Love Knows No Bounds 6

Chapter Six: In Which A Great Surprise is Ruined

Had she known how, Sophie would’ve filled the entire castle with thick green slime by now. She rampaged around the house, yelling at any little thing, picking fights with Calcifer, proving to Michael that women really do have the power to cause great injury.

“Where in all hell does that man think he can go without telling me!?” She roared. It was only the day before that she’d returned to her old self, memory and health all in order. And Howl had, once again, decided to slink from the castle at the earliest of hours.

“He’s busy! Really!” Michael tried, cowering behind the couch. “He’s told you he loves you!” Michael was growing tired of Sophie’s constant doubt, and was beginning to grow a backbone with her. “You can’t do this every time he leaves the house!” He ducked out of the path of a flying log.

“Hey! That was mine!” Calcifer yelled into the fight. Sophie turned and glared. He sunk into the hearth just enough to show submission, but not so far that his flame disappeared.

“I can do as I please. And I see no reason for him to leave without telling me! If he truly does love me, why is he so afraid to tell me where he’s going!?”

“S-U-R-P-R-I-S-E.” Calcifer puffed smoke, each eerily taking on the shape of the letters.

Sophie plopped onto the couch. She’d gone through this argument with the two of them over and over everyday for the past three weeks. What could be taking Howl so ridiculously long? She stood slowly, her expression sad. She fiddled with her fingers in front of her waist—a tell that she was worried—but did not show any other signs of worry. “I should start dinner.”

Michael and Calcifer watched as she entered the kitchen, exchanged shrugs, then continued about their day.

- - -

The following morning moved quickly. Very, very quickly. The previous night, Sophie had dug through the multiple contraptions cluttering Howl’s room until she found one made for waking the owner up. Before bed, unbeknownst to Howl, she set it in her pillow case and slept on it. Lucky try, it woke her before Howl. Quickly she silenced it and moved downstairs, dressing in a dark dress and setting a matching hate on the coat hanger by the door. Surprisingly, she didn’t wake Calcifer in this process.

She made her way back upstairs and crawled into bed once again, this time not sleeping. About an hour later, Howl began to move. She heard him smoothly crawl out of bed (she was impressed at how still he managed to keep the bed), move to the dresser, then out the door and down the stairs. Waiting a moment, in case he dropped something on the stairs or had to stall for some other reason, Sophie crawled from the bed as well, quietly slinking to the stairs after Howl.

It was about an hour’s wait for him to leave the bathroom, in this time she’d managed to hide in the spare bed under the stairs, looking out a small crack in the door. Howl moved quickly to the door, Calcifer mumbling quietly that he would now be going back to sleep. Sophie watched the dial…Kingsbury door. She hurried past Calcifer and out a few moments after Howl, careful not to make too much noise.

Because of the changing time zones, Kingsbury was already well into the morning. It was 10a.m. to be specific. Sophie straightened the hat on her head and, the hat being one of Michael’s disguises, soon grew long golden curls and a foot taller. Her dress turned to a light pink, her hat white, and a pair of lace gloves seemed to morph onto her hands. She felt at her face, feeling a new nose and eyes. She desperately searched for a mirror.

A fitting disguise for someone who needed to feel she was beautiful. She’d become the essence of innocent beauty. Surely an improvement, she thought.

It hit her that Howl had probably gotten a respectable lead by now, and she spun around frantically trying to find him. It didn’t take her long to spot the outlandishly bright red hair strutting up the street, and she ran to ‘catch up’.

“Excuse me, miss.” A man, tall and skinny, seemed to pop up out of nowhere. “I couldn’t help but notice you were without a chaperone. Perhaps I could escort you to where ever it is you need to be?”

“Oh, no.” A larger man, burly and strong looking, appeared. “She needs someone strong to escort her. Where is it you’re headed?”

“Oh, no I—” She choked on the newly pitched voice. Thankfully a third man had thrown in his escort offer and covered the embarrassing error. “Really, sirs, I’m only on my way to meet my chaperone,” She tried to think quickly. “We’d planned a date today, and I merely took a wrong turn a while back. I’m right to get there now.” The men looked discouraged, but all kept a courtesy as they said goodbye.

She became frustrated at her loss of time, but put little effort in before she found Howl. He was in a dress shop. Why a dress shop, she thought, when he just bought me a new wardrobe? And then she spotted her. She came floating out of the back, long raven locks waving down her back and seeming to blow around her face in no apparent wind. She was in no way flawed. Her features were that of a doll; thin red lips, perfectly placed blue eyes lined meticulously with black pencil, eyelashes long and curved, pink cheeks in a perpetual blush. She was tall, skinny, and smiling.

Sophie growled inside. But she wouldn’t worry. Howl had told her time and time again that he loved her, so this woman was nothing to worry over.

Until Howl got down on one knee, took the girl’s hand, and kissed it tenderly. He then stood, still holding the girl’s hand, and pulled her into a hug. Sophie stood silently at the window, staring in at the scene playing out before her. Then she moved. It wasn’t a movement she herself could control, it just happened.

Into the shop she put on the most solemn of faces. “Excuse me, Howl,” the doll-like woman said. “I need to help this lady.” She moved behind the counter Sophie now found herself standing before. She could feel Howl’s stare, no doubt he was looking at the magical aura of the hat, but she refused to turn around. The perk of these hats was that any wizard can see the aura, just not the person behind it.

