Ashley Enright and the Pilgrim’s Path (5)

That evening, Josh called Ashley after dinner.

“Hey, Ashes,” said Josh when Ashley answered the phone. “I told my dad about what we found in the woods.”

“What did he say?” asked Ashley.

“He thinks that it really may be William Justice’s house!” answered Josh.

“Wow, that’s incredible!” said Ashley.

“I know,” Josh agreed. “He said that he’ll get his students to start a dig tomorrow to try and confirm it.”

“That’d be great if they find things!” said Ashley.

“I know!” said Josh. “He said that we could come with him to the dig to help out.”

“Cool!” said Ashley. “What time should I be over your house tomorrow?”

“How about 8 o’clock?” answered Josh.

“O.k.,” said Ashley. “I’ll be there! Goodnight!”

             The next day, Ashley rode with Josh and his father to Justice Woods. They met Mr. Stewart’s students at the entrance to the woods and led them all to the site. Once the dig started, it wasn’t long before they started digging up artifacts. They dug up some pots and two candlesticks.

Mr. Stewart said, “It really looks like we’re on to something here!” The dig continued and more artifacts were uncovered in the dirt. By late afternoon, they all drove to the university so that the artifacts could be better identified.

That evening, Mr. Stewart called the local news station to tell them that he had some exciting information for them.

Ashley’s father called her into the living room at 6 p.m. and said, “Look, Josh’s father is on the news!”

They watched as Mr. Stewart was interviewed by a reporter. He said, “I am thrilled to tell you that we have located the homestead of one of Donnybrook’s founding fathers, William Justice!”

The reporter looked confused and asked, “Why is that so exciting?”

“Why?” said Mr. Stewart. “Well, because William Justice came to this country on the Mayflower. He left Massachusetts and traveled to Maine. He was one of the founders of Donnybrook. We’ve never been able to locate the site of his homestead before today!”

“How did you find it and where?” asked the reporter.

“The thanks for finding it go to Ashley Enright and my son, Josh. They were looking for wildflowers in the woods and stumbled on the homestead in Justice Woods,” said Mr. Stewart. “They really led us to the pilgrim’s path. My archeology students conducted a dig there today and we found artifacts that confirmed that William Justice had lived there.”

“What did you find?” asked the reporter.

“We found many pots and kitchen utensils,” said Mr. Stewart. “That confirmed that someone had lived there. But, the most spectacular find was a pair of pewter candlesticks that had the initials “W.J.” and the date 1618. That means that William Justice brought these candlesticks with him when he came to this country on the Mayflower.”

“What happens to these artifacts now?” asked the reporter.

“We’ll have them on display in the Donnybrook Library,” answered Mr. Stewart.

“What about the site? Will that become a museum?” asked the reporter.

“No,” said Mr. Stewart. “William Justice’s homestead site will be left alone in Justice Woods where it’s been for over 400 years.”

Mr. Enright turned to look at Ashley with amazement. “You and Josh just happened to find something that was missing for over 400 years?”

Ashley laughed and said, “You know us, Dad. We were really just looking for wildflowers for the dining room table!”

“I guess this will be a memorable Thanksgiving!” said Mr. Enright.

“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” said Ashley. “I’m grateful for my wonderful, loving, supportive and funny family and friends. And I’m thankful that this Thanksgiving, we’ve found the homestead of Donnybrook’s very own pilgrim.”

 Happy Thanksgiving!  

  

Ashley Enright and the Pilgrim’s Path (4)

After they finished their lunch, Ashley said, “Are you ready to go to the library?”

             “Of course,” answered Josh. “Now that my belly is full, I’m ready to go anywhere!” 

            “You and food…how typical!” said Ashley with a laugh.

            “Can’t help it, Ashes,” said Josh. “I’m a growing boy!” He showed her his bicep.

            “Yeah,” said Ashley. “I just wish your wallet was as strong as your muscles!”

            “Oops,” said Josh as he turned red. “You know I never have any money. I’m a starving artist.”

