by T. L. Clarke
“Okay, so what do you have, Gabi?” Zora asked quickly.
Gabrielle scratched her head with puzzlement as she examined what she wrote. “Hmmm, give me a second…okay, I got it! It says, ‘The Secret Circle Lies within Each of You.’”
“So, exactly what does that mean?” Rosalinda asked.
“Well, I don’t know, but it’s time to find out what or who is behind this whole mystery. Let’s go, Gabby Girls.” Zora took the paper from Jessica, folding it and placing it carefully into her backpack along with the gold compass.
Jessica, Zora, and Gabrielle quickly turned on their heels and started down the long cavern.
“Stop! I’m not going anywhere!” Rosalinda screamed angrily.
Zora sharply turned around, looking at her with annoyance. “Look, Rosalinda, stop wasting time.”
Rosalinda giggled loudly as she held out her hand facedown. She looked at them expectantly.
Smiling knowingly, Jessica walked over to her, placing her hand facedown on Rosalinda’s. Zora giggled softly, walking over and placing her hand on top of Jessica’s.
Gabrielle looked at them like they were crazy. “Gabby Girls, we don’t have time for this right now.”
Jessica’s face was bright red from laughing. “Oh, come on; we always have time. Come on, Gabi, we’re waiting.”
Rosalinda cracked a wide smile. “That’s right…get over here. After all, you started this whole Gabby Girls thing.”
Gabrielle threw her hands up in the air in defeat. “Okay, okay…you Gabby Girls are just the craziest.” Walking over, she placed her hand facedown on top of Zora’s.
They looked over at her expectantly, causing her to roll her eyes skyward playfully. “Okay, okay…”
They lifted their hands in the air, screaming at the top of their lungs, “Gabby Girls Adventure!”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The Secret Orbis
They tiredly walked through the narrow cavern, guided only by the lit torches that lined the walls. They looked around in awe as the cavern led them into a larger cavern.
Zora adjusted her glasses, looking around the cavern curiously. She pointed up at the jagged rocks that crusted the ceilings. “Wow, awesome. Look at the crystal formations; they’re caused from stopping the water flow in the cavern.”
Jessica plopped down on the dusty ground with a sigh. “I’m exhausted. Exactly how long have we been walking?”
Zora paced the cavern floor, looking at the crystal formations. “Not long…maybe fifteen minutes,” she responded distractedly.
Rosalinda huffed and puffed tiredly, looking at her with irritation. “Well, it’s been the longest fifteen minutes ever.”
Gabrielle looked over at her and smiled mysteriously. “Well, guess what? I don’t think that we have much longer.” She pointed over to the life-size stone statues that were lined up against the walls in a circle.
“Oh, great, this just gets better and better,” Zora exclaimed as she walked over to a statue, examining it but carefully mindful not to touch it.
The statue was intricately carved into the shape of a pretty girl; she sat cross-legged with her arms outstretched as if reaching for the sky. Her eyes were made of ruby stone and her lips curled up in a frozen, knowing smile.
“Hmmm, there’s something written at the bottom of the statue.” Zora carefully dusted the dirt off. “It says Orbis.”
Rosalinda rolled her eyes with annoyance. “Which means?”
“It’s Latin for circle,” Zora responded matter-of-factly.
Gabrielle walked from statue to statue, examining each detail. “Well, they all look the same. I can’t see anything different with any of them. Can you, Zora?”
Zora adjusted her glasses. “Nope, you’re right, Gabi; they are all the same.”
Jessica wrung her hands nervously. “Well, I don’t see an exit out of here. Are we stuck in here?”
Rubbing her eyes tiredly, Rosalinda examined the statues. “Great, it’s another trick.”
“Yep, I’m afraid so; it’s got to be another trick. But this time we will not be fooled easily,” Zora responded as she looked at the statues. “Okay, let me think…these statues are here for a reason. We have four statues sitting cross-legged, all with ruby eyes, but one of them has to hold the secret to getting out of this room; we just have to figure out which one.”
She looked over at the other girls. “Okay, first, let’s each of us go over to a statue.”
