When the Butterflies Came

by Kimberley Griffiths Little

Grammy Claire grips my hand as we walk down the shoreline. Steadying the outrigger canoe, she helps me climb inside. I sit down in the middle, recognizing Tafko and Alvios, and a few of Eloni’s uncles and cousins, ready to row us to the island.

  Eloni hands me an oar of my own. “We get to row, too. I promise you’ll like it.”

  The sun blazes overhead as the barefoot men push the outrigger into the surf and steady it. I dip my oar into the clear water, just like my daddy taught me when I was a little girl and he took me down the Bayou Teche. I think about seeing him again one day. Maybe I’ll call him. Or Skype on Sundays.

  Grammy Claire squeezes my shoulder and kisses my cheek. “Look, Tara,” she whispers. “The butterflies are coming!”

  Whipping back my head, I see the sky filling with purple butterflies edged in lemon-pound-cake yellow. They’re following us to the secret island of the nipwisipwis!

  As I pull hard on my oar, thousands of wings flutter while angel music saturates the sky and fills up every single corner of my heart.

  Over the edge of the boat, I spot rainbow coral, and sea turtles, and polka-dot fish swimming below us in the ocean’s depths. Soon I will swim with them, while nipwisipwis drench the skies.

  Fluttering.

  Joyful.

  Magical.

  My heart pounds in my throat as I gaze overhead, surrounded by all those hundreds of exquisite purple butterflies. We’re being guarded by a cloud of nipwisipwis as we cross the water.

  They’re singing us over the sea.

  They say stories are created by writers who spin and weave the many threads of plot twists, characters, and setting, as the Muse and a Deadline sit on their shoulders. While this may be true, it takes a whole bunch of warm and wonderful island village friends to help turn all those pieces into an actual book you can hold in your hands.

  I couldn’t do any of it without the love and support of my dear husband, Rusty; my son Jared, who critiqued and brainstormed When the Butterflies Came with me; my son Adam, who designs fabulous bookmarks and postcards; and Milly, my daughter-in-law, who takes me seriously when I go crazy with promotion ideas — and then helps me create gorgeous charm bracelets and butterfly necklaces and decorated cakes for bookstore events, along with PowerPoint presentations — while three toddlers cling to her legs (llama!).

  Much love to my generous and nurturing editor and agent, Lisa Ann Sandell and Tracey Adams. You both are a gift in my life as you help me bring out the best in my work, and make the entire publishing process an exciting, dream-come-true journey.

  I’m extraordinarily blessed to have good friends Cindy-Rae Jones and Bet Fonua at Nua Music, who create the most spectacular and magical book trailers for my novels, complete with original music and a whole lotta love.

  I want to give a special thank you to longtime friends, Melanie Park, who generously let me camp out at her empty house to draft two different books when I was under tight deadlines, and Carolee Dean, who has buoyed me up over the long haul of this crazy writing career, and is a brainstormer and critiquer of great repute. Many thanks as well to Garrett Frei and Kevin South who spent time telling me about their life on the islands of Chuuk and their love of the people on those beautiful islands.

  Endless thank yous and hugs to my brother Kurt, my sister-in-law Brenda, and their fabulous (and very hardworking!) children, Brandi (with BFF Megan), Cole, and Lexi, who built a gorgeous writing cottage for me during December with snow on the ground — in only a week! Thank you, as well, to my son Aaron, as well as to Milly and dear hubby who spent the week on the roof, becoming intimately acquainted with the shingles, and were all-around-terrific nail pounders and drywall hangers and painting pros.

  The team at Scholastic Press is simply amazing, and every step of this journey has been filled with the most wonderful and generous people: My publicist, Emma Brockway, is cheerful, tireless, and adorable. Antonio Gonzalez, School Visit Coordinator, came to my rescue in the nick of time, and I’m grateful to the very talented book designer, Elizabeth B. Parisi; my copy editor, Monique Vescia; production editor, Starr Baer; associate editor, Jody Corbett; and editorial assistant, Jennifer Ung.

  Special thanks to Deborah Kaiser, Theresa Frei, and Michelle McGilley, who set up school visits with the Book Fairs and carted me around the Bay Area, making sure I was fed and happy.

  I’m also thrilled to have another gorgeous and mesmerizing book jacket by artist Erin McGuire — thank you!

  I look forward to writing many more books and working with you all — all over again.

  About The Author

  KIMBERLEY GRIFFITHS LITTLE is the author of The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets, as well as a dozen short stories that have appeared in numerous publications, and the critically acclaimed novels Breakaway, Enchanted Runner, and The Snake Runner. She is the winner of the Southwest Book Award.

  She grew up reading a book a day and scribbling stories, while dreaming of seeing her name in the library card catalog one day. In her opinion, the perfect Louisiana meal is gumbo and rice, topped off with warm beignets, although crawfish étouffée runs a close second.

  Kimberley lives in a solar adobe house near the banks of the Rio Grande in New Mexico with her husband and children.

  ALSO BY KIMBERLEY GRIFFITHS LITTLE

  The Healing Spell

  Circle of Secrets

  Copyright © 2013 by Kimberley Griffiths Little

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Little, Kimberley Griffiths.

  When the butterflies came / by Kimberley Griffiths Little. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Summary: Tara Doucet is grieving for her grandmother, and her family is falling apart around her, but it seems like her grandmother has preplanned an elaborate itinerary for her to follow which will lead her and her sister Riley from Louisiana to a South Pacific island and into danger — and everywhere she turns butterflies follow.

  ISBN 978-0-545-42513-1 (jacketed hardcover) 1. Butterflies — Juvenile fiction. 2. Grandmothers — Juvenile fiction. 3. Sisters — Juvenile fiction. 4. Bereavement — Juvenile fiction. 5. Louisiana — Juvenile fiction. 6. Chuuk (Micronesia) — Juvenile fiction. [1. Butterflies — Fiction. 2. Grandmothers — Fiction. 3. Sisters — Fiction. 4. Grief — Fiction. 5. Louisiana — Fiction. 6. Chuuk (Micronesia) — Fiction. 7. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title.

  PZ7.L72256Whe 2013

  813.6 — dc23

  2012014722

  First edition, April 2013

  Cover art © 2013 by Erin McGuire

  Cover design by Elizabeth B. Parisi

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-52952-5

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.