In which Sophie leaves the castle in several directions at once

To Sophie?s relief, Calcifer blazed up brightand cheerful next morning. If she had not had enough of Howl, shewould have been almost touched by how glad Howl was to seeCalcifer.

?I thought she?d done for you, you old ball ofgas,? Howl said, kneeling at the hearth with his sleevestrailing in the ash.

?I was only tired,? Calcifer said. ?There wassome kind of drag on the castle. I?d never taken it that fastbefore.?

?Well, don?t let her make you do it again,? saidHowl. He stood up, gracefully brushing ash off his gray-and-scarletsuit. ?Make a start on that spell today, Michael. And if anyonecomes from the King, I?m away on urgent private business untiltomorrow. I?m going to see Lettie, but you needn?t tellhim that.? He picked up his guitar and opened the door with theknob green-down, onto the wide, cloudy hills.

The scarecrow was there again. When Howl opened the door, itpitched sideways across him with its turnip face in his chest. Theguitar uttered an awful twang-oing . Sophie gave a faint squawkof terror and hung onto the chair. One of the scarecrow?s stickarms was scraping stiffly around to get a purchase on the door. Fromthe way Howl?s feet were braced, it was clear he was beingshoved quite hard. There was no doubt the thing was determined to getinto the castle.

Calcifer?s blue face leaned out of the grate. Michael stoodstock still beyond. ?There really is a scarecrow!? theyboth said.

?Oh, is there? Do tell!? Howl panted. He got onefoot up against the door frame and heaved. The scarecrow flewlumpishly away backward, to land with a light rustle in the heathersome yards off. It sprang up instantly and came hopping towards thecastle again. Howl hurriedly laid the guitar on the doorstep andjumped down to meet it. ?No you don?t, my friend,?he said with one hand out. ?Go back where you came from.?He walked forward slowly, still with his hand out. The scarecrowretreated a little, hopping slowly and warily backward. When Howlstopped, the scarecrow stopped too, with its one leg planted in theheather and its ragged arms tilting this way and that like a personsparring for an opening. The rags fluttering on its arms seemed a madimitation of Howl?s sleeves.

?So you won?t go?? Howl said. And the turniphead slowly moved from side to side. No. ?I?m afraidyou?ll have to,? Howl said. ?You scare Sophie, andthere?s no knowing what she?ll do when she?sscared. Come to think of it, you scare me too.? Howl?sarms moved, heavily, as if he was lifting a large weight, until theywere raised high above his head. He shouted out a strange word, whichwas half hidden in a crack of sudden thunder. And the scarecrow wentsoaring away. Up and backward it went, rags fluttering, arms wheelingin protest, up and out, and on and on, until it was a soaring speckin the sky, then a vanishing point in the clouds, and then not to beseen at all.

Howl lowered his arms and came back to the doorway, mopping hisface on the back of his hand. ?I take back my hard words,Sophie,? he said, panting. ?That thing was alarming. Itmay have been dragging the castle back all yesterday. It had some ofthe strongest magic I?ve met. Whatever was it?all that was leftof the last person you cleaned for??

Sophie gave a weak little cackle of laughter. Her heart wasbehaving badly again.

Howl realized something was wrong with her. He jumped indoorsacross his guitar, took hold of her elbow, and sat her in the chair.?Take it easy now!? Something happened between Howl andCalcifer then. Sophie felt it, because she was being held by Howl,and Calcifer was still leaning out of the grate. Whatever it was, herheart began to behave properly again almost at once. Howl looked atCalcifer, shrugged, and turned away to give Michael a whole lot ofinstructions about making Sophie keep quiet for the rest of the day.Then he picked up the guitar and left at last.

Sophie lay in the chair and pretended to feel twice as ill as shedid. she had to let Howl get out of sight. It was a nuisance he wasgoing to Upper Folding as well, but she would walk so much moreslowly that she would arrive around the time he started back. Theimportant thing was not to meet him on the way. She watched Michaelslyly while he spread out his spell and scratched his head over it.She waited until he dragged big leather books off the shelves andbegan making notes in a frantic, depressed sort of way. When heseemed properly absorbed, Sophie muttered several times,?Stuffy in here!?

Michael took no notice. ?Terribly stuffy,? Sophiesaid, getting up and shambling to the door. ?Fresh air.?She opened the door and climbed out. Calcifer obligingly stopped thecastle dead while she did. Sophie landed in the heather and took alook round to get her bearings. The road over the hills to UpperFolding was a sandy line through the heather just downhill from thecastle. Naturally. Calcifer would not make things inconvenient forHowl. Sophie set off toward it. She felt a little sad. She was goingto miss Michael and Calcifer.

She was almost at the road when there was shouting behind her.Michael came bounding down the hillside after her, and the tall blackcastle came bobbling along behind him, shedding anxious puffs ofsmoke from all four turrets.

