Ashley Enright and the Donnybrook Witch

Halloween had finally arrived. The night air was crisp and most of the leaves had fallen from the trees. Twelve-year old Ashley Enright thought she was really too old to go trick or treating, but her six-year old sister, Kelly, was looking forward to it. Kelly was dressed as a bumblebee and Ashley was dressed like a detective with a magnifying glass, tweed hat and cape.

 

She asked her best friend, Josh Stewart, if he’d go trick or treating with them. He jumped at the chance!

 

“I can be Jupiter Shadow,” said Josh. Then he thought about the idea for a minute and said, “Well, we’re really just doing this for your little sister. But, it is kind of fun to get candy!”

 

Ashley’s mother told them to only go to the houses of people that they knew and to not go beyond five blocks. She said that she expected them to be back in two hours. 

 

Ashley and Kelly stopped at the two houses that were between theirs and Josh’s and were rewarded with candy.

 

Kelly was excited and started to open a bag of M&M’s that a neighbor gave to her.

 

“Not now, silly goose,” said Ashley. “You can eat your candy later after we get home and Mom has examined everything.”

 

“Why does Mommy have to examine everything?” asked Kelly.

 

“Well, she wants to make sure that all of the candy is wrapped properly,” answered Ashley. “Besides, she likes to take out all of the candy that she likes!”

 

They stopped at Josh’s house and his mother, Mrs. Stewart, gave them candy.

 

“What a great bumblebee,” said Mrs. Stewart looking at Kelly’s costume. “I hope you don’t sting anybody!”

 

“That’s silly,” giggled Kelly. “I’m not a real bee. I’m just me!”

 

Josh came swooping down the stairs dressed in silver tights with a blue cape swirling out behind him. “Jupiter Shadow has arrived,” he exclaimed.

 

Ashley laughed and held up her magnifying glass. She said, “I can see that! Now, let’s get going!”

 

They all said goodbye to Mrs. Stewart and started on their way up and down the blocks around Foggy Bottom Road. After a few blocks, their trick or treat bags were starting to get heavy. Ashley thought it was time to head back.

 

“Wait,” said Josh. “We haven’t gone down this street yet. We can make this the last one.” He pointed to a street sign.

 

Ashley looked down the street lined with trees and said, “I don’t think there are even any houses here.”

 

“Sure there are,” said Josh. “I can see the lights from one house right there!” He pointed to a spot about halfway down the street.

 

“O.k.,” said Ashley. “But this is the last house!”

 

They walked down the street and up the driveway of what appeared to be the only house on the block. There were lights on inside the house and the porch light was on.

 

They walked up the four steps to the porch and were startled the sight of a woman dressed in black with the tall hat who was sitting in a chair in the dark.

 

Kelly let out a bloodcurdling shriek and ran back down the driveway screaming, “A witch, a witch!” Ashley ran after her little sister.

 

The witch yelled after them, “Wait, I’m not really a witch!”

 

Josh looked at her skeptically, gulped and said, “You’re not? You look like the real thing to me!”

 

The witch laughed — it wasn’t a cackle it was a normal laugh. She said, “I’m sorry I scared your little friend. I just didn’t want to have these pumpkins smashed, so I thought I’d sit out here and protect them. You see, I spent a lot of time carving them.” She pointed to the four huge pumpkins on her front porch steps.

 

Josh looked closely at each intricately-designed pumpkin and said, “Wow! These are really good! You’re really an artist.”

 

The witch laughed and said, “I guess I am. My name is Carly Walthers.”

 

Josh introduced himself and started to shake her hand. “Wait,” he said pulling his hand back. “Why is your hand green?”

 

“Oh, that’s just food coloring,” said Carly.

 

“I’d better go after my friends,” said Josh. “It was nice to meet you. I hope that your pumpkins stay safe!”

 

“It was nice to meet you, too,” said Carly as Josh went down the front driveway. “I don’t get to meet too many people anymore,” she said to herself. 

 

Josh caught up with Ashley and Kelly and said, “She wasn’t really a witch. She was just guarding her pumpkins.”

 

“She sure scared me,” said Kelly. “I want to go home. Wait, what candy did she give you?”

 

“I forgot all about the candy!” said Josh smacking his head.

 

“How could you forget about candy?” said Kelly. “Boys can be so dumb.”

