“How is it you come to know who I am?” Howl askedbeguilingly.

“You seem to have caused a lot of gossip in thistown,” Miss Angorian said, busy sorting through papers on thetable.

“And what have those people who gossip told you?” Howlasked. He leaned languishingly on the end of the table and tried tocatch Miss Angorian’s eye.

“That you disappear and turn up rather unpredictably, forone thing,” Miss Angorian said.

“And what else?” Howl followed Miss Angorian’smovements with such a look that Sophie knew Lettie’s onlychance was for Miss Angorian to fall instantly in love with Howltoo.

But Miss Angorian was not that kind of lady. She said, “Manyother things, few of them to your credit,” and caused Michaelto blush by looking at him and Sophie in a way that suggested thesethings were not fit for their ears. She held a yellowish wavy-edgedpaper out to Howl. “Here it is,” she said severely.“Do you know what it is?”

“Of course,” said Howl.

“Then please tell me,” said Miss Angorian.

Howl took the paper. There was a bit of a scuffle as he tried totake Miss Angorian’s hand with it. Miss Angorian won thescuffle and put her hands behind her back. Howl smiled meltingly andpassed the paper to Michael. “You tell her,” hesaid.

Michael’s blushing face lit up as soon as he looked at it.“It’s the spell! Oh, I can do this one—it’senlargement, isn’t it?”

“That’s what I thought,” Miss Angorian saidrather accusingly. “I’d like to know what you were doingwith such a thing.”

“Miss Angorian,” said Howl, “if you have heardall those things about me, you must know I wrote my doctoral thesison charms and spells. You look as if you suspect me of working blackmagic! I assure you, I never worked any kind of spell in mylife.” Sophie could not stop herself making a small snort atthis blatant lie. “With my hand on my heart,” Howl added,giving Sophie an irritated frown, “this spell is for studypurposes only. It’s very old and rare. That’s why Iwanted it back.”

“Well, you have it back,” Miss Angorian said briskly.“Before you go, would you mind giving me my homework sheet inreturn? Photocopies cost money.”

Howl brought out the gray paper willingly and held it just out ofreach. “This poem now,” he said. “It’s beenbothering me. Silly, really!-but I can’t remember the rest ofit. By Walter Raleigh, isn’t it?”

Miss Angorian gave him a withering look. “Certainly not.It’s by John Donne and it’s very well known indeed. Ihave the book with it in here, if you want to refresh yourmemory.”

“Please,” said Howl, and from the way his eyesfollowed Miss Angorian as she went to her wall of books, Sophierealized that this was the real reason why Howl had come into thisstrange land where his family lived. But Howl was not above killingtwo birds with one stone. “Miss Angorian,” he saidpleadingly, following her contours as she stretched for the book,“would you consider coming out for some supper with metonight?”

Miss Angorian turned round with a large book in her hands, lookingmore severe than ever. “I would not,” she said.“Mr. Jenkins, I don’t know what you’ve heard aboutme, but you must have heard that I still consider myself engaged toBen Sullivan—”

“Never heard of him,” said Howl.

“My fiancé,” said Miss Angorian. “Hedisappeared some years back. Now, do you wish me to read this poem toyou?”

“Do that,” Howl said, quite unrepentant. “Youhave such a lovely voice.”

“Then I’ll start with the second verse,” MissAngorian said, “since you have the first verse there in yourhand.” She read very well, not only melodiously, but in a waywhich made the second verse fit the rhythm of the first, which inSophie’s opinion it did not do at all:

Howl had gone a terrible white. Sophie could see sweat standing onhis face. “Thank you,” he said. “Stop there. Iwon’t trouble you for the rest. Even the good woman is untruein the last verse, isn’t she? I remember now. Silly of me. JohnDonne, of course.” Miss Angorian lowered the book and stared athim. He forced up a smile. “We must be going now. Sure youwon’t change your mind about supper?”

“I will not,” said Miss Angorian. “Are you quitewell, Mr. Jenkins?”

“In the pink,” Howl said, and he hustled Michael andSophie away down the stairs and into the horrible horseless carriage.The invisible watchers in the houses must have thought Miss Angorianwas chasing them with a saber, if they judged from the speed withwhich Howl packed them into it and drove off.

“What’s the matter?” Michael asked as thecarriage went roaring and grinding uphill again and Sophie clung tobits of seat for dear life. Howl pretended not to hear. So Michaelwaited until Howl was locking it into its shed and asked again.

“Oh, nothing,” Howl said airily, leading the way backto the yellow house called RIVENDELL. “The Witch of the Wastehas caught up with me with her curse, that’s all. Bound tohappen sooner or later.” He seemed to be calculating or doingsums in his head while he opened the garden gate. “Tenthousand,” Sophie heard him murmur. “That brings it toabout Midsummer Day.”

“What is brought to Midsummer Day?” asked Sophie.

“The time I’ll be ten thousand days old,” Howlsaid. “And that, Mrs. Nose,” he said, swinging into thegarden of RIVENDELL, “is the day I shall have to go back to theWitch of the Waste.” Sophie and Michael hung back on the path,staring at Howl’s back, so mysteriously labeled WELSH RUGBY.“If I keep clear of mermaids,” they heard him mutter,“and don’t touch a mandrake root—”

Michael called out, “Do we have to go back into thathouse?” and Sophie called out, “What will the Witchdo?”

“I shudder to think,” Howl said. “Youdon’t have to go back in, Michael.”

He opened the wavy-glass door. Inside was the familiar room of thecastle. Calcifer’s sleepy flames were coloring the wallsfaintly blue-green in the dusk. Howl flung back his long sleeves andgave Calcifer a log.

“She caught up, old blueface,” he said.

“I know,” said Calcifer. “I felt ittake.”

Sophie did not see much point in blackeningHowl’s name to the King, now that the Witch had caught up withhim. But Howl said it was more important than ever. “I shallneed everything I’ve got just to escape the Witch,” hesaid. “I can’t have the King after me as well.”

So the following afternoon Sophie put on her new clothes and satfeeling very fine, if rather stiff, waiting for Michael to get readyand for Howl to finish in the bathroom. While she waited, she toldCalcifer about the strange country where Howl’s family lived.It took her mind off the King.

Calcifer was very interested. “I knew he came from foreignparts,” he said. “But this sounds like another world.Clever of the Witch to send the curse in from there. Very clever allround. That’s magic I admire, using something that existsanyway and turning it round into a curse. I did wonder about it whenyou and Michael were reading it the other day. That fool Howl toldher too much about himself.”

Sophie gazed at Calcifer’s thin blue face. It did notsurprise her to find Calcifer admired the curse, any more than itsurprised her when he called Howl a fool. He was always insultingHowl. But she never could work out if Calcifer really hated Howl.Calcifer looked so evil anyway that it was hard to tell.