Wait Till Helen Comes

Michael is the left-brained counterpoint to Molly: He is rational and grounded. He enjoys studying the natural sciences. His insect collection, aquarium, and microscope are his passions. Michael takes a pragmatic approach to life. Even though he is only 10 years old, Michael often looks “like a little old man” (97). Michael firmly insists that he does not believe in ghosts and repeatedly betrays Molly’s supernatural confidences to adults, throwing her under the bus and making her bear the brunt of their disapproval.

Unlike Molly, Michael does not entertain thoughts about things that he fears. Michael rationalizes that there is no point in worrying about things—like death and nuclear war—that you cannot control. However, Molly feels that the possibility of Helen frightens Michael, possibly even more than Molly, because “science didn’t have an explanation for something like Helen” (89).

Michael is also less compassionate than Molly; he often abandons Molly to look after Heather by herself and does not want to try harder to get along with Heather. Even more than Molly, he is upset that Dave cannot see Heather’s true, manipulative nature, and he resents Dave’s impugnment of his and Molly’s characters. Instead of being worried about a ghost, Michael is angry about the joy Heather takes in making him, Molly, and Mom miserable.

Molly often compares Heather to a cat: She is quick and quiet, stealthy and sly. Heather is seven years old but, as Molly notes, acts much younger, partially to keep Dave wrapped around her finger. When Heather tearfully accuses Molly and Michael of tormenting her, Dave always takes her side. Frustrated, Molly comments that Heather “twists everything [she] do[es] all around and lies” (28). Heather uses her crocodile tears and deceit to try to sabotage Jean and Dave’s relationship.

Heather is small and bony, with pale gray eyes and piles of dark curly hair. When she is sleeping, Molly thinks Heather looks “small and helpless, almost sweet” (139), but when she wakes up, Heather is mean to everyone but Dave. Even Mr. Simmons calls her “uppity” when Heather is rude to him, though he also recognizes that Heather is the lonely, friendless type. Heather desperately wants her father’s sole and undivided love and will go to great lengths to get it.

Heather blames herself for her mother’s death and keeps her role in the fatal accident a secret out of guilt and fear. The secret causes Heather to push others away and cling to Dave. When Heather believes Dave no longer loves her “best,” she turns to Helen. The ghost offers Heather unconditional friendship and love—something Heather thinks she cannot have and does not deserve from Molly, Mom, Michael, and Dave. Thanks to Molly’s intervention, Heather learns that family love is unlimited and unconditional.

Mom is a talented painter who is thrilled to leave the city and find artistic inspiration in the country. She looks forward to having a studio and only feels slightly guilty about not letting Molly and Michael know how remote their new home would be. Mom loves Dave a lot and is excited to be married and starting a new life with him, but she is having trouble winning over Heather. She confides in Michael and Molly that she loves them and Dave, “But Heather, I just don’t know” (29). Mom is in a difficult spot. She wants to please Dave, which means making Heather happy, but she also wants to support Michael and Molly and knows that Heather bears a lot of responsibility for the family strife—something Dave cannot see.

Mom does not believe in ghosts and gets frustrated with what she thinks is Molly’s overactive imagination. Molly knows that Mom loves her, however, and she finds comfort from her fears in Mom’s hugs and closeness. Mom shows Molly that parents love their children no matter what.

Dave, Molly’s stepfather, is largely blind to his daughter Heather’s flaws. He indulges her whims, treats her preferentially, and believes everything she says. Dave insists that Heather is an “unusually imaginative and sensitive child” and that others should be more understanding of the trauma she is still dealing with (6). Despite recognizing that Heather may have some problems, Dave does not believe in the value of psychotherapy. Dave is overprotective of Heather. He accuses Mom of not trying hard enough to love Heather and thinks Molly and Michael are deliberately cruel to his little girl. Even Dave, however, gets a little tired of Heather’s clinginess.

Although Dave believes that Michael and Molly are the ones trying to break up him and Mom, he does help Michael clean up his room after Helen destroys it and jokes with Molly about the graveyard. He shows his love for Mom when he comforts her after her paintings are destroyed—for once putting Heather’s demands for attention second. In forgiving Heather for the accident, Dave also reveals his unconditional parental love.

The elderly caretaker of Saint Swithin’s cemetery, Mr. Simmons is a fount of information about the inhabitants of the old graveyard. His own parents and little sister are buried there, and he brings jars of flowers for them when he comes to tidy up the graves. He is surprised to find Helen’s grave, which he had not known about in his 20-plus years of caretaking.

Mr. Simmons gives practical reasons for warning the kids away from the old grave and the Harper House and pond: Snakes, poison ivy, unstable structures, and weed-tangled waters are all dangers the kids should avoid. However, he also confesses to Molly that there may be a sinister supernatural element in these places. His sister believed that their own cousin was possessed and led to her death by Helen. Mr. Simmons’s comments help substantiate Molly’s assertions about Heather.