?What are you doing?? Michael said when he caught up.From the way he looked at her, Sophie could see he thought thescarecrow had sent her wrong in the head.

?I?m perfectly all right,? Sophie saidindignantly. ?I?m simply going to see my othersis-ter?s granddaughter. She?s called Lettie too. Now doyou understand??

?Where does she live?? Michael demanded, as if hethought Sophie might not know.

?Upper Folding,? said Sophie.

?But that?s over ten miles away!? Michael said.?I promised Howl I?d make you rest. I can?t let yougo. I told him I wouldn?t let you out of my sight.?

Sophie did not look very kindly on this. Howl thought she wasuseful now because he wanted her to see the King. Of course he didnot want her to leave the castle. ?Huh!? she said.

?Besides,? said Michael, slowly grasping thesituation, ?Howl must have gone to Upper Foldingtoo.?

?I?m quite sure he had,? said Sophie.

?Then you?re anxious about this girl, if she?syour great-niece,? Michael said, arriving at the point at last.?I see! But I can?t let you go.?

?I?m going,? said Sophie.

?But if Howl sees you there he?ll be furious,?Michael went on, working things out. ?Because I promised him,he?ll be mad with both of us. You ought to rest.? Then,when Sophie was almost ready to hit him, he exclaimed, ?Wait!There?s a pair of seven-league boots in the broomcupboard!?

He took Sophie by her skinny old wrist and towed her uphill to thewaiting castle. She was forced to give little hops in order not tocatch her feet in the heather. ?But,? she panted,?seven leagues is twenty-one miles! I?d be halfway toPorthaven in two strides!?

?No, it?s ten and a half miles a step,? saidMichael. ?That makes Upper Folding almost exactly. If we eachtake one boot and go together, then I won?t be letting you outof my sight and you won?t be doing anything strenuous, andwe?ll get there before Howl does, so he won?t even knowwe?ve been. That solves all our problemsbeautifully!?

Michael was so pleased with himself that Sophie did not have theheart to protest. She shrugged and supposed Michael had better findout about the two Lettie?s before they changed looks again. Itwas more honest this way. But when Michael fetched the boots from thebroom cupboard, Sophie began to have doubts. Up to now she hadthought they were two leather buckets that had somehow lost theirhandles and then got a little squashed.

?You?re supposed to put your foot in them, shoe andall,? Michael explained as he carried the two heavy,bucket-shaped things to the door. ?These are the prototypes ofthe boots Howl made for the King?s army. We managed to get thelater ones a bit lighter and more boot-shaped.? He and Sophiesat on the doorstep and each put one foot in a boot. ?Pointyourself toward Upper Folding before you put the boot down,?Michael warned her. He and Sophie stood up on the foot which was inan ordinary shoe and carefully swung themselves round to face UpperFolding. ?Now tread,? said Michael.

Zip! The landscape instantly rushed past them so fast it was onlya blur, a gray-green blur for the land and a blue-gray blur for thesky. The wind of their going tore at Sophie?s hair and draggedevery wrinkle in her face backward until she thought she would arrivewith half her face behind each ear.

The rushing stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Everything wascalm and sunny. They were knee-deep in buttercups in the middle ofUpper Folding village common. A cow nearby stared at them. Beyond it,thatched cottages drowsed under trees. Unfortunately, the bucketlikeboot was so heavy that Sophie staggered as she landed.

?Don?t put that foot down!? Michael yelled, toolate.

There was another zipping blur and more rushing wind. When itstopped, Sophie found herself right down the Folding Valley, almostinto Marsh Folding. ?Oh, drat!? she said, and hoppedcarefully round on her shoe and tried again.

Zip! Blur. And she was back on Upper Folding green again,staggering forward with the weight of the boot. She had a glimpse ofMichael diving to catch her?

Zip! Blur. ?Oh, bother!? wailed Sophie. She was up inthe hills again. The crooked black shape of the castle was driftingpeacefully nearby. Calcifer was amusing himself blowing black smokerings from one turret. Sophie saw that much before her shoe caught inthe heather and she stumbled forward again.

Zip! Zip! This time Sophie visited in rapid succession the MarketSquare of Market Chipping and the front lawn of a very grand mansion.?Blow!? she cried. ?Drat!? One word for eachplace. And she was off again with her own momentum and another Zip!right down at the end of that valley on a field somewhere. A largered bull raised its ringed nose from the grass and thoughtfullylowered its horns.

?I?m just leaving, my good beast!? Sophie cried,hopping herself round frantically.

Zip! Back to the mansion. Zip! to Market Square. Zip! and therewas the castle yet again. She was getting the hang of it. Zip! Herewas Upper Folding?but how did you stop? Zip!

