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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..974d76c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #51571 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51571) diff --git a/old/51571-h.zip b/old/51571-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index f04e0a8..0000000 --- a/old/51571-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/51571-h/51571-h.htm b/old/51571-h/51571-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index b2e36d5..0000000 --- a/old/51571-h/51571-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1057 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=us-ascii" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Subject to Change, by Ron Goulart. - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - h1,h2 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.caption {font-weight: bold;} - -/* Images */ -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; -} - -div.titlepage { - text-align: center; - page-break-before: always; - page-break-after: always; -} - -div.titlepage p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0em; - font-weight: bold; - line-height: 1.5; - margin-top: 3em; -} - -.ph1, .ph2, .ph3, .ph4 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; } -.ph1 { font-size: xx-large; margin: .67em auto; } -.ph2 { font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; } -.ph3 { font-size: large; margin: .83em auto; } -.ph4 { font-size: medium; margin: 1.12em auto; } - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Subject to Change, by Ron Goulart - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Subject to Change - -Author: Ron Goulart - -Release Date: March 26, 2016 [EBook #51571] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUBJECT TO CHANGE *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/cover.jpg" width="397" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="titlepage"> -<h1>SUBJECT TO CHANGE</h1> - -<p>BY RON GOULART</p> - -<p>Illustrated by HARMAN</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Galaxy Magazine December 1960.<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>Pendleton had been away from San Francisco over two months. The airport -taxi left him at his place, where he showered and shaved. Then he -decided he would walk, down through Chinatown and over into North -Beach, to Beth's apartment.</p> - -<p>It was a warm Saturday afternoon and he unbuttoned his dacron blazer -a block or so into Chinatown. He smiled as he wandered by the bright -restaurants and shops, the rows of ivory Buddhas in window after -window. On one corner Pendleton stopped and took a deep breath, -watching a scattering of tourists taking pictures of each other. -Someone had lost a half dozen fortune cookies on the sidewalk and they -crackled and spread fragments and fortunes as people passed.</p> - -<p>While he was waiting for a signal to change, three small Chinese boys -charged a fourth who had ducked around Pendleton. They all ran around -the corner and Pendleton looked after them. There was an old curio and -toy shop there. He went toward its streaked window, trying to identify -the objects. Some kind of procession of tin soldiers made up the main -display. The door of the shop opened and an old man with a flared white -beard came out. His dark suit hung loose on him and his tie was coming -untied as he hurried away.</p> - -<p>The old man brushed by Pendleton, nudging him. "Many pardons," he said, -cutting across the street. He ran downhill, weaving a little, and into -an alley.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus1.jpg" width="333" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>The bells over the toy shop door rattled again. "Stop, thief!" shouted -the fat Chinese, who came running up to Pendleton. The man shouted -again and stopped on the corner, his hands on his hips, looking.</p> - -<p>Pendleton crossed the street and turned down the alley the old man had -used. This would cut off a block of the way to Beth's. He had kept -quiet about the thief because he didn't want to get involved in a lot -of delaying questioning.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Halfway down the alley he saw an arm dangling out of a garbage can. -Pendleton blinked and approached the shadowed area around the can. He -flipped the lid up and the coat sleeve that had been tangled on the -can edge slipped free and dropped into the can. If the old man was -wandering around naked, they shouldn't have much trouble catching him.</p> - -<p>Pendleton liked the pre-quake apartment house Beth lived in. In almost -any weather he liked to see its narrow brown wood front waiting there -in the middle of the block. He smiled as a big blue-gray gull flew low -overhead and then circled up and away behind Beth's building. Pendleton -took the rough steps in twos and threes and swung at Beth's bell. There -was a folded note for him glued on her mail box lid with Scotch tape. -It told him she might be delayed a bit and to get her keys from under -the rubber-plant pot on the porch and let himself in. He did that, -thinking again that Beth's notes always looked as though she wrote them -on horseback.</p> - -<p>Upstairs he dropped her keys on the small mantle over the small real -fireplace. Her bedroom door was slightly open. Just as he noticed this, -Beth called out to him.