Ashley Enright and the Dog Days of Summer (3 of 12)

      “Dad,” said Ashley. “What are the ‘Dog Days of Summer’?”

      “Well,” answered her father. “It means a really hot period of weather at the end of summer. The phrase refers to a very bright star, Sirius, also known as the ‘Dog Star’ in the constellation, Canis Major. In the summer, when the constellation rose and set with the sun, ancient civilizations believed that the heat of the star added to the sun’s heat and made it extremely hot. So, they called these days the ‘Dog Days of Summer’.”   Ashley’s father was a marine biologist at The Powers Institute of Technology, or The P.I.T. as he liked to call it.  

     “Oh,” said Ashley. “For a marine biologist, you sure know a lot about stars.”

     “I guess so,” answered her father. “When I was a kid on Long Island, I spent many hours looking at the stars through the telescope that my favorite Uncle Bill have me for my tenth birthday. He taught me all about the stars and constellations. Canis Major is right behind the Orion constellation.”

     “Can we look for the Dog Star tonight?” asked Ashley.

     “Sure,” said her father. “It looks like it’ll be a clear night. We’ll set up the telescope in the backyard.”

Ashley Enright and the Dog Days of Summer (2)

     Ashley changed into her navy blue bathing suit. She put on sun block before putting her shorts and T-shirt over her suit. She took her backpack out of the closet and put her beach towel and cell phone in it. She then put her notebook and pen inside because she never knew when she’d be inspired to write! She put her copy of To Kill a Mockingbird on top and closed the backpack.

     She went downstairs and into the kitchen. Her parents were sitting at the table reading the newspaper and drinking coffee.

     “Good morning,” she said as she sat down at the table.

     “Good morning,” said her father as he peeked over the top of his paper. “What do you have planned for today?”

     “Nothing much,” said Ashley. “Josh and I are just going to go to the beach for awhile.”

     “That sounds like a good thing to do on a summer day,” said her mother. “What would you like for breakfast?”

     “I think I’ll just have some cereal,” said Ashley. She got up to get her cereal bowl from the cabinet and the milk from the refrigerator.  She then took the box of Cheerios from the pantry.

Ashley Enright and the Dog Days of Summer (1 of 12)

     It was another hot summer day in Donnybrook, Maine. Twelve-year-old Ashley Enright looked out her bedroom window and saw that the ocean was as flat as glass. There wasn’t even the slightest breeze. She laughed to herself and thought, “I guess these are what they call the Dog Days of Summer.

     She used her cell phone to call her best friend, Josh Stewart.

     “Hi, Josh,” said Ashley when her friend answered the phone. “What were you going to do today?”

     “I don’t know,” said Josh with a sigh. “Any ideas?”

     “We could go to the beach for a while and read,” suggested Ashley.

     “Too boring,” said Josh. “Oh wait, I could bring my Dad’s metal detector and look for coins and stuff.”

     “O.k.,” said Ashley. “Why don’t you come over here and we’ll go to the beach at the end of the road.  Her house was the last house on Foggy Bottom Road and it overlooked a crescent beach.

Ashley Enright and the Independence Day Investigation (6 of 6)

    The next morning, Ashley called Josh and told him about the leather case full of letters.

    “Why would anyone want a bunch of someone else’s old letters?” Josh asked.

    “Well, first of all, the leather case is beautiful,” Ashley answered. “And my mom can use the letters to show what life was like in Donnybrook during the centuries.”

    “Centuries?” asked Josh. “What centuries?”

    “Duh,” said Ashley. “The 20^th, 19^th and 18^th centuries.”

    “Wait, the 18^th century?” asked Josh. “Isn’t that, like, the 1700’s?”

    “Yep,” said Ashley. “Mom wants to go with us to the library and ask Kathleen some questions about the letter writers.”

    Kathleen Gorman was the reference librarian at the Donnybrook Library. She had helped Ashley and Josh with their investigations before. They thought it was neat that they could call her by her first name, rather than ‘Mrs. Gorman.’ It made her seem more like a friend.

    “Can I come?” asked Josh.

    “Of course,” said Ashley. “That’s why I was calling you.”

    “Oh, yeah,” Josh laughed. “I guess that would make sense!”

    “We’ll pick you up at 11 o’clock,” said Ashley.

    “O.k.,” said Josh. “I’ll be ready.” He hung up the phone.

    Ashley sighed and said, “Telephone manners is not his strong suit.”

    “Not whose strong suit, dear?” asked Gram.

    “Oh, Josh,” Ashley answered. “He never says ‘goodbye’ when we talk on the phone, he just hangs up!”

