If Beth had any concerns about being seen with me, shedidn't show them. I was very happy and gave her arm a little tug. Shelooked at me and gave me a ...ug back. We just kept walking arm in arm.Two sisters out for a stroll.About half way to Mrs. Johnson's, a car went by and slowed down. Then itpulled over and stopped. Two boys got out."Hey Beth," one of them said."Hi Billy, hi Carl," she said back."Where you going?" the other boy asked, "and who's your friend?" heasked giving me a long look.Beth. ..you don't think I'm sexy, do you?" I laughed and told her I did, in fact, think she was, and that I may have "accidently" looked up her dress. We both broke out laughing, and she said, "By the way, you STILL owe me dinner from the rainstorm night...remember?" I said, "Yes...pick you up at 7:30...where would you like to go?" "Someplace nice...I want to dress up," she said. I told her she looked quite nice the way she was, and she smiled, pulled up her skirt, and said, "Do you like this look?. There was a huge photo of Bailey holding my arm at the fund-raiser."Can I have your autograph," Sara said with mock sincerity.I played along though."Sure kid," I said gruffly. "Gotta pen? You know us big stars don't carry pens around. How do you spell your name again, Stephanie wasn't it?"I'd learned late in the season that some collectors were actually trying to sell my autograph for money. I hoped at the time they didn't waste a lot of time and energy on the endeavor, but I found out pretty. She never remembered seeing a human when she was little. Mulling it over, she decided she'd look into it later. First, she needed to save Alan and then herself. As she watched, Hopix could finally see Alan start to breathe a lot easier. She just hoped her mother had been able to save him. After what he'd told her, she felt that she couldn't go on without him. Then as an afterthought, she knew she wouldn't be able to survive. It was part of the secret, and also the main reason Hopix hadn't found.