They quickly walked over to a statue and stood in front of it.
Zora smiled slightly. “Okay, I’ll start by calling out what I see on my statue and each of you will look at your statue and see if you see the same thing. If you do, call it out, okay?” She adjusted her glasses as she examined the statue before her. “Okay, eyes with ruby stones.”
“Yes,” Gabrielle screamed.
“Yes,” Jessica screamed.
“Yes,” Rosalinda screamed.
“Legs crossed,” Zora called out.
“Yes,” they responded in unison.
“Okay, lightly dust off the dirt over the letters at the bottom and tell me if you see Orbis written on it,” Zora screamed.
“Yes,” they responded in unison.
“Arms outstretched, both palms facing the sky,” Zora called out.
“Yes,” Jessica and Gabrielle responded.
Rosalinda looked over. “Ummm, did you say facing the sky? Because on this statue, one palm is facing up and the other palm is facing down.”
Zora adjusted her glasses excitedly. “Well, that’s it; that’s the ticket to getting out of here.”
They all ran over to the statue and stared at it intently.
“Well, I’m looking and I still don’t see how this statue can get us out of here,” Gabrielle responded.
“Do you see what I see?” Zora exclaimed.
Gabrielle plopped down on the ground tiredly. “Zora, I’m way too tired to think right now. So if you know something, please just come out with it.”
Zora’s body shook with barely contained excitement. “Look at her palms; they look like they can be twisted around in the other direction.”
Jessica fiddled nervously with her hands. “No way… that’s way too simple, Zora; it has to be some sort of trick. Besides, how do we know that if we touch the statue it won’t set off another booby-trap?”
Zora adjusted her glasses, which were balancing precariously on the tip of her narrow nose. “Well, I don’t know for sure, but I just have a gut feeling that she’s the one. She has to be, trust me.”
Not moving an inch, Gabrielle looked on tiredly. “I just can’t do this anymore. I’m so tired that my mind and body are just numb.”
Rosalinda looked at her wryly as she extended her hand to Gabrielle. “Oh, no, muchacha. You will not give up now, not when we’ve made it this far. Get up, Gabi.”
Gabrielle clutched Rosalinda’s hand, allowing her to pull her up. “Okay, okay! Don’t be so pushy!”
Zora looked at them. “Okay, so do we all agree that I should twist her palm and see what happens?”
Jessica and Rosalinda looked at her uncertainly but Gabrielle smirked boldly. “Go ahead and turn it, Zora. Gabby Girls aren’t afraid of anything!”
“Okay, here I go.”
Jessica and Rosalinda flinched nervously as they watched Zora gently grab the statue’s palm, twisting it skyward. She quickly stepped back with anticipation.
Deafening silence filled the room.
Rosalinda huffed angrily. “Great! Nothing happened; now we really are stuck in this place forever.”
Gabrielle looked around the room quickly. “Be patient, it has to be the way out of here because if—” Startled, she jumped at the low rumbling of the floor.
Jessica yelped nervously. “Oh, no! Brace yourself; the floor is going to drop, I just know it.”
Zora adjusted her glasses excitedly as she looked around the cavern. “Nope! That’s not going to happen. Look at the walls; see how the
y’re vibrating too? Something’s happening!”
The floors and walls rumbled violently, causing them to wobble around uncontrollably. As suddenly as it started, the rumbling stopped, giving way to silence.
They looked at each other nervously.
Rosalinda glanced over at Zora with frightened eyes. “Oh, this can’t be good.”
They looked around the cavern, waiting for something to happen. Then, suddenly, a soft scraping sound pierced the silence and the walls parted, as if by magic, giving way to a brightly lit passageway.
Gabrielle jumped with glee. “Oh, this absolutely rocks, Gabby Girls. I can feel it…we’re almost home. Let’s get out of here.” She stomped toward the brightly lit passageway, with Jessica, Rosalinda, and Zora following closely behind.
They walked through the corridor in complete silence, each one tired, hungry, and lost in her own thoughts.
Zora said, “Look ahead of us. I see something at the end of the passageway.”
“Please don’t tell me it’s another dead end,” Rosa said. “I just can’t take this anymore.”
