Chapter 17 Chapter 17 Moving Castle Relocation

Hal set to work hard, as if he had just had a week off.If Sophie hadn't seen him an exhausting magic battle an hour ago, she would never have believed it.He and Mike ran around, giving each other measurements and making odd marks with chalk where the metal brackets had been.They seem to have marked every corner, including the backyard.Sophie's comfort zone under the stairs and the odd space in the bathroom ceiling gave them a lot of trouble.Sophie and the Dogman were chased back and forth, and finally pushed aside completely so that Mike could draw a pentagram in a circle on the ground on his stomach.

When Mike was done, he slapped the chalk dust on his knees.Hal was still running around, with chalk stains here and there on his black clothes.Sophie and the Dogman were pushed aside again so that Howl could lie on his stomach and mark the stars and circles inside and outside.Sophie and the Dogman sat down on the stairs.Dogman is trembling.It wasn't like magic he liked. Hal and Mike ran to the back yard.Hal ran back again. "Sophie!" he cried. "Speak up! What are we going to sell in that store?" "Flowers." Sophie thought again of Mrs. Fairfax. "Very good," Hal said, hurrying to the door with a pile of paint and small brushes in his arms.He dipped the brush in the jar and carefully painted the blue handle yellow.He dipped again, and this time the brush turned purple.He brushes on the green handle.The third dip was orange and applied to the red handle.Howl didn't touch the black handle.When he left, the cuff and brush fell into the paint can. "Damn it!" sighed Hal, pulling his sleeves out.The flowy cuffs are dyed iridescent.Hal shook it and it went back to black.

"What kind of dress is this?" Sophie asked. "I forgot. Don't interrupt. The hard part has just begun." Hal said, hastily putting the paint bucket back on the workbench.He picked up a small can of powder. "Mike! Where's the silver shovel?" Mike came rushing in from the yard with a big shiny shovel.The handle is wooden but the spatula appears to be sterling silver. "It's all there!" he said. Hal put the shovel on his lap and marked the handle and blade with chalk.He poured a little red powder from a jar on top.He sprinkled a pinch of the same granules on each tip of the pentagram and poured the rest in the center. "Get out of the way, Mike," he ordered. "Everyone stand back. Are you ready, Calcifer?"

Calcifer burst out from between the logs, a long blue flame. "I couldn't have been more prepared," he said. "You know this could kill me, don't you?" "Think of the good," Hal said. "It might be my life. Got it. One, two, three." He shoveled the shovel into the fireplace, parallel to the fence, in a steady, slow motion.He fiddled gently so that the shovel was under Calcifer.Then he raised the shovel more smoothly and softly.Mike was clearly holding his breath. "It's done!" Hal said.The firewood rolled sideways and seemed to stop burning.Hal stood up and turned around, Calcifer was on the shovel.

The house was filled with smoke.The dog man trembled and barked in a low voice.Hal coughed.It is a little difficult to hold the shovel stably.Sophie was choking back tears and was having trouble seeing, but as far as she could see, Calcifer—as he had told her—had no feet, no legs.His long, pointed blue face was set against shimmering black blobs.There was an indentation in front of the black mass, and at first glance it looked like Calcifer was kneeling on his coiled legs.But Sophie found that wasn't the case, and the lump wobbled slightly, indicating a round bottom.Calcifer was clearly insecure.His orange eyes were wide with fear, arms of feeble flames shot from either side, trying in vain to grab the side of the shovel.

"It will be fine soon!" Hal wanted to comfort him, but he couldn't help but choke.But he had to keep his mouth shut and hold it in for a while, trying not to cough.The shovel shook constantly, and Calcifer was terrified.Hal recovered.He took a long, careful step, stepping one foot into the chalk-drawn circle and the other into the center of the pentagram.Holding the shovel flat, he turned around slowly and made a full circle.Calcifer turned with him, all sky blue, with fear in his eyes. It felt like the whole house was following them.The Dogman clung to Sophie.Mike staggered.Sophie felt their part of the world loosen, bouncing and spinning in dizzy circles.She didn't blame Calcifer for being so frightened.When Hal stepped away from the pentagram and the circle, everything was still wobbling sickeningly.Kneeling by the hearth, he returned Calcifer to the hearth with the utmost care and arranged the logs around him.Green flames blazed from the top of Calcifer.Hal leaned on the shovel and coughed.

The room stabilized after shaking back and forth.For a moment, with the smoke still floating around, Sophie was pleasantly surprised to see the outline of a house she knew well, the drawing room of the house in which she had been born.She recognized it even though the floor was bare and there were no pictures on the walls.The castle room seemed to wriggle into the living room, pushing in a little here, pulling out a little there, pulling the ceiling down to match its beamed ceiling, until the two became one again and became the castle room again, only But now the house is taller and more square than before.

