binding was complete, she was powerless. We then took away her scarlet pendant and expelled her from the Circle Sisterhood.”

 
Grandma Priscilla looked over at Grandma Celeste
.
“Boy, I remember that day
;
she got angrier than a bull in a rodeo and vowed to break the Circle Sisterhood
—
and
,
most importantly
,
to
destroy your mothers. And
,
true to her word, she eliminated each and every one of
them
and had all but broken the circle.”

Grandma Celeste smiled softly
.
“Yes, the Circle Sisterhood has almost been broken.” She looked over expectantly at the girls
.
“But
,
finally—there is hope and renewal.”

She slowly stood
up
,
walked over to the gurgling waterfall
, and
placed her hands under the cascading water
, whispering,
“I invoke thee,
orbis
in!
O
rbis
sicco
!”
Then she lit one of the large white candles and all of the other candles magically lit
up one
by
one.

Grandma Priscilla looked at them solemnly
.
“This room that you
are in
is a place of great power.”