Ashley Enright and the Pilgrim’s Path (1 of 5)

     It was a crisp fall Saturday in Donnybrook, Maine.  Twelve-year-old AshleyEnright 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 Seaward 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 too.”

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

     Ella’s Sweet Shop was their favorite spot for lunch in town. Ella’s was famous for delicious cheeseburgers, old-fashioned soda fountain and table of penny candy that Ella 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 six-year-old 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 bike 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.

Ashley Enright and the Witch of Donnybrook

     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 Dog Days of Summer (12 of 12)

    Fred drove Ashley and Josh home. He dropped Ashley off at her house and took her bicycle and helmet out of the trunk.

    “I can’t believe that Ashley Enright Investigations has done it again,” said Fred. “You’ve made Mrs. Christensen so happy.”

    “Well, it was really Josh who found the ring,” said Ashley. “I’m just glad we could return it to the rightful owner!”

    “Well,” said Fred as he got back into his car to drive Josh home. “I’m proud of both of you! I’m glad that we were able to return Mrs. Christensen’s ring to her.”

    “Yes,” said Josh from the back seat. “And we had some awesome chocolate chip cookies!”

    Ashley and Fred both laughed. Ashley said, “Yes, it’s always comes down to food with you, Josh.”

    “Well, I am a growing boy,” said Josh indignantly.

    “We know,” laughed Fred. “It’s time to get this boy home!” He waved goodbye to Ashley and backed out of her driveway.

    After dinner that night, Ashley stood in the backyard with her father. It was a hot night; the sky was clear and filled with bright stars.

    “Ashley,” said her father as he adjusted the telescope. “Your mother and I are very proud of you for getting Mrs. Christensen’s ring back to her. It sounds like you’ve really made a positive difference in her life.”

    “I guess so,” said Ashley. “It sure was nice to see how much it meant to her. I guess I’m glad that Josh brought along that metal detector.” She looked up at the sky and gasped, “Dad, look! A shooting star!” She quickly made a wish.

    “Did you make a wish?” asked her father.

    “Of course,” answered Ashley. “Did you?”

    “Well,” said her father as he hugged her. “I didn’t really need to, because you are a wish come true.”

    “Oh, Dad,” groaned Ashley. “How corny!”

    “Corny,” he said. “But, true! Look, there’s the Dog Star.”

    Ashley looked through the telescope at the bright star that was near Orion’s belt. “Wow, that’s beautiful! I’m glad that the Dog Days of Summer helped to change Mrs. Christensen’s life.”

    “How so?” asked her father.

    “Well,” explained Ashley. “If it weren’t for the heat of the Dog Days of Summer, we might not have gone to the beach and found Mrs. Christensen’s ring.”

    “I guess the answer was written in the stars,” said Ashley’s father.

    “Dad, that’s so corny,” groaned Ashley. “Let’s see what other stars we can see.” She pointed the telescope up at the night sky.

Ashley Enright and the Dog Days of Summer (11 of 12)

    “Really?” asked Ashley.

    “Yes,” answered Fred. “A ring matching this description was reported missing three years ago.”

    “Wow,” said Josh. “Imagine, it’s been missing for three years!”

    Fred said, “Let me make a quick phone call.”  He dialed a number and said, “Mrs. Christensen?  This is Officer Fred Beasley from the Donnybrook Police.  I think we may have found something that belongs to you.  Can we come by your house to get a positive identification?”  He waited a few seconds for her response and then said, “O.k., we’ll be over in about ten minutes.”  He hung up the phone and said, “How would you kids like to go for a ride and return this ring?”

    “Sure,” said Ashley.  “What about our bikes?”

    Fred said, “We’ll put them in the trunk of my patrol car.”

    “Alright,” said Josh.  They walked outside of the station to Fred’s patrol car.

    Fred put their bicycles and helmets in the trunk and opened up the back door.  Ashley and Josh got in the back seat for the ride to Mrs. Christensen’s house.  Mrs. Christensen lived on Norgate Drive and Fred pulled up to the red two-story colonial house.  They got out of the car and walked up the front walkway to the front door.  Fred rang the doorbell and a tall, grey-haired woman opened up the door immediately.  “Mrs. Christensen?” asked Fred.

    “Yes, you must be Officer Beasley,” said Mrs. Christensen.  “Please come in.”  She stood back and held the door open.

