“I told her that any time she wore it around her neck, she could pretend her big brother was walking right next to her.”

Mrs.

Henderson bowed her head in silence, folding her hands together solemnly.

Lucas gently clicked open the tiny silver clasp and tipped the pendant so the pale sunlight fell inside.

Within lay an old, faded color photograph of two young children sitting close together on wooden front steps.

The older boy had a protective arm wrapped firmly around the little girl’s thin shoulders.

Scratched crudely into the tarnished metal backing were three short words, cut by hand with a pocketknife.