Deep And Dark And Dangerous A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn Deep and Dark and Dangerous A Ghost Story By: Mary Downing Hahn

Meeting The Characters Ali Odwire is the main character. She is 13 years old. Ali’s mom’s name is Claire Odwire. Claire has a secret that she is hiding and she won’t tell anyone. Claire has a sister named Dulcie. Dulcie is Ali’s aunt and she is an artist. Dulcie has a daughter named Emma. Emma is Ali’s cousin. Emma is 5 and longs for a friend. But since Emma lives in the city it is very hard to have a friend.

The Mysterious Photo One day Ali and her mom were going through some old boxes in their attic. And Ali finds an old photo of her mom and her aunt at a lake and they looked about 10 years old. And there is another girl with them, but her part of the picture had been ripped off. Ali turns the picture over and she sees her mom’s name and her aunt’s name, but the other name had been ripped off with the rest of the picture. All there is to identify her was the first letter of her name, T. So Ali went up to her mom and said, “Who is this girl?” But her mom acted as if she knew nothing about the picture or the girl. But Ali was determined to find out.

The Unexpected Visit One day Ali’s aunt and her cousin, Emma came to her house for a visit. Ali had no idea why they came, but her aunt said she had a surprise for her. Dulcie wanted Ali to come with her to the cottage at Sycamore Lake for the summer and baby-sit Emma! Dulcie’s plan was to use the old boat house as an art studio. This happened to be the place where the weird photo was taken! Ali just had to go. And after weeks of pleading her mom she was allowed to go.

Arriving at Sycamore Lake When Ali arrived at Sycamore Lake she was stunned to see a bright blue cottage and steps going down to a beautiful L… well, the lake was dark and gloomy, just as her mom had described to her. But that was fine with Ali, everything else was so beautiful. The lake was sounded by a layer of sand and a boathouse sat on its shore.

Sissy’s Appearance After a couple of weeks of being at the lake a girl named Sissy appeared out of nowhere. Sissy is ten and she said she wanted to be Emma’s friend. Emma was more than thrilled, because all she really wanted was a friend. Sissy was tall and thin and all she wore was a one-piece blue swimsuit. She had blonde hair that rest rust below her shoulders in big clumps. But something was strange about Sissy.

The Art Studio Disaster One morning Dulcie was walking down to her art studio and then screams echoed through the boathouse and back to the cottage. Ali and Emma ran from the cottage to the boathouse. When they got there boathouse all they saw was wrecked painting from wall to wall. Dulcie was sitting at a table, her face cupped in her hands, sobbing. “Who could of done this?” said Dulcie through sobs. Ali told her to call the cops but Dulcie quickly changed the subject and said “Why don’t you go fix Emma a snack, and do what I hired you to do.” Dulcie never called the cops and said there was no need to, it was probably just a couple of teenagers. Yet Dulcie’s eyes showed that it was some thing more than teenagers.

Emma’s Dreadful Day One morning Ali and Emma were taking a walk when they saw Sissy. She said she wanted to build sand castles with Emma. Emma went down to the lake with Sissy and they started to build castles. Then after Emma was done Sissy went over to Emma’s castle and just kicked it over! “Why did you do that?” said Emma. “ Well you can just make another.” replied Sissy. So Ali went over to Sissy’s castle and kicked it down. “There.” said Ali, “Now your castle is destroyed too.” “I can just make another.” said Sissy with a smirk. Emma agreed and they both spun in a circle until they fell down. “Let’s go swimming.” suggested Sissy. So they both went into the lake. But Emma can’t swim. One moment Sissy was standing right next to Emma, but then she was gone. Emma looked around for Sissy, but she couldn’t find her. “Sissy!” she called. Then Sissy jumped out of the water and pushed Emma under the water. Emma came up gasping for air but then Sissy dunked her again and again. Finally Ali went in the water and grabbed Emma and kicked Sissy away. While Emma was choking for air Ali yelled, “Go home Sissy, you almost drowned Emma!” “Guess I am the only on here with a since of humor.” And with saying that, Sissy ran off into the fog.

The informing walk One dreary morning Sissy came over to the cottage. Ali answered the door and said, “Emma is sleeping.” “ I Didn't come over to see Emma. I came over to see you." replied Sissy. “Well, I'm busy reading this book.” said Ali. Then Sissy told Ali that if she came with her she might learn something. So Ali went with her in hope of finding out her last name and where she lived. As they walked along the shore it started to rain. And Ali said she wanted to go back home. So Sissy ran off into the distance yelling,” Tata see ya.” But Ali thought that if she followed Sissy she might find out where she lived. So reluctantly she ran behind Sissy, ducking behind bushes when she thought Sissy would look back. But Sissy ran fast, so it was hard for Ali to keep up. Ali ran through the woods, dodging trees and shrubs. But, then she saw a gravestone and draped over it was the sweatshirt Sissy was wearing. But she kept on. By then Sissy had completely lost sight of Sissy. But then she saw a house and by now it was poring so Ali was drenched and she walked up to the porch and knocked on the door.

The Dreadful Night It was a dark and foggy evening and when Ali went into the kitchen of the cottage, Emma was missing. Ali looked all over but she could not find Emma. Ali looked outside and she just caught a glimpse of Emma slip behind the trees. Ali ran out of the house and tried to catch up with Emma. She got to the trees and she saw Sissy and Emma. Sissy was holding a doll and saying if Emma got into the canoe then she could hold the doll. Emma gladly went into the canoe and clutched the doll in her arms. “ Emma!” shouted Ali. Ali raced towards the canoe. Sissy told Ali she should come also. So Ali got into the canoe and Sissy pushed off the bank. It was very foggy and no one could see two feet in front of them. Emma started to cry, “ I want to go home!” she shouted. “ I have to show you something first.” Sissy said with a smirk. The canoe stopped and Emma started to cry again. Ali Sat up straight and took the doll and threw it in to the water. Sissy jumped into the water to retrieve the doll, and the canoe flipped over. Ali grabbed Emma and hung on to the side of the canoe. Sissy swam in circles chanting, “Bones, bones!” “No!” screamed Emma. “The bones are under us, in the deep cold water.” said Sissy, with a horrifying voice. Sissy started to swim off into the fog. “Come back Sissy. You’ll drown!” screamed Ali. Off in the distance a faint voice said, “You can’t drown twice.” And with that Sissy’s voice disappeared with her in the thick fog.