Zora took off her glasses, wiping them clean on the front of her shirt. “No, I don’t think so; it looks like a door.”
Gabrielle quickly stepped around Zora, examining the huge stone door that blocked their path. She scanned the door, noticing that in the middle there was a large carved circle with a big scarlet stone surrounded by five overlapping small circles of scarlet stones.
“Zora, let me see your magnifying glass; there’s something really strange about this door,” Gabrielle said.
Zora opened her backpack, digging around frantically. “Here, I found it,” she responded as she pulled out the magnifying glass, quickly handing it to her.
Holding the magnifying glass up to the door, Gabrielle passed it slowly over the five overlapping circles of scarlet stones.
Zora looked at her anxiously. “So, what’s so strange about the door?”
Gabrielle squinted warily at the circles. “Well, first of all, some of the circles are missing scarlet stones. I counted about five missing stones.” She rubbed her eyes tiredly. “The second thing is that I counted thirty circles surrounding the gigantic scarlet stone in the center. So, since some of the circles have scarlet stones in them but some don’t, I’m guessing that it’s some sort of lock.” She handed the magnifying glass over to Zora. “Here, take a look for yourself.”
Zora quickly grabbed the magnifying glass and began to examine the circles. “Gabi, you’re right…it’s some sort of weird lock. But how in the world do we open it?”
Gabrielle plopped down tiredly on the ground, sending a whiff of dust around her. “That’s a good question, Zora. The way I see it is we need some sort of key.”
Jessica walked over to the stone door. “Well, have you thought about just turning the handle and seeing if it opens?” She grabbed the handle that was shaped like a circle and tried to turn it, but it would not budge.
Rosalinda rolled her eyes skyward. “Brilliant idea, Jessica. Did you really think that it would be as simple as turning the handle and the door would magically open? Duh!”
Zora sat down tiredly next to Gabrielle. “Well, I think it was a good try, Jessica, but I could have told you that it wouldn’t work.”
Jessica plopped down tiredly. “Great, so we’re stuck again!”
Rosalinda looked over at them with disgust then threw her hands up in the air angrily. “So, what’s this? We’ve come this far and all you can do is just sit here? What happened to all that Gabby Girls Adventure stuff?”
Jessica looked up tiredly. “Face it, Rosa, we’re stuck and there’s no way out. We give up.”
Rosalinda slammed her hands on her curvy hips, tapping her foot angrily. “There is just no way that we’re giving up, not after we’ve come this far. My father always says when you feel like giving up, that’s when you dig deeper into your heart and try harder. So, Gabby Girls, get up, dig deeper, and try harder.”
With defeat written all over her face, Gabrielle breathed out tiredly, “But—”
“No excuses! Gabby Girls do not make excuses; we make things happen. So, let’s start thinking about a way to open this door,” Rosalinda said confidently.
Jessica fidgeted with her pendant. “That’s right…let’s think. What could possibly be the key?”
Gabrielle suddenly perked up. “Remember what one of the last clues said? ‘The key you seek is near your heart and it will lead you to the start.’” She quickly stood up, pacing the floor in deep thought. Then she stopped in mid-pace, looking over at them excitedly. “Okay, I think I figured it out. Now, remember, this whole Gabby Girls Adventure started out because of our pendants and then our pendants gave us light just when we needed it.”
They looked over at her like she was crazy.
“Gee whiz, Gabi, we already know all that,” Rosalinda said loudly.
Gabrielle looked at them expectantly. “Don’t you get it?”
They gave her blank stares.
Gabrielle rolled her eyes in frustration. “Duh! The empty holes in the circles.”
Jessica eyes bulged. “And?”
Zora jumped up and down excitedly. “I get it! ‘The key you seek is near your heart and it will lead you to the start’—it’s our pendants.”
Zora and Gabrielle grabbed each other, jumping up and down excitedly, as Rosalinda and Jessica looked at them in confusion.
Gabrielle explained, “Gabby Girls, our pendant is the key. Quick, everyone take off your pendants and let’s go to the door.”
