It's been a very long day indeed; and Howl must be tired, because there's not one groan, cough, or shout for attention from his room above.

Sophie's tired too, and full of worry, and from looking at Michael she can tell he feels the same way. Why are they on the edge of the Waste? It seems the last place Howl should want to be, unless he really ( Read more... )

The relocated castle is very close to the same shape it always was - inside, at least; all the same, there's an undeniable sense of difference, and Sophie is fidgety and curious all morning, wanting to see what's outside ( Read more... )

Sophie's too curious to be terrified, at first - the bright lights shining without visible candles, the thick stone walls, the eerie singing and the strange costumes of everyone hurrying about provide plenty of distraction from the temerity of what she's offered to do ( Read more... )

With Howl and his sneezing out of the house, the morning passes in relative peace and quiet. Michael practices spell-work; Calcifer burns logs; Sophie pokes around surreptitiously for whatever suit Howl isn't wearing, with no success. The dog-man wanders around and looks tragic, but as that's his normal occupation nobody pays him much mind - at ( Read more... )

What's the worst thing someone could do?
I suppose to murder someone. You can't exactly take it back.

What's the worst thing someone could do to you?
I don't know, but I expect whatever it is I'd somehow manage to make it worse myself.

Turning me old was up there, I'll grant you. But at least all my parts are still attached.

What's the worst ( Read more... )

The door out of Milliways does not, as Sophie had half-hoped, lead her back to the castle. Still, at the very least her time at the bar, combined with her successful spell-casting, has left her refreshed and optimistic enough to form a new plan of action - make her way back to Mrs. Pentstemmon's and ask the footman which way she ought to go to ( Read more... )

By the time Sophie reaches the castle, she's already regretting her decision. The building is enormous, covered in golden domes that painfully dazzle her eyes, and the entrance is all the way up a huge flight of steps that Sophie is really not at all sure she can manage to climb ( Read more... )

I can do this, Sophie tells herself, firmly, as she sees the footman, and the pageboy, and the polished marble staircase. She's dressed in her new finery, and she has her trusty stick with her, and even Howl hasn't seen through her disguise yet; she'll be perfectly fine ( Read more... )

Does garlic keep off envy? I could cut a star out of paper and drop it. Could we tell it to Howl? Howl would like mermaids better than Calcifer. Do not think Howl's mind honest. Is Calcifer's? Where are past years anyways? Does it mean one of those dry roots must bear fruit? Plant it? Next to dock leaf? In seashell? Cloven hoof, most ( Read more... )

So the plan as Sophie had conceived it a few minutes ago was to agree to go to talk to the King for Howl. Then he would stop bothering her and leave her free to think up a scheme to assure the happiness of her sisters.

It was, Sophie thinks, ruefully, a fairly decent plan, even though it was thought up on the spur of the moment and in a time of ( Read more... )