But the boy in the rainbow pants and conductor hat was about as sad as anyone Alma had ever seen.
“That’s my best friend Ethan Copper’s house,” the boy said with a sigh. “He’s moving away.”
Alma knew a little bit about what that felt like. Moving felt like saying goodbye to a part of yourself. It felt like jumping and not being sure when and where you’d land. It felt like you were forgetting some very important thing you had to do, all day long, all the time.
It felt strange.
“I just moved,” Alma told the boy. He relaxed a little.
“You did? Do you miss your best friend?” the boy asked. He was near tears. His voice shook.
Alma bowed her head. “No,” she said. “My best friend’s right there.” She nodded toward Del. The boy nodded too. He was a very serious boy, in spite of his not-serious-at-all clothes.
“That’s lucky,” the boy said.
Alma had been busy feeling left out and confused and sad and worried and excited and awkward. She hadn’t remembered to feel lucky too. But the boy was right. Missing a lake was easier than missing a best friend.
8Oscar and Ice-Cream Sandwiches
-Del-
The good luck started with Del’s mother. They ran into her on their walk home when Alma was trying to tell Del about a sad boy with a striped hat. Del’s mother was sitting under everyone’s favorite tree. The one that hung down very, very low. The tree was a weeping willow that reached so far to the ground that Del and Alma called it a sobbing willow.
“How was the stoop sale?” Del’s mother asked.
“It was great!” Alma said. “Look what Del found!”
Del leaned an ear toward her mother. Del’s mother didn’t usually like the things Del found at stoop sales. So Del waited to hear about how clip-on earrings could hurt your ears or how earrings that big weren’t right for little girls to wear. But instead, Del’s mother smiled.
“Beautiful!” she said. “Can I try one?”
Del happily clipped one of the earrings onto her mother’s ear. Like magic, Del’s mother lit right up. “I love it!” she said. “A stoop-sale treasure!”
Before Del could say anything, Oscar the dog came bounding up to the girls. Del yelped with excitement.
Even Alma recognized him from the posters hanging up everywhere. “Oscar!” she cried. “We found Oscar!”
“More like Oscar found us!” Del said. Oscar licked her hands and wagged his fluffy white tail. Today was turning out to be the greatest of days.
Alma and Del brought Oscar back to his owners. Javi and Cora were thrilled to see their little dog.
“How in the world did you find him?” Cora asked. Her eyes filled with tears.
“Just good luck, I guess,” Alma said.
“Seems more like magic to me!” Del said.
As a reward for finding Oscar, Javi and Cora bought Del and Alma ice cream from the truck outside the park. Usually, the good ice-cream flavors were all gone by this time of day. But today Del and Alma were able to get chocolate-chip-cookie ice-cream sandwiches.
Del’s heart was thumping.
For dinner they ordered Indian takeout, and the deliveryman brought an extra order of garlic naan, Del’s favorite. While they were washing the dishes, Del’s favorite song played two times in a row on the radio.
“Oops, the DJ must have made a mistake,” Titi Rosa said when the song started for the second time.
But Del knew it wasn’t a mistake at all. She touched the earrings still clipped to her ears.
It had to be magic.
9Crowns for Queens
-Alma-
Before bed, Alma, Del, and Evie played a game of charades with Abuelita and Titi Rosa. Alma’s parents and Evie’s parents and Del’s parents were all in the garden gossiping, but Abuelita and Titi Rosa were always up for playing a game. In fact, Abuelita and Titi Rosa were being as giggly as Alma and Del sometimes were. Alma loved seeing Abuelita and Titi Rosa laugh like that. They had secret inside jokes just like Alma and Del had.
“You won’t ever beat us!” Abuelita said.
“We are the undefeated charades champion sisters!” Titi Rosa said.
“Wait,” Alma said, “we play against Abuelita and Titi Rosa?”
“Yep,” Del said.
“And we always lose,” Evie said. “Right, Del?”
“We usually lose,” Del said. “But not tonight. Because now we have Alma!” Alma shone with pride. She wasn’t sure exactly what her role in her family was, now that she lived here. But helping Del and Evie win at charades seemed like a great start.
“You’ll never beat us!” Titi Rosa said. “Because we are the queens—”
“Of charades!” Abuelita finished with a sneaky smile. Abuelita opened up her purse and pulled out two tiaras. They were plastic and shiny.
Titi Rosa let out an excited yelp. She let Abuelita put one of the tiaras on her head.
“You found those at the stoop sale?” Alma asked.
“Who can say?” Abuelita said. “But they were clearly meant for the queens of charades.”
“Well then, you’ll have to give them to us soon!” Alma said. Del grinned and gave her cousin a high five. Alma was glowing with pride and a feeling of cozy belonging. This is what she had hoped and hoped and hoped for back at the lake house. Plus, she couldn’t wait to draw pictures of Abuelita and Titi Rosa in their crowns later.
Abuelita and Titi Rosa jumped to their feet to start their round of charades.
And Alma wondered if maybe this was magic.
But it couldn’t be. She didn’t believe in things like that.
10Perfect Day
-Del-
In the morning, Del woke Alma up early.
“Cremita time!” she announced. She felt extra jumpy and extra