</p> - -<p>"I hope that's you, Ben?" she said from her room.</p> - -<p>"Where'll I put the ice, lady?" he said. "You're supposed to be out."</p> - -<p>"Welcome back. I just got here and I had to change so I left the keys -down there in case you got here while I was changing. How was New York?"</p> - -<p>"Okay, but I'm glad I'm with the agency out here. How'd you get in -without keys?" He sat down in the soft tan sofa-chair he'd given her.</p> - -<p>"I have a key to the kitchen way. Is the show all right now?"</p> - -<p>"I guess we fixed it for a while. How are you?"</p> - -<p>"Fine. And, hey, I have a good part in Alex' new play. It just happened -and I couldn't write."</p> - -<p>"You have lousy handwriting, you know," Pendleton called. Grinning, -he got out a cigarette and reached into his coat pocket for a book of -matches. Something jabbed into the palm of his hand.</p> - -<p>"It's because I'm so intense," Beth said, near her bedroom door.</p> - -<p>Pendleton winced and pulled a small toy Chinese junk out of the pocket. -The price stamp was still on the bottom of the boat, 25 cents. The old -man must have dropped it in his pocket when he nudged him.</p> - -<p>Beth came up behind him. "It's warm in here. Give me your coat. I have -a whole new concept about making martinis. This fellow in Actors' Lab -told me. You do it with Zen." Her hands rested on Pendleton's shoulders.</p> - -<p>"I'll be damned," he said, rubbing his palm with the boat as he stood.</p> - -<p>Beth slid her arms over his shoulders and locked her hands on his -chest. "What's that, Ben?"</p> - -<p>Pendleton turned around in her hold. He tapped her tanned nose with the -toy boat and told her about it. "I suppose I should take it back," he -said finally.</p> - -<p>Beth laughed. "Makes you a receiver of stolen goods." She took the -toy boat and walked to the fireplace. She put it next to her keys and -turned to him. She was wearing a light blue dress with a flared skirt. -No stockings, flat black shoes. She'd cut her blonde hair short since -he'd seen her last. "Welcome back," she said, smiling.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A light wind was starting up, tapping windows with tree branches, as -Pendleton let himself into Beth's darkening apartment. He flipped the -light switch on and started for the tan sofa chair, jiggling the keys -in his hand. The bedroom door slammed.</p> - -<p>"You in there?" Pendleton called. Her note said she'd gone out for some -forgotten groceries.</p> - -<p>Pendleton opened the bedroom door and turned on the lights. The window -beyond Beth's low, blue-covered bed was open and the wind was flapping -the curtains against her dressing table. A strong flap caught a -lipstick and flipped it into the thick rug.</p> - -<p>Edging around the bed, Pendleton closed the window and picked up the -lipstick. He left the bedroom door a bit open and went back to the -chair. There was a paper back by Eisenstein on the coffee table and he -picked that up and read down the contents page.</p> - -<p>The wind got stronger and parts of the old building creaked, first -something down under him, then something way up and to the right. Now -and then there would be a bang from out in back. Pendleton dropped the -book and got down on his knees in front of the fireplace and kindled a -fire. As the fire took hold, bright sparks popped out into the room.</p> - -<p>Something started tapping on the window behind Pendleton's chair. At -last, in a lull between creaking and banging, he became aware of a -tapping. He looked at the window and the early night sky. The tapping -went on.</p> - -<p>There was a gray cat sitting on the sill outside. The cat was tangled -up in an orange and blue bead necklace. "Lonely out there," Pendleton -said. He didn't much like cats, but this one looked sad. He opened the -window and the cat jumped in, the necklace falling free and clattering -against the wall. "We'll see if maybe Beth's got something around to -give to wandering cats." Pendleton reached out to pick up the cat. -Sputtering, the animal raked at his fingers and dived between his legs.</p> - -<p>Pendleton spun and saw the cat scoot through the open bedroom door. -"Hey, you little bastard, you'll knock over things."</p> - -<p>He was two steps from the door when it slammed and locked. Pendleton -stopped, wondering how the animal had managed to bang into the door -hard enough to close it. He didn't think the cat should stay in there -and anyway Beth would want to get in when she got home. He'd pick the -lock. Crouching, he reached for the knob. Something clicked and the -door swung in. He recognized Beth's terry robe and he looked up and saw -her face, very pale.</p> - -<p>"Okay," she said. "I guess I was too cute with the key bits. Go away, -Ben, and leave me alone. Please?"</p> - -<p>"What's the matter?" He was still squatting and her stepping forward -sent him over.</p> - -<p>"Just go away, Ben. Please, now." She brushed by him and sat in a -bucket chair, putting both bare feet down hard on the floor.</p> - -<p>Ben got himself up. "You drunk?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Beth brushed at her hair. "I thought if you were sitting out here and I -showed up in the bedroom, you'd think I came in the back way. Or that -I was already in there and just hadn't heard you." She bit her thumb. -"Just another trick I wanted to try."