            “Yes, I know. A starving artist who never misses a meal,” said Ashley. “Come on, let’s pay this and get to the library.”

            “Thanks for lunch, Ashes,” said Josh. “I will pay you back someday!”

            “I know,” said Ashley. “It’ll probably be the day that pigs fly!”

            They both laughed. Ashley left a tip for Carolanne on the table and paid their lunch check at the counter. They rode along Main Street to Maple Street and down to the Donnybrook Library. They parked their bicycles in the bike rake, looped their helmets over the handlebars and went inside. They started to walk to the reference librarian’s desk to see their friend, Kathleen Gorman. They liked and trusted Kathleen and thought that it was so cool that she let them call her by her first name instead of “Mrs. Gorman.”

           “It’s Saturday, Ashes,” said Josh as he came to an abrupt stop.

           “Yes,” whispered Ashley. “I think I know that!”

           “Kathleen doesn’t work on Saturdays,” said Josh.

           “Oh no,” said Ashley as she slapped her forehead. “You know what that means.”

           “You’d better believe it,” said Josh. “It means that Mrs. Daniels is here.”

           Sure enough, Mrs. Daniels was sitting at the desk usually occupied by their friend, Kathleen. Mrs. Daniels had jet black hair pulled up into a tight bun on the top of her head. She wore bright red lipstick and her cheeks were marked by bright red circles of rouge. She wore black pointed glasses with rhinestones in the points. She did not like children and was annoyed by their questions.

            Ashley and Josh walked up to Mrs. Daniels’ desk. She did not look up from the paperback book she was reading.

“Hello, Mrs. Daniels,” said Ashley brightly.

            Mrs. Daniels was startled and almost dropped her book. “Oh, hello” said Mrs. Daniels. “I suppose you have a question?”

            “As a matter of fact, we do,” said Ashley. “We wanted to know how Justice Woods got its name.”

            Mrs. Daniels gave her an annoyed look. “Why on earth would you want to know that?” she asked with a sigh.

           “Just curious, I guess,” answered Ashley.

           Mrs. Daniels looked even more annoyed, if that were possible. She pointed to an aisle in the reference section. “You might find something in The Donnybrook Almanac.”     

          “O.k.,” said Ashley.

          “Thanks for your help, Mrs. Daniels,” said Josh with a wave as he and Ashley walked to an aisle in the reference section.

           Ashley looked at the book titles on the shelf and then took down The Donnybrook Almanac. She looked in the index and said, “Here it is, page 27.” She turned to page 27 and began to read. “Wow, William Justice was a pilgrim who came over on the Mayflower. It looks like he left Massachusetts to come up to Maine. He settled right here in Donnybrook. He and a few other men were actually the founding fathers of Donnybrook. They established our town in 1630.”

            “Cool,” said Josh. “So they named the woods after him?”

           “I guess so,” answered Ashley. “It says here that his homestead was thought to be somewhere in the woods.”

          “Ashes, do you think that’s what we found?” asked Josh.

         “I’m not sure,” said Ashley. “But we definitely found something. I guess we should see what your dad can find out.”

        “O.k.,” said Josh. “Let’s get home, so I can tell him!”

         They put the book back on the shelf. They thanked Mrs. Daniels as they walked past her desk. She didn’t even look up from her book and just gave them a little wave.

         Ashley and Josh put their helmets on, got on their bicycles and rode home.

Ashley Enright and the Pilgrim’s Path (3)

When they got to town, they parked their bikes outside of Ella’s and looped their helmets on the handlebars. They walked in the restaurant and sat down at their favorite booth by the window.

 “Hey, hey, what’ll be today?” said their favorite waitress, Carolanne.

“Hi, Carolanne,” said Ashley. “You know us, we’ll have the usual!”

Carolanne laughed and said, “O.k., one tuna melt and milk and one cheeseburger…with a milkshake, right, Josh?”