 

“All right,” said Ashley. “We’ve had enough excitement for one night, let’s go home.”  They all walked to Foggy Bottom Road. They said goodnight to Josh as he walked up his driveway and they went home.

 

Later that evening, the Enrights and Gram sat around the dining room table to sort the candy. Gram was Ashley and Kelly’s grandmother. She had come over to help give out candy to trick or treaters. Kelly was worn out from her Halloween adventures and was already in bed.

 

            Ashley told Gram about all the houses they went to and how there was a witch at a house on Daniels Street.

 

“A house on Daniels Street?” questioned Gram. “Are you sure it was Daniels Street?”

 

“Yes,” said Ashley. “It was just a few blocks away. It was the only house on the street, but we saw lights on and went to it. Why do you ask, Gram?”

 

“Well,” answered Gram. “Maybe they’ve built a new house there, but I thought that street’s been empty for years.”

 

“Empty?” exclaimed Ashley. “That’s not possible. There was a house there. We went there.”

 

Gram said, “I guess they’ve built something on the old Walthers lot.”

 

“Walthers was Carly’s last name,” said Ashley.

 

“Carly Walthers?” said Gram. “Now that’s a coincidence. There was a Carly Walthers who disappeared at sea in the 1920’s. I remember hearing my parents talk about it. She was a promising young artist and was never found.”

 

“That is quite a coincidence,” said Ashley’s mother. “But I think we’ve had enough candy and stories for one evening.”

 

The next morning Ashley called Josh to tell him what her grandmother had said about Carly Walthers.

 

“That’s weird, Ashes, “said Josh. “But we all saw her and I talked to her. I know she was real. Maybe she’s related somehow.”

 

“Why don’t we ride over there and ask her?” suggested Ashley. Josh agreed and ten minutes later he met Ashley at the end of his driveway on his bicycle.

 

They didn’t talk much on the short ride to Daniels Street. When they got halfway down Daniels Street, they both hit the brakes and gasped.

 

There was no house standing where they had been the night before, just the remains of an old foundation.

 

“Ashes,” gulped Josh. “What’s going on here?”

 

“I don’t know,” said Ashley. “Don’t tell Kelly, but I think we may have met a ghost last night.”

 

 

 

Happy Halloween!

Ashley Enright and the Message in the Tree (8)

Fortunately, for Josh’s sake, they didn’t have to wait too long. When they got back to Ashley’s house to play a game of chess, the phone rang.

“Ashley,” her mother yelled from her office upstairs. “This call’s for you. It’s that reporter from the Donnybrook Globe.”

“O.k., Mom,” Ashley yelled. “I’ll pick up the phone in the kitchen.” She answered the phone and listened to what the reporter said. Her eyes grew wide and she looked at Josh and gave him thumbs up. “You bet we’d like to go with you! We get home from school at 2:30, so you can pick us up then.” She told the reporter her address and then hung up the phone.

“Josh,” she said excitedly.  “The reporter got a phone call from a man in who lives in Donnybrook Nursing Home. He said that he is the “P.W.” on the tree! Susan is going to pick us up tomorrow and take us to the nursing home so we can meet Mr. Wellington! Isn’t that great?”

“Great?”questioned Josh. “I guess so, but we still don’t know who ‘R.L.’ is.”

“Duh,” said Ashley. “Mr. Wellington will know because he carved the initials in the tree.”

“Oh, yeah,” Josh said brightly. “He would know that, wouldn’t he?”

“You bet,” said Ashley. “I can’t wait to meet him and hear his story.”

“Yeah,” said Josh. “But now we have to wait all through school tomorrow.”

“Oh, will you stop,” Ashley laughed. “You’re so impatient. We’re closer to knowing the whole story about the initials.”

“I guess you’re right,” Josh said with a sigh. “Why don’t we finish our chess game?”

“O.k.” said Ashley. “I just want to run upstairs and tell my mom. Do not move any of your pieces on that chessboard!”

Josh laughed and said, “Boy, you don’t trust me.”

“Not when it comes to playing chess,” said Ashley as she went out of the room.

 
The next afternoon, when Susan Whitman arrived at the Enright’s front door she had a huge smile on her face.

Ashley opened the door and invited Susan in. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Ashley and this is Josh.” She pointed to Josh who was standing beside her.

