Future Home of the Living God

The Church of the New Constitution abducts Cedar and places her in a hospital room. They raided her house while Phil was away, and Cedar could not bring herself to resist, lest her baby be hurt. Later, Cedar learned that the pleasant woman who first entered her kitchen had a loaded gun stashed in the picnic basket she carried. Cedar wonders who told the authorities of her location.

She shares her hospital room with another pregnant woman named Agnes Starr. Agnes plans escape and insists that Cedar come with her, though Cedar has grown somewhat accustomed to the better conditions in the hospital where she now feels “at home” (82). Cedar suspects that she’s been drugged. Bernice, the woman who raided Cedar’s house, allowed Cedar to bring her diary and several personal items. Despite Bernice’s reassurances, Cedar is certain that she will not be allowed to keep her baby.

As the nurse coos over Cedar’s Christmas due date, Agnes snarls at everyone. She accuses the nurses of hypocrisy and demands to know where the babies are taken. Cedar ignores Agnes’s advice not to take the medicine. The drugs cloud her thoughts, preventing her from thinking about