The skull yattered its teeth at him. Howl looked startled and putit down hastily.

“Is something the matter?” Michael asked. He seemed toknow the signs.

“There is,” said Howl. “I shall have to findsomeone to blacken my name to the King.”

“Was there something wrong with the wagon spell?” saidMichael.

“No. It worked perfectly. That’s the trouble,”Howl said, restlessly twiddling an onion ring on one finger.“The King’s trying to pin me down to do something elsenow. Calcifer, if we’re not very careful, he’s going toappoint me Royal Magician.” Calcifer did not answer. Howl rovedback to the fireside and realized Calcifer was asleep. “Wakehim up, Michael,” he said. “I need to consulthim.”

Michael threw two logs on Calcifer and called him. Nothinghappened, apart from a thin spire of smoke.

“Calcifer!” Howl shouted. That did no good either.Howl gave Michael a mystified look and picked up the poker, which wassomething Sophie had never seen him do before. “Sorry,Calcifer,” he said, jabbing under the unburned logs.“Wake up!”

One thick black cloud of smoke rolled up, and stopped. “Goaway,” Calcifer grunted. “I’m tired.”

At this, Howl looked thoroughly alarmed. “What’s wrongwith him? I’ve never known him like this before!”

“I think it was the scarecrow,” Sophie said.

Howl swiveled around on his knees and leveled his glass-marbleeyes at her. “What have you done now?” He went onstaring while Sophie explained. “A scarecrow?” he said.“Calcifer agreed to speed up the castle because of a scarecrow? Dear Sophie, do please tell me how you bully a firedemon into being that obliging. I’d dearly love toknow!”

“I didn’t bully him,” said Sophie. “Itgave me a turn and he was sorry for me.”

“It gave her a turn and Calcifer was sorry for her,”Howl repeated. “My good Sophie, Calcifer is never sorry foranyone. Anyway, I hope you enjoy raw onions and cold pie for yoursupper, because you’ve almost put Calcifer out.”

“There’s the cake,” Michael said, trying to makepeace.

The food did seem to improve Howl’s temper, although he keptcasting anxious looks at the unburning logs in the hearth all thetime they were eating. The pie was good cold, and the onions werequite tasty when Sophie had soaked them in vinegar. The cake wassuperb. While they were eating it, Michael risked asking Howl whatthe King had wanted.

“Nothing definite yet,” Howl said gloomily. “Buthe was sounding me out about his brother, quiet ominously. Apparentlythey had a good old argument before Prince Justin stormed off, andpeople are talking. The King obviously wanted me to volunteer to lookfor his brother. And like a fool I went and said I didn’t thinkWizard Suliman was dead, and that made matters worse.”

“Why do you want to slither out of looking for thePrince?” Sophie demanded. “Don’t you think you canfind him?”

“Rude as well as a bully, aren’t you?” Howlsaid. He had still not forgiven her about Calcifer. “I want toget out of it because I know I can find him, if you must know. Justinwas great buddies with Suliman, and the argument was because he toldthe King he was going to look for him. He didn’t think the Kingshould have sent Suliman to the Waste in the first place. Now, evenyou must know there is a certain lady in the Waste who is very badnews. She promised to fry me alive last year, and she sent out acurse after me that I’ve only avoided so far because I had thesense to give her a false name.”

Sophie was almost awed. “You mean you jilted the Witch ofthe Waste?”

Howl cut himself another lump of cake, looking sad and honorable.“That is not the way to put it. I admit, I thought I was fondof her for a time. She is in some ways a very sad lady, very unloved.Every man in Ingary is scared stiff of her. You ought to knowhow that feels, Sophie dear.”

Sophie’s mouth opened in utter indignation. Michael saidquickly, “Do you think we should move the castle? That’swhy you invented it, wasn’t it?”