“Nice to meet you,” said Susan as she shook hands with both of them. “You’ll never guess what happened this morning! We got a phone call from R.L.!”

“Really”” Ashley asked. “Who is she?”

“Well,” said Susan. “Her name is Rita Wolfe now, because she’s married. But, she used to be Rita Lambert and she was in love with Peter Wellington before World War II.”

“Where is she now?” asked Josh.

“She’s in an assisted living facility,” said Susan. “Her husband died five years ago and her family thought it’d be best for her to move to the Sunnybrook Estates in Oakdale.”

“You mean, she lives just twelve miles away?” asked Ashley.

“That’s right,” said Susan.

“Why hasn’t she ever contacted P.W.?” asked Josh.

“I asked her that,” Susan answered. “She said that she thought he was killed in the war and her family moved away from Donnybrook. But, she said that she’s never forgotten him in all these years because he was her first true love.”

“Wow,” said Ashley.

“Wow is right,” said Susan.

“That’s so mushy,” Josh groaned.

“I knew you’d say that,” said Ashley. “Sorry,  Susan, he’s such a boy!”

Susan laughed and said, “That’s o.k., it is kind of mushy and sweet! I promised to reunite them on Saturday. Would you and Josh like to come?”

“Absolutely!” Ashley said excitedly. “We wouldn’t miss that for anything!”

“We’d better get to the Donnybrook Nursing Home and tell Peter Wellington the awesome news that his first love is near by,” said Susan.

At that moment, Mrs. Enright came down the stairs. Ashley introduced her to Susan and filled her in on the exciting news about Peter and Rita.

Mrs. Enright looked at Ashley and Josh and said, “It looks like Ashley Enright Investigations has solved another case!”

“I guess so,” said Ashley.  “And to think that all we were really doing was enjoying a nice spring day!”

Ashley Enright and the Message in the Tree (7)

            Sunday morning finally arrived and Ashley went into the kitchen for breakfast. Her parents were   
            at the kitchen table drinking coffee and reading the Sunday paper.

           “Good morning,” her father said as he looked up from his newspaper.

“Good morning, Dad,” said Ashley. “Is it…?” She didn’t even have time to finish her question when
her mother pointed to the Living section of The Donnybrook Globe.

“It’s on page two,” said her mother.

Ashley quickly opened the paper to page two. There was a photo of the carving on the tree and a story by Susan Whiteman beneath the photo.  The story asked readers to contact the reporter at the paper if they had any information about the initials on the tree.

“Wow,” said Ashley. “That’s a great picture! I sure hope someone knows something about the initials. Can I call Josh?”

“Of course,” said her father with a smile. “I hope you find out something about the initials, too!”

Ashley went into the living room to call Josh.

“ Yell-o,” said Josh when he answered the phone.

“Josh,” said Ashley. “What kind of crazy way is that to answer the phone?”

“Sorry,” Josh laughed. “I was just being silly. I kind of knew it would be you. Maybe I should say, ‘The Stewart residence, young master of the house speaking’.”

“Why can’t you just say ‘hello’ like a normal person?” Ashley asked.

“How boring,” answered Josh. “Why be normal?”

Ashley sighed and said, “Well, did you see the picture in the morning paper?”

“I sure did,” said Josh. “Someone’s just got to know something about those initials!”

“I know,” said Ashley. “I feel the same way.”

“So,” said Josh. “What do we do now?”

“I guess all we can do is wait,” said Ashley.

”Ugh.” Josh groaned. “More waiting…I hate this!”

“I know,” said Ashley. “But, hopefully, we’ll just have to be patient for a little while longer.”

“Can we wait at Ella’s?” asked Josh.

“Can you think of anything else besides food?” asked Ashley.

“Not really!” Josh  answered. “Remember, I’m a growing boy.”

“I know,” said Ashley. “But it’s only 8:30 a.m. It’s way too early for lunch!”

“I know that,” said Josh. “But, you know, I always like to plan my meals ahead of time.”

“Yes,” Ashley laughed. “I know that. How about I’ll come by at 11:30 and then we’ll ride into town?”

“Yipee,” Josh yelled and he hung up the phone.

Ashley looked at the receiver in her hand and said to herself, “Well, if he couldn’t answer the phone properly, why should I expect that he end the conversation properly?” She laughed and hung up the phone.