?Oh, confound it!? Sophie cried, almost inMarsh Folding again.

This time she hopped round very carefully and trod with greatdeliberation. Zip! and fortunately the boot landed in a cowpat andshe sat down with a thump. Michael sprinted up before Sophie couldmove and dragged the boot off her foot. ?Thank you!?Sophie cried breathlessly. ?There seemed no reason why I shouldever stop!?

Sophie?s heart pounded a bit as they walked across thecommon to Mrs. Fairfax?s house, but only in the wayheart?s do when you have done a lot rather quickly. She feltvery grateful for whatever Howl and Calcifer had done.

?Nice place,? Michael remarked as he hid the boots inMrs. Fairfax?s hedge.

Sophie agreed. The house was the biggest in the village. It wasthatched, with white walls between the black beams, and, and Sophieremembered from visits as a child, you walked up to the porch througha garden crowded with flowers and humming with bees. Over the porchhoneysuckle and a white climbing rose were competing as to whichcould give most work to the bees. It was a perfect, hot summermorning down here in Upper Folding.

Mrs. Fairfax answered the door herself. She was one of thoseplump, comfortable ladies, with swathes of butter-colored hair coiledround her head, who made you feel good with life just to look at her.Sophie felt just the tiniest bit envious of Lettie. Mrs. Fairfaxlooked from Sophie to Michael. She had seen Sophie last a year ago asa girl of seventeen, and there was no reason for her to recognize heras an old woman of ninety. ?Good morning to you,? shesaid politely.

Sophie sighed. Michael said, ?This is Lettie Hatter?sgreat-aunt. I brought her to see Lettie.?

?Oh, I thought the face looked familiar!? Mrs. Fairfaxexclaimed. ?There?s quite a family likeness. Do come in.Lettie?s little bit busy just now, but have some scones andhoney while you wait.?

She opened her front door wider. Instantly a large collie dogsqueezed past Mrs. Fairfax?s skirts, barged between Sophie andMichael, and ran across the nearest flower bed, snapping off flowersright and left.

?Oh, stop him!? Mrs. Fairfax gasped, flying off inpursuit. ?I don?t want him out just now!?

There was a minute or so of helter-skelter chase, in which the dogran hither and thither, whining in a disturbed way, and Mrs. Fairfaxand Sophie ran after the dog, jumping flower beds and getting in oneanother?s way, and Michael ran after Sophie crying,?Stop! You?ll make yourself ill!? Then the dog setoff loping round one corner of the house. Michael realized that theway to stop Sophie was to stop the dog. He made a crosswise dashthrough the flower beds, plunged round the house after the dog, andseized it by two handfuls of its thick coat just as it reached theorchard at the back.

Sophie hobbled up to find Michael pulling the dog away backwardand making such strange faces at her that she thought at first he wasill. But he jerked his head so often toward the orchard that sherealized he was trying to tell her something. She stuck her faceround the corner of the house, expecting to see a swarm of bees.

Howl was there with Lettie. They were in a grove of mossy appletrees in full bloom, with a row of beehives in the distance. Lettiesat in a white garden seat. Howl was kneeling on one knee in thegrass at her feet, holding one of her hands and looking noble andardent. Lettie was smiling lovingly at him. But the worst of it, asfar as Sophie was concerned, was that Lettie did not look like Marthaat all. She was her own extremely beautiful self. She was wearing adress of the same kind of pinks and white as the crowded appleblossom overhead. Her dark hair trailed in glossy curls over oneshoulder and her eyes shone with devotion for Howl.

Sophie brought her head back round the corner and looked withdismay at Michael holding the whining collie dog. ?He must havehad a speed spell with him,? Michael whispered, equallydismayed.

Mrs. Fairfax caught them up, panting and trying to pin back aloose coil of her buttery hair. ?Bad dog!? she said in afierce whisper to the collie. ?I?ll put a spell on you ifyou do that once more!? The dog blinked and crouched down. Mrs.Fairfax pointed a stern finger. ?Into the house! Stay in thehouse!? The collie shook himself free of Michael?s handsand slunk away round the house again. ?Thank you somuch,? Mrs. Fairfax said to Michael as they all followed it.?He will keep trying to bite Lettie?s visitor.Inside!? she shouted sternly in the front garden, as the collieseemed to be thinking of going round the house and getting theorchard the other way. The dog gave her a woeful look over itsshoulder and crawled dismally indoors through the porch.

?That dog may have the right idea,? Sophie said.?Mrs. Fairfax, do you know who Lettie?s visitoris??

