When Mama drove, she made Marco sit in the back seat with us girls, but Daddy let him sit up front. That meant I sat by myself in the back seat. It didn’t bother me at all, as long as I got to go with them. Daddy drove us to one of his friend’s houses not too far from ours. I couldn’t recall ever visiting the place before, but I wasn’t great at paying attention.

When we stepped out of the car, Daddy’s lips pursed together just like they did when Maria got in trouble at school or when Lessi cried about something silly. I glanced around, wondering what had bothered him, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Walking over to where I stood in the grass, he squatted down until we were eye to eye.

“I have a little business to handle, but it shouldn’t take long. You run around to the backyard and play for a few minutes. I’ll grab you when I’m done.”

“Is Marco coming with me?” I asked with more quiver in my voice than I had wanted. I liked to be brave in front of Marco but going off by myself made me nervous.

“Marco’s going to come with me, but you’re not old enough. I need for you to play in the backyard for a bit while we’re inside.”

I could feel tears building in my eyes at the frustration of being left behind. As the youngest, it felt like I was always being left out. “I don’t want to go in the backyard. I want to stay with you two.”

Marco stepped forward and placed his hands on my shoulders, bending low to look me in the eye. “Hey, Sof, don’t get upset,” he said softly. “It’s only a few minutes, and you’re gonna love the yard. I’ve been back there, and there’s tons of flowerbeds. I bet you can find a whole army of ladybugs.” He gave me a warm smile, and his words were just what I needed to hear. I adored hunting for ladybugs with him. In the blink of an eye, the backyard became a grand adventure rather than a punishment for being too young.

“Okay, Marco! And maybe I can find one of the yellow ones just for you.”

“Sounds good. You can tell me all about it as soon as we’re done.”

“And Sof,” Daddy said, “make sure you stay in the backyard until we come for you, understand?”

“I will!” I tore off around the side of the house, completely absorbed in my new mission to capture as many ladybugs as possible. Daddy had been right—the yard was huge. Our house sat on the edge of the water, so we didn’t have much of a backyard, but this yard was lined around the edges with trees that soared high into the sky, just like an impenetrable barrier protecting a beautiful castle. At the base of the trees were winding flower beds full of all kinds of plants and flowers. I ran directly toward the nearest bed. Ladybugs loved flowers. Dropping to my knees, I started to scour the leaves and dirt for any trace of red or yellow polka-dotted bugs.