The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (14 page)

Curiously, Rosalinda walked over to
Zora
, her nose crinkled with revulsion
.
“Well, what in the world do you expect? This old dirty trunk needs to be thrown in the trash,” she declared arrogantly.

Zora
a
sked
with annoyance, “What in the world are you blabbing about? This trunk has been with me since I was a baby and has traveled all over the world. Besides, it belonged to my mother; I would never
,
ever get rid of it. Not for all of the money in the world,” she declared angrily.

Daintily
,
Rosalinda leaned down, grabbing at the corner of the lining
.
“My goodness, but just look at this disgusting thing
.
I
t
’
s peeling
,
for goodness sake.”

“Don’t touch it
,
Rosa—just leave it alone,”
Zora
screamed as she swatted Rosalinda’s hand away.

Rosalinda’s fingers quickly snapped back
,
taking half of the lining with them.

Zora
wailed loudly with despair. “Oh! How could you? Look what you did,” she screamed hysterically.

Jessica and Gabrielle ran over to the trunk. They kneeled around it, gawking with fascination at the ripped lining.

Rosalinda slapped her hands on her hips angrily
.
“Why are you blaming me? It’s your fault; you shouldn’t have pushed my hand away.”

Gabrielle shook her head with disgust as she looked over at Rosalinda.
Pursing her lips, Rosalinda rolled her eyes at Gabrielle.

Giving
Zora
a comforting smile, Gabrielle quickly reached into the trunk, carefully smoothing back the lining
.
“Jeez
,
Zora
, it’s no biggie. We can fix this right up with just a little glue and a blow dryer.”

Jessica pointed a finger
a
t the small bulge under the middle of the lining
.
“What’s that? There’s something stuck under the lining
.
”

They huddled closer to examine the bulge as Gabrielle rubbed her fingers over the hump.

Zora
looked at Gabrielle anxiously as she adjusted her glasses
.
“Oh
,
no
,
you don’t! Don’t you dare
,
Gabi!” she squealed.

Gabrielle gave
Zora
a not-so
-
innocent stare
.
“What?”

“Oh! Don’t you play dumb with me
,
m
issy
.
I know exactly what you want to do and I say no!”
Zora
screamed anxiously.

“But it’s already ripped,” she yelled as she snidely looked over at Rosalinda
.
“Rosa saw to that. And besides, aren’t you even a little bit curious about what’s under there?”
 

“N-O spells no! I
…
oh
,
no,”
Zora
squealed with horror as she watched Gabrielle rip the lining completely off.

They all gasped with surprise as a dusty, old
,
yellowed package plopped down softly into the middle of the trunk.

Gabrielle looked over at them excitedly
.
“I knew it! I just knew there was something hidden under there.”

Zora
quickly reached into the trunk and pulled
out the package.

Rosalinda looked at
her
impatiently
.
“Well? Hurry
up
,
Zora
! Open it!”

Gabrielle gave Rosalinda an annoyed glare
.
“Oh
,
just be quiet
,
Rosa.”

Scratching her head with confusion,
Zora
flipped the package over from front to back then back to the front again. She quickly blew
off the thick dust that coated the package, sneezing loudly as a cloud of dust billowed around her face. Sitting back on her heels,
Zora
carefully placed the package on the floor. Her tanned fingers trembled as she untied the yellowed string from around it.
Zora
gasped with surprise when she spotted the neatly folded paper lying on top of a beautiful gold and enamel box. Reaching down, she snatched the box and opened it.

They all gasped with shock as
Zora
pulled out a gold necklace with a large gold and ruby pendant attached.

Gabrielle’s hazel eyes widened with shock. “Oh! No way,
n
o way
.
”

Zora
looked over at Gabrielle with misty eyes as the necklace dangled from her fingers
.
“Can you put it on for me?” she asked.

Gabrielle smiled warmly as she took the necklace from her trembling fingers
and
unhooked the clasp, fastening it around
Zora’s
neck.

Zora
smiled happily as she ran her fingers across the bright blood
-
red stones embedded within the pendant.

Rosalinda looked around the room nervously
.
“Okay, now I’m really frightened. We all have the same necklace and that’s definitely no accident,” she said uneasily.

Jessica looked around nervously, twirling a strand of hair around her finger
.
“I must admit that I’m just a little freaked out
,
too,” she said timidly.

 
“
Zora
,
read the note. Maybe it can tell us what in the world is going on here,” Gabrielle demanded.

They looked over at
Zora
expectantly as she carefully unfolded the paper that revealed a battered old gold compass nestled inside. She handed the compass over to Jessica and scanned the note quickly. Her eyes suddenly widened with shock.

“Well, what does it say?” Gabrielle asked
i
mpatiently.

Zora
adjusted her eyeglasses then read aloud,

For all the questions that you may have, just pay attention to this first half. First go to Parker
—
that
’
s a start
—
then read and solve the second half. It
’
s wide and tall from floor to ceiling and always filled with words and meaning. You
’
ll know that you have found a clue when all that binds ha
s
come unglued.

Jessica nervously looked over at
Zora
.
“What does that mean? And what in the world is this compass for?”

Zora
scratched her head
in
confusion
.
“I don’t know what the compass is for
,
but I do know that the note is definitely some sort of clue.”

Rosalinda scoffed loudly
.
“Clue?
Are you kidding me? Who has time to solve some stupid clue?” she asked with scorn dripping from her voice.

Gabrielle looked at them with glee in her eyes
.
“We do. Don’t you see? This must be the clue that will help us find the meaning behind the pendants.”

“I agree with Gabi. If we want to solve the mystery behind these pendants, we first have to start by solving this clue,”
Zora
said with excitement.

Rosalinda quickly stood
up, walked over to her bed
,
and sat down tiredly
.
“Well, I’m not interested in traipsing around school grounds just to figure out the meaning of some stupid clue that might or might not help us,” she said sourly.

Gabrielle gave Rosalinda a dismissive look then turned and looked at Jessica and
Zora
matter-of-factly
.
“Listen
,
forget about Princess Rosalinda. If she’s not with
u
s
then we’ll figure this out by ourselves. Let me see the note
,
Zora
.
”

Zora
quickly handed her the note.

“Thanks
,
Zo
.
”
S
he quickly read the note then handed it back.
“Jessica, let me see the compass.”

Jessica handed the compass over to Gabrielle
, who
twirled it around
.
“Funny, the gold compass has letters and numbers circling the outer edges. I wonder what it’s for.”

“Maybe the note will tell us,”
Zora
declared as she adjusted her glasses and then read the note
aloud
again
:

For all the questions that you may have, just pay attention to this first half. First go to Parker
—
that
’
s a start
—
then read and solve the second half. It
’
s wide and tall from floor to ceiling and always filled with words and meaning. You
’
ll know that you have found a clue when all that binds ha
s
come unglued.

“Hey, wait a minute
. D
id I hear you say Parker?” Jessica asked nervously.

“Yep, it says first go to Parker
,
that’s a start. What in the world is Parker?”
Zora
asked.

“Well, Parker is my family’s last name on my
m
other’s side,” Jessica said.