</p> - -<p>"What are you talking about?" He bent and scooped up the bead necklace.</p> - -<p>"Go away. That's all."</p> - -<p>"Well, why?" He twisted the string of beads around his knuckles. -"Somebody else?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. Alex." She smiled.</p> - -<p>"Alex? That fruiter who runs the Actors' Lab." The string broke and -beads splattered away from him. Three landed in the fire.</p> - -<p>"Or maybe my Uncle Russ. Did you know we lived with him for three -years when I was a kid and I was always having odd fevers and things? -He had some kind of quack x-ray business."</p> - -<p>Pendleton took Beth's shoulders. "You're sick, is that it?"</p> - -<p>"No. Go away, Ben."</p> - -<p>"Well, what is it?"</p> - -<p>Beth sighed, annoyed. "You know about Method. You have to feel the -parts, live them."</p> - -<p>"Sure."</p> - -<p>Beth shrugged her shoulders until Pendleton let go. "One weekend -afternoon—oh, about two or three weeks after the agency sent you -off—I was here trying to be an old lady. For an exercise at the Lab. -And I was."</p> - -<p>Pendleton blinked at her still pale fact. "That's swell, Beth. A guy -likes to know what his fiancee is up to while he's away."</p> - -<p>"I <i>was</i> an old lady." She stood with her body thrust almost against -him. "See? I changed."</p> - -<p>He backed a little. "How about a drink?"</p> - -<p>"Don't you get it, Ben? How the hell do you think I just came in?"</p> - -<p>"The back way." Pendleton decided to try a drink on her and then find -out who her doctor was these days.</p> - -<p>"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.</p> - -<p>"How long have you had this idea?" He knelt beside her, running one -hand over her back.</p> - -<p>"You know who put that silly damn boat in your pocket?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"Sure. You were that little old man."</p> - -<p>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."</p> - -<p>"I was a tea kettle as a boy. Stop kidding."</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Pendleton found himself starting to shake. He put his arms around Beth. -"That was you, then, taking junk from an old Chinese."</p> - -<p>"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."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus2.jpg" width="331" height="500" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>"Well, why?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know."</p> - -<p>"Beth?" He inched up, lifting her with him.</p> - -<p>"Yes?" She let him sit her in the sofa chair.</p> - -<p>"You have to go see somebody. You have to stop."</p> - -<p>She stiffened. "If it was as simple as insanity, I would."</p> - -<p>"Please, Beth." He wandered to the fireplace and threw in more wood.</p> - -<p>"The stealing <i>does</i> bother me. I think the changing is good. I can -use it to really go someplace in my acting career. Quit the secretary -business altogether. I actually changed to an old woman for one of -Alex's one-acters. He thought I'd just done a good job of makeup. I -don't believe I want to simply stop, Ben."</p> - -<p>"You have to!"</p> - -<p>"Don't start shouting commands."</p> - -<p>Pendleton sat across from her on the sofa. "Will you promise to start -seeing somebody? Maybe I can find out about a good man. Promise you'll -see him."</p> - -<p>"You going to ask around? Why don't you do a TV spot? 'We are happy to -announce that Beth Gershwin is daffy.'"</p> - -<p>"Relax, Beth. You decide what you want to do. I won't talk to anybody."</p> - -<p>Beth moved to the window. The wind had died. "I don't know, Ben."</p> - -<p>"Let it rest. Let's have the drink." He came to her side.</p> - -<p>"I think I'd like to be alone for a while."</p> - -<p>"I'd like to stay."</p> - -<p>"I'd like you to go. Please."</p> - -<p>"Beth."</p> - -<p>"Go on, Ben." She stared at him, then walked into her bedroom.</p> - -<p>She didn't close the door and he followed.</p> - -<p>Her robe was spread-eagled on the bed. Pendleton looked around the -room. Before, there had been one carved stool at the vanity table. Now -there were two.</p> - -<p>Pendleton left the apartment and ran down the hall, taking short, -shallow breaths. But he couldn't just leave her. He bit his lip and -went back through the still open door.</p> - -<p>"Come on, Beth. Don't be stubborn," he said into the bedroom, watching -the two stools.</p> - -<p>He waited an hour. Then he turned off the lights and started to -leave. Going out this time, he stepped on one of the wooden beads and -almost fell onto the coffee table.</p> - -<p>Pendleton slammed Beth's door and went out into the clear night. If she -could be stubborn, so could he.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was almost two weeks before she called him to apologize. She'd -got him at the agency. He didn't stay in his apartment much. He kept -talking to himself if he did.</p> - -<p>You could see the street from the little Italian restaurant they'd -agreed to meet in. Pendleton sat at a round table close to the wide -window and watched for Beth. There was a slight haze in the afternoon -air and most of the secretaries that passed were coatless.</p> - -<p>Beth started smiling a quarter of a block from him. She was in a light -cotton dress, weaving in and out of the noontime pedestrians.</p> - -<p>"Nice day," Pendleton said, standing.</p> - -<p>Beth smiled and sat down. "I noticed that right off."