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

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2010 by T.L. Clarke

All rights reserved.

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
,
or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

ISBN 978-0-9844993-0-4

I would like to dedicate this book to my best friend and husband
,
Robbie
,
who encouraged me every step of the way. I love you
,
Robbie!

G
randma Celeste
,
a beautiful
,
slender woman with soft gray curls that cascaded down to her waist
,
leaned heavily on an ornate black cane as she slowly walked towards the door. She smiled wryly as she glanced down at the pillow made of crème velvet, trimmed in bright gold cording and embroidered with the word “DIVA
,
” that hung around the doorknob.

She chuckled
then
mumbled softly, “
J
ust like the pillow says—that girl is every bit of the
diva
she proclaims to be
,
”
before
knock
ing
on the bedroom door.
 

The sun shined brightly through the partially open
ed
window
,
landing on the bed of a sleeping Gabrielle Martin. The clock ticked softly on the nightstand for a few merciful minutes then
,
as if on cue, the alarm chirped happily
,
“Wake
up
,
s
leepy
h
ead”
—
over and over like a syrupy
,
melodic song.

With her face partially hidden by a mass of thick
,
tussled
,
curly brown hair, Gabrielle moaned, her almond-shaped hazel eyes staring angrily over at the clock on the nightstand, “Oh
,
would you just shut
up
,
stupid clock!”

A cat with silky black fur interrupted by a wild tuft of bright white hair on the top of its head looked
up quickly and hissed at Gabrielle for jolting her out of a peaceful slumber. Uncurling itself delicately
,
all the while keeping a steady gaze on Gabrielle, the cat hissed again, this time a little louder.

Gabrielle’s pouty lips curled with displeasure
.
“Oh
,
be qui
e
t
,
Fiona,” she grumbled
then snuggled even deeper under the blanket.

Giving Gabrielle an absolute
ly
evil stare, Fiona sauntered from her comfortable position at the foot of the bed, prancing deliberately up Gabrielle’s body until she reached
her
head, where she preceded to trample around in small circles
,
meowing quite loudly.

Gabrielle reached
up from under the blanket and softly swatted Fiona
.
“Cut it out
,
Fiona
.
I hear the alarm just as well as you do and I’m not moving no matter how loud you meow, so scoot
,
okay
?
”

Fiona hissed at her angrily.

“I don’t care if you’re mad at me. Beat it! You’re not the boss of me,” Gabrielle grumbled from under the blanket.

 
Never to be undone, Fiona gave Gabrielle another loud meow then hopped
off the bed and onto the window’s ledge.

 
Gabrielle reached over, slamming her palm against the raised mute button, which immediately shut the piercing alarm off. Her cappuccino-colored face crumpled with annoyance as she looked around the room.

“
Argh
!
I just hate mornings and I hate this morning more than ever,” she mumbled aloud. Slamming her body against the bed, she roughly tucked the bright orange and red blanket snugly around her.

Grandma Celeste knocked on the bedroom door again.
 

Gabrielle huffed angrily then flipped onto her stomach
,
deliberately ignoring the soft knock.

“Gabi
,
are you up?” Grandma Celeste asked.

“No
,
” Gabrielle snapped.

Grandma Celeste turned the doorknob, pushing the bedroom door wide open. She entered the room, each step pronounced by the soft tapping of her cane hitting the floor. Her smooth face crinkled with exasperation as she stopped in the middle of the room and tapped her cane impatiently on the hardwood floor.

Gabrielle slapped her hands against her ears
,
trying in vain to block
out the all
-
too
-
familiar tapping. For the life of her, she could not get use
d
to the familiar yet sometimes very annoying sound of her
g
randma’s cane
;
besides, deep down she knew that her
g
randma used
i
t
more for ‘drama’ then for functionality.
I mean
,
come on
, Gabrielle thought.
T
he woman
i
s
so fit that she could probably outrun a group of teenagers without breaking a sweat. I’ve seen her do it and it’s not a pretty sight.

“Gabi, I don’t have all morning to play around with you. It’s time to get up and start your day,” Grandma Celeste said sternly.

“Do I have to?” Gabrielle mumbled.

As if on cue, Fiona quickly hopped
off the window’s ledge, sauntering over to Grandma
Celeste
,
then proceeded to rub her body against
the woman
’s
ankles.

Grandma Celeste looked down at her lovingly
.
“Good
m
orning to you
,
too
,
Fiona the
B
eautiful.”

Fiona purred warmly.

“Yes, I know that you did your absolute best to wake
up Gabi and for that I thank you kindly,” Grandma Celeste said to Fiona.

Seemingly satisfied, Fiona purred again then sauntered out of the bedroom.

“What a traitor you are
,
Fiona the
B
eautiful. Let’s just see who you go to the next time you want a snack
—
not me
,
my friend, not me,” Gabrielle grumbled.
  

Grandma Celeste walked toward the bed
;
with each step
,
a soft clicking sound could be heard as her cane hit the floor
in
a hypnotic
,
rhythmic beat. She sat down at the edge of the bed, softly rubbing the small outline of Gabrielle’s head, which
w
as still buried under the folds of the blanket.

Grandma Celeste took a deep breath as she pulled the blanket from around Gabrielle’s head
.
“Yes
,
Gabi, you have to. Didn’t we talk about this last night?”

Gabrielle quickly flipped over onto her back, looking
up at her defiantly
.
“Well, I’ve simply changed my mind
,
that’s all.”