Chapter Four: In which Megan and Gareth have a nasty shock
People were working in the hospital throughout the night. As Sophie, Howl and Megan followed the nurse along corridor after corridor, they occasionally passed someone pushing a trolley or carrying a mop and bucket and hurrying in the opposite direction. But even so, there was an echoey stillness about the place that Sophie found quite eerie.
She glanced at Howl to see whether he felt the same way, but Howl simply looked tired, dejected and a little ill under the sickly lamps which glared and buzzed overhead. It's just as well, I suppose, thought Sophie. If he were more awake, he'd be fussing about his appearance by now or throwing a tantrum because he's not the centre of attention - especially now that we know Gareth's going to be all right really. Then she remembered how devious Howl could be when it suited him. He'd been rather quiet and subdued since they'd been in Wales. Sophie was used to him dressing less magnificently in his home world, but even so she'd been surprised to discover how drab this normally vain man could look. Sophie had simply assumed that he found the wedding preparations as tiring and stressful as she did. Now she wasn't so sure. After all, she reasoned, he's not the one who has to balance on a slippery chair for hours on end while Megan alters the hem of my wedding dress. He's not the one who has to practise walking with Mari carrying a train behind him. All he has to do is keep out of the way and not look at my dress so as to avoid bad luck. It's as if he's deliberately trying to fade into the background, Sophie thought with a sudden flash of clarity, although she wondered at the same time whether she was doing him a disservice. But she found something persuasive and plausible about the idea that Howl was up to something. That he was trying to avoid someone -- or something. What could it be?
With no immediate solution to this riddle, Sophie tried to focus instead on the good news that Gareth hadn't been seriously hurt. Everything was going to be all right. But, try as she might, she couldn't shake her uneasiness - her sense that some kind of struggle was going on just under the surface. A struggle that Gareth had somehow been dragged into. Somehow, Howl was involved, Sophie was sure of it, but she couldn't say how or why. It wasn't just her imagination working overtime. Was it?
Perhaps everything was going to be all right, but that didn't do anything to lift the eerie atmosphere of the hospital. The soft humming of the electric lights seemed to change in pitch and volume from time to time, rather like someone singing a slow and wistful tune to themselves. The corridor that the nurse was leading them along was intersected on either side by narrower and, for the most part, unlit corridors. The effect of walking along the main corridor was akin to walking at night along a well lit and reasonably busy high street that was, however, being crept up on from both sides by unsavory dark alleyways. On several occasions, Sophie was convinced she sensed some kind of movement in the side corridors. However this movement only ever flickered in the corner of her eye. Whenever she turned her head to look directly at whatever seemed to be moving, she could detect no sign of it.
Now, you really are imagining things, she told herself firmly. Dreary music coming from nowhere! Shadowy creatures prowling around the corridors of a hospital! Whoever heard of such nonsense? Deciding that the black shapes were nothing more than the result of being in an unfamilar place late at night, Sophie fixed her eyes straight ahead of her, determined not to look into any more shadowy corners.
It was at that moment that she really did see something. A dark figure - something like a black flame or a fireside shadow -- flickering as if it were not quite sure of its own exact size or form - darted noiselessly from a side corridor on the left, just a few yards ahead of them, and disappeared into another narrow corridor on the right.
"What was that?" she asked.
"What was what?" asked the nurse, sounding a little distracted.
"I thought I saw…" began Sophie. Then she stopped, realising that she wasn't by any means sure what she thought she'd seen.
"She's just tired," said Howl, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "We're all tired," he added gloomily.
Sophie looked up at him and decided that even if the wizard was up to something, he wasn't faking the look of a man desperately in need of a good night's sleep. It astonished her that Howl gave no sign of having seen or heard anything out of the ordinary and she very much wanted to quiz him on the nature of hospitals in his world. She knew that magic was a less-utilised resource in Howl's world than in her own, but surely what there was available must be used to cure sick people in hospitals, she thought. And if the sight of the darting figure had given her a chill of fear, then what of it? Hadn't she assumed Calcifer was an evil demon? You can't always judge by appearances, she reminded herself. Perhaps the creature was a force for good. But it was clear she wasn't going to get much conversation out of Howl until he'd had a chance to rest. Learning about hospitals in Wales would keep for another day, she thought.
"It's been a long day," she admitted, pressing her forehead against Howl's shoulder as she tried to push the flickering images of shadow people out of her thoughts.
"This way, please," said the nurse, giving Sophie a funny look and pushing open the double doors that let onto a small ward. Gareth was sitting up in the bed nearest the door, his bedside lamp giving out the only light in the darkened ward. When he heard the ward's double doors creak open, he looked up.
"Your family is here, Mr Parry," the nurse told him.
"Well, thank heavens!" said Gareth. "Hospitals aren't really my cup of tea."
Megan ran to his side with many questions none of which seemed to require immediate answers beyond the reassurance that he felt perfectly fine now and was well enough to make it to the car.
"Yes, but what happened?" asked Sophie, as Megan checked the bedside cabinet for anything that Gareth might have left in there. "Was there a storm?"
