Two days had passed before someone came to the Fairfax home pounding on the door wildly. Sophie opened it to find Farmer Winslow breathless and red-faced.
"You!" He exclaimed pointing to the center of Sophie's forehead. He took another deep breath before speaking.
"What…have…you…done?" He continued to pant. Sophie let him in and pulled out a chair for him to sit down. She was quite familiar with how often one of an older age loses his or her breath.
"What is all of this fuss about?" Mrs. Fairfax exclaimed as she entered the room. She gave Sophie a nervous glance when she realized that it was farmer Winslow.
"Here, let me show you." He reached into a leather bag that he had slung over his shoulder and pulled out a perfect looking Sweet Fruit.
"Oh how marvelous!" Said Mrs. Fairfax with delight.
"No! Not marvelous. Not good at all." The farmer wailed as he stood up. "Watch this" He brought the fruit up to his mouth. He hesitated before taking a bite and as he did the fruit exploded into dust.
"Oh dear." Exclaimed Mrs. Fairfax as she covered her mouth. Sophie said nothing but stared at the now dirty floor in contemplation.
"And this is just half of it!" Cried Farmer Winslow. "My trees have taken to lifting up their roots and tripping me or slapping me with their branches every time I go near them. I just wanted you to use the rain spell to bring me abundance! Now I have nothing but dust and angry trees!"
"Farmer Winslow, I assure you that we will fix this. I deeply apologize for the inconvenience that we have caused you." Sophie said soothingly.
"No! I want you two to stay away from my farm! Do you hear me? Stay away!" Farmer Winslow stomped across the room, pulled open the door angrily, and then slammed the door behind him.
Mrs. Fairfax sat down in bewilderment. Sophie grabbed a broom and began sweeping up the mess in contemplation.
After a moment of silence, Sophie spoke. "We have to fix this Annabel."
"Yes but how?" She whispered.
Sophie sighed deeply. "Unfortunately, I know someone who can fix this rather easily. I will just have to swallow all of my pride first." Howl was never going to let her live this down she thought miserably. After a few moments of deciding to go, not to go, and then to go again, Sophie snatched up her grey shawl and headed out.
The Jenkins floral shop was completely void of customers and for some reason, this surprised Sophie. After she had walked around the shop and admired all flowers, she realized that nobody seemed to be around at all. Howl is such a fool! She thought to herself. How does he expect to make money if no one is around to assist the customers?
"Is anyone here? Hello!" Sophie shouted trying to peak around the counter toward the back room. A crash followed by the sound of running feet over wooden floor boards came to her ears. Michael suddenly appeared out of the back. He looked up at Sophie and then tripped over a large pot, knocking it over and spilling dirt all over the floor.
"Sophie! Its…you." Michael said breathlessly.
Sophie folded her arms in irritation. "Why is there nobody up here? Do you want to give the impression that you are not interested in assisting your customers?"
"Howl has me working both the flower shop and his other businesses at the same time."
Sophie instantly felt sorry for yelling at him. "I am sorry Michael, it is just that I need to talk to Howl, is he available by any chance?"
"Um…" Michael scratched the back of his head. "Not exactly."
"What does that mean exactly?"
"Well he has been in and out of the castle for several days now. I cannot really say because it changes from moment to moment. I mean, you know how it is Sophie." Michael looked nervous about something.
"No actually I don't Michael, because you are keeping something from me." Sophie narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"Well you know how Howl has been using all of those aliases to keep his privacy? That has been backfiring lately." Michael said while doing everything in his power to avoid her gaze.
"I must say that it doesn't surprise me. What kind of trouble is he in now?"
"I wouldn't say trouble, but rather, high demand." Michael said looking utterly exhausted.
"Ah, I see well I need to you give him a message for me. Will you remember to do that Michael?" Sophie wasn't entirely sure that Michael was of sound mind at the moment.
"Of course Sophie you know that I will." Even he sounded a bit uncertain.
"I need you to tell Howl that his assistance is urgently needed at Winslow Farm and that he must go there right away." Sophie tried to catch Michael's eye to make sure that he was listening.
He nodded rather absently. "Right. Winslow Farm. I will tell him don't worry."
"Okay, thank you Michael." Sophie said as she started for the door. "Oh and get some rest my friend, you look positively dreadful."
Michael smiled as she departed from the store.
Sophie would have to give Michael a large hug when she got the chance, because when she returned to Mrs. Fairfax's home, she found that Howl had not only received Michael's message, but was already there waiting for her to return.
He was talking to Mrs. Fairfax in her sun filled kitchen while drinking a cup of tea.
"What in the world did you do to poor farmer Winslow?" Howl asked with a chuckle.
Sophie took a deep breath and told him what had happened. Howl seemed to ponder this carefully. "So please allow me to get this straight, you refused to use the spell that was given to you and decided to try something on your own. Is that correct?"
"Well Annabel and I—"
"I don't want excuses or the passing of blame. I want to know if you refused to follow a spell and attempted to do something on your own." Howl's tone was rather scolding and Sophie didn't like it all.
Sophie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Yes. I suppose so."
"…and that was a mistake wasn't it?" His voice reminded her of the time when she and Michael had tried to catch a falling star.
"Yes it was a mistake Howl." She looked into his eyes feeling slightly defeated.
"Well, now that we have that cleared up and in the open, let us go fix this problem that you two have created." Howl said with a brighter tone. Sophie and Mrs. Fairfax both began to protest, but Howl held up his hand.
"You two are coming with me and we are going to fix this together or I will not help at all."
"I am afraid that he wants nothing to do with us Howl. He is rather upset." Sophie said feeling sorry for the poor farmer.
"Well that doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to make it right, now does it?" Howl was being unbelievably reasonable and wise. Sophie suddenly realized rather guiltily that she wasn't the only one who had changed for the better. She said nothing but nodded slightly.
"We certainly don't have all day ladies, I am going to conjure a wind to take us there in a more timely manner. Take an arm and do try not to let go." Howl opened the door to the outside and they stepped out into the daylight with their arms locked together. A thunderous word came from Howl's mouth and the three of them took a step forward into a swirling wind.
"Like I said, don't let go because I am not entirely sure of what will happen if you do." Howl yelled above the raging wind. Mrs. Fairfax shrugged indicating that she couldn't hear him. Howl turned his head toward Sophie and winked at her. She rolled her eyes. Nothing was ever simple with Wizard Howl.
To be continued...
