“Hello, Anastasia!” Lucy’s social mask is solid, and she projects all the sympathetic friendliness she can muster, which is a very considerable amount indeed. Although she can’t help but note the dirty dishes stacked in the sink, the heaps of soiled laundry on the bed filling the bedroom nook. Anastasia’s hair is oily and uncombed, and apparently the babe has scratched her cheek.

“Lucy, thank God you’re here. I gotta go out and get some groceries or we’ll starve! Baby’s asleep and Ralph’s watching TV. I’ll just be a few minutes.”

“Okay,” Lucy says, but adds firmly, “I absolutely have to leave before eleven, I’ve got business I can’t miss.”

“Okay, sure. That won’t be a problem.” Out the door flies Anastasia, without brushing her hair.

Lucy hopes she’ll come back on time; once she was stuck here for an entire day, and it’s made her distrustful. In fact she didn’t mention that her crucial business was a meeting with Reverend Strong, for fear that Anastasia wouldn’t consider it important enough to return. She heaves a deep sigh. Some of these good works are really a pain.

Dishes washed, some of the laundry washed in the sink and hung up over the shower curtain rod to dry—not a laundromat within two miles, Anastasia has said—and Lucy sits down with Ralph, a passive six-year-old. She tries to teach him to read, using the only book in the house, a Reader’s Digest Condensed Books for Children. Ralph stumbles over the first sentence and turns the page to the scratch-’n’-sniff pads that illustrate, or enscentify, the story. As usual, she ends up reading to him. How do you teach someone to read? She points to each word as she reads it. They go through the alphabet letter by letter. Ralph gets bored and cries to have the video wall put back on. Lucy, irritated, resists. Ralph screams.

Lucy thinks, I’m too old for this. Is this really the Lord’s work? Baby-sitting? Does Anastasia regard it as such? Quite a few of Lucy’s friends feel that they’re being taken advantage of in this program of theirs, aiding young women who appear to be joining the church only to get free help. Well, if it’s true, Lucy thinks, it still represents a chance to change people’s minds, over time, perhaps. And if not … well …

God does not expect us

To cause the seed to sprout—

He just said to plant it,

And plant it all about.

She can talk to Anastasia about coming to Bible class when she returns. Speaking of which—it’s 11:30. Lucy begins to get annoyed. By noon she’s really angry.