The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story

“The vixen pricked up her ears as if she intended to take heed of our warning. The kits tumbled about her feet, yelping and nipping at each other, too young to listen. What was danger? What were rules? They had no idea.”

Like Diana and Georgie, who were young and innocent when they were locked in Oak Hill Manor’s cellar, the kits are unaware of the potential danger that lurks on the farm (new caretaker Mr. Morrison). This is one of many examples in which Mary Downing Hahn draws a parallel between her main characters and the woodland creatures (as prey to be hunted).

“If my mother was here, I know she wouldn’t laugh—but she died when I was so little I can hardly remember her.”

Lissa losing her mother at a young age is what made her so fascinated with the spiritual in the first place. Here, Lissa is frustrated with her father, Mr. Morrison, for not taking her curiosity seriously and expresses how much she misses (and wishes to “solve”) her mother.

“Like Georgie, I yearned to escape—to leave Oak Hill Manor forever.”

This is the first moment in which it is explicitly stated that Diana and Georgie wish to leave Oak Hill Manor. Though nothing about their past has been revealed at this point in the novel, readers now know that the siblings have lived on the grounds for a long time.

“I know this sounds odd, Dear Diary, so don’t tell anyone, but I’d love to see a ghost—just to know for sure they exist. I wouldn’t be scared. At least, I don’t think I’d be. How can a ghost actually hurt you? They’re just ectoplasm or something, not solid.”

Lissa has a very specific idea of what ghosts are like at the beginning of the novel. She wants to know that they exist, because the answer will help her solve the mystery of her mother. This diary entry also explains her initial fascination with the mysterious Oak Hill Manor.

. “They rode bicycles—their very own bicycles. And they had lots of books to read. They had warm beds. And food, delicious food. Ice cream, candy, cake, and cookies, all they could eat.”

While Diana and Georgie’s life in the woods may seem fun, as they are free to roam and do as they please, their previous life was far more rewarding. Diana and Georgie frequently list what they miss the most about living. More often than not, they list relatively simple things like toys and snacks that many take for granted.

“Oh Dee Dee, I don’t know what I’ll do without Tedward. He’s my most special toy, my favorite, the one I love best of all. My mother gave him to me when I was five years old, not long before she died. I’ve slept with him ever since.”

Lissa’s teddy bear Tedward (and its constant change in ownership) is a recurring motif in the novel. The bear provides a sense of comfort to those who end up fighting over it. Each of the characters are lonely in their own way and feel less so when in possession of the bear.

“Trailing behind her dog, Lissa walked slowly toward Miss Lilian’s house—just where she’d been told not to go. She must be a rule breaker, I thought. I glanced at Georgie. Maybe I’d break a few rules myself.”

Diana is easily influenced by the more rebellious Lissa and considers breaking her and Georgie’s own rules. This moment foreshadows trouble for the girls, as they will later visit the old Willis place together—and Lissa will accidentally release Miss Lilian’s ghost.

“I longed to run to her and tell her I meant no harm. Surely she’d understand. She must be lonely. Like me, she must want a friend.”

This quote illustrates Diana’s main goal—to befriend Lissa. Despite Diana being a ghost, the girls share a longing for connection. It is this longing that drives Diana to break the rules and allow herself to be seen by Lissa.

“The trouble was Lissa didn’t want to be my friend. She didn’t want to share her secrets with me. But I knew how to discover them.”

Secrets are a recurring theme, with most of the novel’s relationships being built on them. Lissa has proven she won’t willfully share secrets with Diana—so Diana, in her desperation for a friend, takes matters into her own hands.

“Till that moment I hadn’t cared what I looked like. No one saw me except Georgie. We were used to each other, he and I.”

When Lissa reacts poorly to Diana, the latter suddenly cares about her looks. With Georgie as her only company for so long, Diana never had to worry about hygiene or beauty. But now, she takes the initiative to make herself more presentable for Lissa’s sake—to reclaim her humanity.

“Nothing’s been the same since she came. We never used to fight. I hate her, I hate her!”

Lissa’s arrival disrupts the status quo of Diana and Georgie’s relationship, threatening to destroy it for good. Everything changed when Diana began breaking the rules to be with Lissa, which causes Georgie to resent the new girl more.

“Maybe Lissa liked me; maybe I could show her my favorite things—the spring that gushed out of a pile of mossy rocks and ferns, the heron’s nest in a dead tree in the marsh, the foxes’ den, the albino deer.”

Diana often daydreams of befriending Lissa and spending time with her. The stakes are especially high as Lissa is the first girl Diana’s age to live on the property. These daydreams offer insight into why Diana is willing to break the rules and ignore Georgie. With Lissa, Diana believes she might have a more fulfilling life than that with Georgie alone.

