In which Howl goes to a strange country in search of a spell

The nothingness was only an inch-thick after all.Beyond it, in a gray, drizzling evening, was a cement path down to agarden gate. Howl and Michael were waiting at the gate. Beyond thatwas a flat, hard-looking road lined with houses on both sides. Sophielooked back at where she had come from, shivering rather in thedrizzle, and found the castle had become a house of yellow brick withlarge windows. Like all the other houses, it was square and new, witha front door of wobbly glass. Nobody seemed to be about among thehouses. That may have been due to the drizzle, but Sophie had afeeling that it was really because, in spite of there being so manyhouses, this was really somewhere at the edge of a town.

?When you?ve quite finished nosing,? Howlcalled. His gray-and-scarlet finery was all misted with drizzle. Hewas dangling a bunch of strange keys, most of which were flat andyellow and seemed to match the houses. When Sophie came down thepath, he blurred, as if the drizzle round him had suddenly become afog. When it came into focus again, it was still scarlet-and-gray,but quite a different shape. The dangling sleeves were gone and thewhole outfit was baggier. It looked worn and shabby.

Michael?s jacket had become a waist-length padded thing. Helifted his foot, with a canvas shoe on it, and stared at the tightblue things encasing his legs. ?I can hardly bend myknee,? he said.

?You?ll get used to it,? said Howl. ?Comeon, Sophie.?

To Sophie?s surprise, Howl led the way back up the gardenpath toward the yellow house. The back of his baggy jacket, she saw,had mysterious words on it: WELSH RUGBY. Michael followed Howl,walking in a kind of tight strut because of the things on his legs.Sophie looked down at herself and saw twice as much skinny legshowing above her knobby shoes. Otherwise, not much about her hadchanged.

Howl unlocked the wavy-glass door with one of his keys. It had awooden notice hanging beside it on chains. RIVENDELL, Sophie read, asHowl pushed her into a neat, shiny hall space. There seemed to bepeople in the house. Loud voices were coming from behind the nearestdoor. When Howl opened that door, Sophie realized that the voiceswere coming from magic colored pictures moving on the front of a big,square box.

?Howell!? exclaimed a woman who was sitting thereknitting.

She put down her knitting, looking a little annoyed, but beforeshe could get up, a small girl, who had been watching the magicpicture very seriously with her chin in her hands, leaped up andflung herself at Howl. ?Uncle Howell!? she screamed, andjumped halfway up Howl with her legs wrapped around him.

?Mari!? Howl bawled in reply. ?How are you,cariad? Been a good girl, then?? He and the little girl brokeinto a foreign language then, fast and loud. Sophie could see theywere very special to one another. She wondered about the language. Itsounded the same as Calcifer?s silly saucepan song, but it washard to be sure. In between bursts of foreign chatter, Howl managedto say, as if he were a ventriloquist, ?This is my niece, Mari,and my sister, Megan Parry. Megan, this is Michael Fisher andSophie?er??

?Hatter,? said Sophie.

Megan shook hands with both of them in a restrained, disapprovingway. She was older than Howl, but quite like him, with the same long,angular face, but her eyes were blue and full of anxieties, and herhair was darkish. ?Quiet now, Mari!? she said in a voicethat cut through the foreign chatter. ?Howell, are you stayinglong??

?Just dropped in for a moment,? Howl said, loweringMari to the floor.

?Gareth isn?t in yet,? Megan said in a meaningsort of way.

?What a pity! We can?t stay,? Howl said, smilinga warm, false smile. ?I just thought I?d introduce you tomy friends here. And I want to ask you something that may soundsilly. Has Neil by any chance lost a piece of English homeworklately??

?Funny you should say that!? Megan exclaimed.?Looking everywhere for it, he was, last Thursday! He?sgot this new English teacher, see, and she?s very strict,doesn?t just worry about spelling either. Puts the fear of Godinto them about getting work in on time. Doesn?t do Neil anyharm, lazy little devil! So here he is on Thursday, hunting high andlow, and all he can find is a funny old piece of writing??

?Ah,? said Howl. ?What did he do with thatwriting??

?I told him to hand it in to this Miss Angorian ofhis,? Megan said. ?Might show her he tried foronce.?

?And did he?? Howl asked.

?I don?t know. Better ask Neil. He?s upin the front bedroom with that machine of his,? said Megan.?But you won?t get a word of sense out of him.?

?Come on,? Howl said to Michael and Sophie, who wereboth staring around the shiny brown-and-orange room. He tookMari?s hand and led them all out of the room and up the stairs.Even those had a carpet, a pink-and-green one. So the procession ledby Howl hardly made any noise as it went along the pink-and-greenpassage upstairs and into a room with a blue-and-yellow carpet. ButSophie was not sure the two boys crouched over the various magicboxes on a big table by the window would have looked up even for anarmy with a brass band. The main magic box had a glass front like theone downstairs, but it seemed to be showing writing and diagrams morethan pictures. All the boxes grew on long, floppy white stalks thatappeared to be rooted in the wall at one side of the room.