</p> - -<p>They ordered and Pendleton said, "How've you been?"</p> - -<p>"Great." She clasped her hands together on the checkered table top. -"You were right, Ben. I'm sorry I was mean."</p> - -<p>Pendleton moved his glass of water three inches. "Good."</p> - -<p>"I've started seeing a very highly recommended analyst. Things are -starting to look up. I haven't even had an impulse to filch anything in -days."</p> - -<p>The food arrived. "It'll take time."</p> - -<p>"I have a great part in Alex's next play. It's really a challenge. By -Ionesco. Being able to change will help."</p> - -<p>Pendleton set his fork down. "Huh?"</p> - -<p>"I tried changing into the character last night. It came off fine."</p> - -<p>"What are you seeing a psychiatrist for, then?" he asked, his voice low.</p> - -<p>"So I won't steal things any more."</p> - -<p>He held the edge of the table for a minute, not meeting her eyes. -Finally he said, "I see. Well, that's fine, Beth. How've things been at -work?"</p> - -<p>Beth grinned and told him.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The days were turning cool and the trees had started scattering dry -leaves into the wind. On a sharp weekend afternoon Pendleton was -killing time in the produce district before driving over to Beth's.</p> - -<p>There was a coffee shop open and Pendleton thought about crossing over -for a cup of coffee. The whitewashed door of the place shot open and -a fat woman with an orange-fringed shawl came out. She was carrying -something wrapped up in a paper napkin. She glanced at Pendleton, -hesitated a second and then went running off toward a closed warehouse. -By the time she reached it, the short-order cook was on the street -looking after her. He threw a gesture after her and went back inside.</p> - -<p>Pendleton shivered once slightly. He started walking for his car and a -block from it he found himself running. He got to Beth's place ahead of -the approaching dusk.</p> - -<p>The downstairs door wasn't locked, but Beth's apartment door didn't -open when he tried it. Pendleton grunted, slapping his pockets for -something to pick the lock with.</p> - -<p>The door opened. Beth, in capris and a striped sweater, looked out at -him, her head tilted slightly to one side. "Did I hear applause? You're -early."</p> - -<p>"You know why I'm here early." He pushed into the room. "I thought you -were better. What the hell were you doing down there?"</p> - -<p>"Where? What's the matter?" She backed across the rug to the fireplace. -A small fire was going and she turned to warm her hands at it.</p> - -<p>"I just saw you steal something from that diner. Silverware maybe. You -want me to search the place?"</p> - -<p>Facing him, her lips hardly parted, Beth said, "I should think you -would trust me, being we love each other and all. I was rehearsing -until a half hour ago and Alex dropped me off. I've been here since -then."</p> - -<p>Pendleton's hands fell to his sides. "Well, nothing I guess is wrong. -I'm just jumpy. This changing thing bothers me."</p> - -<p>Beth reached out and patted his arm. "It's okay, Ben?"</p> - -<p>"Yeah." He sat down in the tan chair and looked up at her.</p> - -<p>"Want to eat here tonight, by the fire? I'll have the Flying Something -deliver food."</p> - -<p>"Good. And send out for a bottle or two."</p> - -<p>Beth bent and kissed him. "Trust me again?"</p> - -<p>He brushed at her hair and nodded.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Pendleton dropped too much wood into the fireplace and a stick snapped -out onto the rug. He gingerly picked up the stick and poked it back -into the flames. He went back to the low sofa Beth was on. He found his -glass in the dark and refilled it from the pitcher.</p> - -<p>Beth reached out with one bare foot and stroked the side of his head. -She had put on a dark blue dress with several stiff lace petticoats and -whenever he tried to touch her she made crackling sounds.</p> - -<p>"You're really a nice fellow," Beth said, finding his ear with her toe.</p> - -<p>"So are you," he said, finishing his drink.</p> - -<p>"Maybe we should go ahead and get married."</p> - -<p>Ben agreed and poured fresh drinks.</p> - -<p>"Ben?"</p> - -<p>"Yeah?"</p> - -<p>"I'm sorry." She was crying.</p> - -<p>"What is it?"</p> - -<p>"It <i>was</i> me this afternoon. I <i>have</i> been doing those things. I never -went to any highly recommended man at all."</p> - -<p>Pendleton felt tolerant. "So what? Things will work out somehow."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Beth sat up. "I can't stop it, Ben."</p> - -<p>Pendleton thought he heard an odd quaver in her voice. "You're not -onstage now, kid. Save the phony touches."</p> - -<p>Her leg swung round, just missing his head, and she stood up. "That's -your trouble. You're totally incapable of comprehending."</p> - -<p>"I comprehend you. You're loony and a liar."</p> - -<p>Beth slapped him. "It'll be simpler if I stop being me!"</p> - -<p>Pendleton had somehow gotten his arm stuck under the sofa. "Take it -easy."</p> - -<p>He was aware of a rustling sound and when he got loose and came up he -saw Beth naked by the window for an instant. As he looked she changed. -Then there were two tan sofa chairs in the room.