“My handkerchief has become worn.” Sophie said, trying to control the cracks in her voice. “And at a time when I need it most.” She whined.

“Oh, you poor dear.” The woman bent down and pulled up a large box, inside of which was a large selection of multicolored pieces of cloth. “Choose whichever you like. I’ll pay.”

“You are a sweet girl, aren’t you?” She scanned the different variations of cloth and color. The perfect one seemed to jump from the box. A white cotton with a light pink lace pattern sewn around the edges.

“This one.” She pulled it out and dabbed at her eyes. “I can’t just take it, though.” She dropped two gold pieces onto the counter, letting them spiral around with annoying clicks. “Thank you, though.”

The girl nodded. Sophie turned and started towards the door, only stopping to look at Howl and nod. He nodded in return, unaware that his nod of greeting was meeting Sophie’s nod of goodbye.

- - -

Howl returned to the castle at about noon Market Chipping time. He entered with a look of excitement on his face and he practically sang out, “Sophie! Could you come downstairs please?” He waited. Nothing. He ran to the foot of the stairs. “Sophie!” Nothing. He spun on his heel, spotting a dimly flickering Calcifer in the hearth. “Where has she gone? To the shop, maybe?” Calcifer flickered. “Then she’s out picking flowers?”

“She’s gone.”

“Pardon?” Calcifer flared angrily.

“She’s gone, you twit! You’ve really done it this time. She’s never coming back!” Howl stared at the evil creature for a moment, unsure of what he was hearing. “This must be a joke. Ha ha, Calcifer. Now where is she?” His voice was anything but joking. It was more frantic. He moved quickly about the house, looking for any trace of anything that could prove him a joker. Nothing. Nothing, until he turned to the kitchen, where he saw laying flat on the table a piece of white cloth with pink lining. When approached, the cloth appeared to be the resting place for a piece of paper, on which were the three words that explained everything to Howl: I Loved You.

Howl picked up the cloth, picturing the blonde woman as he did so. She’d been right under his nose, and he couldn’t see it. He could’ve confronted her, stopped her. Found out what was wrong. But he’d just nodded. “And you just let her leave?” He hissed. “You did nothing to stop her?”

“I lit the doornob on fire. She burned herself, but she turned it and left.”

Howl glared at him.

“Michael followed her. I lost track of them, though.” Howl’s face softened slightly. “It’s harder to follow people now that I’m disconnected from the castle. I have to put a lot more energy in. But I do know they left through Market Chipping. They went North.” Not even a second had a chance to pass before Howl was out the door.

He ran up the street, dodging people and sending many into a spin, and continued running until he reached the city limits. There he found Michael curled into a ball on the side of the road, moaning in evident pain. “Michael?” Howl asked, wondering how to pity him. It didn’t take much to learn that Sophie had delivered a swift kick where it counts. A quivering hand retreated from between Michael’s legs and pointed up the dirt path.

“Th-that way.” He whined in a high pitched voice, returning his hand and rolling about in agony. Pausing for a moment, Howl bent down and put his hand on the boy’s shoulder, explaining silently that he would make up for such a valiant effort, then took off running up the dirt path.

It wasn’t long before a pair of black wings had sprouted from his sleeves, and eventually the human Howl had disappeared into the silky black feathers of a large bird. He soard high, looking down at the winding path below. It must’ve been a while ago that Sophie had become upset, she was a great distance from the Market Chipping door by now.

Howl flew for what felt like at least an hour before he spotted the familiar brown hat miles below. It was trotting along, a red shawl flowing under and behind it and a knapsack protruding widely over that shawl. He circled overhead for a moment, losing altitude, before his large talons made contact with the ground, causing a loud BANG and great shake to cause the woman before him to lose her balance and stumble slightly. Still in bird form, he stared at her silently, then moved his wings around himself and emerging human from an explosion of black feathers.

The shock lifting, Sophie’s expression changed from surprise to anger and she began walking again. She prepared for the impact with Howl, expecting him to move. However, much to her dismay, he did not budge. She tried to move around him. He moved with her. She moved to the other side. Howl moved as well.

Finally, her temper reached a boiling point. “GET OUT OF MY—” Howl wrapped his arms around her silently and pulled her into his chest. She didn’t put up much of a struggle, just a few jerks of her shoulder here and there to make it seem like she didn’t want to be inside that hug. “…way.” Finally he loosened the hug enough for her to pull backward.

“Why did you leave?” Sophie gave him quite the look for this question. One that more than obviously said, “you’d have to be an idiot to not know”. Apparently Howl was an idiot.

“Why? Why?” She rolled her eyes in that womanly way, thrusting her fists together into crossed arms. “You have to be joking. You think I don’t know? The woman in the dress shop?”

Mentally Howl hit himself in the face. She must’ve seen them hugging before walking in to buy that handkerchief. “Her? Camille?” Sophie tilted her head, eyes wide and angry. “She’s helping me with a…um…project.”

“Oh-ho! That’s rich!” She shifted her weight, moving her hands to her hips. “How am I supposed to believe that? There is nothing about that excuse that seems believable.” Howl said nothing. “Give me one good reason why I should believe you.”

“Give me one good example of a time when I deceived you.”

“What did you do just now!?”

“If that’s you’re only example, I think you should at least humor me in coming back to see the concluded project.” He could tell Sophie was trying her hardest to think of an excuse not to go back with him. “Well?”


“Fine. But if this proves pointless, I swear to you Howl…”

“It’s anything but pointless.”