Howl's Twisted Castle

9: Hats are for wearing

Howl pulled a comb through his newly oiled hair, parting it at his temple with a clean line. He smoothed over it to tamp down the stray bits and turned away from his reflection to look at us. Howls eyes shifted momentarily to me but he quickly looked away. His cheeks contained a hint of pink as he fixed his attention on Markel.

Wait, was Howl. . . Embarrassed?

"You're certain?" he asked after Markel relayed his story.

"Absolutely master. The door was set to the forest exit, but when she went through, it was the rosebay exit."

Howl fixed his gaze on me and looked at me seriously this time. For a moment I thought I detected recognition in his expression, but he merely nodded and turned away from me.

"You're full of surprises, Allison," he said, pulling on a pair of black leather gloves he'd laid out on the kitchen table.

"What does this mean?" I blurted out, eager for them to explain this to me in plain English.

He reached for the bowler hat Markel handed to him and turned it over in his hands thoughtfully.

"Many years ago, long before you were born I'd imagine, I enchanted doors all over the world. Each one of those doors is tethered to this castle. To access these doors, one needs only to think of their destination and open it." he said.

I gave him an odd look. "How exactly does that explain the fact that I can use magic?"

"It's simple, really. At first, I assumed the residual magic used to curse you allowed you to not only see the door in the forest but allowed you to pass through it as well. However, that doesn't explain how you were able to the manipulate the door when you opened it to leave. You must be able to control magic in order to change its destination, otherwise, the door would have opened up to the forest."

"I didn't do anything though! I didn't wave my hands in the air; I didn't say 'open sesame,' I didn't sacrifice an animal, I didn't do anything at all! I just opened the door!" I punctuated my frustration by waving my hands in the air in a manner that must have looked funny because Howl was chewing the inside of his cheek in an effort not to laugh.

"For starters, waving your hands like this--," he demonstrated by flicking his wrist at his jacket, and it flew across the room, draping itself on his forearm, "--is used for levitation only. 'Open sesame' is an incantation found in children's books only, and there's no magic created by slaughtering animals, that's just barbaric. Really, where did you get these funny ideas?" his lips curved upwards with a hint of a smile.

I massaged the crease in my forehead, digesting this new information. Looking over at the red door and then back to Howl, I tried to piece it all together. He waited patiently while I searched for the right words, spinning the bowler hat on his finger.

"So. . . what you're saying is, if I go to that door right now and imagine going back to Market Chipping, it'll take me there?"

"More or less." he agreed. "It won't take you directly there, but it'll pick the closest door to your destination and take you there instead."

"Do you mind if I. . ." I pointed to the door behind him, eager to test out his theory.

"By all means," he bowed and followed me over to the door, stopping me before I could open it.

I gripped the door handle tightly, my hand shaking with excitement. "Now what do I do?" I asked barely above a whisper.

His hand rested on the door jam, and he leaned in. I could feel his breath against my neck as he tickled my ear with his voice.