“Of course!” Josh said loudly. “What would a cheeseburger be without a milkshake?”

Carolanne laughed, shook her head and said, “O.k., I’ll be right back.”

She walked into the kitchen to place their order.

Josh leaned over the table and said, “I wonder whose house that is?”

“I don’t know,” said Ashley. “Maybe your dad and his students will find out.”

“Yeah,” said Josh. “You’re probably right, but it would be cool if we knew something now!”

“Hmm,” said Ashley. “I agree, you know how I like to have information! I guess we can ask at the library if there’s any information thing about the history of Justice Woods.”

“Yeah,” said Josh excitedly. “Maybe a judge lived there!”

“Why do you say that?” asked Ashley.

“Duh, justice would mean a judge,” said Josh.

Ashley laughed and said, “Oh, you could be right. Let’s eat our lunch and get to the library.”

Ashley Enright and the Pilgrim’s Path (2)

Josh was waiting at the end of his driveway. “Hey, Ashes,” he said as he adjusted the strap on his helmet. “Ready to go?”
“Yep!” said Ashley.
They started to ride out along Matthews Road to Justice Woods. It was a spectacular day for a bike ride and they rode for about twenty minutes. When they arrived at Justice Woods, they left their bicycles and helmets by the side of the rode and walked into the woods.
Ashley was searching for wildflowers to put on the table for dinner. Gram was coming over in the afternoon and promised to make a “fall feast.” Gram was Ashley and Kelly’s grandmother who lived about twelve miles away in Oakdale. She was taking cooking classes at the university and loved to try out new recipes. Ashley was disappointed as she looked around and didn’t see any wildflowers at all.
“What happened to the flowers?” she asked.
Josh looked around and said, “Maybe that frost that we had last week killed them.”
Ashley looked annoyed and said, “Maybe if we go a little bit farther into the woods, we might find some.” They started following a path and then noticed after about five minutes of walking that the path was getting more overgrown and harder to see.
“Hey, Ashes,” said Josh. “What’s happening to the path?”
“I know,” answered Ashley as she looked over her shoulder back at Josh. “I don’t think this path’s been used for years!”
“Should we stop?” asked Josh.
“Well,” answered Ashley. “Let’s just try to go a little bit farther. Maybe some wildflowers were protected from the frost.”
“Geez, girls and flowers,” Josh muttered under his breath. “O.k.,” he said out loud as he followed Ashley.
They walked for another ten minutes. It was definitely getting harder to see the path as they were walking. Finally, they came to a noticeable clearing in the woods. They stood in the middle of the cleared space and stared up at the tall trees surrounding the area.
“Wow,” said Josh in amazement. “This is really cool!” He was right – it not only was a cool place there was so much shade from the tall trees that it was actually a little chilly!
“I agree,” said Ashley. “I don’t think anyone’s been back here in ages. Of course, there are no wildflowers because they can’t get sun with all this shade!”
Josh laughed and said, “Figures!” Then he tripped over something and almost lost his balance. “What in the world is that?”
“Josh,” said Ashley. “It looks like you tripped over an old log. Wait, there’s a whole line of these logs.”
“Awesome,” said Josh. “When you look at the whole thing it could be the foundation of a building.”
“You know,” said Ashley. “I think you’re right. This must have been someone’s house a long time ago.”
“I should tell my Dad about it,” said Josh. Mr. Stewart was an archeology professor at the university and conducted digs around the world. Ashley thought it was neat that Josh’s father was like Donnybrook’s own Indiana Jones.
Ashley sighed and said, “I don’t think I’m going to find any wildflowers today. We should probably get going!”
“To Ella’s, right?” asked Josh anxiously.
“Yes, of course,” answered Ashley. “We’ll go to Ella’s!”
“Whew!” said Josh as he blew out his breath. “You know how I’d hate to miss a meal!”
“Believe me,” said Ashley with a laugh. “I know!”
They walked out of Justice Woods, got on their bicycles and rode into town to Ella’s Sweet Shop.

