The next church wasn't that far away and as the Chapmans maintained their pace as they moved along. The sidewalk felt warm against their tails, and particularly where there wasn't any shade, but the determination to try and find help or information that might help them deal with the very real problems that Edward Cupple had given them. The Catholic Church had promised possible answers, but they would have to wait for their bureaucracy to settle things out, which the Chapmans might not have, and thus their continued journey to see if the other churches in town might be able to provide more help on how to counter Cupple's magic. They were now on their way to the next church and hoping to get some answers.
The slight teasing of Zoe over possible attraction to an old high school friend now that she had become a Slug Woman had also been a bit of a distraction from the fact that the meeting with the Catholic Church hadn’t gone as well as hoped for. Grace was still a bit down on not getting everything and had largely been relieved that none of the emotions from the others seemed to have dampened. That was enough to keep her hopeful for the moment as they finally came up on the next church. It wasn't a particularly large building and only had a handful of small windows under where the roof met the outer walls. The only thing that really even said it was a church was a small plaque that was beside the dark blue painted door that gave the Church's name. The outer walls looked like they were made of white painted planks of wood and allowed for the building to be seen like a square when viewed from above.
"I don't recognize the denomination," Jeff admitted nervously, "do you think they'd know anything?"
"I think it's one of those old and obscure Protestant groups," Grace said slowly, "but beyond that... I don't recognize it and can only hope that they can help."
Grace found herself shaking a bit as they slid forward toward the door. Some of it was still a bit of her projecting her nervousness over the fact that things hadn't gone perfectly with the Catholic Church and her idea that might get help with regard to dealing with Edward Cupple's sorcery. A lot of the plan they'd come up with came from her theories and she had hoped that they would have found more than just that something on an old family friend's farm happened to block some aspect of Cupple's magic. Lucy and Whitney quickly felt Grace's unease and turned before they could even get to the church.
"It's okay, Grace," Whitney said to her, "none of really knew anything about what we may find with all of this. And nothing that has gone "wrong" is your fault."
"If anything has gone "wrong" at all," Lucy added, "the Catholic church might have some information... we'll just have to wait for it, and if we hadn't started with them, we might not have run into the Grenzes and thus got at least something more we can add to when we find someone that will know more on how to Cupple's sorcery. That's all a good thing."
"And a lot of the plan that we've put together wouldn't be possible WITHOUT what you've already come up with and figured out," Jeff added, putting a hand on Grace's shoulder and trying to radiate as much comforting feelings as he could. He might have helped put together the actual strategy that they were following, but he wouldn't have even figured that out without Grace's help, scientific knowledge, and reasoning. A lot of what Grace had put together might have only been guesses, but Jeff knew that was better than what he had.
"And you were the one who had the idea to save me from Cupple's mind control," Whitney added as she took Grace's hands in her own, "and for that... I owe you a lot, regardless of what we find out here or elsewhere in the hunt for information."
"I know," Grace said weakly and felt the confidence coming from the others. Even Zoe, still feeling some embarrassment at the teasing Jeff and Lucy gave over her interactions with Maize was sending Grace feelings of confidence in her. It was something she didn't want to lose or have something come up that would change their minds. "It's just that... well... there's still a lot that we don't know about whether or not we can get help... and well... I do want anything to happen that would make you think that I let you down."
"And you won't," Whitney responded, "this mission is about getting information and learning things. Even if we don't get anything here... that doesn't mean the mission is a failure."
"And this church wouldn't be the only one we're to get help from," Lucy added.
Grace relaxed a little as they reached the door. Feeling it was a public building, at least in the sense that one would think that churches would keep their doors open to accept converts or minister to the community, Whitney reacted and touched the lone brass doorknob and turned it, or at least tried to. It wasn't that her hands couldn't grip the knob, and in fact she could feel that the grip was about the same as ever. Which was one of the things that was something that the Chapmans had all been learning since their respective transformations into Slug People. Their slime could reduce friction, but it seemed that given the mood or intent their bodies would actually lower or increase that output in order to enable them to grip things when they needed to. With a lot of slime, Whitney's had would have just slid around the outside of the doorknob and it wouldn't turn. But she didn't put a lot of slime into it and could grip the doorknob, and it didn't turn.
"It's locked," Whitney said in surprise, "but this is a church... wouldn't the minister need to be here to minister to his congregation?"
"You're assuming the congregation is large enough that the minister has to be in every day," came a voice from the street, making them turn to see a man coming from the sidewalk.
"I beg your pardon?" Whitney asked as the man approached. The man was a bit older and didn't look hostile, but his appearance was a bit of a surprise.
"Just offering some help, as you lot seem a bit lost," the man spoke, "are you scouting churches to join for the Slug People colony?"
"We have some questions we think the minister could answer, if that's what you mean," Lucy corrected.
"We don't want to cause any trouble," Grace added.
"It's no trouble," the man replied with a small smile, "but the congregation that comes here for services is rather small and comes on its own schedule. Usually in the evening. I asked the minister once, and he said it was "so that the word of God is the last thing the people hear for the day." An interesting schedule, but it works for his ministry, but they're still a small ministry and they aren't necessarily in for long."
"The minister doesn't handle other work around the building?" Zoe wondered.
"Lawn maintenance is done once a week during the week, but I don't think the minister does it himself," the man replied, "if you're looking to talk with the minister, it might be better to come back on Sunday at six PM when they have their service. That's going to be about the only time you'll really be able to see the minister. Outside of that... nothing's real reliable."
The Chapmans looked to each other and sighed again, as it looked like they'd hit another at least temporary dead end. And it was something that was frustrating and didn't help Grace's concerns and only left them with questions on where to go next.