by T. L. Clarke
Gabrielle rolled her eyes as she confidently fluffed up her ponytails. “Whatever. That’s nothing but straight-up jealously. Admit it, you’re just jealous of my style and grace.”
Jessica walked over to Rosalinda and sat down beside her. “Wow! Did you say that your mother was a famous actress?” she gushed. “Has she been in any movies that we might have seen?”
Rosalinda looked over at her sadly. “Probably not. Most of her roles were in Spanish movies.”
“Does she still live in Spain?” Jessica asked excitedly.
Rosalinda’s voice cracked. “No, she passed away years ago. How I miss her so,” she said unhappily. She slowly stood up and walked over to the closet, pulling out a faded gold treasure box. She carefully walked back over to bed, sat down, and opened it.
“My father just gave me this box for my birthday. It was passed down from my grandmother to my mother and now it’s finally mine.” Rosalinda beamed proudly as she dug through the box, carefully pulling out an old photo, and handed it over to Jessica. “This is my mother. Isn’t she beautiful?”
Gabrielle walked over to the bed and plopped down next to Jessica.
Jessica smiled as she examined the photo of a beautiful woman with olive-colored skin, smiling proudly as she tightly hugged a giggling Rosalinda. “Gosh, she sure is beautiful, Rosalinda,” Jessica said softly. She carefully started to hand the photo back over to Rosalinda but Gabrielle quickly snatched it from her fingers.
She examined the photo then started to hand it back over to Jessica, but a glistening object in the photo quickly caught her eye. Gabrielle squealed excitedly as she pointed to the photo. “Rosalinda, what is this? What’s that around your mother’s neck?”
Rosalinda carefully grabbed the photo. “What are you so excited about?” she asked coolly as she quickly looked at the photo. “Ah, you mean this?” She dug under her cardigan and pulled out a gold necklace with a pendant.
Gabrielle’s eyes popped open with surprise. “No way! I can’t believe it.”
Rosalinda was visibly startled by her reaction. “What? Why are you so excited?”
Gabrielle quickly dug under her cardigan and pulled out her necklace. “Look, we have the same pendant,” she exclaimed with excitement.
Rosalinda leaned over and looked at it indifferently. “Gabi, this is no big deal. A lot of people have the same necklace.”
“No! Not like this, they don’t. Quick, Jess, show Rosalinda your necklace,” Gabrielle demanded eagerly.
Jessica pulled out her necklace and held it out for Rosalinda to see. “You know what? I think that Gabi might be on to something. It can’t be an accident that we all have the same pendant. Besides, my great-grandmother wore this very same one,” she stammered nervously. Her face suddenly pinched with confusion as she twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “You know, come to think of it, I think that all of the women in my family have worn a necklace like this at one point in their lives.”
Curious, Zora walked over to look at Gabrielle’s pendant as their voices rose with excitement while they animatedly speculated on why they had the same necklace. Zora silently laid Gabrielle’s pendant into the center of the palm of her hand. Suddenly, it began to twirl in mid-air. She looked over at them in shock.
“Did you just see that?” Zora asked nervously.
They abruptly stopped talking and looked over at her.
“What? Did we see what, Zora?” Gabrielle asked.
Zora adjusted her glasses nervously. “Uh, I guess it’s nothing. Gabi, can you take off your necklace? I want to examine it a little more.”
Gabrielle hesitated when she remembered the promise that she made to Grandma Celeste about not taking off the necklace, but she wanted the answer to the mystery behind the pendant much more, so she quickly unhooked her necklace and handed it over to Zora.
Zora carefully held the pendant up to the light, watching as the ruby stones twinkled. “Wow! This pendant is very old; I think it was made in the nineteen-hundreds. Hey, wait a minute—there’s a strange symbol under the stone in the center.”
“Back up a second. How do you know that the pendant was made in the nineteen hundreds?” Jessica asked.
Zora pushed her glasses up from the tip of her nose. “Uh, well, I can pretty much figure out anything about an object just by looking at it or touching it. I guess it’s both a gift and a curse.”