</p> - -<p>Pendleton called Beth's name over and over, but she wouldn't come back. -It got cold in the apartment after a time and he threw all the wood -he could find in the fire. He crawled over to the martini pitcher and -drank from it. He noticed that some sticks had fallen out and landed in -the tangle of petticoats Beth had left and he smiled at the disorder of -everything and put his head back against the sofa.</p> - -<p>Petticoats crackling woke him. Even before he got his head up very high -in the room, he was coughing. The room was turning bright, sparkling -orange.</p> - -<p>"Beth!" he said. "Beth!"</p> - -<p>There were still the two tan sofa chairs.</p> - -<p>"Beth, sober up now! Come on, change! We've got to get out!"</p> - -<p>Nothing happened. Pendleton looked at the chairs a moment. The one on -the left. He grabbed it up and wavered to the apartment door. To make -sure, he'd have to come up for the other one.</p> - -<p>For several minutes it seemed the chair would stay wedged in the -doorway. It came free finally and he went back with it and tumbled and -twisted down the stairs.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A siren met him in the cold night outside. The engines were already -there. The firemen were heading for the building.</p> - -<p>Spray fell back across the street where Pendleton took the chair. -"Beth, please," he said in a low voice. "Change now." He tried to go -get the other chair, to be sure, but they wouldn't let him.</p> - -<p>He fell into the one he'd picked and began crying softly. The sirens -stopped. Before he let the ambulance people look at him, he insisted -that the chair be looked after.</p> - -<p>No trace of Beth was found and Pendleton couldn't explain what had -happened. After they let him go, he had the chair sent to his apartment.</p> - -<p>He put it very carefully in the living room by the liquor cabinet and -sat down near it to wait.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Subject to Change, by Ron Goulart - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUBJECT TO CHANGE *** - -***** This file should be named 51571-h.htm or 51571-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/5/7/51571/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Subject to Change - -Author: Ron Goulart - -Release Date: March 26, 2016 [EBook #51571] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUBJECT TO CHANGE *** - - - - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - - SUBJECT TO CHANGE - - BY RON GOULART - - Illustrated by HARMAN - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Galaxy Magazine December 1960. - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - - - -Pendleton had been away from San Francisco over two months. The airport -taxi left him at his place, where he showered and shaved. Then he -decided he would walk, down through Chinatown and over into North -Beach, to Beth's apartment. - -It was a warm Saturday afternoon and he unbuttoned his dacron blazer -a block or so into Chinatown. He smiled as he wandered by the bright -restaurants and shops, the rows of ivory Buddhas in window after -window. On one corner Pendleton stopped and took a deep breath, -watching a scattering of tourists taking pictures of each other. -Someone had lost a half dozen fortune cookies on the sidewalk and they -crackled and spread fragments and fortunes as people passed. - -While he was waiting for a signal to change, three small Chinese boys -charged a fourth who had ducked around Pendleton. They all ran around -the corner and Pendleton looked after them. There was an old curio and -toy shop there. He went toward its streaked window, trying to identify -the objects. Some kind of procession of tin soldiers made up the main -display. The door of the shop opened and an old man with a flared white -beard came out. His dark suit hung loose on him and his tie was coming -untied as he hurried away. - -The old man brushed by Pendleton, nudging him. "Many pardons," he said, -cutting across the street. He ran downhill, weaving a little, and into -an alley. - -The bells over the toy shop door rattled again. "Stop, thief!" shouted -the fat Chinese, who came running up to Pendleton. The man shouted -again and stopped on the corner, his hands on his hips, looking. - -Pendleton crossed the street and turned down the alley the old man had -used. This would cut off a block of the way to Beth's. He had kept -quiet about the thief because he didn't want to get involved in a lot -of delaying questioning. - - * * * * * - -Halfway down the alley he saw an arm dangling out of a garbage can. -Pendleton blinked and approached the shadowed area around the can. He -flipped the lid up and the coat sleeve that had been tangled on the -can edge slipped free and dropped into the can. If the old man was -wandering around naked, they shouldn't have much trouble catching him. - -Pendleton liked the pre-quake apartment house Beth lived in. In almost -any weather he liked to see its narrow brown wood front waiting there -in the middle of the block. He smiled as a big blue-gray gull flew low -overhead and then circled up and away behind Beth's building. Pendleton -took the rough steps in twos and threes and swung at Beth's bell. There -was a folded note for him glued on her mail box lid with Scotch tape. -It told him she might be delayed a bit and to get her keys from under -the rubber-plant pot on the porch and let himself in. He did that, -thinking again that Beth's notes always looked as though she wrote them -on horseback. - -Upstairs he dropped