Ashley Enright and the Message in the Tree (6)

 

The next day, Ashley could hardly wait until school was over. When she got home, she called upstairs to her mother’s office and said, “Mom, Josh and I are riding to the library.”

“O.k.,” her mother yelled down the stairs. “Don’t be late for dinner. Your grandmother is coming over to make one of her special meals.”

“O.k.” said Ashley. She loved it when her grandmother, Gram, tried out a new recipe that she learned in cooking class at the university. “I’ll have my cell phone with me!”

Ashley put her backpack on her back and went to the garage to get her bicycle and ride to the library with Josh. Josh was waiting for her at the end of his driveway. They rode to the library and parked their bicycles outside. They walked into the library and headed straight for the reference librarian’s desk.

Josh breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Kathleen sitting at her desk.  Ashley heard his sigh and said, “I feel the same way!”

Kathleen looked up from her computer screen when they came to her desk. “Hi,kids,” said Kathleen. “What brings you both to the library today?”

“Well,” Ashley laughed.  “You know us. We’ve found another mystery that we hope you can help us solve.”

Kathleen smiled and said, “I’m not surprised. What’s the mystery?”

Ashley explained how they found some initials carved into a tree at the end of Foggy Bottom Road.

“I climbed the tree to get a better look,” Josh said proudly.

“Yes,” said Ashley. “Monkey boy, here, loves to climb trees.” She pointed to Josh and then pulled out a piece of paper from her knapsack and showed it to Kathleen.

“Hmmm,” said Kathleen as she read the initials on the paper. “R.L. + P.W.  forever.”

“Do you know how we can find out who these initials belong to? asked Josh.

“Well,” said Kathleen. “I suppose we could search marriage records and see if those initials show up. I wonder how far back I should go?”

“Beats me,” said Josh. “That tree was pretty tall. Maybe go back to the Revolutionary War?”

“Josh,” Ashley groaned and rolled her eyes. “The tree was not that tall!”

Kathleen laughed and said, “I think our records only go back to the 1940s. So, I guess that’s as far back as we’ll go right now!”

“That sounds good,” said Ashley.

Kathleen pulled up the Donnybrook marriage license records on her computer. After several minutes of typing, she looked intently at the screen and shook her head. “I only found one match for one of the initials, ‘P.W.’ There was a Peter Wellington who married Holly Sturgis in 1953. I don’t see any matches for the ‘R.L.’”

“Oh,” said Ashley. “I was hoping we’d find out who these people were.”

“Bummer,” said Josh.

“Let’s not give up so easily,” said Kathleen “There are other ways to check.”

“Really?” asked Ashley.

“Sure,” Kathleen answered. “They might not have gotten married in Donnybrook.”

“That’s right,” said Josh.

“Yes,” said Ashley. “But there are a million places where they could’ve gotten married. We can’t search a million city databases, can we?”

“No,” said Kathleen. “That’d be a full time job. But, I do have an idea.”

“Really?” Ashley and Josh said in unison.

“Really!” Kathleen said. “My friend, Susan, works for the Donnybrook Globe newspaper. Maybe she can print a picture of the carving and ask if any readers know anything!”

“That’s cool,” said Josh.

“Yes,” Ashley agreed. “That’s a great idea!”

Kathleen called her friend, Susan Whitman, at the paper and explained the idea to her. After a few minutes, she hung up the phone and looked up at Ashley and Josh.  “She loves the idea,” said Kathleen brightly. “She’ll send a photographer out to take a picture of the carving and it will be in this Sunday’s paper.”

“Awesome,” said Josh. “Someone’s got to know who those initials belong to!”

“Yes,” said Ashley. “I’m sure we’ll be able to solve this mystery. Thanks for your help, Kathleen!”

“My pleasure, kids,” said Kathleen with a smile. “I can’t wait to see how this turns out!”

Ashley and Josh said goodbye to their friend and left the library to ride home.

“Ashes,” said Josh as he pedaled alongside her on Matthews Road. “How are we ever going to wait until Sunday? What are we going to do?”

“Um,” said Ashley. “Go to school and do homework? Besides, we may have to wait longer than Sunday to see if anyone knows anything.”

Josh groaned, “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean,” Ashley said. “People have to have time to read the paper and then call the paper to let them know that they recognize the picture.”

“Oh brother,” Josh groaned again.

They rode home and managed to get through the entire week of waiting.