揑 want to grow up to be like y抋ll,?Lily said. 揑 may go into the army or the air force when I get out of high school.?
揟he army is better,?Jessica said.
揂nd,?Wade said, 搕he army has even begun to let women go to sniper school.?
揙h, no!?Lily shook her head. 揑 went hunting with Daddy one time, and I hated the idea of killing an animal. I sure couldn抰 ever draw a bead on a person, but I could be a dang good nurse to help the ones who get wounded.?
揌ow about you, Daisy??Jessica asked. 揂rmy or air force??
揘either one,?Daisy declared. 揑抦 going to go to college and get a job in an air-conditioned office. I抦 going to wear high heels and pretty dresses to work every day.?
揟here you have it.?Wade set the cooler down beside the last empty chair. 揙ne goes to the military, or maybe to nursing school and then the military. The other one to college. They抮e already planning their careers. Shall I leave the beer and root beer out here or take it inside? It抯 been on ice for a couple of hours, so it should be cold.?
揃ig as these mosquitoes are, I think we should take it inside.?Jessica got to her feet and headed that way. 揟he power and water have both been turned on, so we have electricity and bathrooms. I didn抰 go back inside until everyone was here, so you might have to fight a few cobwebs. I can grab some toilet paper from my RV.?
揟hat抯 better than squatting behind a tree,?Lily said.
揂nd that抯 why I wouldn抰 go hunting with Daddy,?Daisy declared. 揋ranny Martha said that ladies stayed home and cooked the food. They didn抰 go out in the woods and hunt.?
揝he also said that we weren抰 part of her family anymore, so whatever she said don抰 matter anymore.?Lily fell into the line behind Jessica and Wade.
揋o on in, Wade.?Jessica opened the door and stood to one side.
揗y mama would rise up out of her grave and cut a peach-tree switch to whip me with if I went into a place before a lady,?he said.
揥ell, we wouldn抰 want that.?Jessica smiled as she stepped inside the cool building.
揕adies??Wade set the cooler on the porch and stood to one side.
揟hank you,?Mary Nell said and followed Jessica into the church.
When everyone had gone inside, he picked up the cooler, walked through the foyer, and went from the sanctuary through an open side door into the fellowship hall. The whole place seemed quiet as a tomb, and like Jessica had said, every pew, the floor, and even the light fixtures were covered with dust. Cobwebs hung beneath the pews and were thick in all the corners, but he didn抰 see any spiders. He plugged the refrigerator in, and it immediately began to hum. Half dreading to open the door, he was surprised to find it cleaned out and smelling only slightly musty.
揟his place smells like Granny Stella抯 attic.?Lily抯 voice carried through from the sanctuary.
揙r like the well house at Granny Martha抯 place,?Daisy suggested. 揃ut I haven抰 seen a mouse or a snake.?
揑 killed one spider so far,?Haley said. 揂nd I haven抰 seen a mouse or rat, but then I抦 not surprised. There抯 nothing in here but dust and cobwebs for them to feed on. I抳e never been in this church before, but it doesn抰 look a lot different from the one Mama took me to when she was alive.?
揂 church is a church is a church,?Risa said, 揳nd by any other name, it would still be a church.?
揝o, if we put a bar in this building, would it still be a church??Wade leaned on the doorjamb.
揑t would.?Mary Nell nodded. 揜emember what happened when they started up a little nondenominational one in that old service station on Main Street a few months ago.?
揧ep.?Wade left the cooler and went into the sanctuary. 揊olks still ask me if I抦 parked out behind Sparky抯 church, and he just rented the building out. He never even went to the services there.?
揥hat happened to it??Jessica asked.
揟hey built up a congregation that got too big for the service station. They pooled their money then, and built a cowboy church in an old barn between Burnet and Riverbend. I heard that they baptize in a galvanized tank that folks use to water cattle,?Wade answered. 揋uess it don抰 matter, long as it holds water, what a person gets baptized in.?
揋ranny Martha says if you ain抰 baptized in natural water, like a creek or a river, it don抰 count,?Daisy said. 揝eems like you know your way around this place. You took the cooler into that other room??
揗y mama liked Elijah抯 preaching and was disappointed when he closed down the church and started drinking again,?Wade answered. 揟hat room is the fellowship hall. We had some after-services potlucks in there, back when I was a teenager. I would have sat through preachin?every Sunday without even wiggling if they抎 had a dinner afterwards every week.?