Summer of the Mariposas

The Garza girls stay at Inés’s house for the night. Inés asks Odilia to fetch her the paper from the corner store. Odilia sees that her and her sisters’ disappearance made front-page news. Odilia returns to usher her sisters out of the house. In the car, Odilia shows her sisters the details of their case in the news—that their mother is on house arrest as a suspect in their disappearance, that the FBI are looking for their father as well. Juanita expresses remorse at their plan to take the dead man back. Odilia decides it’s best to get to their grandmother’s house as soon as possible instead of calling their mother. Just then the car breaks down, and the girls are forced to walk the 15 miles to their grandmother’s house.

After walking for two and a half hours, the sisters rest under the shade of a tree. They hear the lovely voice of a woman calling from the brush. Odilia remembers her mother’s saying—“Never talk to strangers” (172)—but her sisters follow the voice. An enchanting blonde woman, Cecilia, invites them to her house to rest. The house is like Eden, with a beautiful garden and carefully designed interiors.