?Neil!? said Howl.

?Don?t interrupt,? one of the boys said.?He?ll lose his life,?

Seeing it was a matter of life and death, Sophie and Michaelbacked toward the door. But Howl, quite unperturbed at killing hisnephew, strode over to the wall and pulled the boxes up by the roots.The picture on the box vanished. Both boys said words which Sophiedid not think even Martha knew. The second boy spun round, shouting,?Mari! I?ll get you for that!?

?Wasn?t me this time. So!? Mari shoutedback.

Neil whirled further round and stared accusingly at Howl.?How do, Neil?? Howl said pleasantly.

?Who is he?? the other boy asked.

?My no-good uncle,? Neil said. He glowered at Howl. Hewas dark, with thick eyebrows, and his glower was impressive.?What do you want? Put that plug back in.?

?There?s a welcome in the valleys!? said Howl.?I?ll put it back when I?ve asked you something andyou?ve answered.?

Neil sighed. ?Uncle Howell, I?m in the middle of acomputer game.?

?A new one?? asked Howl.

Both the boys looked discontented. ?No, it?s the one Ihad for Christmas,? Neil said. ?You ought to know the waythey go on about wasting time and money on useless things. Theywon?t give me another till my birthday.?

?Then that?s easy,? said Howl. ?Youwon?t mind stopping if you?ve done it before, andI?ll bribe you with a new one??

?Really?? both boys said eagerly, and Neil added,?Can you make it another of those that nobody else hadgot??

?Yes. But just take a look at this first and tell me what itis,? Howl said, and he held the shiny gray paper out in frontof Neil.

Both boys looked at it. Neil said, ?It?s apoem,? in the way most people would say, ?It?s adead rat.?

?It?s the one Miss Angorian set for last week?shomework,? said the other boy. ?I remember?wind? and ?finned?. It?s aboutsubmarines.?

While Sophie and Michael blinked at this new theory, wondering howthey had missed it, Neil exclaimed, ?Hey! It?s mylong-lost homework. Where?d you find it? Was that funny writingthat turned up yours? Miss Angorian said it wasinteresting?lucky for me?and she took it home with her.?

?Thank you,? said Howl. ?Where does shelive??

?That flat over Mrs. Phillips? tea shop. CardiffRoad,? said Neil. ?When will you give me the newtape??

?When you remember how the rest of the poem goes,?said Howl.

?That?s not fair!? said Neil. ?Ican?t even remember the bit that was written down now.That?s just playing with a person?s feelings?!? Hestopped when Howl laughed, felt in one baggy pocket, and handed him aflat packet. ?Thanks! ? Neil said devoutly, andwithout more ado he whirled round to his magic boxes. Howl plantedthe bundle of roots back in the wall, grinning, and beckoned Michaeland Sophie out of the room. Both boys began a flurry of mysteriousactivity, into which Mari somehow squeezed herself, watching with herthumb in her mouth.

Howl hurried away to the pink-and-green stairs, but Michael andSophie both hung about near the door of the room, wondering what thewhole thing was about. Inside, Neil was reading aloud. ?You arein an enchanted castle with four doors. Each opens on a differentdimension. In Dimension One the castle is moving constantly and mayarrive at a hazard at any time??

Sophie wondered at the familiarity of this as she hobbled to thestairs. She found Michael standing halfway down, looking embarrassed.Howl was at the foot of the stairs having an argument with hissister.

?What do you mean, you?ve sold all my books??she heard Howl saying. ?I needed one of them particularly. Theyweren?t yours to sell.?

?Don?t keep interrupting!? Megan answered in alow, ferocious voice. ?Listen now! I?ve told you beforeI?m not a storehouse for your property. You?re a disgraceto me and Gareth, lounging about in those clothes instead of buying aproper suit and looking respectable for once, taking up with riffraffand layabouts, bringing them to this house! Are you trying to bringme down to your level? You had all that education, and youdon?t even get a decent job, you just hang around, wasting allthat time at college, wasting all those sacrifices other people made,wasting your money??

Megan would have been a match for Mrs. Fairfax. Her voice went onand on. Sophie began to understand how Howl had acquired the habit ofslithering out. Megan was the kind of person who made you want toback quietly out of the nearest door. Unfortunately, Howl was backedup against the stairs, and Sophie and Michael were bottled up behindhim.

??never doing an honest day?s work, nevergetting a job I could be proud of, bringing shame on me and Gareth,coming here and spoiling Mari rotten,? Megan ground onremorselessly.

