Ashley Enright and the Arrowhead Adventure (5)

At dinner that evening, Ashley told her father and little sister, Kelly, about the arrowheads that she and Josh found.

“That’s neat,” said Ashley’s father.

She told them how they went to the library and found out that the tribe was probably the Penobscot Tribe. She told them how they forgot that it was Kathleen’s day off and they had to ask Mrs. Daniels for help. “I don’t think she really likes kids.”

“Or adults!” said Ashley’s father. “I’ve never liked having to ask her any questions.”

“I know,” said Ashley’s mother. “Kathleen is just so much nicer to deal with!”

“Why do you think Mrs. Daniels is always so mean?” asked Ashley.

“I think the bun on the top of her head is too tight,” said Ashley’s father with a laugh.

“That’s not very nice, dear,” said Ashley’s mother who gave her husband a stern look. But, then she started laughing and said, “You may be right!”

Ashley told her family what they found out about the Penobscot Tribe.

Kelly asked, “Are there still Indians here?”

“Sure,” answered her father. “We call them Native Americans now, because they really were the first people in our country. There are a few reservations in Maine where members of different tribes live.”

“Could we go to one?” asked Kelly.

“Sure,” answered her father. “I think that’d make a neat trip!”

“The Penobscot Tribe has a reservation on Indian Island,” said Ashley.

“Why isn’t it called Native American Island?” asked Kelly with a puzzled look on her face.

“Good question,” answered her mother. “I guess they named the island a long time ago and never changed the name.”

Josh called Ashley on the phone after dinner. He said that his father would like to bring some of his students over in the morning to conduct a dig in Turnabout Woods. Mr. Stewart was an archeology professor at the University. Ashley thought that it was cool that Mr. Stewart was like Donnybrook’s very own Indiana Jones.

The next morning, Ashley and her father watched the activity going on in Turnabout Woods from their front porch.

“I hope they won’t be disrupting our quiet block,” said her father.

“I know,” said Ashley. “But it is important to find out if there’s anything else there from the Penobscot tribe.”

“Why don’t we walk over and see what they’ve turned up?” asked her father.

“Great idea, Dad,” said Ashley. “I’ve been dying to see what they’ve found!”

The two walked over to the site and were greeted by Mr. Stewart.

“Welcome,” said Mr. Stewart as he stood up and brushed some dirt from his hands. He shook hands with Ashley’s father.

“So, what have you found?” asked her father. He could see that an area of the ground had been cleared away and the perimeter was marked with string. There were several people carefully digging in the area including Josh who jumped up when he saw Ashley.

“Ashes,” he said loudly. “Guess what we’ve found!”

“Josh,” Ashley laughed. “Don’t scream-come over here!”

Josh came over to where Ashley and her father were standing.

“Good morning, Mr. Enright,” Josh said.

“Good morning, Josh,” said Ashley’s father. “You’d better tell us what you’ve found, before you explode!”

“Well,” said Josh. “We’ve found quite a few bowls and, of course, more arrowheads.”

“It looks like this may have been a camp for the tribe,” said Mr. Stewart. “We’ve found what we think is the outline of a birchbark canoe.

“Wow,” said Ashley. “This certainly would have been a great spot for a camp!” She pointed to the view of the Atlantic Ocean and the beach.

“What’s going to happen next?” asked Ashley’s father.

“Well,” said Mr. Stewart. “When we finish the dig, we’ll donate the things that we’ve found to the museum.”

“That’s great,” said Ashley. “People will be able to learn more about the Indians who lived here so long ago!”

“Yes,” said Mr. Stewart brightly. “Thanks to you and Josh, we can now say with certainty that Indians lived in Donnybrook!” He ruffled Josh’s hair.

“Aw, Dad,” said Josh who looked embarrassed.

“All we really did was play on that old tire swing!” said Ashley.

“I know,” said her father with a wink. “But, as usual, you guys always manage to turn up something!”

    

Ashley Enright and the Arrowhead Adventure (4)

When they got to Josh’s driveway, he said, “I’d better go inside and start cleaning my room.”

“O.k.,” said Ashley. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Josh went into his garage to put his bicycle away and Ashley rode up Foggy Bottom Road to her house. She put her bicycle in the garage, looped her helmet on the handlebars and went into her house.
“Hello?” she called out as she came into the house. “Is anyone here?”
“I’m up here,” her mother called down from her office upstairs.
Ashley went upstairs to her mother’s office.
“Hi!” said Ashley as she entered the office. “What are you working on?”
Her mother was a public relations consultant who worked at home for clients in Boston and New York.
“Oh,” said her mother as she turned around in her chair to face Ashley. “I’m just finishing a publicity campaign proposal for the opening of a new art gallery in Boston.”
“Sounds cool,” said Ashley.
“What have you been doing?” asked her mother.
“Oh, Josh and I went to the library to look up Maine Indians,” answered Ashley.
“What brought that on?” asked her mother.
Ashley told her mother how they’d found some arrowheads while playing on the tire swing in Turnabout Woods.
Her mother asked, “What did you find out?”
“Well,” said Ashley. “It looks like the Penobscot tribe may have lived in Donnybrook.”
“Wow,” said her mother. “That’s interesting. We could probably feature the tribe in Donnybrook Days.” Donnybrook Days was a project that her mother was working on for the town of Donnybrook. It was scheduled for the fall and was being designed to focus on Donnybrook history.