The Old Willis Place
Encyclopedia
The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story is a children's novel written by Mary Downing Hahn
. It was first published in 2004 and is found in over 1400 libraries.
Then, after breaking another rule, Diana finds out that she doesn't look very good, so she goes to Lillian's house to clean herself up. She finds a brush and combs, some new clothes and some soap, which she uses to clean herself. After she has cleaned herself she writes in Lissa's diary and tells her to meet her on the bench.
As Diana waits for the moment when they will finally meet, she wonders if Lissa will like her. When Lissa comes, she brings MacDuff, her dog; she finds Diana strange, but is happy to meet a new friend. However, when Lissa finds out that they stole her bike and all the other things, she becomes angry and wants them back. Suddenly, Georgie bursts out of the woods dressed like an Indian and tells Lissa to go back to where she came from. MacDuff becomes excited and jumps on Georgie, knocking him to the ground. Just as Diana and Lissa get the dog off Georgie, he runs back into the woods and Mr. Morrison is drawn by all the commotion. Diana is led to the house and before long, tries to find her brother with Lissa.
When they find Georgie, he runs off again and returns with Lissa’s teddy bear and book, but not her bike as it was wrecked. Lissa and Diana agree to meet up at Miss Lillian’s house the next day.
Lissa sees the keys to Miss Lillian’s house and drags Diana into it, even though Diana does not want to go. As soon as MacDuff sniffs inside, he tries to pull them back but Diana and Lissa press forward. They explore the house, arguing all the way, much to Diana’s distress and misery. Lissa claims to hear something and opens the parlour door-after a struggle, she lets out the ghost of Miss Lillian. Diana drags Lissa outside where they burst into tears, Diana crying over what will happen to her and her brother, Lissa crying over the wrong she had done.
Diana promises that the ghost of Miss Lillian will not come after Lissa, just she and Georgie. Diana leaves Lissa sobbing on the steps of the house and sets out to find her brother Georgie.
Diana finds him at the shed and breaks down in front of him. She tells him that the ghost of Miss Lillian was loose and free to torture them again.
Georgie asks to hear the full story of their life. Diana protests a bit but gives in quickly. “One day you cut your leg climbing over a rusty barbed-wire fence. You were bleeding so I took you into the house to find Mother. She was not there, but Miss Lillian caught us in the kitchen and began to rant and rave in her crazy way. We tried to run outside, but she got between us and the kitchen door, so we ran down the cellar stairs to hide. We were going to hide in our secret place. But Miss Lillian came down the steps behind us. She was waving a broom and screaming at us. We ran into the room and slammed the door. It was a stupid thing to do. We thought we were safe but she bolted the door and locked us in. ‘Stay there! Think about how you have treated me. I’ll come back when you are ready to apologize.’ But she left and never came back. We cried and shouted for Mother and Daddy, we pounded on the door till our fists ached, but no one heard us. No one came. No one let us out. We lit candles. We ate the crackers we left there. But after a while the candles burned down and went out. It was so dark. And cold. We told each other stories, we sang songs…then we fell asleep. A deep sleep. That’s when we died. We were ghosts. That’s when the rules came.”
After daylight passed, Miss Lillian came after them. She claimed that it was their fault they died, their fault she had a stroke. She was in the hospital for months before she could tell anyone about their whereabouts. By that time they had died and she said that if she told the police they arrest her for child abuse.
As she chases them all about her property, a bright light appears, and the children see their parents in it. However, they cannot join them until they forgive Miss Lillian and move on.
Mary Downing Hahn
Mary Downing Hahn is an award-winning American author of young adult novels. Her first published book, The Sara Summer, was released in 1979, when she was forty-one years old. Since then she has written over twenty novels...
. It was first published in 2004 and is found in over 1400 libraries.
Plot
Twelve year old Diana and her younger brother eight year old Georgie live on a hundred acre farm that does not belong to them. They take refuge on the late Miss Lillian Willis' farm and enjoy torturing one caretaker after another with items they steal. Then a new caretaker comes, Mr. Morrison, with his daughter, twelve year old Lissa to watch over the house and dog named McDuff.Then, after breaking another rule, Diana finds out that she doesn't look very good, so she goes to Lillian's house to clean herself up. She finds a brush and combs, some new clothes and some soap, which she uses to clean herself. After she has cleaned herself she writes in Lissa's diary and tells her to meet her on the bench.
As Diana waits for the moment when they will finally meet, she wonders if Lissa will like her. When Lissa comes, she brings MacDuff, her dog; she finds Diana strange, but is happy to meet a new friend. However, when Lissa finds out that they stole her bike and all the other things, she becomes angry and wants them back. Suddenly, Georgie bursts out of the woods dressed like an Indian and tells Lissa to go back to where she came from. MacDuff becomes excited and jumps on Georgie, knocking him to the ground. Just as Diana and Lissa get the dog off Georgie, he runs back into the woods and Mr. Morrison is drawn by all the commotion. Diana is led to the house and before long, tries to find her brother with Lissa.
When they find Georgie, he runs off again and returns with Lissa’s teddy bear and book, but not her bike as it was wrecked. Lissa and Diana agree to meet up at Miss Lillian’s house the next day.
Lissa sees the keys to Miss Lillian’s house and drags Diana into it, even though Diana does not want to go. As soon as MacDuff sniffs inside, he tries to pull them back but Diana and Lissa press forward. They explore the house, arguing all the way, much to Diana’s distress and misery. Lissa claims to hear something and opens the parlour door-after a struggle, she lets out the ghost of Miss Lillian. Diana drags Lissa outside where they burst into tears, Diana crying over what will happen to her and her brother, Lissa crying over the wrong she had done.
Diana promises that the ghost of Miss Lillian will not come after Lissa, just she and Georgie. Diana leaves Lissa sobbing on the steps of the house and sets out to find her brother Georgie.
Diana finds him at the shed and breaks down in front of him. She tells him that the ghost of Miss Lillian was loose and free to torture them again.
Georgie asks to hear the full story of their life. Diana protests a bit but gives in quickly. “One day you cut your leg climbing over a rusty barbed-wire fence. You were bleeding so I took you into the house to find Mother. She was not there, but Miss Lillian caught us in the kitchen and began to rant and rave in her crazy way. We tried to run outside, but she got between us and the kitchen door, so we ran down the cellar stairs to hide. We were going to hide in our secret place. But Miss Lillian came down the steps behind us. She was waving a broom and screaming at us. We ran into the room and slammed the door. It was a stupid thing to do. We thought we were safe but she bolted the door and locked us in. ‘Stay there! Think about how you have treated me. I’ll come back when you are ready to apologize.’ But she left and never came back. We cried and shouted for Mother and Daddy, we pounded on the door till our fists ached, but no one heard us. No one came. No one let us out. We lit candles. We ate the crackers we left there. But after a while the candles burned down and went out. It was so dark. And cold. We told each other stories, we sang songs…then we fell asleep. A deep sleep. That’s when we died. We were ghosts. That’s when the rules came.”
After daylight passed, Miss Lillian came after them. She claimed that it was their fault they died, their fault she had a stroke. She was in the hospital for months before she could tell anyone about their whereabouts. By that time they had died and she said that if she told the police they arrest her for child abuse.
As she chases them all about her property, a bright light appears, and the children see their parents in it. However, they cannot join them until they forgive Miss Lillian and move on.