her keys on the small mantle over the small real -fireplace. Her bedroom door was slightly open. Just as he noticed this, -Beth called out to him. - -"I hope that's you, Ben?" she said from her room. - -"Where'll I put the ice, lady?" he said. "You're supposed to be out." - -"Welcome back. I just got here and I had to change so I left the keys -down there in case you got here while I was changing. How was New York?" - -"Okay, but I'm glad I'm with the agency out here. How'd you get in -without keys?" He sat down in the soft tan sofa-chair he'd given her. - -"I have a key to the kitchen way. Is the show all right now?" - -"I guess we fixed it for a while. How are you?" - -"Fine. And, hey, I have a good part in Alex' new play. It just happened -and I couldn't write." - -"You have lousy handwriting, you know," Pendleton called. Grinning, -he got out a cigarette and reached into his coat pocket for a book of -matches. Something jabbed into the palm of his hand. - -"It's because I'm so intense," Beth said, near her bedroom door. - -Pendleton winced and pulled a small toy Chinese junk out of the pocket. -The price stamp was still on the bottom of the boat, 25 cents. The old -man must have dropped it in his pocket when he nudged him. - -Beth came up behind him. "It's warm in here. Give me your coat. I have -a whole new concept about making martinis. This fellow in Actors' Lab -told me. You do it with Zen." Her hands rested on Pendleton's shoulders. - -"I'll be damned," he said, rubbing his palm with the boat as he stood. - -Beth slid her arms over his shoulders and locked her hands on his -chest. "What's that, Ben?" - -Pendleton turned around in her hold. He tapped her tanned nose with the -toy boat and told her about it. "I suppose I should take it back," he -said finally. - -Beth laughed. "Makes you a receiver of stolen goods." She took the -toy boat and walked to the fireplace. She put it next to her keys and -turned to him. She was wearing a light blue dress with a flared skirt. -No stockings, flat black shoes. She'd cut her blonde hair short since -he'd seen her last. "Welcome back," she said, smiling. - - * * * * * - -A light wind was starting up, tapping windows with tree branches, as -Pendleton let himself into Beth's darkening apartment. He flipped the -light switch on and started for the tan sofa chair, jiggling the keys -in his hand. The bedroom door slammed. - -"You in there?" Pendleton called. Her note said she'd gone out for some -forgotten groceries. - -Pendleton opened the bedroom door and turned on the lights. The window -beyond Beth's low, blue-covered bed was open and the wind was flapping -the curtains against her dressing table. A strong flap caught a -lipstick and flipped it into the thick rug. - -Edging around the bed, Pendleton closed the window and picked up the -lipstick. He left the bedroom door a bit open and went back to the -chair. There was a paper back by Eisenstein on the coffee table and he -picked that up and read down the contents page. - -The wind got stronger and parts of the old building creaked, first -something down under him, then something way up and to the right. Now -and then there would be a bang from out in back. Pendleton dropped the -book and got down on his knees in front of the fireplace and kindled a -fire. As the fire took hold, bright sparks popped out into the room. - -Something started tapping on the window behind Pendleton's chair. At -last, in a lull between creaking and banging, he became aware of a -tapping. He looked at the window and the early night sky. The tapping -went on. - -There was a gray cat sitting on the sill outside. The cat was tangled -up in an orange and blue bead necklace. "Lonely out there," Pendleton -said. He didn't much like cats, but this one looked sad. He opened the -window and the cat jumped in, the necklace falling free and clattering -against the wall. "We'll see if maybe Beth's got something around to -give to wandering cats." Pendleton reached out to pick up the cat. -Sputtering, the animal raked at his fingers and dived between his legs. - -Pendleton spun and saw the cat scoot through the open bedroom door. -"Hey, you little bastard, you'll knock over things." - -He was two steps from the door when it slammed and locked. Pendleton -stopped, wondering how the animal had managed to bang into the door -hard enough to close it. He didn't think the cat should stay in there -and anyway Beth would want to get in when she got home. He'd pick the -lock. Crouching, he reached for the knob. Something clicked and the -door swung in. He recognized Beth's terry robe and he looked up and saw -her face, very pale. - -"Okay," she said. "I guess I was too cute with the key bits. Go away, -Ben, and leave me alone. Please?" - -"What's the matter?" He was still squatting and her stepping forward -sent him over. - -"Just go away, Ben. Please, now." She brushed by him and sat in a -bucket chair, putting both bare feet down hard on the floor. - -Ben got himself up. "You drunk?" - - * * * * * - -Beth brushed at her hair. "I thought if you were sitting out here and I -showed up in the bedroom, you'd think I came in the back way. Or that -I was already in there and just hadn't heard you." She bit her thumb. -"Just another trick I wanted to try." - -"What are you talking about?" He bent and scooped up the bead necklace. - -"Go away. That's all." - -"Well, why?" He twisted