The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (28 page)

Zora
grinned from ear
to
ear
.
“Gabby Girl
Zora
.
”

Jessica looked around nervously
.
“Gabby Girl Jessica
.
”

Rosalinda shook her head with quiet acceptance
.
“Gabby Girl Rosalinda
.
”

“Gabby Girls Adventure,” they screamed at the top of their lungs.

Rosalinda gave them a sarcastic smile
.
“Well
,
Gabby Girls, as much as I would love to continue this little victory celebration
,
I’m out of here.” She rudely shoved
Zora
aside and quickly crawled into the tight crawl space
,
leaving Gabrielle,
Zora
,
and Jessica staring at her disappearing butt with total amazement.

Gabrielle shook her head angrily
.
“Well
,
so much for teamwork.”

O
n hands
and
knees, the Gabby Girls quickly crawled through the tight crawl space with only the flashlight guiding the way. Suddenly, the flashlight flickered on
and
off several times.

Rosalinda stopped in mid-crawl, causing them to bump into each other like bumper cars. Scrunching her face with annoyance,
she said,
“
Zora
, what’s wrong with you? Can’t you point that flashlight correctly? Don’t you see me crawling through this soggy filth? And now I can’t see a thing.”

“Uh
,
Rosa
, i
n case you didn’t notice, you’re not the only one crawling through this filth,” Gabrielle spat nastily.

The flashlight suddenly turned off, leaving them in complete darkness.

Zora
shook the flashlight violently
.
“Sorry
,
Gabby Girls, but it seems like the batteries are dead.”

“Great!” Rosalinda wailed with frustration as she sat back on her heels tiredly.

“Uh
,
Rosa, why aren’t we moving?” Gabrielle asked loudly.

Rosalinda huffed angrily
.
“Do you honestly expect me to crawl through this filth in complete darkness? Well, I’m not doing it; I can’t even see my hands in front of my face.”

Gabrielle snorted nastily
.
“Well, here’s how I see it
,
Princess Rosalinda. We can sit here in complete darkness with goodness
-
knows
-
what crawling
up our clothes or we can feel our way out of here,” she said. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I vote for feeling our way out of here.”

Zora
pushed her glasses from the tip of nose
.
“I agree with you
,
Gabi.”

Jessica wrung her hands nervously
.
“Me
,
too.”

“Well, I don’t,” Rosalinda s
aid
angrily.

Gabrielle huffed
.
“All right, that’s okay with me. Have it your way.” She pushed
up her sleeves and gently pushed Jessica against the wall, squeezing past her.

Jessica rubbed her arm gingerly, “Ouch, Gabi that hurts—what do you think you’re doing?”

“What do you think I’m doing? I’m getting the heck out of here,” Gabrielle snapped. In mid-stride and refusing to pause for a second, she quickly pushed
Zora’s
body against the wall, squeezing past her.

“Ouch! That really hurts
,
Gabi!”
Zora
squealed.

Gabrielle shoved Rosalinda
’s
body against the wall, crawling past her.

“Ouch
…
watch it
,
chica
!” Rosalinda screamed.

Gabrielle snorted angrily
.
“No, you watch it. Look, I’m real tired of you right now
,
‘
c
hica
.
’ Your
p
rima
d
onna attitude was real funny about two hours ago but now you’re really starting to piss me off,” she screamed as she looked over her shoulders. “You’re jeopardizing the safety of my friends and that
I will not put up with. Now
,
Gabby Girls, I suggest you crawl past Princess Rosalinda and follow me out of here.”

Rosalinda squinted angrily
.
“How rude—how dare you?”

Gabrielle chuckled
.
“Oh
,
I dare
,
Princess Rosalinda
,
I dare.
You’re welcome to follow us out of here or you can sit here and rot. It’s your choice.”

Rosalinda gritted her teeth stubbornly
.
“Well, I’m not moving an inch.”

Zora
adjusted her glasses impatiently
.
“Frankly, I’m also getting tired of your attitude. I really thought we could be friends but you’re just selfish and spoiled.” She gritted her teeth with determination
.
“Jess
,
grab the end of my shirt
;
we’re getting out of here.”

Jessica nervously grabbed the end of
Zora’s
shirt as they squeezed past Rosalinda’s stiff body.
Zora
quickly grabbed the end of Gabrielle’s sweatshirt.

Gabrielle smiled with relief
.
“Okay
,
Gabby Girls, let’s get the heck out of here.” She slowly crawled through the tunnel with
Zora
and Jessica right behind her.

Jessica abruptly stopped and looked back
.
“Rosa, come on
…
grab the end of my sweater. You can’t stay here,” she pleaded.

Rosalinda huffed
angrily, hesitantly grabbing the end of Jessica’s sweater.

They sloshed their way through the tunnel
;
with every
inch they crawled,
Rosalinda squealed in anguish.

Trickles of sweat ran down Gabrielle’s forehead
, but s
he gritted her teeth with determination
,
anxiously wish
ing
they could somehow find a flicker of light to show them the way out of the dark and seemingly unending tunnel.

“Gabby Girls, this tunnel seems to be going on forever
.
I need to take a little break,” Gabrielle said tiredly as she stopped crawling. She reached down and grabbed the front of her sweatshirt to wipe her sweat
-
soaked face.
Oh, this is so gross
, she thought as she sat back on her heels.

She pulled her pendant
, which
was stuck under her sweatshirt
,
and nervously rubbed it for some sort of comfort. A soft smile slowly spread across her face as she thought of Grandma Celeste and how much she wished that she were back home in the comfort of her cheery room under her favorite blanket.

Gabrielle’s forehead crinkled with concentration as she slowly continued to rub her pendant as if she were in some sort of trance
;
her thoughts suddenly drift
ed
to Grandma Celeste’s last cryptic remark. “Gabi, promise me that you won’t lose it. Someday, it will be a beacon of light in your darkest moment. ” Out of the blue, a small tickle shot through the tips of her fingers; stunned, she looked down accusingly at her pendant
.
S
trangely, it was somehow glowing. She blinked in awe but something in her mind whispered to rub her pendant
more
quick
ly.
The glow became even brighter
;
it was darn
-
right beautiful.

“Oh, no way!”
Gabrielle screamed excitedly.

Zora
took off her glasses, rubbing
her
eyes tiredly
.
“What’s going on up there
,
Gabi?”

Gabrielle gently cradled the pendant with both palms
.
“You won’t believe it even if I tell you.”

With a sigh,
Zora
placed her glasses back on. She blinked with shock as she watched a soft glow spring from her pendant
.
“Umm, I think I would.”

“We actually have light! I wished it and it happened. I can’t believe it! For once something that I actually wished for turned out for the good and not for the bad,” Gabrielle exclaimed happily.

Jessica nervously twisted a strand of hair around her finger
.
“G-Gabby Girls
,
um
,
something strange is happening to my pendant
,
too—it’s glowing,” she stuttered.

Rosalinda quickly sat back on her heels
.
“Mine
,
too! Exactly what’s going on here?”

“I don’t know—but the glow from my pendant is definitely getting brighter,” Gabrielle said slowly.