    Gram laughed and said, “Well dear, boys his age are easily distracted. I’m sure he was rushing off to do something!”

    “Yeah,” Ashley agreed. “Probably, eat.”

    At 11 o’clock, Ashley and her mother picked up Josh to go to the Donnybrook Library. Once there, they quickly made their way to the Reference Librarian’s desk. Ashley and Josh breathed an audible sigh of relief when they saw Kathleen sitting there.  

    Kathleen looked up from the book on her desk. “Why, hello,” she said. “What brings you two here today? Oh, hello, Mrs. Enright. This is a welcome surprise.”

    “Hello, Mrs. Gorman,” said Ashley’s mother.  “I know that I don’t get to the library as often as I should. Today, we need your help.”

    “Yes,” said Ashley. “Gram and I bought a leather portfolio for Mom at the Peabody’s garage sale. It’s filled with letters and we were hoping that you could tell us something about them.”
      “I can certainly try,” said Kathleen as she took the letters out of the portfolio. “Wow, some of these letters are really old.
      “We know,” said Ashley. “Those were really the ones that we needed to know about.”

     Kathleen took a few moments to open up the letters and read them. Then, she looked something up on her computer. “Wow,” she said. “This is almost unbelieveable!”

    “What, what?” asked Josh anxiously leaning over her desk.

    “Well, these old, old letters are from William Whipple. Do you have any idea who he was?” asked Kathleen.

    “No, of course not,” said Ashley’s mother. “That’s why we’re here!”

    “Well,” said Kathleen looking at her computer screen. “It says here that William Whipple was born in Kittery, Maine which is at the bottom of the state.  He was a sea captain before he moved to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He then became a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1775 and actually signed the Declaration of Independence!”

    “Wow,” said Josh. “That’s cool.”

    “It sure is,” said Kathleen. “These letters are written to a family member who lived in Donnybrook and provide quite an insight as to what was happening at the birth of our nation. Where did you get these letters, again?”

    “At Mr. Peabody’s garage sale,” said Ashley. “We asked him about the letters, but he said that we could have them.”

    “I guess he didn’t really know what he had,” said Ashley’s mother. “Ashley and my mother bought the portfolio for me because they thought I could use the letters in the Donnybrook Days event.”

    “Well, this certainly gives you a great insight into life in Philadelphia in 1775-76,” said Kathleen. “It also looks like there are letters written during World War I and II. It’s an amazing collection that you have here!”

    “I know,” said Ashley’s mother. “It’s really going to add some unique flavor to Donnybrook Days. I’d really appreciate it if you could provide us with some more details about the letter writers.”

    “It’d be my pleasure,” said Kathleen. “You know I love to investigate!” She winked at Ashley and Josh. 

    “We know,” said Ashley and Josh in unison.

    They arranged to pick up the portfolio from Kathleen later in the day and went into town to enjoy lunch at Ella’s Sweet Shop.

    The next evening, after another scrumptious meal prepared by Gram, the Enrights gathered on their back porch to get ready to view the Donnybrook 4^th of July fireworks display.

    Josh and his parents joined them. There were oohs and aahs when Ashley brought out the special holiday dessert that she and Gram had made. It was a sheet cake frosted to look like the American Flag.

    “That looks delicious,” said Ashley’s mother. “You did a spectacular job!”

    “Do we have to wait until after the fireworks to eat it?” Josh asked anxiously.

    “No, Joshua,” said Gram. “That would be too cruel to make you wait! Besides, the sun is just setting now and we have some time before the fireworks start.”

    “Whew,” said Josh holding his fork and ready to eat.

     As Gram cut the cake, Ashley’s mother said, “This is a truly memorable 4^th of July.”

    “Why is that, dear?” asked Ashley’s father. “Because we have cake?”

     Ashley’s mother laughed and said, “Now you sound exactly like someone we know.” She nodded her head toward Josh. “No, I mean it’s memorable because of those letters that Ashley and my mother found.”

    “Oh, that,” said Ashley’s father. “What will happen to those letters now?”

    “We’re going to give them to the University,” said Ashley. “They want to build a special exhibit for next year’s 4^th of July on Donnybrook’s connection to the Declaration of Independence.”

    “Once again,” said Ashley’s father. “Ashley Enright Investigations has uncovered something great!”

    “Well,” said Ashley. “Gram and I were really just buying a nice leather portfolio case.”

    “I know,” said Ashley’s mother. “But, as usual, you’ve found something important.”

    “I guess,” said Ashley as the first firework exploded in the sky above the Donnybrook Lighthouse. “I can’t wait until tomorrow, but, first I want to enjoy the fireworks display!”

 

                                                                                   Happy 4^th of July!