Gabrielle glared at Zora and Jessica. “Focus, girls. Why are we talking about the date of the pendant when we don’t even know why we all have the same one and we definitely don’t know where it was made?”
“Egypt,” Zora blurted out matter-of-factly.
“Excuse me? Egypt? What in the world are you jabbering about, Zora?” Gabrielle asked.
“I think that the pendant was made in Egypt,” Zora stated.
“Oh! This is so ridiculous. How could she know when and where our pendants were made? I think that she’s making all this stuff up,” Rosalinda scoffed loudly.
Jessica’s eyebrows rose with puzzlement. “But how do you know, Zora?”
“I just told you…I have this freaky gift,” Zora said with a sigh.
Jessica, Gabrielle, and Rosalinda looked at her strangely.
Zora took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes tiredly. “Okay, so why are you looking at me like I’m some sort of strange creature? I knew it, I just knew it. I should have kept my big mouth shut. Now just like everyone else, you think that I’m some sort of freak.”
“Uh, relax, Zora, we don’t think that you’re a freak,” Gabrielle responded calmly.
Rosalinda rolled her eyes. “Umm, I beg to differ. I think that she’s either a big fat liar or some sort of freak. Either one—take your pick!” she declared rudely.
Gabrielle gave Rosalinda an angry glare. “Girl, you are absolutely the worst!” She gave Zora a look of support. “Don’t worry about it, Zora. We’re friends and despite what the princess over there says, you’re still cool with us.” Gabrielle rubbed her hands together anxiously. “So, how do we figure out what the symbol in the center of the pendant means?”
Zora smiled gratefully then snapped her fingers loudly. “Wait a second—I got it. Let me get my magnifying glass; maybe we can figure it out together. Quick…everyone take off your necklaces; I’ll need to look at them.”
They quickly took off their necklaces and laid them carefully on the bed, side by side.
Zora dashed over to her huge backpack that was lying on the floor, opened it, and pulled out a magnifying glass. She walked over to the bed and kneeled on the floor as she slowly held the magnifying glass over each of the pendants.
“Interesting…interesting…oh, this is very interesting,” Zora mumbled softly.
Gabrielle gave her a puzzled look. “Okay, do you mind telling us what’s so interesting?” she demanded impatiently.
Zora looked over at them distractedly. “Oh, I’m sorry. Okay, so we all know that the pendant has five ruby stones: you know, four ruby stones circling the big one in the center. But what’s so interesting is the small carved symbols under each stone.”
“We already know that, Zora—tell us something we don’t know,” Gabrielle said.
“Well, what’s even more interesting is that the pendants are almost the same: you know, with the same four symbols under each stone except for the symbol in the center, which is different in each of your pendants,” Zora continued breathlessly.
Giving her a doubtful look, Gabrielle scoffed loudly.
“Well, if you don’t believe me then take a look yourself,” Zora said angrily as she shoved the magnifying glass towards Gabrielle.
“Jeez, Zora, you don’t have to get all huffy about it!” Gabrielle slowly examined the pendants then looked over at Zora apologetically. “Wow, you’re right. I see what you’re talking about, but do you know what the symbols mean?”
Zora adjusted her eyeglasses. “Well, from what I can tell so far, they’re based on some form of ancient Egyptian langua
ge.”
Gabrielle jumped up and down excitedly. “So, you do know what they mean,” she screamed.
Zora shook her head regretfully. “Well, not exactly. See, it’s not Egyptian; it seems to be based on the language,” she stated calmly.
Rosalinda gave Zora a confused look. “So what are you saying? I don’t understand.”
Gabrielle’s face tensed. “Let me get this straight. You don’t know what they mean?”
“Sorry, girls, I don’t know what the symbols mean. I have never seen this exact form of language,” Zora said quickly. Her face suddenly lit up. “But I do have some books in my trunk that just might solve our problem,” she said as she quickly walked over to a tattered old trunk nestled in the corner of the room. She unlocked the top and snapped it open roughly. As she knelt in front of the trunk, her eyes flashed anxiously when she noticed the partially peeled-back lining in the top corner.
Zora adjusted her glasses. “Great! My trunk is falling apart.”