Ashley Enright and the Pilgrim’s Path

It was a crisp fall Saturday in Donnybrook, Maine. Twelve-year-old  Ashley Enright called her best friend, Josh Stewart, to find out what he had planned for the day.

“Hi, Josh,” said Ashley when she heard her friend answer the phone.

“Hey, Ashes,” said Josh brightly. “What’s up?”

“Nothing much,” said Ashley. “I wondered what you were going to do today?”

“Oh, probably just work on my latest comic book,” said Josh. He was a talented young artist who liked to draw comic books featuring superheroes.”

“What’s this one about?” Ashley asked.

“It’s about Jonathan Stewart who is a sailor in the 1500’s who tracks down pirates on the high seas to return the things they’ve stolen to the rightful owners,” said Josh.

“What kind of superpowers can someone have in the 1500’s?” asked Ashley.

“He can swim and breathe underwater so he can sneak up and board pirate ships without anyone seeing him,” said Josh.

“But, how can he get the stuff away from pirates?” asked Ashley. “Wouldn’t that be more than a little dangerous?”

“It would be,” said Josh. “If he couldn’t make himself invisible!”

“Oh,” laughed Ashley. “I guess that would make it much easier!” Ashley then laughed to herself because, as usual, Josh’s superhero had the same initials as he did: J.S.

“What were you going to do today, Ashes?” asked Josh.

“Well,” said Ashley. “I thought about riding out to Justice Woods to pick some wildflowers!”

“Oh, that just sounds so lovely,” Josh said sarcastically.

“Well,” Ashley laughed. “I thought that we could go to Ella’s Sweet Shop for lunch.”

“That changes everything!” Josh said enthusiastically. “You know I never pass up a chance to go to Ellas!”

Ella’s Sweet Shop was their favorite spot for lunch in town. Ella’s was famous for her delicious cheeseburgers, old-fashioned soda fountain and table of penny candy that she watched over like a hawk.

“I’ll come by in a few minutes,” said Ashley.

“Oh,” answered Josh. “I’ll be waiting!” He hung up the phone before Ashley could even say anything.

“That’s so typical,” she said to herself as she hung up the phone. She got her backpack and made sure that her favorite NY Mets hat and cell phone were inside. She walked into the kitchen where her parents were still drinking coffee and reading the morning paper. Her little sister, Kelly, was eating a bowl of Sugar Frosted Flakes.

“Good morning, Ashley,” said her mother as she looked up from her paper.

“Hi, guys,” said Ashley. “I’m going to go for a bide ride with Josh and then we’ll have lunch at Ella’s.”

“Have you had breakfast yet?” asked her father.

Ashley laughed and said, “Yes, I finished long before you sleepyheads even got out of bed!”

Ashley’s father was a marine biologist who worked for the Powers Institute of Technology or as he called it “The P.I.T.” Her father laughed and said, “We all work hard during the week, we deserve to be sleepyheads on the weekend!”

“Yeah,” said Kelly as she put down her spoon. “We all work hard!”

Ashley smiled at her sister, laughed and said, “Yes, I know how tough first grade can be!”

Everyone shared a laugh at Kelly’s spirited declaration.

“Don’t worry,” said Ashley. “I’ll have my cell phone with me in case you need to reach me!”

“O.k., dear,” said her mother. “We’ll see you later.” Ashley’s mother was a public relations consultant who worked from home for clients in Boston and New York.

Ashley started to leave the kitchen when her father said, “Hey! Haven’t you forgotten something?”

“Oh, right,” said Ashley as she kissed her father on the cheek and then kissed her mother’s cheek. When she got to Kelly, her little sister tilted her head back and opened her mouth to show Ashley a mouthful of mashed cereal. 
             “Ugh,” said Ashley as she laughed and just tousled her little sister’s hair.
             Ashley went out to the garage and got her bicycle down from the hooks on the wall. She put on her helmet and her backpack and rode up Foggy Bottom Road to Josh’s house.