"That's the strangest thing," said Gareth, swinging his legs out of bed and cautiously hoisting himself to his feet. "I was just walking along the high street, thinking what a beautiful clear night it was. How beautiful the stars were looking. There was a flash of light, blinding it was and - pff". He gestured with his arm to indicate he'd keeled over at that point. "I don't remember much after that," he said, shaking his head. He was a big man, powerfully built and a full head taller than Howl; it was obvious Neil was going to take after him. Normally Gareth's movements had a strong, easy grace about them, but at that moment he seemed less sure of him self than usual. Even if he was unharmed, the experience had clearly been a very traumatic one.
"Very strange," said Howl.
"Just unlucky," said Megan. "Could have happened to any one of us."
"Yes, very unlucky," said Howl, not sounding completely convinced. It was clear to Sophie that he had other ideas about what had caused Gareth's accident. Sophie suspected she knew what Howl was thinking.
"It seems as though everything in your world is caused by luck," Sophie told him under her breath. "Including," she added meaningly, "the kinds of things that we would call magic."
Howl nodded briefly to indicate he'd heard but that he had no intention of discussing the subject in front of Megan.
"I think he'll be all right now," Howl said, detatching the doctor's clipboard from the end of Gareth's bed and holding it under the lamp.
Sophie looked at the clipboard too and wondered what made Howl so sure of that. Apart from the name "Gareth Parry", she couldn't understand much of what was written there. It seemed to be written in the kind of secret language, full of long words, that doctors used to talk to one another.
"You'd know all about that, would you, Doctor Jenkins?" Gareth sounded skeptical and he was still shaking a little with the after effects of his ordeal, but Sophie was pleased to see he was laughing. At least he'd recovered his sense of humour. Howl grinned back and shrugged.
Megan sniffed. "He's not a proper doctor, Gareth. I've told you. Just a doctor of weird historical nonsense that no one else cares about."
Howl didn't bother to defend himself, but there was nothing unusual about that. Sophie knew that perfectly well, even if she still found it quite incomprehensible. She felt irritated on his behalf and had just opened her mouth to deliver a waspish retort, when Howl gave her a warning look. Sophie shut her mouth quickly, feeling equally annoyed at both of them. If Martha or Lettie put me down like that, she thought, I don't think I'd be able to hold my tongue with them. Howl's such a coward and it's all down to pure laziness really. Just because he can't afford to get angry and use magic - that's no excuse for not standing up for himself. But he simply can't be bothered to do so half the time. And Megan takes full advantage of that!
For the homeward journey, Megan climbed into the back of the car with Gareth, leaving the front passenger seat to Sophie. Sophie felt a little faint at the idea of hurtling through the dark without being able to hide behind the driver's seat. She hesitated for few moments, taking slow deep breaths of the chilly night air in an effort to make herself feel calmer. It wasn't really working. She always avoided travelling in the front of the car when she could. Noticing her colour, which was distinctly green, even under the phosphorescent orange glow of the car park lights, Howl was concerned.
"Of course, if you're feeling ill, you couldn't have picked a better place," he observed and nodded towards the hospital. That did it. Those eerie darting shadows! That languid, barely audible music! Imagination or not, Sophie had no intention of going back inside the hospital. She got into the car. The best thing, she decided as she fastened her seat belt, would be to think about something else. She rested her head against the passenger door window and focussed her attention on the sky. As they left the lights of the hospital behind them, the stars became visible once more and Sophie looked across the mountains for the greenish gold stars she'd wondered about earlier, but they must have set, she realised. She couldn't see them any more.
"I don't think I care much for hospitals," she remarked to Howl, hoping that he would make some comment on the strange atmosphere she'd sensed in there. "What a horrid place." For all Sophie knew, hospitals in Howl's world were always crawling with malevolent supernatural entities, although she didn't think it would make a lot of sense to allow them access to a place where there were so many sick people they could prey on.
"It's quite a nice hospital, as hospitals go," said Howl, not looking at her. In spite of Megan's lack of faith in his driving skills, he seemed to be giving the road ahead his full attention. "But I didn't like it at all tonight."
Sophie was wild to hear exactly what Howl meant by that remark. Had he noticed something different about the place? Had it seemed somehow different from how it had been on previous occasions? She wanted to ask him too whether he'd noticed any of the strange darting shadows that she was growing more and more convinced that she'd really seen. However, Sophie knew, that was likely to be the most direct answer Howl would give her while Megan and Gareth were in earshot and fell silent once more.
It was Gareth who picked up the conversation. "I don't much care for hospitals, myself," he told Sophie. "Make me feel uncomfortable, they do. I couldn't have been in there an hour but I was imagining all kinds of nonsense. Felt like something was coming for me and I'd never leave the place alive. Stupid, really, but there you go."
"Don't talk like that," said Megan. She took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "You're going to be perfectly all right after a good night's sleep the nurse said."
"I know, cariad," said Gareth calmly. "It's all nonsense, of course, but I'm glad to be out of there all the same."