Curiously, Rosalinda walked over to Zora, her nose crinkled with revulsion. “Well, what in the world do you expect? This old dirty trunk needs to be thrown in the trash,” she declared arrogantly.
Zora asked with annoyance, “What in the world are you blabbing about? This trunk has been with me since I was a baby and has traveled all over the world. Besides, it belonged to my mother; I would never, ever get rid of it. Not for all of the money in the world,” she declared angrily.
Daintily, Rosalinda leaned down, grabbing at the corner of the lining. “My goodness, but just look at this disgusting thing. It’s peeling, for goodness sake.”
“Don’t touch it, Rosa—just leave it alone,” Zora screamed as she swatted Rosalinda’s hand away.
Rosalinda’s fingers quickly snapped back, taking half of the lining with them.
Zora wailed loudly with despair. “Oh! How could you? Look what you did,” she screamed hysterically.
Jessica and Gabrielle ran over to the trunk. They kneeled around it, gawking with fascination at the ripped lining.
Rosalinda slapped her hands on her hips angrily. “Why are you blaming me? It’s your fault; you shouldn’t have pushed my hand away.”
Gabrielle shook her head with disgust as she looked over at Rosalinda. Pursing her lips, Rosalinda rolled her eyes at Gabrielle.
Giving Zora a comforting smile, Gabrielle quickly reached into the trunk, carefully smoothing back the lining. “Jeez, Zora, it’s no biggie. We can fix this right up with just a little glue and a blow dryer.”
Jessica pointed a finger at the small bulge under the middle of the lining. “What’s that? There’s something stuck under the lining.”
They huddled closer to examine the bulge as Gabrielle rubbed her fingers over the hump.
Zora looked at Gabrielle anxiously as she adjusted her glasses. “Oh, no, you don’t! Don’t you dare, Gabi!” she squealed.
Gabrielle gave Zora a not-so-innocent stare. “What?”
“Oh! Don’t you play dumb with me, missy. I know exactly what you want to do and I say no!” Zora screamed anxiously.
“But it’s already ripped,” she yelled as she snidely looked over at Rosalinda. “Rosa saw to that. And besides, aren’t you even a little bit curious about what’s under there?”
“N-O spells no! I…oh, no,” Zora squealed with horror as she watched Gabrielle rip the lining completely off.
They all gasped with surprise as a dusty, old, yellowed package plopped down softly into the middle of the trunk.
Gabrielle looked over at them excitedly. “I knew it! I just knew there was something hidden under there.”
Zora quickly reached into the trunk and pulled out the package.
Rosalinda looked at her impatiently. “Well? Hurry up, Zora! Open it!”
Gabrielle gave Rosalinda an annoyed glare. “Oh, just be quiet, Rosa.”
Scratching her head with confusion, Zora flipped the package over from front to back then back to the front again. She quickly blew off the thick dust that coated the package, sneezing loudly as a cloud of dust billowed around her face. Sitting back on her heels, Zora carefully placed the package on the floor. Her tanned fingers trembled as she untied the yellowed string from around it. Zora gasped with surprise when she spotted the neatly folded paper lying on top of a beautiful gold and enamel box. Reaching down, she snatched the box and opened it.
They all gasped with shock as Zora pulled out a gold necklace with a large gold and ruby pendant attached.
Gabrielle’s hazel eyes widened with shock. “Oh! No way, no way.”
Zora looked over at Gabrielle with misty eyes as the necklace dangled from her fingers. “Can you put it on for me?” she asked.
Gabrielle smiled warmly as she took the necklace from her trembling fingers and unhooked the clasp, fastening it around Zora’s neck.
Zora smiled happily as she ran her fingers across the bright blood-red stones embedded within the pendant.
Rosalinda looked around the room nervously. “Okay, now I’m really frightened. We all have the same necklace and that’s definitely no accident,” she said uneasily.
Jessica looked around nervously, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. “I must admit that I’m just a little freaked out, too,” she said timidly.
“Zora, read the note. Maybe it can tell us what in the world is going on here,” Gabrielle demanded.
They looked over at Zora expectantly as she carefully unfolded the paper that revealed a battered old gold compass nestled inside. She handed the compass over to Jessica and scanned the note quickly. Her eyes suddenly widened with shock.
