gan to walk, his feet
shuffled awkwardly.

She felt as conspicuous as if she were smoking a pipe.

She wedged her body against the door of the hotel and dragged Walt
inside. Although he was invisible, the effect of his body pulling down
on hers was readily apparent. She half stumbled toward the elevator.

The clerk, a counterpart of the one she had had in Hollywood looked up
in annoyance. He snorted through his nose. He eyed her narrowly. He
seemed about to leave his position behind the desk.

Julia propped Walt against the wall and rang for the elevator. She
smiled wanly in the direction of the clerk. Shaking his head and
grunting his disapproval, he settled back in his chair.

Walt's heavy breathing was thunderous in her ear. She braced him with
her hip when he started to slip to the floor.

The elevator came.

"Step up, please."

Straining against his weight, she hauled Walt's feet up over the edge of
the cage. The feet scraped loudly on the floor.

The elevator operator raised his eyebrows ever so slightly. He cocked
his head to one side. "Something wrong?"

"Oh, no," Julia said brightly. "Everything's fine."

The operator started the car. "A young lady ought to be careful in this
town," he said. "A young lady oughtn't to drink so much." He shook his
head sadly. "There's a case of rape in the papers nearly every day."

"... I'll be careful."

"They pick up young ladies in bars all the time. You never can tell
about the men you're liable to meet, if you go in bars. You have to
watch yourself in this town."

"Seven, please."

"Yes, ma'm."

The elevator stopped. Julia dragged Walt out.

"You mind what I say!" the operator called after her. "You be careful,
now, and stay out of bars. You never can tell...."

Once she got Walt inside her room, she breathed a sigh of relief. She
released the distortion field. He was visible again.

She removed the top sheet from the bed. She wrestled his body onto the
bed.

She ripped the sheet into strips. She worked rapidly. She was still able
to hold off fatigue; she felt no need of sleep. She was ravenously
hungry.

With the strips of sheet, she tied Walt securely. She used a knot that
would require cutting to be undone. She pulled the strips tight. They
did not interfere with free circulation, but there was no possibility of
them being slipped. She had no intention of not finding Walt there when
she came back.

She surveyed her handiwork with satisfactio