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When she stepped through the door, Jade could see rock surrounding her. Her claustrophobia kicked in and she had to take deep breaths to calm down. When she was calm, she noticed that there was light streaming in from an opening in the wall.
“Oh, it’s a cave.” She sighed with relief at this discovery and edged out into the bright sunshine.
Jade found herself on a deserted beach with waves harmonically lapping the shore.
“Gosh, this is dull, isn’t it?” Irvetta came drifting out of the cave behind her.
Jade turned on her in a wave of fury. “You just left me there with no instructions other than go through the door!” she shouted. “What is wrong with you?!”
Irvetta recoiled in shock. “Goodness, no one has ever yelled at me like that before. If you had asked me nicely in a pleasant tone, maybe I would have helped you.”
Jade took a deep breath and turned back to face Irvetta. “I apologise. Could you please tell me why I am here.”
Irvetta huffed and reached one hand up to smooth her long hair. “When I died, someone stole my five enchanted rings. They cast a spell on a door in my house so that anyone who opened it would find themselves in the place where they hid one of my rings. Your job is to find all of these rings, and since you have no idea where these places are, I will help you. The first ring is blue and should be out there.” She waved her hand at the large expanse of open water.
“Great, I’m gonna have to swim?” Jade asked the ghost, unenthusiastically.
“No, I don’t think so,” Irvetta replied. “The ring should wash up on the shore but it might get dragged back out if you’re not quick enough.” She sat down on a rock, nearly blending in with its grey colouring.
Jade crouched, knocking a startled crab out of the way, and began dragging her fingers through the wet, pulpy sand. It clung to her like mud and when she shook her hand, splatters of sand went flying everywhere. There was a little scream from behind her as one of the flying sand clumps landed next to Irvetta.
After nearly twenty minutes of digging, Jade had uncovered nothing. No gleam of gold in the grey-white sand, no glittering blue jewel. Nothing. No ring in sight.
A gust of wind whipped around them and the streak of Jade’s hair that had been dyed teal a few days ago smacked her in the face. She let out a roar of frustration just as another small wave crashed over her hands and, this time, she saw a golden ring with a beautifully encrusted blue gem set into the top, tumbling over and over in the water that lapped against the coast.
Jade launched herself at the ring, but it slipped out of her hands and was sucked up by the sand. “No!” she yelled, and started clawing at the spot where the ring had disappeared.
Irvetta drifted over from her rock to float just over Jade’s shoulder.
“Help me!” Jade cried to Irvetta, who was watching her with the smallest flicker of amusement on her face.
The ghost’s face closed down immediately when Jade asked for help and she turned away from her. “I don’t think I will, and I won’t be able to pick it up anyway.” She turned and drifted away to watch some seagulls fighting over an oyster that one of them had unearthed from the sand.
Finally, a glimmer of gold appeared and Jade lunged for it, seizing the ring and dropping it into her satchel so she couldn’t lose it again.
“I got it!” she cried and ran over to Irvetta. “I got the ring, now let’s go.”
Irvetta’s eyes drifted from the squabbling seagulls to Jade and back again. “Who said you were in charge?” she asked bluntly.
Jade’s jaw dropped. “I’ve worked so hard and all you’ve done is sit around and watch seagulls!”
“Alright, alright. We can go.” Irvetta huffed and disappeared, leaving Jade to go through the door in the cave.