    “Thank you,” said Fred as he entered the house.  “This is Ashley Enright and Josh Stewart.  Josh, why don’t you show Mrs. Christensen what you found on the beach?”

    Josh gulped and took the ring from Fred and held it in his outstretched palm.

    “Oh, my,” gasped Mrs. Christensen as her eyes filled with tears and she put her hand to her neck.  “I thought I’d never see this again!”

    “I take it that this is your ring?” asked Fred.

    “Oh, yes,” said Mrs. Christensen as she took the ring from Josh.  This is my wedding ring and I thought it was gone forever!”  She explained that several years ago, she took a whale-watching excursion with her family.  “I leaned over the side of the boat to get a closer look at a pod of whales and my ring slipped off my finger.  I’d lost my dear husband, David, the year before and now I’d lost my ring.  I was absolutely devastated.  My family told me to report the ring as missing, but I never dreamed that it would be found. Where did you find it?”

    Ashley said, “We were at the beach this morning when Josh found it.”

    “Yes, ma’am,” said Josh.  “I had my father’s metal detector and found it in the sand.  Ashley thought it was a dumb idea to bring the metal detector to the beach.”

    “Well, Josh,” said Mrs. Christensen.  “I am so glad you brought it to the beach. I can’t believe you found my ring!”  She reached out and hugged Josh.

    Josh was embarrassed and mumbled, “Oh, it was nothing.”

    “It certainly was something, young man,” said Mrs. Christensen.  “You’ve brought back something so meaningful and special to my life.  How can I ever thank you?”

    “Thank you is enough,” said Josh.

    “That’s right, Mrs. Christensen,” said Ashley.  “We’re just so glad you’ve got your ring back!”

    “Can’t I give you anything to repay you?” asked Mrs. Christensen.  “At least stay and have some chocolate chip cookies.”

    Fred laughed and said, “I think you may have found just the perfect thank you for Josh!”

    “I love cookies,” said Josh excitedly.

    Ashley, Josh and Fred followed Mrs. Christensen into her sunny kitchen. They sat at the kitchen table and had delicious, warm chocolate chip cookies and ice cold milk.

    After they finished their snack, Fred stood up and said, “Thank you for the cookies and milk, Mrs. Christensen. We’d better go now.”

Mrs. Christensen walked them to the front door. She hugged Josh and Ashley and shook Fred’s hand. “You’ve made me happier than I’ve been in years,” she said as she looked at the ring that was now back on her finger. “I’m going to call my family right now and tell them that my ring is back!”

Ashley Enright and the Dog Days of Summer (10 of 12)

    Ashley went out to the garage to get her bicycle. She stuffed her NY Mets hat in her backpack and put on her bicycle helmet. Then she took her bicycle down from the hooks on the wall, opened the garage door and rode up the street to Josh’s house.

    Josh was waiting at the end of his driveway. “Boy,” he said. “It sure took you long enough to get here!”

    “Don’t be silly,” said Ashley. “I just helped to clear the dishes from the table and then I came right over!”

    “Well,” answered Josh. “It sure seemed like forever!”

    “That’s only because you’re anxious to show the ring to Fred. You do have it, don’t you?” said Ashley.

    “Of course I have it,” answered Josh with a huff. “What kind of a knucklehead do you think I am? It’s in my backpack!”

    “Sorry,” said Ashley. “I guess I’m a little anxious too!” I hope Fred can tell us something about the ring!”

    “Me, too!” said Josh. “Come on, let’s go!” He started riding up Foggy Bottom Road and turned right on Matthews Road for the ride into town.”

    The half-mile ride into town didn’t take them very long and they soon arrived at the police station. They parked their bikes by the front of the building, took their helmets off and went inside.

    Officer Fred Beasley was sitting at the front counter and greeted them.

    “Hi, kids,” said Fred. “What brings you here today? Another case?”

    “Well, sort of,” answered Ashley.

    “Really?” said Fred whose eyes grew wide. “I was just kidding. I should know by now that you two are always on a case!”

    Ashley laughed and said, “I guess so, but this time we really weren’t looking for anything. We were just at the beach.”

    “Yeah,” Josh chimed in. “I found this and we wondered if you know anything about it.” He took the gold band from his backpack and put it on the counter.

    Fred gave a short whistle as he picked up the ring. “Wow, where did you find this?”

