The Secret of the Scarlet Stone (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book One) (30 page)

She looked down at the violently thrashing river that was blue as the sky. For some reason, it seemed to be taunting her, welcoming her to fall in. But
, t
rue to form, nothing made her back down from a challenge, not even one that was as dangerous as this, so she gritted her teeth and grasped the brittle old ropes that barely held the bridge together.

Nervously, Jessica followed and stepped through the hole. “Oh
,
my goodness!” she exclaimed as she nervously stepped back into the safety of the tunnel.
“No way
…
absolutely no way
,
Gabi
.
I’m not crossing that thing.”

With a look of deep concentration, Gabrielle took a few more cautious steps onto the bridge
,
causing it to sway back and forth slowly. She quickly gripped the brittle ropes tightly to steady herself.

Jessica reached over and tugged on the back of Gabrielle’s sweatshirt
,
which quickly pulled her back into the safety of the tunnel. Her eyes pleaded with Gabrielle nervously
.
“Gabi, no way
…
that bridge looks like
it
’
s
a zillion years old. Look at those wooden planks
;
they’re rotten to the core. Don’t do it
;
there’s got to be another way out of here.”

Gabrielle smiled bravely
.
“Jess, I know you want to believe that with all your heart
,
but both you and I know that we don’t exactly have a choice here. Besides, take a look at what’s at the end of the bridge
:
it’s an exit.”

“B-
b
ut
,
Gabi, just think about that deep drop into the river
;
if we fall
,
we’ll surely die. Do you really want to take that risk?” Jessica stuttered nervously.

Gabrielle smiled reassuringly
.
“Jess, do you really think we have a choice?”
S
he sharply turned, giving
Zora
and Rosalinda a pleading look. “Look
,
Gabby Girls, we can’t turn back now. I mean
,
what’s back there for us?
Nothing
.
B
ut what’s ahead is our destiny
,
and I vote for finding our destiny.”

They stared at her silently.

Gabrielle smiled at them
.
“We are brave but
,
most importantly
,
we’re Gabby Girls
,
for
P
ete’s
s
ake
. W
e can do anything. Okay, I don’t know about you, but right about now I think it’s an excellent time for a Gabby Girls cheer.”

They
continued to
stare at her silently.

“C’mon, we really need it,” Gabrielle chided as she stuck her hand out with her palm facing downward.
“Gabby Girl Gabrielle!”

Zora
adjusted her glasses nervously, hesitantly placing her hand on top of Gabrielle’s
.
“Gabby Girl
Zora
!”

Jessica smiled nervously, placing her hand on top of
Zora’s
.
“Gabby Girl Jessica!”

Rosalinda breathed
out with exasperation, shaking her head in defeat
.
“I can’t believe that I’m actually doing this.” She reluctantly placed her hand on top of Jessica’s
.
“Gabby Girl Rosalinda!”

In unison, they raised their hands in the air, screaming at the top of their lungs, “Gabby Girls Adventure!”

Gabrielle smiled reassuringly
.
“Okay, let’s get a move
-
on
,
Gabby Girls
.
”
S
tomping over to the left hole, she confidently stepped through.

Nervously
,
Jessica followed close behind.

Zora
adjusted her glasses, looking over at Rosalinda
.
“Are you ready?”

“Do I really have a choice?” Rosalinda wailed.

Zora
smiled slightly.

Rosalinda walked over to the right hole, cautiously peeping
in
. Her eyes widen
ed
with terror as she looked down at the thrashing river.
“
Ninguna
manera
!
Absolutely no way,” she wailed.
 

Gabrielle stepped further onto the bridge, leaning forward slightly
.
“I can see the tips of your very cute shoes
,
Rosa. Slowly step onto the bridge.”

Rosalinda backed away nervously
.
“Me?
No way
,
chica
.
I am not stepping onto that bridge. Do you see how deep that drop is?”

Zora
shook her head with disappointment as she cautiously stepped around her and onto the bridge
,
causing
i
t
to sway back
and
forth slowly.

Gabrielle smiled slightly
.
“Hi
,
Zora
.”

Smiling
back,
Zora
gripped the bridge ropes
.
“Hi
,
Gabi.
So, this is it
,
huh?” She looked down at the roaring blue waters, her eyes roaming along the two bridges that stretched across the large cave, connecting at the center to form a huge Y. The Y then stretched across to the other side of the cave and led to an opening in the wall, a possible exit.

“I’ll go first, okay
?
” Gabrielle offered bravely.

Zora
gritted her teeth with determination
.
“No
,
Gabi, I’ll go first.”

Rosalinda looked over at her hysterically. “Are you both kidding me? You don’t seriously expect us to cross that bridge?”

“We don’t have a choice
,
Rosa. We can either cross the bridge or die here of starvation. Which do you prefer?”
Zora
stated matter-of-factly.

Angrily, Rosalinda glared over at her
.
“Oh! Let me think about this for a second—obviously I prefer to live
,
Zora
!” she screamed.

Zora
smirked as she pushed her glasses back from the tip her narrow nose
.
“Okay, since that’s settled
,
I’ll go first.” She slowly inched further onto the bridge,
which
swayed slowly then
more
violently.

Jessica’s face turned beet
-
red as her eyes welled
up with tears
.
“
Zora
, please!
Stop!” she pleaded, blowing a stray
strand of hair from her cheek
.
“Rosa, you get behind
Zora
real close and start walking. And I’ll get behind Gabi. I just have this weird feeling that we have to do this together.”

Smiling proudly at her
,
Gabrielle grabbed the ropes tightly.

Jessica carefully glanced over at
Zora
and Rosalinda
.
“Are you ready?”

They nodded in unison.

“Okay, let’s go
,
Gab
by
Girls
.
”
Gabrielle gripped the ropes tightly, slowly inching across the bridge as it swayed
.
Following Gabrielle’s cue,
Zora
inched across the bridge.
With eyes bulging with fear, Rosalinda softly muttered in Spanish as she followed close behind. She glanced down at the violent waters and yelped.

“Don’t look down
,
Rosa! Please, whatever you do, don’t look down. We can make it, just one step at a time
,
okay?”
Zora
pleaded.

Rosalinda bit her lip, whimpering softly as she inched fearfully across the bridge.

A few silent
,
tense minutes passed as they inched their way to the middle. Suddenly, as if in slow motion, they watched as Rosalinda’s purse fell onto the weathered planks of the bridge.
 

Rosalinda yelped with surprise. She quickly loosened her death grip on one side of the rope and reached down for her purse
instinctively
.

“No! Rosalinda, stop! Don’t move!” Gabrielle screamed.

At the sound of Gabrielle’s sharp cry, her head snapped around with surprise. Rosalinda’s foot slipped, sending her expensive purse sailing off the edge of the bridge as it tilted sideways.

“Rosalinda!” Jessica screamed as her body jerked
,
causing the bridge to shift violently.

Gabrielle bit her bottom lip with alarm
.
“Jessica, stop it! Stand still!”

 
Zora
gritted her teeth with determination as she tried to steady the swaying bridge.

They watched with horror as Rosalinda’s body unsteadily hung over the edge of the bridge, her feet dangling in mid-air. The river thrashed louder
,
as if anticipating her fall
.
Rosalinda looked down fearfully, her body twisting and contorting as she struggled to hang
on.