The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (27 page)

Zora
quickly sloshed over to Rosalinda, snatching the five
-
point star from her palm
.
“Quick, Gabi
,
take
this star and find a spot for it
.
I’ll help Rosalinda look for a spot on the wall for this four
-
point star.”

Gabrielle quickly sloshed toward her, snatched the star,
and
slosh
ed
back to the wall.
Rosalinda and
Zora
looked around the wall frantically as the goo sloshed around their bodies.

Gabrielle s
ighed
with relief as she spotted the section of the wall for the carved five
-
point star
; she
quickly snapped it into
place
then smiled like a satisfied Cheshire cat. Her smile quickly disappeared as her eyes fill with panic. “Wait a minute
…
we’re forgetting a step. Remember, the clue said something about turning clockwise
.
”

She looked down at the goo that was now almost up to their chest
s.
“
Zora
, you and Rosa continue looking for the four
-
point star
,
and Jess and I will go back and turn all of the gold stars clockwise.”

Jessica and Gabrielle frantically sloshed their way back to the gold stars that were now securely snapped into the wall.

“Jess
,
remember
:
turn the gold star clockwise,” Gabrielle screamed frantically.

Jessica nodded her head as she placed her hand over a gold star and turned clockwise
;
with each turn, the star clicked softly
.
“It’s working,” she said nervously.

Smiling with relief,
Gabi said,
“I know, I just turned one
.
Q
uick, let’s turn the other two
.
”
They
ran over to the other gold stars and quickly turned them clockwise.

Rosalinda’s face was red with frustration as she sloshed through the goo looking for the four
-
point star
.
“We’re going to drown, I just know it. We’re going to die in a nasty pit of goo,” she wailed.

“Rosa, please don’t panic. No one is going to die
…
remember, teamwork,”
Zora
said with determination.

Rosalinda held her hands above her head as she quickly sloshed through the goo. She teetered on her tiptoes as she struggled to stop the goo from touching her face. Her eyes roam
ed
around the walls frantically
.
“I found it—it’s up there,” she exclaimed. A slow smile spread across her face as she pointed excitedly to the spot on the wall above her head.

They all sloshed over, looking up at the spot that was at the very top of the wall and out of their reach.

Jessica bit her nails nervously
.
“How in the world are we going to get all the way up there?”

Zora
adjusted her glasses
,
smearing more black goo all over
them.

Gabrielle stared incredulously at the spot in the wall
.
“I guess this is where the teamwork comes in. The only way we can get to that star is if we lift someone
.
”
S
he looked pointedly over at Rosa.

Rosalinda looked at Gabrielle as if she w
ere
a lunatic and then looked at
Zora
questioningly
.
“Is she really serious?”

“Yep
,
she’s really serious
,
”
Zora
responded nonchalantly.

They struggled to stay above the
ooey
goo that was slowly making its way up to their necks.

“But why me?”
Rosalinda asked quickly.

Gabrielle smiled hugely
.
“Because you are the tallest and the lightest, that’s why. So, Princess Rosalinda
,
it’s all up to you now
. U
se that perky little team spirit you obviously have and snap that star into the wall.” She looked over at
Zora
and Jessica
.
“
Zora
,
you go to the left of her, I’ll stay here on the right
,
and
,
Jess, stand right behind her just in case she slips. Remember, we have to do this quickly; I suggest we lift her up at the count of
five
.”

Gabrielle smiled reassuringly at
Zora
.
“Ready
,
Zora
?”

Zora
nodded her head
.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Are
you
ready
,
Jess?” Gabrielle asked quickly.

Jessica nervously nodded her head.

“Are you ready
,
Rosa?” Gabrielle asked.

Rosalinda nervously shoved the gold star between her teeth and turned around to face the wall.

“
One, two—
” they screamed in unison as Gabrielle and
Zora
t
ook a deep breath, kneeling down in the
ooey
goo.

“
Three
,” Jessica’s voice trembled as she nervously stepped behind Rosalinda.

Rosalinda shuffled her feet around in the
ooey
goo
,
looking for Gabrielle and
Zora’s
hands. Breathing a sigh of relief, she stepped her right foot into Gabrielle’s palm and her left foot into
Zora’s
palm.

Jessica’s voice softly cracked, “
Four, five
.”

Zora
and Gabrielle quickly popped
up with bodies covered in goo, smoothly lifting Rosalinda into the air. Rosalinda wobbled and Jessica steadied her legs.

Zora
and Gabrielle shifted slightly from side
to
side
,
struggling to steady themselves as the goo tickled their noses.

 
Rosalinda quickly pulled the star from her mouth, reaching up and snapping it into the carved spot in the wall.

 
Jessica nervously looked down at the rising goo
.
“Hurry
,
Rosa!”

Rosalinda’s eyebrows furrowed with annoyance
.
“Jess!
You’re not helping. I’m already nervous enough.” Her grip on the goo
-
covered gold star slipped as she violently
stumbled
forward face
-
first.

Gabrielle and
Zora
wobbled, struggling hard to hold her still.
Jessica quickly clamped her
h
ands on the back of Rosalinda’s knees.

Rosalinda carefully wiped her palms onto her skirt, leaving a large smear of goo across it. She reached up again, placing her hand over the star,
and
twisting it with all her might. At first it barely budged but with each twist it became easier and easier, making soft clicking sounds with each twist. She twisted and twisted until the star would not budge anymore.

“Okay, I’m done. Now
,
carefully
,
put me down,” Rosalinda said breathlessly.

Zora
and Gabrielle carefully lowered her back into the pit of goo.

They nervously huddled together as they waited for something, anything
,
to happen.

Zora
gave Gabrielle a look of concern
.
“I don’t understand
…
nothing’s happening
.
I know we did everything right.”

Rosalinda held her goo
-
covered hands out with disgust
.
“Please don’t tell me that I did all that for nothing
.
”

Gabrielle swung her head around, looking a
bout
the cavern frantically
.
“Quiet
,
Rosa
.
Zora
, do you hear something?”

They looked around frantically
,
listening closely. Suddenly, the wall rumbled
;
startled, they jumped back. There was a loud gurgling sound then a large section of the wall shook violently and slowly rose into the ceiling.

They quickly stood back, looking on anxiously as the wall continued to rise, revealing a dark
,
tiny crawl space.

A slow grin spread across
Zora’s
face and she glanced down at the goo
.
“Hey
,
look, the goo is starting to go down.”

They jumped up
and
down with obvious relief and joy.
 

Gabrielle looked at them mischievously as she held out her hand
.
“Gabby Girl Gabrielle
.
”