The Doll in the Garden: A Ghost Story

Still angry over the recent death of her father, ten-year-old Ashley moves with her widowed mother into the upper floor of a boarding house owned by mean-spirited Ms. Cooper, who dislikes children.

In spite of Ms. Cooper's warnings to stay out of the house's overgrown and neglected garden, Ashley goes exploring and meets a younger neighbor, Kristi.

Kristi tells her the neighborhood kids believe the garden is haunted by a ghostly cat, and that they hear mysterious crying coming from the hedges.

Believing Anna Maria is crying from loneliness, she slips outside and takes the doll into the house, hiding her in a dresser.

Ashley tries to explain that she promised to give the doll back to Louisa, but hearing the name only makes Ms. Cooper angrier.

Ashley forces Kristi to follow her through the hole in the hedge to explain to Louisa why they can no longer bring back her doll.

The girls realize that the hole in the hedge is a gateway into the past and that Louisa's ghost will be trapped there until she gets her doll back.

Ms. Cooper becomes much kinder, causing Ashley to believe that Louisa's real intention was not to get back her doll, but to free her friend from the guilt that made her so bitter.