    “I was using my Dad’s metal detector and found it in the sand,” explained Josh.

    “Hmm,” said Fred as he looked inside the ring. “There’s an inscription and a date. That should help us track it down! Let me check our records.” Fred turned to look at the computer screen.  After a few minutes he said, “I think we may have found something!”

Ashley Enright and the Dog Days of Summer (9 of 12)

    The four finished the delicious lunch that Gram had prepared.

    “Hey, Josh,” said Ashley. “Why don’t we ride into town and ask Fred about the ring?”

    “Sounds good to me, “ said Josh. “I’ll run home and get my bicycle. Meet me at my house in about 15 minutes.”

    “O.k.” said Ashley.

    “Thank you for the great lunch, Mrs. Waterford,” said Josh as he got up from the table.

   “You’re very welcome,” said Gram. “Now get on your way! Kelly and I will do the dishes.”   Kelly started to protest and then Gram continued, “We’ll do the dishes before we go to the beach.”

    Kelly smiled and yelled, “Yipee!”

    After Josh left, Ashley kissed her grandmother on the cheek and said, “Thanks for making lunch, Gram. It was delicious! I’ll help clear the table while Josh walks to his house.”

    “O.k., dear,” said Gram. “We can use all the help we can get!”

    Ashley took the plates from the table and put them in the sink. Gram washed and rinsed the dishes and Kelly stood ready with the towel to dry them.

    “Kel, be careful with those dishes,” said Ashley. “Mom wouldn’t like it if any of them got broken!”

    “I know,” said Kelly. “I’ll be very, very careful!” She carried a plate back to the table to dry it.

    “You don’t have to be extremely careful,” said Gram with a wink. “These aren’t your mother’s good dishes!”

    “Gram!” said Ashley with a huff. “Don’t tell her that!”

    “Don’t worry,” said Kelly. “I’m being screamly careful!’

    “Silly goose,” said Ashley with a laugh. “The word is extremely!”

    “Well, whatever it is,” answered Kelly. “I’m being it!”

    “We can finish these dishes,” said Gram to Ashley. “Why don’t you go and meet Josh?”

    “O.k.,” said Ashley as she went to her backpack, took out her favorite NY Mets baseball cap and put it on her head. She put her backpack on her back, kissed her grandmother’s cheek again and said, “Have fun on the beach!”

    “We will, dear,” said Gram. “I can’t wait to find out if Fred knows anything about that ring!”

    “Me, too,” said Ashley. “I’d better be sure that Josh has it in his backpack! I’ll see you later!”

Ashley Enright and the Dogs Days of Summer (8 of 12)

      “Well,” said Ashley. “It’s almost lunch time. Why don’t we go inside and have lunch? Then we can go ask Fred about the ring.”  She folded up her blanket and sand chair.

      Kelly didn’t want to leave. “I want to stay and play with my castle,” she protested and stamped her foot in the sand.

      “Come on, silly goose,” said Ashley. “The tide’s coming in and our castle won’t be here much longer.”

      The three went up the stairs to the Enright’s backyard and into the house.

      “Hello,” Ashley called as they entered the kitchen.

      “Hello, dear,” said Gram as she turned around from the kitchen counter.

      “Yea, Gram’s here!” yelled Kelly as she ran over to give her grandmother a kiss on the cheek. Gram always wore Wind Song perfume and fresh talcum powder.

      “Hi, dears.  Hello, Josh,” said Gram. “What would you like for lunch? I’ve made a bowl of Waldorf salad.”

      “That’d be great, Gram,” said Ashley as she sat down at the kitchen table.

      “What have you three been up to today?” asked Gram as she put plates of Waldorf salad at their places at the table.

      “We built a huge castle on the beach,” said Kelly excitedly.

      “You did?” said Gram. “I’d love to see it after lunch.”

      “I hope it will still be there,” said Kelly. “Ashley thinks it will be all gone.”

      “The tide’s coming in, Gram,” said Ashley shaking her head. “I think it will be washed away after lunch.”

      “Oh well,” said Gram brightly. “We can always build another one.”

      “Can this one be Snow White’s castle?” asked Kelly.

      “That’s a pretty tall order,” answered Gram. “We’ll see what we can do about that after lunch. Do you mean the castle that you saw at Disney World last year, dear? Because that was Cinderella’s castle, not Snow White’s.”

