Vanita said, "Lulu. Our chauffeur doesn’t seem to have a clue. Did you explain what in tarnation is going on here?"

"Guess not. I thought she understood. Dez, it’s the duck service, a great new invention. Turn the car back on. You’ll see what I mean."

Dez didn’t ask questions, just did what they asked.

From the back seat, Luella went on. "Vanita heard about it on the radio and called to find out more, and it sounds like a good deal. We sit here in the comfort of our car and listen on the radio to the service going on inside. They come out and give us communion and everything."

Dez cleared her throat. In a low, tired voice she said, "And where exactly do the ducks fit in?"

There was a moment of silence, then the two sisters burst into cackles. Every time one of them tried to speak, they dissolved into more laughter. Dez turned to the small woman sitting next to her and waited as Vanita fished a tissue out of her purse and blew her nose. A compact car pulled up beside them, and through the passenger window the dark-haired woman could see a harried looking woman in the driver’s seat, two toddlers in car seats in the back, and a kid about five years old, still in Batman pajamas, in the front seat. He unbuckled his seatbelt and picked something up from the floor that Dez couldn’t see until he put the bucket in his lap. Legos. He fiddled with a cross-piece of the red, white and yellow creation, then held it in one hand and moved it around as though it were a little plane soaring in the air.

Luella let out a last chuckle. "There’s no ducks, Dez. It’s Drive Up Church...D. U. C. I am sorry I didn’t explain it better. It’s already 9:35. You can turn on the radio to 88.8 AM. The organist should have begun at half past nine."

Sure enough, 88.8 came in loud and clear with the screeching tones of the organ wheezing out "Angels We Have Heard on High".

Vanita was giggling. "What will they think of next? Isn’t this wonderful? Wish they’d had this when my little demons were small. Would’ve saved on a lot of threats and spankings."

Dez watched through Vanita’s side window as a mini-van pulled up on her side of the car. She couldn’t see into the back seats because the windows were dark, but the man and woman in the front seat seemed to get situated, then started drinking coffee from black and silver insulated mugs and reading the newspaper. The van’s side door slid open and two children dressed in snowsuits tumbled out, slammed the door shut, and ran over to the swing set inside the fenced-in area next to the church’s side door. She watched as they climbed onto the hard black plastic seats and started to swing. Puffs of frozen breath emerged from their mouths into the wintry air.

On the other side of the Chrysler, Batman Boy with the Lego airship pointed and said something to his mother, then listened and nodded. Dez couldn’t hear a word that was exchanged but she imagined that his mother was reminding him that if he had gotten ready when she told him to, he could have dressed warmly so that he, too, might be out swinging and playing with those other kids. Looking like he might cry, the boy shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the Lego bucket in his lap.

They sat in the car for several minutes while the two women read from their bibles and occasionally made some comment to one another.

Movement behind the swing set caught Dez’s eye. She saw the church door open, and a white robed acolyte came out, pushing a cart full of books. He stopped at each car and handed out hymnals and programs for the day’s service. By the time he made it to their car, he was shivering in the cold. Dez accepted three hymnals and programs and thanked him, then rolled the window up quickly. "Are you two warm enough?" she said. She passed them programs and books.

"Toasty," Vanita said as she buried her nose in the program.

Luella, said, "We have these extra blankets if we need them."