Ashley Enright and the Message in the Tree (4 of 12)

“O.k.,” said Josh as he started to run out of the woods.
Ashley yelled, “Hey, wait up” and she ran to follow him. They stopped at her garage and took down her bicycle from the hook on the garage wall.
“The tires don’t look too bad, Ashes,” said Josh. “They just need a little air.” He got the bicycle pump and pumped some air into the front and rear tires. “There,” he said triumphantly. “You should be good to go!”
Ashley got on her bike and rode down the driveway. “It feels fine,” she said looking back over her shoulder. “I’ll meet you at your house.” She started up the street and met Josh in his driveway.
He was out of breath from running up the block. Josh opened his garage door and Ashley gasped at all the clutter. Josh laughed when he heard Ashley’s gasp. “Don’t worry, Ashes,” he said. “It may seem like a mess, but…”
“I know, “Ashley interrupted. “Your father knows where every single thing is!”
“That’s right,” said Josh as he rolled his bicycle out of the garage. “Gee, my wheels look pretty good.” He kicked the tires on his bike.
“Now,” said Ashley. “What exactly does kicking the tires do?”
“I have no idea,” Josh giggled and shrugged. “But, it looks impressive, doesn’t it?”
“I guess so,” said Ashley. She rolled her eyes and said,”Come on, let’s ride to Bud’s Gas Pump so I can make sure my tires are o.k.”
“O.k.,“ said Josh. “But, of course, we’ll have to go to Ella’s for a bite to eat. Do you have any money?”
“Oh, for Heaven’s sake,” said Ashley. “You know I always have some money in my backpack.”
“I know,” said Josh. “That’s what I count on! Some day I’ll pay you back, Ashes. I promise.”
“I know,” said Ashley. “You always promise that. Maybe some day, “some day” will come!”
“It will,” said Josh as he started riding down his driveway. “Some day will come, I promise!”
“Promises, promises,” said Ashley. She laughed and rode down the driveway and followed Josh.
They rode into town and stopped at Bud’s Gas Pump to make sure there was enough air in their bicycle tires.
Bud Watts came out of the garage and wiped his hands on a rag. “Hey, kids,” he said. “Do you need any help?”
“No, thank you, Mr. Watts,” said Ashley. “We’ve just put more air in our bike tires.”
“Getting them ready for the nice weather?” asked Bud.
“You bet,” said Josh.
“Well,” said Bud. “Bring them inside the garage and I’ll give them the ‘once-over’ to make sure they’re in good shape.”
“I don’t know if we can afford to have a mechanic work on our bikes,” said Ashley hesitantly.
Bud laughed and said, “There’s no charge on such a beautiful spring day! It will be my pleasure to look them over.” He made sure that the tires were properly inflated and put some oil on the gears to help them switch smoothly. “There you go, kids. You’re all ready for lots of riding during the nice weather. Just be sure to be careful in traffic.”
“We always are,” said Ashley. “Thank you! Have a great day!” She and Josh started riding to Ella’s Sweet Shop.

Ashley Enright and the Message in the Tree (3 of 12)

Josh jumped down to the ground from the lowest branch of the tree. “Now, what?”
“Well,” said Ashley. “You know me, I wonder who R.L. and P.W. are?”
“How could we possibly find that out?” asked Josh.
Ashley was building quite a reputation in Donnybrook for investigating. She’d helped the Donnybrook Police solve a number of mysteries. Her friend, Burt Summers, made a wooden sign that hung on her porch that said Ashley Enright Investigations. “Where do we always go when we need information?” she asked.
“I know, the library,” said Josh. “But, remember that Kathleen doesn’t work on weekends.”
Kathleen Gorman was the reference librarian who frequently helped Ashley and Josh with their investigations. They thought it was so cool that she let them call her Kathleen instead of Mrs. Gorman.
“Oh, no,” said Ashley. “That’s right and we know that Mrs. Daniels doesn’t like to help us.”
Mrs. Daniels only worked on the weekends and didn’t really like children. She had jet black hair that she wore in a bun on the top of her head and blue-pointed glasses that she wore on a chain around her neck.
“Yeah,” said Josh. “And she scares me, she looks so mean.”
“Well, she is a little mean,” said Ashley. “Maybe we’ll wait until Monday after school to go to the library. Let’s go home and check out our bicycles.”

Ashley Enright and the Message in the Tree (2 of 12)

“Geez,” said Ashley shaking her head. “You’ll take any excuse to climb a tree!”
“That’s right,” said Josh. “I love to climb!” He started to climb up the oak tree steadily moving from branch to branch.
“Be careful,” said Ashley. “I’d hate to see you break a leg on the first warm day.”
Josh looked down and gave her a withering stare. “Ashes,” he said with a sigh. “I’m always careful. Besides, my dad says that human beings are close to monkeys and monkeys are great climbers!”
Josh ‘s father, Mr. Stewart, was an archeology professor at the university. He traveled around the world on archeological digs. Ashley thought it was cool that he was Donnybrook’s own version of Indiana Jones.
“Alright, monkey boy,” said Ashley. “Just be careful!”
“O.k.,” said Josh as he climbed up a little bit farther. “I can read it now.”
“Well?” asked Ashley. “What does it say?
“It says ‘R.L. + P.W. forever’,” said Josh.
“Hmm,” said Ashley. She pulled out her note pad from her jacket pocket and wrote down ‘R.L. + P.W. forever’. “Is that all it says?” she yelled up to Josh.
“No, wait,” Josh answered. “It says ‘Drink Ovaltine’.”
“Josh, it does NOT say that!” Ashley yelled. “You’ve watched ‘A Christmas Story’ too many times.”
Josh laughed and said, “I guess so. There isn’t much to do in the winter and you know how much I like that movie!”
“Yes,” said Ashley. “I know. I’m surprised that you didn’t name your kitten ‘Ralphie’ instead of Silver.”
They’d each gotten a kitten last summer and so did her grandmother, Gram. Ashley named her kitten Scout, Gram named hers Mehitabel and Josh called his kitten Silver.
Josh stopped climbing down and slapped his head, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Beats me,” said Ashley. “But, it’s probably too late to change his name now.”
“I guess you’re right,” said Josh with a sigh. “But the next pet I get is going to be named Ralphie.”
“If you remember,” said Ashley under her breath.