“That depends on Calcifer.” Howl looked over hisshoulder at the barely smoking logs again. “I must say, if Ithink of the King and the Witch both after me, I get a craving forplanting the castle on a nice, frowning rock a thousand milesaway.”

Michael obviously wished he had not spoken. Sophie could see hewas thinking that a thousand miles away was a terribly long way fromMartha. “But what happens to your Lettie Hatter,” shesaid to Howl, “if you up and move?”

“I expect that will be all over by then,” Howl saidabsently. “But if I could only think of a way to get the Kingoff my back…I know!” He lifted his fork, with a meltinghunk of cream and cake on it, and pointed it at Sophie.“You can blacken my name to the King. You can pretend tobe my old mother and plead for your blue-eyed boy.” He gaveSophie the smile which had no doubt charmed the Witch of the Wasteand possibly Lettie too, firing it along the fork, across the cream,straight into Sophie’s eyes, dazzlingly. “If you canbully Calcifer, the King should give you no trouble atall.”

Sophie stared through the dazzle and said nothing. This, shethought, was where she slithered out. She was leaving. It wastoo bad about Calcifer’s contract. She had had enough of Howl.First green slime, then glaring at her for something Calcifer haddone quite freely, and now this! Tomorrow she would slip off to UpperFolding and tell Lettie all about it.

To Sophie’s relief, Calcifer blazed up brightand cheerful next morning. If she had not had enough of Howl, shewould have been almost touched by how glad Howl was to seeCalcifer.

“I thought she’d done for you, you old ball ofgas,” Howl said, kneeling at the hearth with his sleevestrailing in the ash.

“I was only tired,” Calcifer said. “There wassome kind of drag on the castle. I’d never taken it that fastbefore.”

“Well, don’t let her make you do it again,” saidHowl. He stood up, gracefully brushing ash off his gray-and-scarletsuit. “Make a start on that spell today, Michael. And if anyonecomes from the King, I’m away on urgent private business untiltomorrow. I’m going to see Lettie, but you needn’t tellhim that.” He picked up his guitar and opened the door with theknob green-down, onto the wide, cloudy hills.

The scarecrow was there again. When Howl opened the door, itpitched sideways across him with its turnip face in his chest. Theguitar uttered an awful twang-oing. Sophie gave a faint squawkof terror and hung onto the chair. One of the scarecrow’s stickarms was scraping stiffly around to get a purchase on the door. Fromthe way Howl’s feet were braced, it was clear he was beingshoved quite hard. There was no doubt the thing was determined to getinto the castle.

Calcifer’s blue face leaned out of the grate. Michael stoodstock still beyond. “There really is a scarecrow!” theyboth said.

“Oh, is there? Do tell!” Howl panted. He got onefoot up against the door frame and heaved. The scarecrow flewlumpishly away backward, to land with a light rustle in the heathersome yards off. It sprang up instantly and came hopping towards thecastle again. Howl hurriedly laid the guitar on the doorstep andjumped down to meet it. “No you don’t, my friend,”he said with one hand out. “Go back where you came from.”He walked forward slowly, still with his hand out. The scarecrowretreated a little, hopping slowly and warily backward. When Howlstopped, the scarecrow stopped too, with its one leg planted in theheather and its ragged arms tilting this way and that like a personsparring for an opening. The rags fluttering on its arms seemed a madimitation of Howl’s sleeves.

“So you won’t go?” Howl said. And the turniphead slowly moved from side to side. No. “I’m afraidyou’ll have to,” Howl said. “You scare Sophie, andthere’s no knowing what she’ll do when she’sscared. Come to think of it, you scare me too.” Howl’sarms moved, heavily, as if he was lifting a large weight, until theywere raised high above his head. He shouted out a strange word, whichwas half hidden in a crack of sudden thunder. And the scarecrow wentsoaring away. Up and backward it went, rags fluttering, arms wheelingin protest, up and out, and on and on, until it was a soaring speckin the sky, then a vanishing point in the clouds, and then not to beseen at all.