Howl lay back on his gray pillows, looking wronged and injured.“Sometimes,” he said reproachfully, “you sound justlike Megan.”

“Sometimes,” Sophie answered, shooing the dog out ofthe room in front of her, “I understand how Megan got the wayshe is.”

And she shut the door on the spiders, the dust, and the garden,with a loud bang.

The dog-man curled up heavily on Sophie’s toeswhen she went back to her sewing. Perhaps he was hoping she wouldmanage to lift the spell if he stayed close to her. When a big,red-bearded man burst into the room, carrying a box of things, andshed his velvet cloak to become Michael, still carrying a box ofthings, the man-dog rose up and wagged his tail. He let Michael pathim and rub his ears.

“I hope he stays,” Michael said. “I’vealways wanted a dog.”

Howl heard Michael’s voice. He arrived downstairs wrapped inthe brown patchwork cover off his bed. Sophie stopped sewing and tooka careful grip on the dog. But the dog was courteous to Howl too. Hedid not object when Howl fetched a hand out of the coverlet andpatted him.

“Well?” Howl croaked, dispersing clouds of dust as heconjured some more tissues.

“I got everything,” said Michael. “Andthere’s a real piece of luck, Howl. There’s an empty hatshop for sale down in Market Chipping. It used to be a hat shop. Doyou think we could move the castle there?”

Howl sat on a tall stool like a robed Roman senator andconsidered. “It depends on how much it costs,” he said.“I’m tempted to move the Porthaven entrance there. Thatwon’t be easy, because it will mean moving Calcifer. Porthavenis where Calcifer actually is. What do you say,Calcifer?”

“It will take a very careful operation to move me,”Calcifer said. He had become several shades paler at the thought.“I think you should leave me where I am.”

So Fanny is selling the shop, Sophie thought as the other threewent on discussing the move. And so much for the conscience Howl saidhe had! But the main thing on her mind was the puzzling behavior ofthe dog. In spite of Sophie telling him many times that she could nottake the spell of him, he did not seem to want to leave. He did notwant to bite Howl. He let Michael take him for a run on the PorthavenMarshes that night and the following morning. His aim seemed to be tobecome part of the household.

“Though if I were you, I’d be in Upper Folding makingsure to catch Lettie on the rebound,” Sophie told him.

Howl was in and out of bed all the next day. When he was in bed,Michael had to tear up and down the stairs. When he was up, Michaelhad to race about, measuring the castle with him and fixing metalbrackets to every single corner. In between, Howl kept appearing,robed in his quilt and clouds of dust, to ask questions and makeannouncements, mostly for Sophie’s benefit.

“Sophie, since you whitewashed over all the marks we madewhen we invented the castle, perhaps you can tell me where the marksin Michael’s room were?”

“No,” said Sophie, sewing her seventieth bluetriangle. “I can’t.”

Howl sneezed sadly and retired. Shortly, he emerged again.“Sophie, if we were to take that hat shop, what would wesell?”

Sophie found she had had enough of hats to last a lifetime.“Not hats,” she said. “You can buy the shop, butnot the business, you know.”

“Apply your fiendish mind to the matter,” said Howl.“Or even think, if you know how.” And he marched awayupstairs again.

Five minutes later, down he came again. “Sophie, have youany preferences about the other entrances? Where would you like us tolive?”

Sophie instantly found her mind going to Mrs. Fairfax’shouse. “I’d like a nice house with lots offlowers,” she said.

“I see,” croaked Howl, and marched away again.

Next time he reappeared, he was dressed. That made three timesthat day, and Sophie thought nothing of it until Howl put on thevelvet cloak Michael had used and became a pale, coughing,red-bearded man with a large red handkerchief held to his nose. Sherealized Howl was going out then. “You’ll make your coldworse,” she said.

“I shall die and then you’ll all be sorry,” thered-bearded man said, and went out through the door with the knobgreen-down.

For an hour after that, Michael had time to work on his spell.Sophie got as far as her eighty-fourth blue triangle. Then thered-bearded man was back again. He shed the velvet cloak and becameHowl, coughing harder than before and, if that was possible, moresorry for himself than ever.

“I took the shop,” he told Michael. “It’sgot a useful shed at the back and a house at the side, and I took thelot. I’m not sure what I shall pay for it all with,though.”

“What about the money you get if you find PrinceJustin?” Michael asked.

“You forget,” croaked Howl, “the whole object ofthis operation is not to look for Prince Justin. We are goingto vanish.” And he went coughing upstairs to bed, where heshortly began shaking the beams sneezing for attention again.

Michael had to leave the spell and rush upstairs. Sophie mighthave gone, except the dog-man got in the way when she tried. This wasanother part of his odd behavior. He did not like Sophie to doanything for Howl. Sophie felt this was fairly reasonable. She beganon her eighty-fifth triangle.

Michael came cheerfully down and worked on his spell. He was sohappy that he was joining in Calcifer’s saucepan song andchatting to the skull just as Sophie did, while he worked.“We’re going to live in Market Chipping,” he toldthe skull. “”I can go and see my Lettie everyday.”

“Is that why you told Howl about the shop?” Sophieasked, threading her needle. By this time she was on her eighty-ninthtriangle.

“Yes,” Michael said happily. “Lettie told meabout it when we were wondering how we’d ever see one anotheragain. I told her—”

He was interrupted by Howl, trailing downstairs in his quiltagain. “This is positively my last appearance,” Howlcroaked. “I forgot to say that Mrs. Pentstemmon is being buriedtomorrow on her estate near Porthaven and I shall need this suitcleaned.” He brought the gray-and-scarlet suit out from insidehis coverlet and dropped it on Sophie’s lap.“You’re attending to the wrong suit,” he toldSophie. “This is the one I like, but I haven’t the energyto clean it myself.”

“You don’t need to go to the funeral, do you?”Michael said anxiously.

“I wouldn’t dream of staying away,” said Howl.“Mrs. Pentstemmon made me the wizard I am. I have to pay myrespects.”

“But your cold’s worse,” said Michael.

“He’s made it worse,” said Sophie,“by getting up and chasing around.”

Howl at once put on his noblest expression. “I’ll beall right,” he croaked, “as long as I keep out of the seawind. It’s a bitter place, the Pentstemmon estate. The treesare all bent sideways and there’s no shelter formiles.”

Sophie knew he was just playing for sympathy. She snorted.

“And what about the Witch?” Michael asked.

Howl coughed piteously. “I shall go in disguise, probably asanother corpse,” he said, trailing back toward the stairs.

“Then you need a winding sheet and not this suit,”Sophie called after him. Howl trailed away upstairs without answeringand Sophie did not protest. She now had the charmed suit in her handsand it was too good a chance to miss. She took up her scissors andhacked the gray-and-scarlet suit into seven jagged pieces. That oughtto discourage Howl from wearing it. Then she got to work on the lasttriangles of the blue-and-silver suit, mostly little fragments fromround the neck. It was now very small indeed. It looked as if mightbe a size too small even for Mrs. Pentstemmon’s page boy.

“Michael,” she said. “Hurry up with that spell.It’s urgent.”