Sophie was not the only one to be scared. The few people aboutthat early were running away from the scarecrow as hard as they couldrun. But the scarecrow took no notice and hopped on.

Sophie hid her face from it. “We’re not here!”she told it in a fierce whisper. “You don’t knowwe’re here! You can’t find us. Hop away fast!”

The clump, clump of the hopping stick slowed as the scarecrowneared the shop. Sophie wanted to scream for Howl, but all she seemedto be able to do was to go on repeating, “We’re not here.Go away quickly!”

And the hop-hopping speeded up, just as she told it to, and thescarecrow hopped its way past the shop and on through MarketChipping. Sophie thought she was going to come over queer. But sheseemed just to have been holding her breath. She took a deep breathand felt shaky with relief. If the scarecrow came back, she couldsend it away again.

Howl had gone out when Sophie went into the castle room. “Heseemed awfully upset,” Michael said. Sophie looked at the door.The knob was black-down. Not that upset! she thought.

Michael went out too, to Cesari’s, that morning, as Sophiewas alone in the shop. It was very hot. The flowers wilted in spiteof the spells, and very few people seemed to want to buy any. Whatwith this, and the mandrake root, and the scarecrow, allSophie’s feelings seemed to come to a head. She was downrightmiserable.

“It may be the curse hovering to catch up with Howl,”she sighed to the flowers, “but I think it’s being theeldest, really. Look at me! I set out to seek my fortune and I end upexactly where I started, and old as the hills still!”

Here the dog-man put his glossy red snout round the door to theyard and whined. Sophie sighed. Never an hour passed without thecreature checking up on her. “Yes, I’m still here,”she said. “Where did you expect me to be?”

The dog came into the shop. He sat up and stretched his paws outstiffly in front of him. Sophie realized he was trying to turn into aman. Poor creature. She tried to be nice to him because he was, afterall, worse off than she was.

“Try harder,” she said. “Put your back into it.You can be a man if you want.”

The dog stretched and straightened his back, and strained andstrained. And just as Sophie was sure he was going to have to give upor topple over backward, he managed to rise to his hind legs andheave himself up into a distraught, ginger-haired man.

“I envy—Howl,” he panted. “Does that—so easily. I was—dog in the hedge—you helped. Told Lettie—I knew you—I’d keep watch. I was—here before in—” He began to double up again into a dog and howled with annoyance. “With Witch in shop!” he wailed, and fell forward onto his hands, growing a great deal of gray and white hair as he did so.

Sophie stared at the large, shaggy dog that stood there.“You were with the Witch!” she said. She remembered now.The anxious ginger-haired man who had stared at her in horror.“Then you know who I am and you know I’m under a spell.Does Lettie know too?”

The huge, shaggy head nodded.

“And she called you Gaston,” Sophie remembered.“Oh, my friend, she has made it hard for you! Fancy having allthat hair in this weather! You’d better go somewherecool.”

The dog nodded again and shambled miserably into the yard.

“But why did Lettie send you?” Sophie wondered.She felt thoroughly put out and disturbed by this discovery. She wentup the stairs and through the broom cupboard to talk to Calcifer.

Calcifer was not much help. “It doesn’t make anydifference how many people know you’re under a spell,” hesaid. “It hasn’t helped the dog much, has it?”

“No, but—” Sophie began, but, just then, the castledoor clicked and opened. Sophie and Calcifer looked. They saw thedoor-knob was still set to black-down, and they expected Howl to comethrough it. It was hard to say which of them was more astonished whenthe person who slid rather cautiously round the door turned out to beMiss Angorian.

Miss Angorian was equally astonished. “Oh, I beg yourpardon!” she said. “I thought Mr. Jenkins might behere.”

“He’s out,” Sophie said stiffly, and shewondered where Howl had gone, if not to see Miss Angorian.

Miss Angorian let go of the door, which she had been clutching inher surprise. She left it swinging open on nothing and camepleadingly toward Sophie. Sophie found she had got up herself andcome across the room. It seemed as if she was trying to block MissAngorian off. “Please,” said Miss Angorian,“don’t tell Mr. Jenkins I was here. To tell you thetruth, I only encouraged him in hope of getting news of myfiancé—Ben Sullivan, you know. I’m positive Bendisappeared to the same place Mr. Jenkins keeps disappearing to. OnlyBen didn’t come back.”

“There’s no Mr. Sullivan here,” Sophie said. Andshe thought, That’s Wizard Suliman’s name! I don’tbelieve a word of it!

“Oh, I know that,” Miss Angorian said. “But thisfeels like the right place. Do you mind if I just look round a littleto give myself some idea of the sort of life Ben’s leadingnow?” She hooked her sheet of black hair behind one ear andtried to walk further into the room. Sophie stood in the way. Thisforced Miss Angorian to tiptoe pleadingly away sideways toward theworkbench. “How very quaint!” she said, looking at thebottles and jars. “What a quaint little town!” she said,looking out of the window.

“It’s called Market Chipping,” Sophie said, andshe moved round and herded Miss Angorian back towards the door.

“And what’s up those stairs?” Miss Angorianasked, pointing to the open door to the stairs.

“Howl’s private room,” Sophie said firmly,walking Miss Angorian away backward.

“And what’s through that other open door?” MissAngorian asked.

“A flower shop,” said Sophie. Nosy Parker! shethought.

By this time Miss Angorian either had to back into the chair orout through the door again. She stared at Calcifer in a vague,frowning way, as if she was not sure what she was seeing, andCalcifer simply stared back without saying a word. This made Sophiefeel better about being so very unfriendly. Only people whounderstood Calcifer were really welcome in Howl’s house.

But now Miss Angorian made a dive round the chair and noticedHowl’s guitar leaning in its corner. She snatched it up with agasp and turned round holding it to her chest possessively.“Ben had a guitar like this! It could beBen’s!”

“I heard Howl bought it last winter,” Sophie said. Andshe walked forwards again, trying to scoop Miss Angorian out of hercorner and through the door.

“Something’s happened to Ben!” Miss Angoriansaid throbbingly. “He would never have parted from his guitar!Where is he? I know he can’t be dead. I’d know inmy heart if he were!”

Sophie wondered whether to tell Miss Angorian that the Witch hadcaught Wizard Suliman. She looked across to see where the human skullwas. She had half a mind to wave it in Miss Angorian’s face andsay it was Wizard Suliman’s. But the skull was in the sink,hidden behind a bucket of spare ferns and lilies, and she knew thatif she went over there, Miss Angorian would ooze out into the roomagain. Besides, it would be unkind.

“May I take this guitar?” Miss Angorian said huskily,clutching it to her. “To remind me of Ben.”

The throb in Miss Angorian’s voice annoyed Sophie.“No,” she said. “There’s no need to be sointense about it. You’ve no proof it was his.” Shehobbled close to Miss Angorian and seized the guitar by its neck.Miss Angorian stared at her over it with wide, anguished eyes. Sophiedragged. Miss Angorian hung on. The guitar gave out horrible,out-of-tune jangles. Sophie jerked it out of Miss Angorian’sarms. “Don’t be silly,” she said.“You’ve no right to walk into people’s castles andtake their guitars. I’ve told you Mr. Sullivan’s nothere. Now go back to Wales. Go on.” And she used the guitar topush Miss Angorian backward through the open door.