They screamed with excitement as they took off their pendants, holding them in their hands.
“Now what?” Jessica asked.
“Push your pendant facedown into an empty hole. I’ll go first,” Zora said quickly as she snapped her pendant into an empty hole then stepped back anxiously.
They jumped nervously as the door clicked softly.
“It’s actually working,” Jessica whispered.
Zora looked over happily. “You’re next, Gabi.”
Gabrielle stepped forward, snapping her pendant into an empty hole and stepping back excitedly. The door clicked again.
Rosalinda cautiously stepped forward, snapping her pendant into an empty hole. The door clicked once more.
Jessica stepped forward, snapping her pendant into an empty hole.
Startled, they jumped back when the air was pierced by a large, booming sound, and then the cavern went completely silent. They stood deathly still, looking at the door expectantly.
“Gabi, something tells me it’s time to turn the handle,” Rosalinda whispered.
Gabrielle gulped anxiously as she placed her hands on the large circle handle and twisted. It did not move; she looked over at Zora helplessly. “I need some help; it’s too hard to turn by myself.”
Zora stepped closer, placing her hands on the top part of the handle; they turned the handle together. It turned a little but was still too hard to turn completely. Gabrielle looked over at Rosalinda and Jessica for help. They stepped closer, gripping the handle.
Zora smiled mockingly. “Well, I guess we get the point by now; we have to turn the handle together or the door will not open. Okay, Gabby Girls, let’s turn this handle and finally get out of here.”
As they twisted the handle tiredly, it slowly moved with each turn, making a sharp clicking sound. With the last click, they stepped back.
A booming sound erupted from the door and it slowly slid open. They stood back silently, peering in awe at the brightly lit room that opened before them.
Zora scratched her head with amazement. “I don’t get it; why did it work? There were five empty holes and we only had four pendants.”
“Zora, just be happy that it did,” Gabrielle said.
Rosalinda looked at them. “Well, let’s go…what are you waiting for? This is what we’ve been looking for: a way out.” She quickly walked toward the room.
Zora pulled Rosalinda back. “Wait! Don�
�t forget to take your pendants. I have a feeling that we just might need it.” She pulled out each of the pendants, handing them over to the girls. As they placed the necklaces on their necks, they stepped into the room, breathing out in awe at the huge space that looked like a large, cozy living room.
The gigantic room had a large fireplace with a roaring fire, walls lined with photos, and burgundy plush chairs scattered throughout. There was also a large wooden table with books neatly piled on top and a small water fountain gurgling in the corner of the room with what seemed like a gazillion large white candles surrounding it; five golden cups also nestled near it.
Jessica licked her lips thirstily as she walked toward the fountain. She picked up a golden cup, holding it under the fountain until it was filled to the rim with water. She drank quickly; droplets of water dotted her pale chin.
Cautiously, Gabrielle walked over to the wall, looking at the photos that lined it. She blinked in shock as she stared at a familiar photo. “What’s this photo doing here?” It was a photo of her and her mother, the same one that was on the piano at her Grandma Celeste’s house. Her lips parted as she started to call Zora over, but she stopped when she saw Rosalinda’s deathly pale face staring at a photo with wide eyes. “What is it, Rosalinda?”
Silently, Rosalinda looked over at her, stunned.
Gabrielle walked over to her, abruptly stopping in her tracks when she saw the photo.
“It can’t be,” Jessica muttered softly as her gaze devoured the old photo of five girls wearing the exact same robes that they now had on.
Gabrielle looked at the photo with astonishment. “It’s a photo of our mothers when they were our age. Zora, quick, come over—” Her voice trailed off when she saw Zora’s stunned face. Concerned, she quickly walked over to her. “What’s wrong, Zo?”
With stiff fingers, Zora pointed to the open gold book nestled in her lap. “This book seems to be filled with names of girls that date all the way back to the nineteen hundreds.” With anxious eyes, she looked around the room for Jessica and Rosalinda. “Jessica, Rosalinda, I think you should hear this, too.”
They quickly walked over, sitting down in the cozy, overstuffed chairs beside her. Zora adjusted her glasses as she read aloud from the book: