The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (34 page)

Gabrielle turned around nervously
.
“
Zora
!
Quick, run back up the stairs. Let’s get out of here.”

Zora
quickly turned on her heels but stopped
,
paralyzed with fear
;
her feet
were
glued to
the
ground as she watched all of the steps that were above them unfold one
by
one. “We’re trapped. We can’t go up and we can’t go down,” she squealed in a high
-
pitched voice.

Gabrielle struggled to stand as the water beat against her legs. “Quick
,
Gabby Girls, huddle together.”

They looked around in horror, huddling together as the cold
water roughly beat against their legs.

“
W
hat are we going to do now?” Jessica squealed with panic.

They huddled closer as another loud cracking sound erupted.

Gabrielle quickly spun around
,
eyes filled with terror
.
“You better brace yourselves
,
Gabby Girls
,
because this might hurt just a tad bit!”

They screamed hysterically as a huge wave of water rushed down the stairs, shoving them off their feet and carrying them down as if they were on a water-slide. They screamed as the thunderous waves pushed them further and further through the cavern
,
with bodies bobbing and spinning as they slid down the stairs.

Desperately, Jessica gulped for air
.
“Gabi!
Help me.”

Gabrielle lunged for the sleeve of Jessica’s sweater but the deafening waters violently shoved her hands away. She watched with alarm as Jessica slipped further away
,
barreling down the stairs. She looked around frantically for
Zora
and Rosalinda.

Zora
hugged her arms tightly against her body, bracing against the vicious waters effortlessly.

Rosalinda’s head bobbed up
and
down in the water, drowning her screams. In an uncontrolled motion, she struggled to rise from the water. She opened her mouth to scream again but the violent waters rushed in
,
silencing her screams.

The torrential waters were relentless.

Gabrielle looked on helplessly as her body bobbed up
and
down in the water uncontrollably.
In
shock, she furiously blinked away the water when she saw the thunderous waves pounding even harder
,
as if building into one large wave.

“Oh
,
no, please
,
no!” Gabrielle screamed.

The further they slid, the harder the water pounded against their bod
ies
.

Gabrielle braced for the wors
t.
“Gabi, get it together; this is easy, just think water-slide. You can do it! I know you can,” she mumbled aloud. She glued her arms against her body and quickly leaned back. The water glided effortlessly across her. The more she relaxed her body, the smoother the ride became.
She b
arreled down the slide as if she were a rocket.

She smiled softly
,
now enjoying the tickle of the water as it ran across her body. Gabrielle screamed aloud with enjoyment, “Woo! Wee!”

Rosalinda’s body bounced up
and
down like an uncontrollable beach ball. “Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!” she screamed.

Jessica’s body was now in an upright position
,
skating stiffly from side
to
side through the water.

The water rushed and gushed faster and faster, forcing them quickly through the cavern.
 
Suddenly, the roaring quieted
,
leaving an odd stillness in the cavern.

Gabrielle looked up with surprise at the bright golden light that suddenly appeared at the bottom of the cavern. She gulped nervously as the torrential waves of water increased again
,
causing a huge wave to roll over the
ir bodies,
violently pushing them through the air and out of the cavern as if they were just shot
out
of
a
cannon.

They screamed with horror as they floundered in mid-air with arms and legs flaying around like a fish out
of
water.

Gabrielle looked down at the massive pool of blue water that she was mere inches
away from
plopping in
to
. “Gabby Girls, you better brace
yoursel
ves
!
” she screamed.

One
by
one
,
they splashed down into the blue water.

Zora
splashed down and quickly kicked her way back to the surface. She coughed loudly as she gasped for air, paddling around in circles as she looked around for her glasses. She grabbed them with relief as they floated to the surface and quickly shoved them into her pocket.

Gabrielle burst to the surface of the water, gasping for air as she shook the water off her face. She smiled with relief when she saw Jessica sputtering to the surface. Frantically, she looked over at
Zora
then at Jessica.

“Where’s Rosa? I don’t see Rosa!”

Nervously, Jessica looked around
.
“Oh
,
my goodness!
Don’t you remember what she said? She said that she couldn’t swim!”

Gabrielle treaded water as she looked around nervously
.
“She must be at the bottom of the water. I’m going down to look for her.”

Zora
anxiously paddled around the lagoon
.
“Wait for me
…
I’ll help you look.”

“You better be careful
;
the water is deep,” Jessica
said.

Gabrielle smiled confidently
.
“Don’t worry about me; I’m a real strong swimmer. I’ve been swimming practically all my life
.
M
y Grandma Celeste says that in my former life, I must have been a fish.” She watched as Jessica’s teeth chattered from the cold water. “Jess, this water is freezing
;
just head for the edge of the water, get out
,
and get warm. Don’t worry about a thing
;
we’ll find Rosa, I promise you.”

With worried eyes, Jessica smiled then quickly paddled away.

Somberly, Gabrielle nodded at
Zora
then dove under water.
Zora
gritted her teeth against the freezing water and quickly dove under.

Jessica paddled awkwardly toward the edge of the lake. Huffing
and
puffing with each stroke, finally reaching the rim of the water, she grasped it tiredly with her fingers. With teeth chattering from the cold air, she looked
up with utter amazement
,
blinking rapidly at the sight of the glorious
,
tall
,
gold pillars that surrounded the large lagoon. From the corner of her eye, she could see a small waterfall with clear glistening waters gurgling softly from the
edge
of the humungous room.

“This is totally awesome,” Jessica whispered.

Exhausted,
she slowly looked around the room, finally dragging her body from the cold water and crawling across the shiny blue tiles.
S
he rolled onto her back and looked
up at the brightly painted ceilings.

Under the cold water, Gabrielle and
Zora
frantically swam around
,
desperately looking for any sign of Rosalinda.

Zora
shot Gabrielle an anxious stare
,
which Gabrielle pretended not to understand. She gritted her teeth and gave
Zora
the sign that was she
wa
s going up for air by quickly pointing her finger to
ward
the surface of the water.
Zora
reluctantly followed.

Gabrielle burst to the surface and sputtered for air
.
“Where on earth could she be?”

“I don’t know
,
Gabi
,
but I do know this
—
we can’t stay in this water any longer
. It’s
too cold,”
Zora
said in between gasps for air. She gave Gabrielle an anxious look
.
“I don’t want to say it but—”

Gabrielle gasped for air
.
“Well, don’t say it
,
Zora
! Don’t ever say it! Rosalinda is okay; I just know she is. I can feel it in my bones. Look, I’m a strong swimmer; I know I can find her. You just get out of the water and help Jessica.”

Zora
gulped anxiously
.
“No, I’m not leaving you
,
Gabi. I know you want to find her but the scientific fact is that she’s been under the water for way too long. I don’t think you’ll be able to find her. We have to leave her.”

Gabrielle bit her lip uneasily
.
“No, I can’t
…
I won’t! And I don’t care about any scientific fact! Gabby Girls don’t give up and
,
most importantly
,
a Gabby Girl would never leave another Gabby Girl
,
ever.”
   

“Gabi
,
please!
Be rational,”
Zora
pleaded.