"How are you, Calcifer?" Hal coughed. "Almost," said Calcifer, ascending the chimney.The trip to the silver shovel did not hurt him. "But you'd better check me out." Hal stood up against the shovel, turned the handle to yellow and opened the door downward.Outside the door are the streets of Qiping Town that Sophie has been familiar with since she was a child.People she knew walked in the twilight, and many enjoyed such a walk before a summer supper.Hal nodded to Calcifer, closed the door, turned the orange part of the handle down, and opened the door again.

A weedy avenue winds from the doorway, and the setting sun passes through the trees like a picture.In the distance stands a magnificent stone gate decorated with statues. "Where is this?" Hal asked. "A luxurious empty house at the end of the valley." Calcifer was slightly defensive. "You told me to find a better house. This house is very good." "So do I," Hal said, "I just hope the real master won't object." He closed the door, turning the purple label on the handle down. "It's the moving castle now," he said, opening the door again.

It was nearly dusk outside.A warm wind mixed with various smells blows in.Sophie saw a mass of dark leaves drift by, with large purple flowers growing between them.It turns away gradually, to be replaced by a blur of white lilies and the setting sun glimmering across the water in the distance.The smell was so good it took Sophie halfway across the room to realize it. "No, you'll have to keep your long nose out of the way until tomorrow," Hal said, slamming the door. "That part is right on the edge of the heath. Well done, Calcifer. Perfect. A nice house and lots of flowers, just as desired." He dropped his shovel and went to bed.He must be very tired.No groans, no yells, and hardly any coughing.