“Well, what does it say?” Gabrielle asked impatiently.
Zora adjusted her eyeglasses then read aloud,
For all the questions that you may have, just pay attention to this first half. First go to Parker—that’s a start—then read and solve the second half. It’s wide and tall from floor to ceiling and always filled with words and meaning. You’ll know that you have found a clue when all that binds has come unglued.
Jessica nervously looked over at Zora. “What does that mean? And what in the world is this compass for?”
Zora scratched her head in confusion. “I don’t know what the compass is for, but I do know that the note is definitely some sort of clue.”
Rosalinda scoffed loudly. “Clue? Are you kidding me? Who has time to solve some stupid clue?” she asked with scorn dripping from her voice.
Gabrielle looked at them with glee in her eyes. “We do. Don’t you see? This must be the clue that will help us find the meaning behind the pendants.”
“I agree with Gabi. If we want to solve the mystery behind these pendants, we first have to start by solving this clue,” Zora said with excitement.
Rosalinda quickly stood up, walked over to her bed, and sat down tiredly. “Well, I’m not interested in traipsing around school grounds just to figure out the meaning of some stupid clue that might or might not help us,” she said sourly.
Gabrielle gave Rosalinda a dismissive look then turned and looked at Jessica and Zora matter-of-factly. “Listen, forget about Princess Rosalinda. If she’s not with us then we’ll figure this out by ourselves. Let me see the note, Zora.”
Zora quickly handed her the note.
“Thanks, Zo.” She quickly read the note then handed it back. “Jessica, let me see the compass.”
Jessica handed the compass over to Gabrielle, who twirled it around. “Funny, the gold compass has letters and numbers circling the outer edges. I wonder what it’s for.”
“Maybe the note will tell us,” Zora declared as she adjusted her glasses and then read the note aloud again:
For all the questions that you may have, just pay attention to this first half. First go to Parker—that’s a start—then read and solve the second half. It’s wide and tall from floor to ceiling and always filled with words and meaning. You’ll know that you have found a clue when all that binds has come unglued.
“Hey, wait a
minute. Did I hear you say Parker?” Jessica asked nervously.
“Yep, it says first go to Parker, that’s a start. What in the world is Parker?” Zora asked.
“Well, Parker is my family’s last name on my mother’s side,” Jessica said.
Gabrielle looked over at her with excitement. “Well, you do know what we have to do now, Jess?”
Jessica cleared her throat. “Gabi, please don’t say it.”
Gabrielle reached over and hugged Jessica. “Yes, Jess, the clue wants us to go back to Parker Hall,” she exclaimed.
“Gabi, didn’t I just ask you not to say it?” Jessica said nervously.
“What are you two talking about? What’s Parker Hall?” Zora asked.
Gabrielle rubbed her palms together eagerly. “It’s like this weird mini-castle named after Jessica’s great-grandmother.”
“Okay, so what’s in there?” Zora asked.
“All sorts of weird stuff. Like today, when we went into it, you know, just to check things out, we found this secret room with all these weird books and furniture,” Gabrielle said with excitement.
Rosalinda looked around the room nervously. “I don’t have a good feeling about this,” she said. She pointed to the clock on the dressing table. “And look at the time. It’s eight o’clock; it’s way too late to go on some wild goose chase. Besides, if Ms. Vineswell catches you, you will get in serious trouble,” she declared loudly.
Zora smiled bravely. “Okay, so what time are we leaving?”
Gabrielle looked over at Jessica. “Okay, since you know more about Vineswell Academy than any of us, when can we sneak out without anyone noticing?”
Jessica twisted a strand of hair around her finger. “Well, every night at ten-thirty, they do a lights-out check, just to make sure that everyone is in their room. So, we’ll have to wait until then before we can sneak out.”
Rosalinda jumped up abruptly and stomped over to them. “Oh, no, you don’t!” she said as she wagged a finger in their faces. “There will be no sneaking out. If we get caught, do you know what will happen to us?” She looked at them like a scolding schoolteacher. “Do you?” she asked again with scorn in her voice.