“There’s a rumor that Presbyterians have no fun. Calvinists aren’t exactly known for their sense of humor.”

“You Catholics are the worst gossips,” said Rachel. “We’ve got a Session—a board of Elders—just like any Presbyterian church, but we’re a straight-positive, gay-positive, social justice kind of place. And we honor other faiths. Our namesake, Jan Hus, was a Catholic priest.”

“I recognized the name. I know there’s a statue of him in the old town square in Prague, and that he was burned at the stake by the Inquisition, but I don’t remember why.”

“Jan Hus asked himself What would Jesus do?” said Rachel. “The answer was to preach against the clergy getting rich by charging poor people for baptisms and funerals, and to demand that the Bible be translated into Czech so people could read it for themselves, among other things. He preached that Christ rejected orthodoxy, that he didn’t want a grand church swathed in money.”

“One of those social justice types. I can see what the Inquisition would have against him.”

Rachel smiled. “We have services on Sundays at eleven. Come by while you’re in town. We get a lot of lapsed Catholics. You’ll fit right in.”

“Thanks. Could I ask you about Claudia? I know you’re busy, but I’m worried about her.”

“I couldn’t believe it when you said she was missing. But maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.” Rachel looked around the church again. “Do you want some coffee or tea?”

I shook my head and we wandered up an aisle and sat down in a pew with a carved back. There were a few people at the back of the church, and a couple of people praying in the front pew, but otherwise we had the place to ourselves.

“I wish I could tell you something that would help,” Rachel said. “Claudia got in touch with me back in June. She told me she’d kicked smack’s ass for good and she was really upbeat about her life. Things were good. She was drawing again. We met up a couple of times on the Fourth of July weekend. We had coffee, and then she came by the church. Thought this place was great.” Rachel glanced towards the altar, smiling. “We used to spend a lot of time in churches. They were often the only places you could get a meal, and even when they wouldn’t let you sleep there they’d find you a bed somewhere else.”

“I know. Claudia’s shown me her favorite ones.” I smiled ruefully. Claudia had also snuck money out of my wallet and donated it to those churches. At least that was a well-intentioned theft. I touched the silver bracelet on my wrist. “Was she in touch with her old friends?”