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** To add, the caretaker's cousin who also drowned in the pond was named Rose, and there were no implications that her name had the initials H.E.H.; she was a lonely, shy girl. It's implied that Helen seeks out those kinds of children on the (childish) idea that they won't miss their families after they die and will want to stay with her. It's most likely that Heather was more drawn to the alikenesses between her and Helen than other children in the past.
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*** {{WMG}}: [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Maybe ghosts in this universe don't have free will as we know it,]] but must "borrow" perception from living humans; otherwise they're automatons who can only repeat actions they knew in life. Helen couldn't reunite with her parents because she needed a live person to "find" them for her, while her parents couldn't escape the cellar because they were caught in their [[GhostlyGoals ghostly quest]] of searching the house for Helen, just as they were doing when they died.
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*** {{WMG}}: [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Maybe ghosts in this universe don't have free will as we know it,]] but must "borrow" perception from living humans; otherwise they're automatons who can only repeat actions they knew in life. Helen couldn't reunite with her parents because she needed a live person to "find" them for her, while her parents couldn't escape the cellar because they were caught in their [[GhostlyGoals ghostly quest]] of searching the house for Helen, just as they were doing when they died.died.
*** Also, Helen's seven years old. Even as a hundred year old ghost, she was still a child, and had several child mentalities. She might not have known where exactly in the house her parents died after she ran out in the middle of the fire and drowned in the pond. She may have even thought they had been found in the wreckage and were buried elsewhere, hence her being abandoned.
*** Also, Helen's seven years old. Even as a hundred year old ghost, she was still a child, and had several child mentalities. She might not have known where exactly in the house her parents died after she ran out in the middle of the fire and drowned in the pond. She may have even thought they had been found in the wreckage and were buried elsewhere, hence her being abandoned.
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** I think she probably targets people like her rather than be restricted. It's probably more a case the similarities between her and Heather are just coincidences but those coincidences are what makes Helen really try super hard to get her. As after many failed attempts she's probably thinking "this one is so much like me, it simply has to work".
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** Even stranger, in the film version, the ghosts of Helen's parents are "trapped" along with their bodies in the cellar. Molly and Heather must open a trapdoor to free them, after which they come flying out. ''They're ghosts.'' If they can fly, why not just fly up ''through'' the floorboards?
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** Even stranger, in the film version, the ghosts of Helen's parents are "trapped" along with their bodies in the cellar. Molly and Heather must open a trapdoor to free them, after which they come flying out. ''They're ghosts.'' If they can fly, why not just fly up ''through'' the floorboards?floorboards?
*** {{WMG}}: [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Maybe ghosts in this universe don't have free will as we know it,]] but must "borrow" perception from living humans; otherwise they're automatons who can only repeat actions they knew in life. Helen couldn't reunite with her parents because she needed a live person to "find" them for her, while her parents couldn't escape the cellar because they were caught in their [[GhostlyGoals ghostly quest]] of searching the house for Helen, just as they were doing when they died.
*** {{WMG}}: [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Maybe ghosts in this universe don't have free will as we know it,]] but must "borrow" perception from living humans; otherwise they're automatons who can only repeat actions they knew in life. Helen couldn't reunite with her parents because she needed a live person to "find" them for her, while her parents couldn't escape the cellar because they were caught in their [[GhostlyGoals ghostly quest]] of searching the house for Helen, just as they were doing when they died.
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* Helen is said to be attracted to sad, misfit little girls. In every case, she offers to be their friend and gives them the locket, which gives her the power to lure them into the pond. But in Heather's case, the details tend to line up a little too neatly: they're exactly the same age, they have the same initials (which are also on the locket), they were both unhappy to have a new stepparent, and their parents died under almost identical circumstances, which begs the question: is this pure coincidence, or can Helen ''only'' steal away seven-year-old girls with the initials H.E.H. whose mothers died in house fires that they caused but somehow escaped? There can't be many children who tick all those boxes. Or did all the coincidences simply mean that Heather was destined to be the one who freed Helen? Because Molly did more heavy-lifting in that department; Heather was ready to follow Helen into the pond.
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* Helen is said to be attracted to sad, misfit little girls. In every case, she offers to be their friend and gives them the locket, which gives her the power to lure them into the pond. But in Heather's case, the details tend to line up a little too neatly: they're exactly the same age, they have the same initials (which are also on the locket), they were both unhappy to have a new stepparent, and both lost their parents died mothers under almost identical circumstances, circumstances (both girls started house fires by accident, panicked, and ran away while their mothers died searching for them), which begs the question: is this all pure coincidence, or can Helen ''only'' steal away seven-year-old girls with the initials H.E.H. whose mothers died in house fires that they caused but somehow escaped? fires? There can't be many children who tick all those boxes.boxes, and the book certainly implies that it's significant. Or did all the coincidences simply mean that Heather was destined to be the one who freed Helen? Because Molly did more heavy-lifting in that department; Heather was ready to follow Helen into the pond.