Sophie and Mike were also tired.Mike slumped on the chair, stroking the dog man blankly.Sophie sat on the stool, feeling strange.They have moved.It feels the same, but it is different, which is confusing.Why is the Moving Castle on the edge of the Badlands?Was it the spell that drew Hal closer to the witch?Or did Hal slip too far and end up being honest instead? Sophie looked at Mike, wondering what he thought.Mike fell asleep, and so did Dogman.Sophie turned to look at Calcifer, who was drowsily twinkling among the rose logs, his orange eyes almost closed.She thought of the way Calcifer burned white and rolled his eyes, and then Calcifer's uneasy eyes as he dangled on the shovel.He reminded her of something.His shape gave her such an association. "Calcifer," she asked, "were you ever a shooting star?" Calcifer opened one orange eye and looked at her. "Of course," he said, "I can talk about it once you know. The contract allows me to." "Did Howl catch you?" Sophie asked. "Five years ago," said Calcifer, "in the Port Shelter swamp, not long after he opened his business as Jenken the Wizard. He chased me in seven mile boots. I was afraid of him. I was, anyway, Because when you fall, you're dying. I'd do anything without dying. When Hal offered to keep me alive as a human, I suggested making a pact right away. Neither of us knew we'd be caught. situation. I am very grateful, and Hal is sympathetic." "Like Mike," Sophie said. "What are you talking about?" Mike said, waking up, "Sophie, I wish we weren't on the edge of the Badlands. I didn't know we'd end up here. I don't feel safe." "No one is safe in a wizard's house," Calcifer said with emotion. The next morning, the doorknob was set with the black mark facing down.To Sophie's annoyance, the door couldn't be opened.She wanted to see the flowers, witch or not.So she fetched a bucket of water and scrubbed the chalk marks on the floor to release her impatience. She was working when Hal came in. "Work, work, work," he said, stepping over Sophie who was scrubbing.He looked a little strange.His clothes were still jet black, but he had turned his hair back to light.It looks black and white.Sophie glanced at him, thinking of the spell.Hal was probably thinking about that too.He fished the skull out of the sink, held it in one hand, and looked sad. "Oh, poor Ulrich!" he said, "she heard about the mermaid, and so something rots in Denmark. I've got a lifelong cold, luckily I'm rather dishonest. I stand by it." Xixi coughed.But his cold actually got better, and the cough sounded unbelievable. Sophie and Dogman exchanged glances.The Dogman was sitting looking at her with Hal's sad expression on his face. "You should go back to Letty," she whispered. "What's the matter?" she asked Hal. "It's not going well with Miss Angorian?" "It sucks," Hal said. "Lily Angorian's heart is like a boiled stone." He put the skull back in the sink and called to Mike. "Food! Work!" he screamed. After breakfast, they took out all the things in the broom cupboard.Mike and Hal then knocked a hole in the side wall of the cabinet.Dust flew out of the cabinet door, and there was another strange hammering sound.Finally they call Sophie together.Sophie came over, deliberately holding a broom.An archway emerges in the wall leading to steps connecting the shop to the house.Hal motioned for her to come over and look at the store.The store was empty and echoing.The floor was tiled black and white, like Mrs. Pentstemmon's hall, and the rack where the hats had once stood now contained a vase of waxed silk roses and a small bouquet of velvet primroses.Sophie knew that someone was waiting for her compliments, so she kept her mouth shut. "I found these flowers in the back shed," Hal said. "Go and see outside." He opened the door facing the street, and the bell Sophie had grown used to hearing jingled.Sophie staggered out onto the empty early morning street.The facade of the shop was newly painted in yellow-green.Curled letters on the windows read: H. Jenkins Florist offers daily flowers. "Have you changed your mind about common names?" Sophie said. "Just for a disguise," Hal said. "I prefer Pendragon." "Where do the flowers come from?" Sophie asked. "You can't say one thing and sell batik roses on hats." "Wait and see," Hal said, leading the way back to the store. They walked through the shop and came to the courtyard Sophie had known since she was a child.Now it's half the size it used to be, because Howl's Moving Castle's own yard takes up one side.Sophie looked over the brick wall of Howl's yard to her own old house.It seemed rather odd because the new window was for Howl's bedroom, and it felt even stranger when Sophie realized that she couldn't see through Howl's window what she would see here.She saw the window of her old bedroom, over the shop.That also made her feel strange, because there seemed to be no way up. Sophie staggered after Mike into the house again, up the stairs to the broom cupboard, realizing she was being rude.Seeing what her hometown looks like now is a mixed blessing for her. "I think it's all good," she said. "Really?" Hal replied coldly.He is sad.How he wants to be admired, Sophie thought, sighing.Howl walked to the castle door and turned the purple label on the handle.On the other hand, she felt that she had never praised Hal, nor Calcifer much, so why would she start doing it now. The door opened.The flowering bushes moved slowly past, then stopped so that Sophie could step into them.Between the bushes, long bright green grass paved roads lead to all directions.Howl and Sophie took the nearest one, and the Castle followed them, dropping petals along the way.Although the castle was tall and dark and misshapen, with peculiar wisps of smoke belching from one turret or another, it was not out of place here.Sophie knew that magic was at work.Anyway, the castle fits nicely. The air is hot and humid, filled with the fragrance of thousands of flowers.Sophie was about to say the scent reminded her of Howl's smell after he'd been in the bathroom, but she swallowed it back.This place is truly wonderful.Wet grass filled with small flowers among bushes in bloom with purple, red and white flowers: pink three-petaled flower, large pansy, wild phlox, colorful lupine, orange lily, tall White lilies, irises, and countless other flowers.There were climbers with flowers big enough for hat decorations, cornflowers, poppies, and plants of strange shapes and colors.Although it was not the same as Sophie's dream of Mrs. Fairfax's garden, she completely forgot her displeasure and became cheerful. "Look," Hal said, waving one arm, the black sleeve, to the surprise of hundreds of butterflies feasting on a bush of yellow roses. "We can come here every morning to pick a large bouquet of flowers, and then go to Qiping Town to sell the flowers with dewdrops on them." At the end of the green path, the grass started to turn muddy.Large orchids bloom under the bushes.Howl and Sophie came to a misty pond full of water lilies in a blink of an eye.The castle turned sideways around the pond and drifted onto another avenue full of flowers. "If you're coming by yourself, take your walking stick so you can probe the ground," said Hal. "There are hot springs and swamps everywhere. Don't go beyond that, too." He pointed southeast, and the sun was a blazing white disk in the misty air. "That used to be the Badlands—hot and barren, full of witches." "Who grew these flowers, right on the edge of the wasteland?" Sophie asked. "Wizard Suliman started it a year ago," said Howl, turning to the castle. "I think his intention was to make the wasteland bloom with flowers, so as to get rid of the witches. He brought the hot springs to the surface and expanded them. Pretty, until the witch caught him." "Mrs. Pentstemton mentioned another name," said Sophie. "He's from the same place as you, isn't he?" "Basically," Hal said, "but I've never seen him. I'll be here a few months later to continue it. Seems like a good idea. That's how I met the witch. She's against it." "Why?" Sophie asked. The castle awaits them. "She likes to think of herself as a flower," said Hal, opening the door. "A lonely orchid blooming in the wasteland. It's really sad." Sophie took another look at the cluster of flowers as she followed Howl into the house.There are thousands of roses there. "Won't the witch know you're here?" "I try to do things she doesn't expect," Hal said. "Are you going to find Prince Justin?" Sophie asked.But Hal hurried through the broom cupboard and called for Mike, evading an answer.