On a hot summer night in Pewauket, Connecticut, Liza Tillerman abandons her four children, thirteen-year-old Dicey, ten-year-old James, nine-year-old Maybeth, and six-year-old Sammy, in a mall. With only a change of underwear, a map, and nine dollars, Dicey, James, Maybeth, and Sammy take off on foot to Bridgeport, Connecticut where their nearest known relative, Aunt Cilla, lives. Along the way, Dicey struggles to care for and protect her siblings.