Howl lowered his arms and came back to the doorway, mopping hisface on the back of his hand. “I take back my hard words,Sophie,” he said, panting. “That thing was alarming. Itmay have been dragging the castle back all yesterday. It had some ofthe strongest magic I’ve met. Whatever was it—all that was leftof the last person you cleaned for?”

Sophie gave a weak little cackle of laughter. Her heart wasbehaving badly again.

Howl realized something was wrong with her. He jumped indoorsacross his guitar, took hold of her elbow, and sat her in the chair.“Take it easy now!” Something happened between Howl andCalcifer then. Sophie felt it, because she was being held by Howl,and Calcifer was still leaning out of the grate. Whatever it was, herheart began to behave properly again almost at once. Howl looked atCalcifer, shrugged, and turned away to give Michael a whole lot ofinstructions about making Sophie keep quiet for the rest of the day.Then he picked up the guitar and left at last.

Sophie lay in the chair and pretended to feel twice as ill as shedid. she had to let Howl get out of sight. It was a nuisance he wasgoing to Upper Folding as well, but she would walk so much moreslowly that she would arrive around the time he started back. Theimportant thing was not to meet him on the way. She watched Michaelslyly while he spread out his spell and scratched his head over it.She waited until he dragged big leather books off the shelves andbegan making notes in a frantic, depressed sort of way. When heseemed properly absorbed, Sophie muttered several times,“Stuffy in here!”

Michael took no notice. “Terribly stuffy,” Sophiesaid, getting up and shambling to the door. “Fresh air.”She opened the door and climbed out. Calcifer obligingly stopped thecastle dead while she did. Sophie landed in the heather and took alook round to get her bearings. The road over the hills to UpperFolding was a sandy line through the heather just downhill from thecastle. Naturally. Calcifer would not make things inconvenient forHowl. Sophie set off toward it. She felt a little sad. She was goingto miss Michael and Calcifer.

She was almost at the road when there was shouting behind her.Michael came bounding down the hillside after her, and the tall blackcastle came bobbling along behind him, shedding anxious puffs ofsmoke from all four turrets.

“What are you doing?” Michael said when he caught up.From the way he looked at her, Sophie could see he thought thescarecrow had sent her wrong in the head.

“I’m perfectly all right,” Sophie saidindignantly. “I’m simply going to see my othersis-ter’s granddaughter. She’s called Lettie too. Now doyou understand?”

“Where does she live?” Michael demanded, as if hethought Sophie might not know.

“Upper Folding,” said Sophie.

“But that’s over ten miles away!” Michael said.“I promised Howl I’d make you rest. I can’t let yougo. I told him I wouldn’t let you out of my sight.”

Sophie did not look very kindly on this. Howl thought she wasuseful now because he wanted her to see the King. Of course he didnot want her to leave the castle. “Huh!” she said.

“Besides,” said Michael, slowly grasping thesituation, “Howl must have gone to Upper Foldingtoo.”

“I’m quite sure he had,” said Sophie.

“Then you’re anxious about this girl, if she’syour great-niece,” Michael said, arriving at the point at last.“I see! But I can’t let you go.”

“I’m going,” said Sophie.

“But if Howl sees you there he’ll be furious,”Michael went on, working things out. “Because I promised him,he’ll be mad with both of us. You ought to rest.” Then,when Sophie was almost ready to hit him, he exclaimed, “Wait!There’s a pair of seven-league boots in the broomcupboard!”

He took Sophie by her skinny old wrist and towed her uphill to thewaiting castle. She was forced to give little hops in order not tocatch her feet in the heather. “But,” she panted,“seven leagues is twenty-one miles! I’d be halfway toPorthaven in two strides!”

“No, it’s ten and a half miles a step,” saidMichael. “That makes Upper Folding almost exactly. If we eachtake one boot and go together, then I won’t be letting you outof my sight and you won’t be doing anything strenuous, andwe’ll get there before Howl does, so he won’t even knowwe’ve been. That solves all our problemsbeautifully!”

Michael was so pleased with himself that Sophie did not have theheart to protest. She shrugged and supposed Michael had better findout about the two Lettie’s before they changed looks again. Itwas more honest this way. But when Michael fetched the boots from thebroom cupboard, Sophie began to have doubts. Up to now she hadthought they were two leather buckets that had somehow lost theirhandles and then got a little squashed.

“You’re supposed to put your foot in them, shoe andall,” Michael explained as he carried the two heavy,bucket-shaped things to the door. “These are the prototypes ofthe boots Howl made for the King’s army. We managed to get thelater ones a bit lighter and more boot-shaped.” He and Sophiesat on the doorstep and each put one foot in a boot. “Pointyourself toward Upper Folding before you put the boot down,”Michael warned her. He and Sophie stood up on the foot which was inan ordinary shoe and carefully swung themselves round to face UpperFolding. “Now tread,” said Michael.

Zip! The landscape instantly rushed past them so fast it was onlya blur, a gray-green blur for the land and a blue-gray blur for thesky. The wind of their going tore at Sophie’s hair and draggedevery wrinkle in her face backward until she thought she would arrivewith half her face behind each ear.

The rushing stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Everything wascalm and sunny. They were knee-deep in buttercups in the middle ofUpper Folding village common. A cow nearby stared at them. Beyond it,thatched cottages drowsed under trees. Unfortunately, the bucketlikeboot was so heavy that Sophie staggered as she landed.

“Don’t put that foot down!” Michael yelled, toolate.

There was another zipping blur and more rushing wind. When itstopped, Sophie found herself right down the Folding Valley, almostinto Marsh Folding. “Oh, drat!” she said, and hoppedcarefully round on her shoe and tried again.

Zip! Blur. And she was back on Upper Folding green again,staggering forward with the weight of the boot. She had a glimpse ofMichael diving to catch her—

Zip! Blur. “Oh, bother!” wailed Sophie. She was up inthe hills again. The crooked black shape of the castle was driftingpeacefully nearby. Calcifer was amusing himself blowing black smokerings from one turret. Sophie saw that much before her shoe caught inthe heather and she stumbled forward again.

Zip! Zip! This time Sophie visited in rapid succession the MarketSquare of Market Chipping and the front lawn of a very grand mansion.“Blow!” she cried. “Drat!” One word for eachplace. And she was off again with her own momentum and another Zip!right down at the end of that valley on a field somewhere. A largered bull raised its ringed nose from the grass and thoughtfullylowered its horns.

“I’m just leaving, my good beast!” Sophie cried,hopping herself round frantically.

Zip! Back to the mansion. Zip! to Market Square. Zip! and therewas the castle yet again. She was getting the hang of it. Zip! Herewas Upper Folding—but how did you stop? Zip!

“Oh, confound it!” Sophie cried, almost inMarsh Folding again.

This time she hopped round very carefully and trod with greatdeliberation. Zip! and fortunately the boot landed in a cowpat andshe sat down with a thump. Michael sprinted up before Sophie couldmove and dragged the boot off her foot. “Thank you!”Sophie cried breathlessly. “There seemed no reason why I shouldever stop!”

Sophie’s heart pounded a bit as they walked across thecommon to Mrs. Fairfax’s house, but only in the wayheart’s do when you have done a lot rather quickly. She feltvery grateful for whatever Howl and Calcifer had done.