“She died when I was only five. I can hardly remember her, but when I hold Tedward, it’s almost like she’s with me again.”

In this quote, Tedward the teddy bear is explicitly used to cope with loneliness, as he helps Lissa feel close to her mother. Despite hearing this from Lissa herself, Diana still choses Georgie’s comfort over hers—which ultimately demonstrates to whom she is more loyal.

Georgie had good reason to be angry. As he’d said, I was a liar. I’d broken promises. I’d broken rules. All because I wanted a friend.”

As the story progresses, Diana begins to feel the consequences of her actions. Georgie is less willing to forgive her, and Miss Lilian is released from Oak Hill Manor’s parlor. Diana experiences major character growth each time she admits to mistakes, instead of blaming others like she did early on.

“I let my hands stay in hers till she let them go. It was like being with Jane again, holding hands and sharing things. I wished I could tell Lissa everything about me. But I didn’t dare begin. How could I explain things I didn’t understand?”

Once Diana begins to interact with Lissa, she realizes how difficult it is to maintain her many lies—and explain the truth. Reconciling the experiences of the living and the dead is more complicated than Diana realized, and she begins to see that perhaps, there’s a legitimate reason why the rules are in place.

“I pictured her in bed, reading Lassie Come Home, her little bear tucked in safely beside her, so cozy, so comfortable in her room. She had no idea how fragile everything was. How easily it vanished, just when you thought it was yours forever.”

Diana, who lost almost everything when she died in Oak Hill Manor’s cellar, knows the value of everyday comforts and a family to come home to. She is envious of Lissa, who is oblivious to her and Georgie’s heavy burden, the terror and uncertainty of the afterlife.

“Sometimes I think she knows I’m here, and she’s waiting for me to pay her a visit. She wants me to come, Dee Dee, I can almost hear her calling me.”

Before Lissa takes Diana to Oak Hill Manor, the author hints that a greater force is at play. Both Lissa and Diana hear an inner voice throughout the novel—the voice later being revealed to be Miss Lilian. While the voice seems sinister at first, its guidance propels the necessary events for reconciliation between Diana, Georgie, and Miss Lilian.

“Georgie couldn’t live without me any more than I could live without him. We’d been together too long, bound by secrets we could never share with anyone else. Not Lissa. Especially not Lissa.”

Diana slowly realizes that as much as she likes Lissa, they can never truly be friends because of her secrets and stunted age. There is only one person who fully understands who and what she is—Georgie.

“My own mother had said the same often enough, but she’d never been able to convince my father. Eccentric, he’d argued, but harmless. He should have listened to Mother. She knew Miss Lilian far better than he did.”

Just like Mr. Morrison refuses to believe Lissa’ claim that there is a ghost in Oak Hill Manor, Diana and Georgie’s father never believed their mother when she said Miss Lilian was unhinged. If the children’s father had listened, Miss Lilian might have been questioned more diligently about Diana and Georgie’s disappearance.

“It was such fun to tease the old woman. Didn’t she deserve it?”

Diana and Georgie continue to prank Miss Lilian long after their deaths, as revenge for locking them in the cellar. To Diana and Georgie, their mischief is more than justified as the woman’s neglect killed them. In the end, the siblings acknowledge Miss Lilian’s mistake and apologize for their own behavior so they can all move on from Oak Hill Manor.

“Though I didn’t like to admit it, I’d started this all by making friends with Lissa.”

Diana grows to accept blame for her actions and recognizes that befriending Lissa (without regarding Georgie’s feelings and Lissa’s safety) was an irresponsible thing to do. Because Diana started the novel’s main conflict, she feels it is only right to finish it.

“But it was more than that, Dee Dee. It was like something was making me go inside. It was kind of like a voice in my head saying ‘Come in, come in.’ It wasn’t just an invitation, De Dee, it was more like an order, and I had to do what it said.”

Miss Lilian’s voice in Lissa’s head grows more demanding as the novel progresses. When Lissa and Diana are inside Oak Hill Manor, Lissa can’t help but heed Miss Lilian and unleash her—demonstrating the depth of the latter’s wrath.

“I saw our bodies as they’d been when Georgie and I began our new lives. Like the empty shells of locusts left on tree trunks, they were no longer needed. But they had to be found. They had to be buried.”

Diana and Georgie’s unfinished business—their physical bodies having to be found and buried—must be completed in order for them to leave the grounds and move on with their lives. Upon realizing this, the siblings come up with a plan. This plan hinges on Diana telling Lissa their story, and Lissa prompting Mr. Morrison to investigate the cellar—a culmination of trust.