- Deep and Dark and Dangerous
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"Deep and Dark and Dangerous" Author Mary Downing Hahn Original title "Deep and Dark and Dangerous : A Ghost Story" Language English Genre(s) Horror/Ghost Story/Mystery Publisher Clarion Books Media type Paperback, Hardcover Publication date 2007 Deep and Dark and Dangerous is a 2007 mystery horror novel written by Mary Downing Hahn. This book is about a girl named Ali O'Dwyer that tries to find out who a mysterious person is on a picture she finds, but soon finds out she is someone she has met at her summer vacation.
Story The suspense is on when thirteen-year-old Alison O'Dywer finds a photograph in her attic. The photograph is of her mother Claire, her Aunt Dulcie, and a third girl who has been torn out of the picture. When Ali takes a surprise vacation to the lake (accompanied by her aunt and her cousin, Emma) she meets a short-tempered, nasty little girl named Sissy. As Ali gets more ill-tempered with Sissy she tries to figure out Sissy's past but later she finds a very terrifying surprise; Sissy had no home and had died when her mother and aunt were little girl and that they also had interacted with them. At the end of the story, Ali and Emma find out the truth; Teresa had been the same little girl in the photograph and the last summer that ali's mom and aunt had been there Teresa had died in a terrible accident; she had drowned in the lake. Sissy then starts telling Ali that she wants to be buried and wants people to bring her flowers and for them to cry so she will be able to pass on to the life (The After-Life).
Ali takes her five-year-old cousin that she is babysitting, Emma, to the lake to swim. While there, they meet a mean and very rude girl named Sissy. Emma becomes influenced by Sissy (and her doll Edith) and wants to be like her. She even talks rudely to Ali and almost drowns in the lake (which Ali saves her from.) Ali gets into an argument with Sissy and Sissy leaves. Emma runs crying to her mother, saying Ali was mean to her and called her names. Ali gets angry and tells Dulcie she is lying and Emma says Ali is so mean, Hell wouldn't want her. Dulcie and Emma argue until Dulcie tells Emma she can not play with Sissy anymore, resulting with Emma throwing a temper-tantrum and going to her room to take a nap.[1]
Later in the day, Emma goes back to her old self and goes swimming in the lake with Ali. Ali is disappointed when Sissy shows up again. Sissy leaves after Ali yells at her for dunking Emma's head in and out of the water. The next days, Emma, Ali and Dulcie go to the cove to hang out. When Dulcie went back to her painting, she screams because some broke in the studio and trashed the place. Ali sees a sign painted on an easel that reads "I'm watching you tell the truth or else." Emma shivers when she sees a painting of bones at the bottom of the easel. Dulcie tells Ali to take Emma inside yo play with her and to leave her alone to clean the studio. Sissy shows up while Ali was playing with Emma. She tells them about Teresa and that Dulcie murdered her in the lake and her ghost still floats around. Ali, angry at Sissy, demands she leaves. The next day, Sissy comes to see Ali. She takes Ali out to the woods and Ali loses Sissy. She finds an old woman's home and goes inside to dry off from the rain. Ali meets Kathie Trent and she learns some more about Teresa. (A.K.A. "T") Ali calls Dulcie to take her home, and Dulcie becomes so angry that she ran off. A week passes, and Ali and Emma finally see Sissy again. Ali overhears Emma and Sissy outside talking. Emma was asking for a doll, Edith, that she could hold. Ali tells Emma to give the doll back but Emma yells back that Sissy is her boss. Ali yells at Emma and Dulcie hears. Sissy disappeared and Dulcie sees Edith and throws it over the cliff. Emma screams "I hate you!" and runs inside. The next day, Dulcie and Emma go to the doctor because Emma is sick. While Ali is reading at home, Sissy stops by. She teases Ali and runs off. Ali follows again determined to find out where she lives. instead, she finds Teresa's grave. Ali shivers and runs to Ms. Trents. she asks her questions about Teresa's older sister. Turns out, Linda, Teresa's sister, was the same as Sissy's older sister. Ali gets a call from Dulcie saying that Emma is gone. Ali goes looking for her and finds her with Sissy. Sissy tells Emma that if she gets in the canoe with her, she can keep Edith forever. Emma follows wanting Edith badly. Ali gets in the canoe not wanting to leave Emma alone with Sissy. Sissy and Ali argue and Ali throws Edith in the lake. Sissy jumps in after her and swims off. Ali yells at her to get back in the canoe or she'll drown, but Sissy yells back, "You can't drown twice!" Ali and Emma know who Sissy really is and are lost in the lake. They are found by two fishermen and are returned to Dulcie, to which Ali tells Dulcie what happened and Dulcie tells her the whole story of how Teresa/Sissy died. Ali knows what Teresa wants (a proper burial) and Dulcie calls Claire and they do. Right before Ali and Emma leave Teresa's grave, they find Edith sitting on top of the grave. Hiding in the trees they faintly see Teresa and Teresa says to Emma "The doll is yours Emma. To keep" wanting to talk to Teresa, Emma reaches her hand out but as quick as a blink of an eye she's gone leaving them and passing on to the next life.
Characters
Ali O'Dywer: Protagonist. 13-years-old, main (Narrator). Goes to her aunt and mother's cottage for the summer with her aunt and cousin and meets a girl named Sissy while there. Baby sits Emma while staying at the cottage.
Aunt Dulcie: Ali's aunt. Invited Ali to watch her daughter Emma in the lake cottage while she practices her painting for an upcoming art show.
Emma: Aunt Dulcie's 5-year-old daughter. Being babysat by Ali, but becomes rude to her once she meets Sissy.
Sissy: antagonist Meets Ali while she and Emma at the lake. Influences Emma to be like her, which is rude, and spiteful. Sissy holds a dark secret.
Ali's Mom: Very worried about Ali constantly. She always get "headaches" and doesn't want Ali to grow up.
Kathie Trent: The old lady Ali meets in the woods. She knows about Teresa's death and past.
Jeanine: Dulcie's friend from the cove near the lake cottage.
Erin: Jeanines' teenage daughter. Works at the ice cream shop in the cove.
References
- ^ Edited by me
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