“Which is what?”

“A remembrance that Jesus gave to his disciples.”

“Disciples?”

“His…closest followers.”

Sabin leaned forward. “This remembrance, you do it alone?”

Abby smiled slightly. “I never have before. In the jungle the whole village did it together. I don’t have anyone here to do it with, but I’m used to doing it every week, so…”

“I have time if you want some company.”

“That’s nice of you, Sabin, but—” She stopped, not sure how to explain.

“But what? You said you do it with other people, right?”

It ran contrary to all the theology her parents had taught her. Communion was only for believers in Jesus. But she didn’t have it in her to say no to the only person in America who seemed to be on her side. Besides, maybe God would use it somehow.

“Okay,” she replied. “That’s nice of you to offer.”

Sabin joined her on the floor, legs crossed. Abby picked up the juice. “The night before Jesus was crucified, he was having the Passover meal with his disciples.”

“The Passover meal?” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’m asking too many questions.”

“No, it’s all right. I don’t mind. The Passover meal was a Jewish feast. It celebrated God delivering the Jews out of Egypt. Jesus was Jewish.”

“Yes, I do know that.”

She smiled sheepishly. “So…Jesus was saying his final words to them.”

“Before he was crucified.”

“Yes. And he took the bread and said, ‘This is my body, broken for you.’ And he passed it around the table. So we take the bread…” She pulled a small piece of bread off the slice and handed it to Sabin, then pulled one off for herself. “And we thank Jesus for giving his body for us.” She bowed her head. “Jesus, thank you for giving yourself on the cross for our sakes.” She looked up. “And we eat the bread.” She placed the piece in her mouth and swallowed. Sabin copied her.

“And what is the juice?”

“It stands for the blood of Jesus. At the Passover meal it was wine, but we didn’t have grapes in the jungle, so we used kwa juice.”

“We have wine if you want it.”

“You do?” Abby asked excitedly. “Is it. Could we use it?”

Sabin smiled. “Of course. I’ll get us some.”

In a minute he returned with two small glasses of wine. “If you’ve never had wine, this may have quite a bite.”

“That’s okay.”

She couldn’t have been more eager to have real wine with communion. Sabin handed her the glass. Abby meditated quietly for a moment, then spoke. “Jesus said, ‘Do this in remembrance of me.’ Thank you, Jesus, for shedding your blood for the forgiveness of our sins.” She raised the glass to her lips and drank. She grimaced and smacked her lips. “That’s wine?”