(no subject)
Percival follows Sophie outside, politely taking the bucket for her, which makes her grunt irritably - she's not that feeble! - and stomp ahead of him.
She pauses to look back once they get outside, taking in both the golden sunset and the vast mansion that is the side of the castle where the garden is. Due to her mood, she notices what she never has before; namely, that the place is ridiculously derelict. "Huh! I think the least Howl could do is make the place look more lived in," she says. "But no, he's too busy gadding off to Wales! - don't just stand there, Percival, pour some stuff in that can and then come along behind me."
Percival meekly obeys, and follows behind her, looking hangdog. Bullying him does not help with any of her anger at all. Sophie stops talking to him for a while, and takes her anger out on the weeds, which calms her down a little - enough to start asking Percival the questions she's been wanting to ever since his revelation earlier that day.
Percival answers as meekly as he obeyed her earlier, telling her that the Witch had wanted to find out about Howl when he came to Sophie's shop, and moreover that the Witch had mistaken Sophie for Lettie, which was why she'd cast the spell on her to begin with. (Percival didn't know why he'd been thinking about Lettie. Lettie, he said, had just been in his head; he couldn't remember where he'd met her, before the Witch.) Then the Witch had turned him into a dog, and he had gone to find Lettie at Mrs. Fairfax's.
All of this is terribly interesting, but not much of a surprise; not, at least, until Percival starts to tell about how Howl had come to court Lettie. "Lettie didn't want him," he says, which relieves Sophie's mind somewhat, "and she asked me to bite him to get rid of him, until Howl suddenly began asking her about you, and -"
Sophie almost loses control of the watering-can. The tips of her shoes start to smoke, and she hastily scuffs them off on the road. "What?"
"He said, 'I know someone called Sophie who looks a little like you,'" Percival says, looking at her gravely. "And Lettie said 'that's my sister', without thinking. And she got terribly worried then, particularly as Howl went on asking about her sister - Lettie said she could have bitten her tongue off." He goes on, in great and humiliating detail, to explain how Howl had told Lettie that Sophie was an old woman; how Lettie had fretted and cried and told Percival how very vulnerable Sophie would be to Howl; how Percival, listening to these descriptions of Sophie's kind-heartedness and vulnerability, had nobly offered to come protect her.
Sophie weed-kills furiously all through this recitation. "Bother Lettie!" she snaps, when he's done. She hopes she sounds very un-kind-hearted. "It's very kind of her, and I love her dearly for it. I've been quite as worried about her. But I do not need a watchdog!"
"Yes you do," says Percival. "Or you did. I arrived far too late."
Too late?
Sophie swings around furiously, spilling weed-killer in front of her; Percival gulps and runs aside to avoid being hit. She doesn't even need to ask what he's implying. She knows perfectly well. But it's not true, it's - it's simply not!
"Curse everyone!" she shouts. "I've done with the lot of you," drops the smoking watering can, and starts marching off towards the gateway in a rage. Too late! It's utter nonsense. She can't stand Howl! He's impossible. "And anyways," she tells herself, "I am an old woman!"
But that doesn't change the fact that something's . . . odd. She has been feeling on edge; she has been making excuses not to see her sisters, or change the status quo, or to leave -
"Oh, confound that gray-and-scarlet suit!" she snaps aloud. "I refuse to believe I was the one that got caught with it!"
Except of course it hadn't been the gray-and-scarlet that Howl was wearing all this time, but the blue-and-silver. And that one has apparently worked just as well.
Far too late.
And she had thought her heart acting queer was all a result of being old. Inside, it seems, she's still as young and - and stupid as ever. Which leads suddenly to a greatly reassuring thought: "Anyways, Howl doesn't like me!"
She's still safe. It isn't as if anyone (except Percival, but bother Percival; he's still half a dog, what does he know?) will ever have to find out just exactly how stupid she (and her stupid heart) have been.
Especially not if she leaves. Leaves now, never comes back, never has to look at Howl and his heartless green eyes again - yes, that's exactly the solution. After that she refuses to think, just keeps walking and walking and -
- she hasn't quite reached the gate when she sees the scarecrow.
Aches and pains or not, she doesn't waste a moment in picking up her skirts and running back, as fast as she can, to where Percival is still standing looking forlorn and abandoned. Sophie grabs him and drags him behind a tree, repeating her mantra: "Go away! Go away fast! You can't find us! Go away fast, twice as fast, three times as fast, ten times as fast, go away!"
And it does.
"What's wrong with it?" asks Percival, looking blankly bemused. "Why don't you want it?"
Sophie just shudders, and starts back towards the house. She can't leave now, not while the scarecrow's out there - and then she looks up, and blinks.
The deserted mansion is now beautiful, clean, and newly painted.
Struck by a sudden furious intuition, heart still clammering from the encounter with the scarecrow, Sophie picks up speed and heads purposefully towards the door. A fluttering from an open window catches her eye, which leads, presumably, into the mansion proper - a clear invitation to go in and explore.
