"Ron Goulart - Subject To Change" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goulart Ron)

"I was the cat. Now you know about it and can go away, Ben." She let herself fall to the floor and she
huddled there, crying.

"How long have you had this idea?" He knelt beside her, running one hand over her back.

"You know who put that silly damn boat in your pocket?" she asked.

"Sure. You were that little old man."

Beth rolled and sat up, her legs tangled in the robe. She took a deep breath. "Listen, Ben. I got a kick out
of changing into different kinds of people. It was a help in my work at the Actors' Lab. Then I got the
idea it would be fun to try other things. Animals, chairs, tables. One rainy night I was a footstool until it
was time to go to bed."

"I was a tea kettle as a boy. Stop kidding."

"I don't know, Ben. It gets sort of vacant all around when you're away somewhere. I had this feeling that
I wanted to see if I could just step into a store or someplace and try to swipe something. Anything."

Pendleton found himself starting to shake. He put his arms around Beth. "That was you, then, taking junk
from an old Chinese."

"I could change, you see, and take things as all sorts of odd characters. If I was spotted and followed, I'd
try to duck in an alley or a doorway and change again. The clothes are extra. Sometimes I could hide
clothes in a lot. Most of the time, though, I'd have to change into something new. A bird, a cat. Then I'd

file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Ron%20Goulart%20-%20Subject%20To%20Change.html (5 of 11) [10/16/2004 3:34:33 PM]
 Subject to Change


carry what I had stolen in my beak or around my neck." She laughed softly. "Once I copped an umbrella
and changed into a big dog and went off with it in my mouth." She twisted slightly in his arms. "I'm
sorry. It's all sort of odd and silly. I do it."

"Well, why?"

"I don't know."

"Beth?" He inched up, lifting her with him.

"Yes?" She let him sit her on the sofa chair.

"You have to go see somebody. You have to stop."

She stiffened. "If it was as simple as insanity, I would."

"Please, Beth." He wandered to the fireplace and threw in more wood.

"The stealing does bother me. I think the changing is good. I can use it to really go someplace in my