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* Helen is said to be attracted to sad, misfit little girls around the same age as herself. In every case, she offers to be their friend and gives them the locket, which gives her the power to lure them into the pond. But in Heather's case, the details tend to line up a little too neatly: they're exactly the same age, they have the same initials (which are also on the locket), and their parents died almost identically, which begs the question: is this pure coincidence, or can Helen ''only'' steal away seven-year-old girls with the initials H.E.H. whose mothers died in house fires that they caused but somehow escaped? There can't be many children who tick all those boxes. Or did all the coincidences simply mean that Heather was destined to be the one who freed Helen? Because Molly did more heavy-lifting in that department; Heather was ready to follow Helen into the pond.
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* Helen is said to be attracted to sad, misfit little girls around the same age as herself.girls. In every case, she offers to be their friend and gives them the locket, which gives her the power to lure them into the pond. But in Heather's case, the details tend to line up a little too neatly: they're exactly the same age, they have the same initials (which are also on the locket), they were both unhappy to have a new stepparent, and their parents died under almost identically, identical circumstances, which begs the question: is this pure coincidence, or can Helen ''only'' steal away seven-year-old girls with the initials H.E.H. whose mothers died in house fires that they caused but somehow escaped? There can't be many children who tick all those boxes. Or did all the coincidences simply mean that Heather was destined to be the one who freed Helen? Because Molly did more heavy-lifting in that department; Heather was ready to follow Helen into the pond.
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Changed line(s) 1 (click to see context) from:
* Helen is said to be attracted to sad, misfit little girls around the same age as herself. In every case, she offers to be their friend and gives them the locket, which gives her the power to lure them into the pond. But in Heather's case, the details tend to line up a little too neatly. They're exactly the same age, they have the same initials (which are also on the locket), and their parents died almost identically, which begs the question: is Heather just a special case, or can Helen ''only'' steal away seven-year-old girls with the initials H.E.H. whose mothers died in house fires that they caused but somehow escaped? There can't be many children who tick all those boxes. Or did all the coincidences simply mean that Heather was destined to be the one who freed Helen? Because Molly did more heavy-lifting in that department; Heather was ready to follow Helen into the pond.
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* Helen is said to be attracted to sad, misfit little girls around the same age as herself. In every case, she offers to be their friend and gives them the locket, which gives her the power to lure them into the pond. But in Heather's case, the details tend to line up a little too neatly. They're neatly: they're exactly the same age, they have the same initials (which are also on the locket), and their parents died almost identically, which begs the question: is Heather just a special case, this pure coincidence, or can Helen ''only'' steal away seven-year-old girls with the initials H.E.H. whose mothers died in house fires that they caused but somehow escaped? There can't be many children who tick all those boxes. Or did all the coincidences simply mean that Heather was destined to be the one who freed Helen? Because Molly did more heavy-lifting in that department; Heather was ready to follow Helen into the pond.
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Added DiffLines:
* Helen is said to be attracted to sad, misfit little girls around the same age as herself. In every case, she offers to be their friend and gives them the locket, which gives her the power to lure them into the pond. But in Heather's case, the details tend to line up a little too neatly. They're exactly the same age, they have the same initials (which are also on the locket), and their parents died almost identically, which begs the question: is Heather just a special case, or can Helen ''only'' steal away seven-year-old girls with the initials H.E.H. whose mothers died in house fires that they caused but somehow escaped? There can't be many children who tick all those boxes. Or did all the coincidences simply mean that Heather was destined to be the one who freed Helen? Because Molly did more heavy-lifting in that department; Heather was ready to follow Helen into the pond.
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* The bodies of Helen's parents were never found because they fell into the cellar of the house where they were buried by rubble. Only after Molly and Heather fall through the house's rotting floor is Helen able to find the bodies. But Helen's a ghost who's able to phase through solid objects, and she's been wandering around the house and lake for a hundred years. Did she never go looking?
** Even stranger, in the film version, the ghosts of Helen's parents are "trapped" along with their bodies in the cellar. Molly and Heather must open a trapdoor to free them, after which they come flying out. ''They're ghosts.'' If they can fly, why not just fly up ''through'' the floorboards?
** Even stranger, in the film version, the ghosts of Helen's parents are "trapped" along with their bodies in the cellar. Molly and Heather must open a trapdoor to free them, after which they come flying out. ''They're ghosts.'' If they can fly, why not just fly up ''through'' the floorboards?