the string of beads around his knuckles. -"Somebody else?" - -"Yes. Alex." She smiled. - -"Alex? That fruiter who runs the Actors' Lab." The string broke and -beads splattered away from him. Three landed in the fire. - -"Or maybe my Uncle Russ. Did you know we lived with him for three -years when I was a kid and I was always having odd fevers and things? -He had some kind of quack x-ray business." - -Pendleton took Beth's shoulders. "You're sick, is that it?" - -"No. Go away, Ben." - -"Well, what is it?" - -Beth sighed, annoyed. "You know about Method. You have to feel the -parts, live them." - -"Sure." - -Beth shrugged her shoulders until Pendleton let go. "One weekend -afternoon--oh, about two or three weeks after the agency sent you -off--I was here trying to be an old lady. For an exercise at the Lab. -And I was." - -Pendleton blinked at her still pale fact. "That's swell, Beth. A guy -likes to know what his fiancee is up to while he's away." - -"I _was_ an old lady." She stood with her body thrust almost against -him. "See? I changed." - -He backed a little. "How about a drink?" - -"Don't you get it, Ben? How the hell do you think I just came in?" - -"The back way." Pendleton decided to try a drink on her and then find -out who her doctor was these days. - -"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 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 in 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 acting career. Quit the secretary -business altogether. I actually changed to an old woman for one of -Alex's one-acters. He thought I'd just done a good job of makeup. I -don't believe I want to simply stop, Ben." - -"You have to!" - -"Don't start shouting commands." - -Pendleton sat across from her on the sofa. "Will you promise to start -seeing somebody? Maybe I can find out about a good man. Promise you'll -see him." - -"You going to ask around? Why don't you do a TV spot? 'We are happy to -announce that Beth Gershwin is daffy.'" - -"Relax, Beth. You decide what you want to do. I won't talk to anybody." - -Beth moved to the window. The wind had died. "I don't know, Ben." - -"Let it rest. Let's have the drink." He came to her side. - -"I think I'd like to be alone for a while." - -"I'd like to stay." - -"I'd like you to go. Please." - -"Beth." - -"Go on, Ben." She stared at him, then walked into her bedroom. - -She didn't close the door and he followed. - -Her robe was spread-eagled on the bed. Pendleton looked around the -room. Before, there had been one carved stool at the vanity table. Now -there were two. - -Pendleton left the apartment and ran down the hall, taking short, -shallow breaths. But he couldn't just leave her. He bit his lip and -went back through the still open door. - -"Come on, Beth. Don't be stubborn," he said into the bedroom, watching -the two stools. - -He waited an hour. Then he turned off the lights and started to -leave. Going out this time, he stepped on one of the wooden beads and -almost fell onto the coffee table. - -Pendleton slammed Beth's door and went out into the clear night. If she -could be stubborn, so could he. - - * * * * * - -It was almost two weeks before she called him to apologize. She'd -got him at the agency. He didn't stay in his apartment much. He kept -talking to himself if he did. - -You could see the street from the little Italian restaurant they'd -agreed to meet in. Pendleton sat at a round table close to the wide -window and watched for Beth. There was a slight haze in the afternoon -air and most of the secretaries that passed were coatless. - -Beth started smiling a quarter of a block from him. She was in a light -cotton dress, weaving in and out of the noontime pedestrians. - -"Nice day," Pendleton said, standing. - -Beth smiled and sat down. "I noticed that right off." - -They ordered and Pendleton said, "How've you been?" - -"Great." She clasped her hands together on the checkered table top. -"You were right, Ben. I'm sorry I was mean." - -Pendleton moved his glass of water three inches. "Good." - -"I've started seeing a very highly recommended analyst. Things are -starting to look up. I haven't even had an impulse to filch anything in -days." - -The food arrived. "It'll take time." - -"I have a great part in Alex's next play. It's really a challenge. By -Ionesco. Being able to change will help." - -Pendleton set his fork down. "Huh?" - -"I tried changing into the character last night. It came off fine." - -"What are you seeing a psychiatrist for, then?" he asked, his voice low. - -"So I won't steal things any more." - -He held the edge of the table for a minute, not meeting her eyes. -Finally he said, "I see. Well, that's fine, Beth. How've things been at -work?" - -Beth grinned and told him. - - * * * * * - -The days were turning cool and the trees had started scattering dry -leaves into the wind. On a sharp weekend afternoon Pendleton was -killing time in the produce district before driving over to Beth's. - -There was a coffee shop open and Pendleton thought about crossing over -for a cup of coffee. The whitewashed door of the place shot open and -a fat woman with an orange-fringed shawl came out. She was carrying -something wrapped up in a paper napkin. She glanced at Pendleton, -hesitated a second and then went running off toward a closed warehouse. -By the time she reached it, the short-order cook was on the street -looking after her. He threw