"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 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."