Sophie pushed Michael aside and stumped downstairs, looking asstately as she could manage. ?Come, Howl,? she saidgrandly. ?We really must be on our way. While we stand here,money is ticking away and your servants are probably selling the goldplate. So nice to meet you,? she said to Megan as she arrivedat the foot of the stairs, ?but we must rush. Howl is such abusy man.?

Megan gulped a bit and stared at Sophie. Sophie gave her a statelynod and pushed Howl toward the wavy-glass front door. Michael?sface was bright red. Sophie saw that because Howl turned back to askMegan, ?Is my old car still in the shed, or have you sold thattoo??

?You?ve got the only set of keys,? Megananswered dourly.

That seemed to be the only goodbye. The front door slammed andHowl took them to a square white building at the end of the flatblack road. Howl did not say anything about Megan. He said, as heunlocked a wide door in the building, ?I suppose the fierceEnglish teacher is bound to have a copy of that book.?

Sophie wished to forget the next bit. They rode in a carriagewithout horses that went at a terrifying speed, smelling and growlingand shaking as it tore down some of the steepest roads Sophie hadnever seen?roads so steep that she wondered why the houses liningthem did not slide into a heap at the bottom. She shut her eyes andclung to some of the pieces that had torn off the seats, and simplyhoped it would be over soon.

Luckily, it was. They arrived in a flatter road with housescrammed in on both sides, beside a large window filled with a whitecurtain and a notice that said: TEAS CLOSED. But, despite thisforbidding notice, when Howl pressed a button at a small door besidethe window, Miss Angorian opened the door. They all stared at her.For a fierce schoolteacher, Miss Angorian was astonishingly young andslender and good-looking. She had sheets of blue-black hair hanginground her olive-brown heart-shaped face, and enormous dark eyes. Theonly thing which suggested fierceness about her was the direct andclever way those enormous eyes looked and seemed to sum them up.

?I?ll take a small guess that you may be HowellJenkins,? Miss Angorian said to Howl. She had a low, melodiousvoice that was nevertheless rather amused and quite sure ofitself.

Howl was taken aback for an instant. Then his smile snapped on.And that, Sophie thought, was goodbye to the pleasant dreams ofLettie and Mrs. Fairfax. For Miss Angorian was exactly the kind oflady someone like Howl could be trusted to fall in love with on thespot. And not only Howl. Michael was staring admiringly too. Andthough all the houses around were apparently deserted, Sophie had nodoubt that they were full of people who all knew both Howl and MissAngorian and were watching with interest to see what would happen.She could feel their invisible eyes. Market Chipping was like thattoo.

?And you must be Miss Angorian,? said Howl.?I?m sorry to bother you, but I made a stupid mistakelast week and carried off my nephew?s English homework insteadof a rather important paper I had with me. I gather Neil gave it toyou as proof that he wasn?t shirking.?

?He did,? said Miss Angorian. ?You?dbetter come in and collect it.?

Sophie was sure the invisible eyes in all the houses goggled andthe invisible necks craned as Howl and Michael and she trooped inthrough Miss Angorian?s door and up a flight of stairs to MissAngorian?s tiny, severe living room.

Miss Angorian said considerately to Sophie, ?Won?t yousit down??

Sophie was still shaking from that horseless carriage. She satdown gladly on one of the two chairs. It was not very comfortable.Miss Angorian?s room was not designed for comfort but forstudy. Though many of the things in it were strange, Sophieunderstood the walls of books, and the piles of paper on the table,and the folders stacked on the floor. She sat and watched Michaelstaring sheepishly and Howl turning on his charm.

?How is it you come to know who I am?? Howl askedbeguilingly.

?You seem to have caused a lot of gossip in thistown,? Miss Angorian said, busy sorting through papers on thetable.

?And what have those people who gossip told you?? Howlasked. He leaned languishingly on the end of the table and tried tocatch Miss Angorian?s eye.

?That you disappear and turn up rather unpredictably, forone thing,? Miss Angorian said.

?And what else?? Howl followed Miss Angorian?smovements with such a look that Sophie knew Lettie?s onlychance was for Miss Angorian to fall instantly in love with Howltoo.

But Miss Angorian was not that kind of lady. She said, ?Manyother things, few of them to your credit,? and caused Michaelto blush by looking at him and Sophie in a way that suggested thesethings were not fit for their ears. She held a yellowish wavy-edgedpaper out to Howl. ?Here it is,? she said severely.?Do you know what it is??

?Of course,? said Howl.

?Then please tell me,? said Miss Angorian.

Howl took the paper. There was a bit of a scuffle as he tried totake Miss Angorian?s hand with it. Miss Angorian won thescuffle and put her hands behind her back. Howl smiled meltingly andpassed the paper to Michael. ?You tell her,? hesaid.

Michael?s blushing face lit up as soon as he looked at it.?It?s the spell! Oh, I can do this one?it?senlargement, isn?t it??