a gesture after her and went back inside. - -Pendleton shivered once slightly. He started walking for his car and a -block from it he found himself running. He got to Beth's place ahead of -the approaching dusk. - -The downstairs door wasn't locked, but Beth's apartment door didn't -open when he tried it. Pendleton grunted, slapping his pockets for -something to pick the lock with. - -The door opened. Beth, in capris and a striped sweater, looked out at -him, her head tilted slightly to one side. "Did I hear applause? You're -early." - -"You know why I'm here early." He pushed into the room. "I thought you -were better. What the hell were you doing down there?" - -"Where? What's the matter?" She backed across the rug to the fireplace. -A small fire was going and she turned to warm her hands at it. - -"I just saw you steal something from that diner. Silverware maybe. You -want me to search the place?" - -Facing him, her lips hardly parted, Beth said, "I should think you -would trust me, being we love each other and all. I was rehearsing -until a half hour ago and Alex dropped me off. I've been here since -then." - -Pendleton's hands fell to his sides. "Well, nothing I guess is wrong. -I'm just jumpy. This changing thing bothers me." - -Beth reached out and patted his arm. "It's okay, Ben?" - -"Yeah." He sat down in the tan chair and looked up at her. - -"Want to eat here tonight, by the fire? I'll have the Flying Something -deliver food." - -"Good. And send out for a bottle or two." - -Beth bent and kissed him. "Trust me again?" - -He brushed at her hair and nodded. - - * * * * * - -Pendleton dropped too much wood into the fireplace and a stick snapped -out onto the rug. He gingerly picked up the stick and poked it back -into the flames. He went back to the low sofa Beth was on. He found his -glass in the dark and refilled it from the pitcher. - -Beth reached out with one bare foot and stroked the side of his head. -She had put on a dark blue dress with several stiff lace petticoats and -whenever he tried to touch her she made crackling sounds. - -"You're really a nice fellow," Beth said, finding his ear with her toe. - -"So are you," he said, finishing his drink. - -"Maybe we should go ahead and get married." - -Ben agreed and poured fresh drinks. - -"Ben?" - -"Yeah?" - -"I'm sorry." She was crying. - -"What is it?" - -"It _was_ me this afternoon. I _have_ been doing those things. I never -went to any highly recommended man at all." - -Pendleton felt tolerant. "So what? Things will work out somehow." - - * * * * * - -Beth sat up. "I can't stop it, Ben." - -Pendleton thought he heard an odd quaver in her voice. "You're not -onstage now, kid. Save the phony touches." - -Her leg swung round, just missing his head, and she stood up. "That's -your trouble. You're totally incapable of comprehending." - -"I comprehend you. You're loony and a liar." - -Beth slapped him. "It'll be simpler if I stop being me!" - -Pendleton had somehow gotten his arm stuck under the sofa. "Take it -easy." - -He was aware of a rustling sound and when he got loose and came up he -saw Beth naked by the window for an instant. As he looked she changed. -Then there were two tan sofa chairs in the room. - -Pendleton called Beth's name over and over, but she wouldn't come back. -It got cold in the apartment after a time and he threw all the wood -he could find in the fire. He crawled over to the martini pitcher and -drank from it. He noticed that some sticks had fallen out and landed in -the tangle of petticoats Beth had left and he smiled at the disorder of -everything and put his head back against the sofa. - -Petticoats crackling woke him. Even before he got his head up very high -in the room, he was coughing. The room was turning bright, sparkling -orange. - -"Beth!" he said. "Beth!" - -There were still the two tan sofa chairs. - -"Beth, sober up now! Come on, change! We've got to get out!" - -Nothing happened. Pendleton looked at the chairs a moment. The one on -the left. He grabbed it up and wavered to the apartment door. To make -sure, he'd have to come up for the other one. - -For several minutes it seemed the chair would stay wedged in the -doorway. It came free finally and he went back with it and tumbled and -twisted down the stairs. - - * * * * * - -A siren met him in the cold night outside. The engines were already -there. The firemen were heading for the building. - -Spray fell back across the street where Pendleton took the chair. -"Beth, please," he said in a low voice. "Change now." He tried to go -get the other chair, to be sure, but they wouldn't let him. - -He fell into the one he'd picked and began crying softly. The sirens -stopped. Before he let the ambulance people look at him, he insisted -that the chair be looked after. - -No trace of Beth was found and Pendleton couldn't explain what had -happened. After they let him go, he had the chair sent to his apartment. - -He put it very carefully in the living room by the liquor cabinet and -sat down near it to wait. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Subject to Change, by Ron Goulart - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUBJECT TO CHANGE *** - -***** This file should be named 51571.txt or 51571.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/5/7/51571/ - -Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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