Howl woke up first the next morning. Sophie was sleeping peacefully beside him. He smiled a little at her. Howl loved that she was here with him. He had been so lonely most of his life. He loved Markl and Calcifer but he was defiantly in love with Sophie. She was so kind hearted. He had been a selfish coward before she came along.
Just then, Sophie's eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the morning light coming in through the window. She saw Howl staring at her but she didn't mind. She smiled at him.
"Good morning." Howl said still smiling at her.
"Good morning." She replied sleepily. Her smiled faded to a confused look. She looked around the room. This wasn't where she fell asleep, this was her and Howl's room. "...How did I get here? I was down stairs reading and fell asleep at the table." She looked back at him.
"I carried you up here." He explained. Now she wished she had been awake for that. Wait. Had Howl seen her reading his spell books? She hoped not. If he had, he didn't say anything about it. Maybe he just assumed it was any old book.
There was a moment of silence before Howl spoke again, "Last night...I saw you reading one of my spell books." He started, " he asked calmly.
"I got it from the cottage in your secret garden. I went inside and found all these spell books." She explained.
"Where do you put the books when you're done reading them? I think Madam Suliman is trying to find them. If she finds them here, she finds us. And who knows what she'll do."
Sophie realized these books were much more than childhood memories. There might be something in one of those that Madam Suliman could use against them.
"I put them back in the cottage." She admitted. Howl sighed in relief, "Oh, good."
Howl did say he was done running away but Madam Suliman was still stronger and more powerful than Howl. It was reasonable to try and hide from her.
"Please don't try to fight her, Howl. She's too powerful." She begged. "I wouldn't dream of it, that woman terrifies me." Howl frowned.
Sophie could tell he was worried, too. So many questions ran through her mind, but she didn't ask Howl any of them. She didn't want to stress him out more than he already was.
~
Markl, Sophie, and Howl sat at the table down stairs eating breakfast. Heen slept in the corner of the room on his dog bed. The Witch of the Waste was gone, she went to live in the kingdom where the lost prince they had found lived. Calcifer was still loudly munching on egg shells Howl had given him while he made the food.
Markl quickly finished his food, "Im going outside to okay with Heen. You guys want to come?" He asked getting up. They both shook their heads, "No, thanks." Sophie said. Markl shrugged, "Okay. Come on, Heen!" Heen jumped up and ran to him. They both ran outside.
Sophie looked at Howl. He had barely eaten any of his food. Markl had told her that he barely ate anything but for the past two years he did. It worried her that he wasn't eating much again.
"So, I'm going to the market later in my town with Markl, if he wants to come. You can come with us, if you'd like." She offered.
"No, I have some things I need to do." Howl rose with his plate in hand and walked over to Calcifer. He dumped he rest of his food in Calcifer's mouth. "But we can go to the my secret garden tomorrow." He smiled,turning his head to look at her. He set his plate in the sink then made his way to the stairs.
He started walking up the stairs but stopped halfway, "Oh, and Calcifer, make some hot water for my bath."
Calcifer let out an exaggerated sigh, "Fine." He said. But Howl was already up stairs by the time he said it.
Sophie got out of her chair and walked over to the front door. She looked up at the portal dial and noticed something strange. There was a new color. The normal colors were red, yellow, green, and blue. They didn't lead to the same place as they had when Sophie first lived her as the cleaning lady. Howl had taken the black one out but it looked like he had replaced the red with black.
"Calcifer?" Sophie asked, "Howl added a new portal." She said even though he probably already knew.
"Yeah, I know. But he won't tell me where it leads! Can you believe that?" If Howl hasn't told Calcifer, he wasn't going to tell anyone.
She reached for the knob to turn the portals. "Sophie, stop! If he doesn't want me to know where it goes to, he doesn't want you to." She pretended that didn't sting. But Calcifer was right. She moved her hand to the door knob.
She walked outside to see Markl running around playing with Heen. Markl noticed her standing in the shade.
"Hey, Sophie!" He said stopping in front of her to catch his breath.
"Hello, Markl." She smiled, "I'm going to the market. Do you want to come?" She asked.
"Sure! But we're not not going to be getting any fish, are we?" He made a face. Sophie laughed a little, "Maybe we won't. I'm also going to visit my sister, if you don't mind."
Markl looked at her confused, "I didn't know you have a sister?"
She nodded, "I do. I haven't seen her in a really long time. I just want her to know I'm okay and to make sure she's okay, too." She explained.
Markl smiled, "Okay, when can we go? Can we go now?"
Sophie shrugged, "Okay." She turned around and opened the door. They all went inside.
Sophie quickly grabbed her hate then went back to the door. She turned the dial to blue. She opened the door and stepped outside.