?That?s what I thought,? Miss Angorian saidrather accusingly. ?I?d like to know what you were doingwith such a thing.?

?Miss Angorian,? said Howl, ?if you have heardall those things about me, you must know I wrote my doctoral thesison charms and spells. You look as if you suspect me of working blackmagic! I assure you, I never worked any kind of spell in mylife.? Sophie could not stop herself making a small snort atthis blatant lie. ?With my hand on my heart,? Howl added,giving Sophie an irritated frown, ?this spell is for studypurposes only. It?s very old and rare. That?s why Iwanted it back.?

?Well, you have it back,? Miss Angorian said briskly.?Before you go, would you mind giving me my homework sheet inreturn? Photocopies cost money.?

Howl brought out the gray paper willingly and held it just out ofreach. ?This poem now,? he said. ?It?s beenbothering me. Silly, really!-but I can?t remember the rest ofit. By Walter Raleigh, isn?t it??

Miss Angorian gave him a withering look. ?Certainly not.It?s by John Donne and it?s very well known indeed. Ihave the book with it in here, if you want to refresh yourmemory.?

?Please,? said Howl, and from the way his eyesfollowed Miss Angorian as she went to her wall of books, Sophierealized that this was the real reason why Howl had come into thisstrange land where his family lived. But Howl was not above killingtwo birds with one stone. ?Miss Angorian,? he saidpleadingly, following her contours as she stretched for the book,?would you consider coming out for some supper with metonight??

Miss Angorian turned round with a large book in her hands, lookingmore severe than ever. ?I would not,? she said.?Mr. Jenkins, I don?t know what you?ve heard aboutme, but you must have heard that I still consider myself engaged toBen Sullivan??

?Never heard of him,? said Howl.

?My fiancé,? said Miss Angorian. ?Hedisappeared some years back. Now, do you wish me to read this poem toyou??

?Do that,? Howl said, quite unrepentant. ?Youhave such a lovely voice.?

?Then I?ll start with the second verse,? MissAngorian said, ?since you have the first verse there in yourhand.? She read very well, not only melodiously, but in a waywhich made the second verse fit the rhythm of the first, which inSophie?s opinion it did not do at all:

?If thou beest born to strange sights,

Things invisible to see,

Ride ten thousand days and nights

Till age snow white hairs on thee.

Thou, when thou returnest, wilt tell me

All strange wonders that befell thee,

And swear

No where

Lives a woman true, and fair.

If thou??

Howl had gone a terrible white. Sophie could see sweat standing onhis face. ?Thank you,? he said. ?Stop there. Iwon?t trouble you for the rest. Even the good woman is untruein the last verse, isn?t she? I remember now. Silly of me. JohnDonne, of course.? Miss Angorian lowered the book and stared athim. He forced up a smile. ?We must be going now. Sure youwon?t change your mind about supper??

?I will not,? said Miss Angorian. ?Are you quitewell, Mr. Jenkins??

?In the pink,? Howl said, and he hustled Michael andSophie away down the stairs and into the horrible horseless carriage.The invisible watchers in the houses must have thought Miss Angorianwas chasing them with a saber, if they judged from the speed withwhich Howl packed them into it and drove off.

?What?s the matter?? Michael asked as thecarriage went roaring and grinding uphill again and Sophie clung tobits of seat for dear life. Howl pretended not to hear. So Michaelwaited until Howl was locking it into its shed and asked again.

?Oh, nothing,? Howl said airily, leading the way backto the yellow house called RIVENDELL. ?The Witch of the Wastehas caught up with me with her curse, that?s all. Bound tohappen sooner or later.? He seemed to be calculating or doingsums in his head while he opened the garden gate. ?Tenthousand,? Sophie heard him murmur. ?That brings it toabout Midsummer Day.?

?What is brought to Midsummer Day?? asked Sophie.

?The time I?ll be ten thousand days old,? Howlsaid. ?And that, Mrs. Nose,? he said, swinging into thegarden of RIVENDELL, ?is the day I shall have to go back to theWitch of the Waste.? Sophie and Michael hung back on the path,staring at Howl?s back, so mysteriously labeled WELSH RUGBY.?If I keep clear of mermaids,? they heard him mutter,?and don?t touch a mandrake root??

Michael called out, ?Do we have to go back into thathouse?? and Sophie called out, ?What will the Witchdo??

?I shudder to think,? Howl said. ?Youdon?t have to go back in, Michael.?

He opened the wavy-glass door. Inside was the familiar room of thecastle. Calcifer?s sleepy flames were coloring the wallsfaintly blue-green in the dusk. Howl flung back his long sleeves andgave Calcifer a log.

?She caught up, old blueface,? he said.

?I know,? said Calcifer. ?I felt ittake.?

Date: 2016-06-12; view: 113