The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (36 page)

Curiously, Gabrielle looked past the mammoth golden pillars that lined the center of the room. She blinked when something strange caught the corner of her eye and she quickly walked toward it. In all its glory stood a huge
,
gold table surrounded by colorful
,
fluffy pillows. As she neared it, she could see a long
,
wide object lodged in the center of the table
;
it was a gold cylinder.

“Gabby Girls, over here
.
I think I found something!” Gabrielle exclaimed happily.

They all rushed over to look at the table.

Gabrielle leaned over, cautiously pointing toward the center of the table
.
“I think there’s something in the cylinder.”

Rosalinda rolled her eyes
.
“Duh!
We’re not blind
,
Gabi; we can all see the paper in there.” She snapped her fingers in Gabrielle
’s
face
.
“Well, hurry
up! What are you waiting for? Pull it out already.”

Gabrielle angrily slammed her hands on her hips, looking at her furiously
.
“Girl, just who in the world do you think you’re talking to like that? I am not your servant!”

Rosalinda flushed red with embarrassment
.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m just tired and I want to get out of here.”

Gabrielle gestured widely to Jessica and
Zora
.
“Well
,
don’t you think we’re all tired? Relax
,
okay.” Suspiciously, she looked at the object.
Exhaling,
she reached down and tried to yank the top off of the gold cylinder but her hands slipped
off from the she
e
r effort.

Jessica looked on anxiously
,
biting her lip
. “
Gabi, you have to pull harder.”

Gabrielle looked over at her and rolled her eyes
.
“Uh
,
thanks
,
Jess
,
for your brilliant advice but don’t you think I tried that? The cylinder is wedged in there tight
;
it won’t budge.”

Zora
quickly wiped her damp hands on the front of her shirt
.
“Okay, let me try.” She reached down and tugged at the sides of the cylinder but her fingers also slipped
off.

Gabrielle plopped down tiredly onto a pillow
,
causing Jessica to follow.

Zora
tugged at the cylinder again but it would not budge. With frustration, she plopped down onto a pillow and looked at them with gloominess.

Angrily, Rosalinda slapped her hands onto her curvy waist, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently
.
“This is no time for a break.”

Zora
looked over at her and sighed
.
“Rosalinda, do you have a better idea how to get that thing out
?
B
ecause we sure need one right about now.”

“Of course I do
.
J
ust pull that thing from the table. The cylinder has the clue as to how to get out of this place,” Rosalinda screamed.

“Rosa, you are not telling us anything we don’t already know. But in case you didn’t notice, we can’t pull that thing out,” Gabrielle yelled.

Jessica jumped
up from the pillow excitedly
.
“I got it
…
it’s a trick, just like the one at the wall.”

They looked at her tiredly.

Jessica bit her bottom lip
.
“Don’t you see? Remember what the hieroglyphics said?
‘
Untold secrets will reveal when sisters work together to unseal.
’
”

Zora
looked at her
with exhaustion.
“Yeah
,
yeah
,
yeah
…
exactly what are you getting at?”

“W-well, I think we should try to pull the cylinder out together. Four hands pulling at that cylinder is better than one,” Jessica stuttered nervously.

Rosalinda shrugged her shoulders
.
“Look, at this point we have nothing to lose by trying her idea.”

Gabrielle looked at Rosalinda with surprise
.
“Oh
,
my goodness, she finally has something positive to say. Catch me, I think that I’m going to faint.”

Rosalinda grumbled nastily under her breath.

They tiredly gathered around the table, placing their hands along the sides of the cylinder
;
huffing
and
puffing
,
they yanked and pulled on it but it did not budge one bit.

Gabrielle looked over at them tiredly
.
“Okay, does anyone have another idea
?
B
ecause this one is sure not working
.
”

Jessica walked around the table
,
glaring at
the
cylinder with frustration
;
suddenly, her eyes lit
up. “Okay, I have another idea. This might sound a little dumb but there are five pillows on the floor
.
I think that everyone should have a seat.”

They looked at her tiredly.

Jessica’s face flushed with frustration
.
“Chop
, c
hop! Gabby Girls, we don’t have all day
.
”

Reluctantly
,
they plopped down on the pillows. “Okay, so what’s next?” Rosalinda asked.

Jessica looked at them a little uncertainly
.
“Umm
,
I guess
…
let’s try to pull the cylinder again. Gabi and Rosa, you grab the bottom part
,
and
Zora
and I will grab the top part.”

They shrugged their shoulders
wearily
, placing their hands around the cylinder
and
tugging this time with all their might.

This time a loud scraping sound pierced the air as the cylinder slowly shifted up. Excitedly, they tugged harder and the cylinder completely popped
up from the table. They looked at each other with shock when they realized that the cylinder was firmly gasped in their hands.

“Yeah!
Gabby Girls, we did it,” Gabrielle screamed.

“Well, open it already
,
Gabi,” Jessica s
aid.

Gabrielle shook her head
.
“No
,
Jessica, I think that you should open it. After all, if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have gotten it out of the table.”

Jessica smiled shyly as they handed the cylinder over to her.

She yanked off the top, pulling out the yellowed
,
tightly rolled-up piece of parchment paper. Carefully she unrolled it and read aloud
:

The end is near and crystal
-
clear. Just walk right through it if you dare. And if you’re feeling faint at heart, let that person make a start.

Rosalinda gave Jessica a puzzled look
.
“That’s it? The end is near and crystal
-
clear? What does that mean?”

They looked at each other
in
confusion.

“Oh! I give up,” Gabrielle said as she rested her head on the table tiredly.

Jessica repeated the clue
:

The end is near and crystal
-
clear. Just walk right through it if you dare. And if you’re feeling faint at heart, let that person make a start.

Rosalinda ran her hands through her hair anxiously.

Zora
rubbed her eyes with a sigh and quickly put on her glasses
.
“Well, I’m clueless
,
Gabby Girls
. L
et me walk around a little; maybe I’ll come up with something, anything
,
to get us out
of
this sticky situation.”

She slowly stood
up
,
shaking out her legs
,
and walked toward the pillars. Noticing a light smudge on her glasses, she pulled them off and wiped them on her shirt. But the more she rubbed, the more the smear stretched across the lenses. “Oh! This is absolutely hopeless.”

As she started to shove her glasses into her backpack, her ears perked
up at the sound of soft
,
thumping water. She smiled ironically as she spotted the gushing waterfall. She casually walked toward it, a little mystified by the crystal-clear water that beckoned her.

Zora
quickly leaned over and stuck her hand into the water, watching gleefully as
i
t
trickled across her fingers. Welcoming the crisp coldness, she stuck her other hand into the water, giggling deliciously as she splashed the water over her face and hair.