Deep and Dark and Dangerous

Back at her studio, Dulcie rushes out to greet them, worried because they were gone for a long time, and tells them to get permission next time. Emma cries in Dulcie’s arms because she never found Sissy on the walk. Ali tells Dulcie about Erin’s mother, but Dulcie claims she has never met her.

After having lunch, Emma brings Ali The Moffats to read. On the title page, under her grandmother, mother, and aunt’s names, are the faint remnants of another name that was erased. Emma dozes off promptly, so Ali leaves her to rest, puts on her swimsuit, and, promising Dulcie she’ll stay out of deep water, goes for a swim. She encounters Sissy again in the same faded swimsuit. When Ali tells her they went looking for her in Webster’s Cove, she claims not to live there, instead pointing in the opposite direction. Ali tries to make conversation with her, but Sissy is just as rude as their first encounter. Sissy asks about Claire and why she is afraid of the water. Ali says she thinks something bad happened. Sissy replies that something bad did happen and “lots of people know just what it was” (53). Losing patience, Ali asks if she knows what, but Sissy remains evasive and eventually runs off down the shore.

When Ali returns to the house, Emma is waiting for her. She asks if Ali has seen Sissy—her “best friend” next to Ali—and Ali says no but that she will turn up eventually. Ali persuades Emma to play a game of Candy Land to distract her from thinking about Sissy. On the board, two corners are marked by Claire and Dulcie’s names, and underneath in black crayon the name “Teresa” can be faintly read on a third corner. Ali, shivering, deduces this name belongs to the T from the photograph. They finish a few distracted rounds of Candy Land before having dinner with Dulcie. Emma asks about the name on the board, and Dulcie says Teresa probably owned the game before their grandmother bought it. Ali doubts this and asks if it might be the girl from the photo, but her aunt shuts down the conversation and sends the girls off to read.

Ali spends a fitful night dreaming of Teresa and wakes late the next morning to find Emma sitting in the kitchen with Sissy. After Ali eats breakfast, she and Emma put on swimsuits to go to the lake. Ali sees Sissy looking at the Candy Land board, but Sissy pushes it away when she catches Ali watching her. On the way to the lake, they stop by Dulcie’s studio, and Sissy is careful to avoid being seen by Dulcie. Dulcie tells Emma to stay in knee-deep water because she cannot swim. Moments later, Sissy dares Emma to dive off the end of the dock, jeering her and calling her a baby for not doing it. Crying that she can do what she wants, Emma escapes Ali’s grasp and jumps off the dock. Ali quickly rescues her struggling cousin from the deep water and warns her never to do that again or she will tell Dulcie. This draws cries of “tattletale” from Sissy, who bets Emma she would jump if Ali was not there.

Emma and Sissy spend the rest of the afternoon making sandcastles and whispering and giggling together. They deliberately exclude Ali from their conversation, poke fun at her, and call her names. Emma tells Ali to go home because Sissy can be her babysitter. Ali refuses to abandon Emma even though she is fed up with Sissy. Eventually she summons Emma for lunchtime, but Sissy unkindly declines the invitation to join them, kicking Emma’s sandcastle down in the process. Ali kicks Sissy’s down in return, but Sissy, unbothered, just laughs. Emma joins her, and their laughter disturbs Ali. It is soon cut short when Sissy’s mood swings. She calls Emma a copycat who “sat on a tack and ate a rat” (63). Ali comforts a crying Emma saying Sissy is a brat, but Emma defends her friend and runs home upset to tell her mother she hates her cousin.