The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) by T.L. Clarke Page A

you’re suggesting makes absolutely no sense . ”
    With agitation, Zora adjusted her glasses . “Hear me out first , okay? First , let’s start with everyone going back to the chair that matches her pendant.”
    They all reluctantly walked back to the chairs and stood behind them.
    Zora adjusted her glasses as she turned around to face the bookshelf. Her legs gently pressed against the back of the chair. In a straight line, she walked from the chair towards the bookshelf, which landed her right in front of a densely packed section of the shelf. She smiled slightly . “Okay, so this is my section of the bookshelf. I’m going to search all of the books in this section,” she stated matter-of-factly.
    Rosalinda, Gabrielle, and Jessica quickly turned around and walked in a straight line toward the bookshelf. They look ed at each other in puzzlement as they stood in front of their section of the shelf.
    Zora gave them an encouraging smile . “Well, I guess we better start looking. We’re bound to find something interesting,” she said.
    They frantically pulled books from the bookshelf, carefully examining each one.
    Gabrielle blew the thick dust off the book cradled in her hands and quickly flipped through the pages with eyebrows furrowed. “Wow! This is so weird … the title of this book is written in English but the pages inside have some sort of strange language written on them, ” she exclaimed.
    Absorbed in her task, Zora quickly flipped through the book nestled in her hand. “It’s the same with this book. The title is in English but the pages inside are written in … Oh! I recognize this language; it’s based on the Latin alphabet,” she muttered.
    Jessica looked over . “Well, can you understand it?”
    “Well , I understand some of it , but not all,” Zora said.
    Rosalind snorted nastily . “It figures—the p s y ch ic can’t understand what’s on the page. Classic!” she scoffed.
    Gabrielle looked over at her . “Well, at least she’s trying to help. What have you contributed so far? Nothing! So either help or be quiet! I , for one , vote for being quiet . ”
    Rosalinda huffed nastily.
    “Okay, from what I can tell, this is definitely a science book by all of the formulas written on the pages,” Zora stated.
    Jessica pulled another book from the bookshelf and plopped down on the floor with exhaustion. She rubbed her eyes tiredly as she ran her fingers along the dusty front cover and marveled at the beautiful book title that was written in bright gold. Tiredly, she flipped through the pages, stopping at the last on e, which revealed a loose binding.
    She looked up with excitement . “Uh , I think I found the clue,” she muttered nervously.
    They quickly ran over to her.
    Jessica pointed at the binding . “Look at how loose the binding is, and it’s definitely unglued. Here … take a look if you don’t believe me . ”
    Gabrielle excitedly took the book from Jessica’s trembling hands. She ran her fingers along the worn back cover. “Look, there’s a bulge under the back cover. Does anyone have something sharp that I can use to pry it up?”
    “Wait, I do,” Rosalinda said excitedly as she pulled a nail file from her bag and handed it to Gabrielle. “The end of my nail file is sharp enough to pry it up.”
    “Awesome, this will work,” Gabrielle said gratefully as she pressed the end of the nail file along the outer edges of the cover, piercing the paper. She quickly scratched at the corner, prying it up with her nails. Her hands trembled excitedly as she peeled the gold lining back, revealing an old yellowed envelope , which fell to the floor with a soft clanking sound.
    They looked at each other anxiously as Gabrielle reached down and picked up the envelope. She tore it open with excitement and they all gasped as she pulled out a piece of paper , which she carefully unfolded to reveal a small gold key nestled in the center.
    Gabrielle cleared her throat as she read aloud,
Now