The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (35 page)

Gabrielle’s face pinched with determination
.
“No, I’m going under one more time. I have to; I know that she’s still alive.”

“Well, I’m not leaving you. Let’s try to find her together,”
Zora
said strongly.

Taking deep breaths, they quickly dove under the ice-cold water
,
frantically swimming around
;
still
,
there was no sign of Rosalinda.

Zora
gave Gabrielle a remorseful look as she gave her the sign that she
wa
s going back up to the surface.

Gabrielle nodded her head sadly and started to follow her up to the surface when something shimmering in the water caught the corner of her eye. She blinked in awe at the huge golden bubble shimmering brightly at the bottom of the water. Fearfully, she backed up as the large bubble slowly rose from the bottom. As
i
t
rose, the shining gold light became brighter. As if by magic, tiny bubbles circled it.

As if in a hypnotized daze, Gabrielle tried to swim closer to touch it but the tiny bubbles gently pushed her away. She looked on in awe at the sheer size of the bubble.
H
er eyes squinted at the sight of Rosalinda’s body peacefully cocooned in the center of the circle, her eyes closed as if she were in some sort of calm sleep.

Excitedly, Gabrielle swam toward the bubble,
and
this time the tiny bubbles parted
,
allowing her to get close. She cautiously swam around the bubble, her face practically pressed against
its
surface as she looked at Rosalinda’s body carefully suspended in the center.

Unexpectedly,
the
tiny bubbles briskly encircled her body
,
twirling and pushing her softly around in the water. Gabrielle giggled as the
y
softly tickled her body; all of a sudden, the bubbles increased in strength
,
shoving her through the water like soda bursting out of
a
shaken bottle.

Gabrielle burst to the surface, gasping for air.

Quickly,
Zora
swam toward
her.
“What happened? You were down there for an awful long time. How in the world did you hold your breath for so long?”

Gabrielle desperately gasped for air, silently looking at
Zora
with dazed eyes.

Zora’s
faced pinched with concern
.
“What
’s
wrong with you
,
Gabi? You look spooked
.
E
xactly what happened down there?”

Gabrielle wiped the water from her eyes
.
“
Zora
, if I told you, you just wouldn’t believe me. I just saw the strangest
,
most beautiful thing.”

The surface of the water rippled violently and Rosalinda’s body burst to the surface as if it w
ere
spit
out with distain by the water. Her body floated for what seemed like hours as Gabrielle and
Zora
looked on
in
fright
.

Suddenly, Rosalinda’s eyes snapped open, looking around
in panic
. “Help me! I can’t swim!”

Gabrielle and
Zora
froze
in
shock
.
“No way!” they said in unison.

Like a fish, Rosalinda’s body floundered and splashed around hysterically
.
“Help me!”

Zora
and Gabrielle swam frantically over to her.
Gabrielle grabbed Rosalinda’s sweater but Rosalinda struggled and splashed around
too much.
“Rosa! Stop panicking! You’re going to drown us both.”

Ignoring her, Rosalinda
continued to
splash
around
.
“I can’t swim! Help me!”

Gabrielle gasped for air
.
“What do you think I’m trying to do? Relax; I’ll pull you to the edge of the water.” She gripped Rosalinda’s neck and swam strongly toward the e
dge
with
Zora
swimming by her side.

They gasped and struggled for air when they reached the
water’s
edge
.
 

Pulling her body tiredly out of the lagoon,
Zora
collapsed onto her back as she gasped for air.
Gabrielle pulled her body out of the water and crawled along the floor
,
g
ulping for breath.
She looked over her shoulders and saw Rosalinda struggling to get out of the water;
Gabrielle
struggled to her feet with wobbly legs then walked back to the water’s edge and extended her hand.

“Grab my hand
,
Rosa.”

Rosalinda looked
up gratefully and grabbed Gabrielle’s hand as she pulled her slowly from the water. Both Rosalinda and Gabrielle collapsed tiredly on the cold blue tiles.

“Thank you
,
Gabi,” Rosalinda said breathlessly.

 
“What are you thanking me for?” Gabrielle responded gruffly.

“I’m thanking you for saving me,” Rosalinda continued.

Gabrielle rolled
over onto her side and looked at her tiredly
.
“I’d really like to take all of the credit
,
but I can’t. Don’t you remember anything that happened down there?”

Rosalinda hesitated
.
“Kind of
…
I remember sliding through the cavern; I remember being spit out of the cavern by a big gush of water. I also remember floating through the air then hitting the water
…
but after that, I can’t remember anything.”

Gabrielle sat
up
.
“So, you really don’t remember anything else?”

“Why? What happened?” Rosalinda asked.

Zora
walked over and plopped down next to them
.
“Yeah
,
Gabi, exactly what happened down there?”

Gabrielle looked over
.
“I don’t think that either of you would believe me even if I told you.”

Zora
looked at her anxiously
.
“After all of the things that happened so far today, I will believe anything at this point.”

Gabrielle breathed
out anxiously
.
“Well, when you went back up for air, I started to follow you but something caught my eye. When I looked down toward the bottom of the water
,
I saw this strange thing. It was a—”

Rosalinda looked at her expectantly
.
“What? You saw what?”

“I saw a big golden bubble,”
Gabrielle
blurted
out.

Their eyes were huge as saucers.

 
“Well, what was inside the bubble?”
Zora
asked.

“It was Rosa—she was stuck in the center of the bubble,” Gabrielle stated.

Zora
looked at her
in
shock
.
“No way!”

Gabrielle smiled
.
“Yes, way.”

Rosalinda sat
up and twirled her wet
,
black hair nervously.

Gabrielle looked over at Rosalinda suspiciously. “Are you absolutely sure that you don’t remember what happened?”

Deliberately avoid
ing
their piercing stares, she stood
up shakily, squeezing the water from her hair. “I just told you I don’t remember a thing. So stop asking me,”
Rosa
said nastily. She rudely turned on her heels and stormed off.

Unconvinced, Gabrielle and
Zora
looked at her disappearing back.

Standing
up, Gabrielle squeezed the water from her ponytails
.
“Frankly, I think she’s lying.”

Zora
looked down at the glasses firmly g
r
asped in her hand
.
“I think so
,
too.”

Gabrielle looked around the huge
,
brightly painted room in awe. “Oh
,
well, time
’
s a
-
wasting—and the Gabby Girls Adventure continues.”

The end is near and crysta
l-
clear. Just walk right through it if you dare. And if you’re feeling faint at heart, let that person make a start.

G
abrielle walked slowly toward the brightly painted walls, running her fingers along the carved symbols. She blinked quickly, not believing her eyes. “What in
the
world! What is this room doing here?”

Rosalinda nervously twitched as she stood by the small waterfall
.
“Look at how crystal
-
clear this water is.” She ran her fingers through the water, gasping deliciously
.
“And so cold.”