Mrs. Fairfax chuckled. ?The Wizard Pendragon, or Howl, orwhatever he calls himself,? she said. ?But Lettie and Idon?t let on we know. It amused me when he first turned up,calling himself Sylvester Oak, because I could see he?dforgotten me, though I hadn?t forgotten him, even though hishair used to be black in his student days.? Mrs. Fairfax by nowhad her hands folded on front of her and was standing bolt upright,prepared to talk all day, as Sophie had often seen her do before.?He was my old tutor?s very last pupil, you know, beforeshe retired. When Mr. Fairfax was alive he used to like me totransport us both to Kingsbury to see a show from time to time. I canmanage two very nicely if I take it slowly. And I always used to dropin on old Mrs. Pentstemmon while I was there. She likes her oldpupils to keep in touch. And one time she introduced this young Howlto us. Oh, she was proud of him. She taught Wizard Suliman too, youknow, and she said Howl was twice as good??

?But don?t you know the reputation Howl has??Michael interrupted.

Getting into Mrs. Fairfax?s conversation was rather likegetting into a skipping rope. You had to choose the exact moment, butonce you were in, you were in. Mrs. Fairfax turned herself slightlyto face Michael.

?Most of it?s just talk to my mind,? she said.Michael opened his mouth to say that it was not, but he was in theskipping rope then and it went on turning. ?And I said toLettie, ?Here?s your big chance, my love.? I knewHowl could teach her twenty times more than I could?for I don?tmind telling you, Lettie?s brains go way beyond mine, and shecould end up in the same league as the Witch of the Waste, only in agood way. Lettie?s a good girl and I?m fond of her. IfMrs. Pentstemmon was still teaching, I?d have Lettie go to hertomorrow. But she isn?t. So I said, ?Lettie, here?sWizard Howl courting you and you could do worse than to fall in lovewith him yourself and let him be your teacher. The pair of you willgo far.? I don?t think Lettie was too keen on the idea atfirst, but she?s been softening lately, and today it seems tobe going beautifully.?

Here Mrs. Fairfax paused to beam benevolently at Michael, andSophie dashed into the skipping rope for her turn. ?But someonetold me Lettie was fond of someone else,? she said.

?Sorry for him, you mean,? said Mrs. Fairfax. Shelowered her voice. ?There?s a terrible disabilitythere,? she whispered suggestively, ?and it?sasking too much of any girl. I told him so. I?m sorry for himmyself??

Sophie managed a mystified ?Oh??

??but it?s a fearsomely strong spell. It?s verysad,? Mrs. Fairfax would on. ?I had to tell himthere?s no way someone of my abilities can break anythingthat?s put on by the Witch of the Waste. Howl might, but ofcourse he can?t ask Howl, can he??

Here Michael, who kept looking nervously to the corner of thehouse in case Howl came round it and discovered them, managed totrample through the skipping rope and stop it by saying, ?Ithink we?d better be going.?

?Are you sure you won?t come in for a taste of myhoney?? asked Mrs. Fairfax. ?I use it in nearly all myspells, you know.? And she was off again, this time about themagical properties of honey. Michael and Sophie walked purposefullydown the path to the gate and Mrs. Fairfax drifted behind them,talking away and sorrowfully straightening plants that the dog hadbent as she talked. Sophie meanwhile racked her brain for a way tofind out how Mrs. Fairfax knew Lettie was Lettie, without upsettingMichael. Mrs. Fairfax paused to gasp a bit as she heaved a largelupine upright.

Sophie took the plunge. ?Mrs. Fairfax, wasn?t it myniece Martha who was supposed to come to you??

?Naughty girls!? Mrs. Fairfax said, smiling andshaking her head as she emerged from the lupine. ?As if Iwouldn?t recognize one of my own honey-based spells! But as Isaid to her at the time, ?I?m not one to keep anyoneagainst their will and I?d always rather teach someone whowants to learn. Only? I said to her, ?I?ll have nopretense here. You stay as your own self or not at all.? Andit?s worked out very happily, as you see. Are you sure youwon?t stay and ask her yourself??

?I think we?d better go,? Sophie said.

?We have to get back,? Michael added, with anothernervous look toward the orchard. He collected the seven-league bootsfrom the hedge and set one down outside the gate for Sophie.?And I?m going to hold onto you this time,? hesaid.

Mrs. Fairfax leaned over her gate while Sophie inserted her footin the boot. ?Seven-leaguers,? she said. ?Would youbelieve, I?ve not seen any of those for years. Very usefulthings for someone you age, Mrs. Er?I wouldn?t mind a pairmyself these days. So it?s you Lettie inherits her witchcraftfrom, is it? Not that it necessarily runs in families, but as oftenas not??

Michael took hold of Sophie?s arm and pulled. Both bootscame down and the rest of Mrs. Fairfax?s talk vanished in theZip! and rush of air. Next moment Michael had to brace his feet inorder not to collide with the castle. The door was open. Inside,Calcifer was roaring, ?Porthaven door! Someone?s beenbanging on it ever since you left.?

Date: 2016-06-12; view: 111