Sophie I

THE MOMENT OF FOREVER

De la Moving Castle sekretuak

Howl was a very generous man. His reputation for being a heart-eating cur really didn't do him justice. Really, would a mean and cowardly man come to the aid of a frightened girl in an ugly green dress?

Howl knew he was being followed, though he knew not by whom.

But when he heard a woman yell at someone to leave her alone, and he factored in the drunken state of a high percentage of men at the Mayday parade in Ingary, there were only a few conclusions a highly intelligent wizard could make. And leaving her at their mercy wasn't one of them.

I'll have to make this quick… he thought with a sigh.

Charming women was an easy thing for him. He could tell that the rather plain girl he'd rescued and then gotten into more trouble (which she really wasn't aware of) was somewhat charmed by him. What interested him was how shy she was, and yet how naturally adept at skywalking. The faint of heart couldn't find the experience at all pleasant. Yet, for all her mousy soft-spokenness, she seemed to be more enchanted by the skywalking than she was by him.

That was most interesting to Howl. Most indeed.

"I'll draw them off. Wait a while before going outside again," he advised her, after letting her down on the balcony of Cesari's bakery. She nodded and smiled prettily, making Howl wonder if she really was so plain. But he didn't have much time to dwell on it.

"That's my girl," he said, surprising her by jumping off the banister. He'd be gone by the time she looked over it.

In his preoccupation with getting away from Ingary to his safety in the Wastes, Howl more or less forgot about drawing off his pursuers. He only recalled what he'd said to the sweet girl with the gray eyes later, soaking in his bath.

"Oh, bother!" he cried out loud, sincerely sorry for misleading her like that, if only for a moment…

"Oh, well, I'm sure it will be fine… They were looking for me, not for her. And she seemed like a smart girl. She wouldn't risk going outside too soon, after all. They probably gave up, they weren't the brightest bunch of…squishy, inky men or whatever they were…"

Meanwhile, one poor Sophie Hatter was placed under the curse which would change her young life… Forever.