      “Oh, that’s right, Gram,” said Ashley. “Well, ours didn’t really look like Snow White or Cinderella’s castle. It was pretty much just a regular old castle!”

Ashley Enright and the Dog Days of Summer (7 of 12)

     Josh came back down the beach with a broad smile on his face. “Hey, Ashes,” he said. “Look what I’ve found.” He poured out the contents of his basket on Ashley’s blanket.

     She looked at all of the coins on the blanket beside her. She said, “Josh, you must have about $5 worth of coins here! Wait, look at this.” She picked up a gold ring.

     “Cool,” said Kelly looking at the ring. “Can we keep it?”

     Ashley shook her head and said, “No, silly goose! Besides, Josh was the one who found it.” She looked closely at the ring and said, “There’s writing in it.” She handed the ring to Josh who looked at the inside.

     “Hey, there’s an inscription that says To Suzy Q on our wedding day 8/21/53,” said Josh.

     “Who is Suzy Q?” asked Kelly.

     “I don’t know,” said Ashley. “But I’m sure she’d like to get her ring back.”

     “Why don’t we ask Fred if he knows?” suggested Josh. Fred Beasley was a young police officer in town. He gave talks regularly at the schools about the importance of safety and the dangers of drugs, alcohol and strangers. He was liked and trusted by all of the kids in town.

Ashley Enright and the Dog Days of Summer (6 of 12)

      The three walked along the Enright’s backyard and took the stairs leading down to a crescent beach.

      Ashley noticed that Josh was lugging a large black bag with handles. “What is that thing?” she asked as she pointed to the bag

      “It’s my dad’s metal detector,” said Josh as he struggled to take it out of the bag. “I’m going to use it to find coins and stuff.”

      “Oh, brother,” said Ashley. “Whatever makes you happy!”

      “It does,” said Josh as he put on the headphones that were connected to the metal detector. “I’ll see you in a while.” He started walking down the beach and slowly sweeping the metal detector from side to side over the sand.

      Ashley spread out her blanket on the sand and set up her sand chair. Then she said, “Come on, Kelly. Let’s start on that sand castle.”

      “Can we make Sleeping Beauty’s castle?” asked Kelly excitedly. She was thinking about the castle they saw last year at Disney World.

      “I don’t know if we can make that,” said Ashley. “We’ll do our best.”

      They started working on the castle and it slowly began to take shape. It didn’t look anything like Sleeping Beauty’s castle, but it did have two towers, a wall and a moat.

      “Hey, that’s pretty good,” said Kelly.

Ashley Enright and the Dog Days of Summer (5 of 12)

     After they finished breakfast, Josh arrived to go to with Ashley and Kelly to the beach. Josh lived two houses away on Foggy Bottom Road.

     “Hi, Josh,” said Ashley as she greeted him at the front door. He followed her into the kitchen and said hello to Ashley’s parents.

      “Josh, I hope you don’t mind, but I asked Ashley to take Kelly to the beach with you,” said Ashley’s mother.

     “Oh, it’s o.k., Mrs. Enright,” said Josh. “As long as she isn’t any trouble!’

     Kelly stuck her tongue out at Josh.

     “That’s enough, young lady,” said Ashley’s mother to Kelly. “You’d better behave yourself or you won’t be able to go into town with Gram this afternoon.”

     “I’ll be good,” said Kelly quietly looking down at the kitchen table.

     “That’s my girl,” said Ashley’s father as he winked at Kelly.

     “O.k.,” said Ashley. “Let’s go!” She collected her sand chair, her backpack, and put on her beloved NY Mets cap. She took some bottled water from the fridge to put in her backpack and said to Kelly, “Are you sure you put enough sunblock on?”

     “I think so,” answered Kelly whose face was marked by white lines of sunblock.

     “Here,” said Ashley’s mother. “Let me make sure you have enough lotion on.” She rubbed the lotion onto Kelly’s face, arms, back and legs.

     “Ugh,” said Kelly. “Now I’m all slippery.”

     Ashley’s mother laughed, “You may be slippery, but at least you won’t get sunburned!”

     “Yes,” said Ashley’s father. “Slither over here and give me a kiss before you leave, you slippery little eel.”

     “Daddy,” giggled Kelly. “I’m slippery and you’re just silly.” She gave her father a big kiss on the cheek. She took her sand pail and shovel and followed Ashley and Josh out the kitchen door.