Exactly what Howl wants her to do.
She ignores the window and throws the door open instead, with a crash.
She pauses to look back once they get outside, taking in both the golden sunset and the vast mansion that is the side of the castle where the garden is. Due to her mood, she notices what she never has before; namely, that the place is ridiculously derelict. "Huh! I think the least Howl could do is make the place look more lived in," she says. "But no, he's too busy gadding off to Wales! - don't just stand there, Percival, pour some stuff in that can and then come along behind me."
Percival meekly obeys, and follows behind her, looking hangdog. Bullying him does not help with any of her anger at all. Sophie stops talking to him for a while, and takes her anger out on the weeds, which calms her down a little - enough to start asking Percival the questions she's been wanting to ever since his revelation earlier that day.
Percival answers as meekly as he obeyed her earlier, telling her that the Witch had wanted to find out about Howl when he came to Sophie's shop, and moreover that the Witch had mistaken Sophie for Lettie, which was why she'd cast the spell on her to begin with. (Percival didn't know why he'd been thinking about Lettie. Lettie, he said, had just been in his head; he couldn't remember where he'd met her, before the Witch.) Then the Witch had turned him into a dog, and he had gone to find Lettie at Mrs. Fairfax's.
All of this is terribly interesting, but not much of a surprise; not, at least, until Percival starts to tell about how Howl had come to court Lettie. "Lettie didn't want him," he says, which relieves Sophie's mind somewhat, "and she asked me to bite him to get rid of him, until Howl suddenly began asking her about you, and -"
Sophie almost loses control of the watering-can. The tips of her shoes start to smoke, and she hastily scuffs them off on the road. "What?"
"He said, 'I know someone called Sophie who looks a little like you,'" Percival says, looking at her gravely. "And Lettie said 'that's my sister', without thinking. And she got terribly worried then, particularly as Howl went on asking about her sister - Lettie said she could have bitten her tongue off." He goes on, in great and humiliating detail, to explain how Howl had told Lettie that Sophie was an old woman; how Lettie had fretted and cried and told Percival how very vulnerable Sophie would be to Howl; how Percival, listening to these descriptions of Sophie's kind-heartedness and vulnerability, had nobly offered to come protect her.
Sophie weed-kills furiously all through this recitation. "Bother Lettie!" she snaps, when he's done. She hopes she sounds very un-kind-hearted. "It's very kind of her, and I love her dearly for it. I've been quite as worried about her. But I do not need a watchdog!"
"Yes you do," says Percival. "Or you did. I arrived far too late."
Too late?
Sophie swings around furiously, spilling weed-killer in front of her; Percival gulps and runs aside to avoid being hit. She doesn't even need to ask what he's implying. She knows perfectly well. But it's not true, it's - it's simply not!
"Curse everyone!" she shouts. "I've done with the lot of you," drops the smoking watering can, and starts marching off towards the gateway in a rage. Too late! It's utter nonsense. She can't stand Howl! He's impossible. "And anyways," she tells herself, "I am an old woman!"
But that doesn't change the fact that something's . . . odd. She has been feeling on edge; she has been making excuses not to see her sisters, or change the status quo, or to leave -
"Oh, confound that gray-and-scarlet suit!" she snaps aloud. "I refuse to believe I was the one that got caught with it!"
Except of course it hadn't been the gray-and-scarlet that Howl was wearing all this time, but the blue-and-silver. And that one has apparently worked just as well.
Far too late.
And she had thought her heart acting queer was all a result of being old. Inside, it seems, she's still as young and - and stupid as ever. Which leads suddenly to a greatly reassuring thought: "Anyways, Howl doesn't like me!"
She's still safe. It isn't as if anyone (except Percival, but bother Percival; he's still half a dog, what does he know?) will ever have to find out just exactly how stupid she (and her stupid heart) have been.
Especially not if she leaves. Leaves now, never comes back, never has to look at Howl and his heartless green eyes again - yes, that's exactly the solution. After that she refuses to think, just keeps walking and walking and -
- she hasn't quite reached the gate when she sees the scarecrow.
Aches and pains or not, she doesn't waste a moment in picking up her skirts and running back, as fast as she can, to where Percival is still standing looking forlorn and abandoned. Sophie grabs him and drags him behind a tree, repeating her mantra: "Go away! Go away fast! You can't find us! Go away fast, twice as fast, three times as fast, ten times as fast, go away!"
And it does.
"What's wrong with it?" asks Percival, looking blankly bemused. "Why don't you want it?"
Sophie just shudders, and starts back towards the house. She can't leave now, not while the scarecrow's out there - and then she looks up, and blinks.
The deserted mansion is now beautiful, clean, and newly painted.
Struck by a sudden furious intuition, heart still clammering from the encounter with the scarecrow, Sophie picks up speed and heads purposefully towards the door. A fluttering from an open window catches her eye, which leads, presumably, into the mansion proper - a clear invitation to go in and explore.
Exactly what Howl wants her to do.
She ignores the window and throws the door open instead, with a crash.