Sophie didn't say anything. She was a little surprised at Gareth's perceptiveness. Of all of them, she would have thought Gareth the least likely person to sense any kind of magical disturbance. He always gave the impression of being exactly what he seemed to be, a marvellously uncomplicated man whose straightforward character would most likely render him unaware of the hidden depths and undertows of other people's natures. And yet, neither Howl nor Megan seemed to have found the place particularly troubling. It only went to show, thought Sophie, how easy it was to jump to conclusions about people. Perhaps Gareth hadn't seen what she'd seen, but he'd certainly sensed that there was something wrong with the atmosphere of the place.
By the time Howl pulled up in front of "Rivendell", Gareth was, he said, feeling perfectly well, but Megan wasn't by any means convinced and insisted on wrapping a blanket round him as he was getting out of the car. In spite of Gareth's grumbles, perhaps it was a good idea as it seemed to make Megan feel better at any rate. Sophie left Megan to help Gareth out of the car and walked up the little concrete path towards the doorstep where Howl was standing.
Howl had produced his collection of flat yellow keys and was unlocking the door. Even through the frosted glass panels of the front door, Sophie could see there was something wrong with the living room. It was as if someone had been moving the furniture round. Most likely Neil or Mari had woken up in the night and, discovering their parents were missing, decided to get up to some fun and games. She drew a breath, anticipating another drama and, as Howl had opened the door a fraction of an inch, caught a faint gust of a burning smell - it was like the smell of the fire burning in the hearth of the moving castle, thought Sophie feeling homesick again. The houseproud Megan would not be pleased.
"Hm," muttered Howl as if in agreement with her. "This doesn't look good." He opened the door wider so they could step inside.
He'd spoken softly, but Megan's sharp ears missed very little. "What is it? What is it?" she asked, pushing past them. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of her tiny living room, normally so cosy and neat.
The only piece of furniture that was upright was the orange sofa and, judging by the strewn cushions, magazines and bags that surrounded it, that had also been upturned at some point in the evening. All the laundry that Megan had lovingly ironed and folded now lay creased and trampled on the brown carpet. Neil and Mari were huddled together on the sofa, closer to one another than they would normally have condescended to be. Their eyes were large and dark with fear. At the sight of Megan, Mari squirmed down from the sofa and ran to her. "It wasn't us, mam," said Neil, watching his mother anxiously. "I heard a noise. It woke me up. Mari, too. I made her stay upstairs until everything was quiet. When we came down, it was like this."
"Oh!" exclaimed Megan, scooping little Mari into her arms as she surveyed the chaos. "We've been burgled. Who would do something like this? And what's that smoky smell?" She sounded more saddened than shocked or angry. It was obvious that the contemptuous way the intruder had treated her home felt like a personal insult to her.
Gareth was immediately at her side. He put a protective arm around her shoulders. "I'll call the police station, del," he said.
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All characters belong to Diana Wynne Jones
People were working in the hospital throughout the night. As Sophie, Howl and Megan followed the nurse along corridor after corridor, they occasionally passed someone pushing a trolley or carrying a mop and bucket and hurrying in the opposite direction. But even so, there was an echoey stillness about the place that Sophie found quite eerie.
She glanced at Howl to see whether he felt the same way, but Howl simply looked tired, dejected and a little ill under the sickly lamps which glared and buzzed overhead. It's just as well, I suppose, thought Sophie. If he were more awake, he'd be fussing about his appearance by now or throwing a tantrum because he's not the centre of attention - especially now that we know Gareth's going to be all right really. Then she remembered how devious Howl could be when it suited him. He'd been rather quiet and subdued since they'd been in Wales. Sophie was used to him dressing less magnificently in his home world, but even so she'd been surprised to discover how drab this normally vain man could look. Sophie had simply assumed that he found the wedding preparations as tiring and stressful as she did. Now she wasn't so sure. After all, she reasoned, he's not the one who has to balance on a slippery chair for hours on end while Megan alters the hem of my wedding dress. He's not the one who has to practise walking with Mari carrying a train behind him. All he has to do is keep out of the way and not look at my dress so as to avoid bad luck. It's as if he's deliberately trying to fade into the background, Sophie thought with a sudden flash of clarity, although she wondered at the same time whether she was doing him a disservice. But she found something persuasive and plausible about the idea that Howl was up to something. That he was trying to avoid someone -- or something. What could it be?
With no immediate solution to this riddle, Sophie tried to focus instead on the good news that Gareth hadn't been seriously hurt. Everything was going to be all right. But, try as she might, she couldn't shake her uneasiness - her sense that some kind of struggle was going on just under the surface. A struggle that Gareth had somehow been dragged into. Somehow, Howl was involved, Sophie was sure of it, but she couldn't say how or why. It wasn't just her imagination working overtime. Was it?
Perhaps everything was going to be all right, but that didn't do anything to lift the eerie atmosphere of the hospital. The soft humming of the electric lights seemed to change in pitch and volume from time to time, rather like someone singing a slow and wistful tune to themselves. The corridor that the nurse was leading them along was intersected on either side by narrower and, for the most part, unlit corridors. The effect of walking along the main corridor was akin to walking at night along a well lit and reasonably busy high street that was, however, being crept up on from both sides by unsavory dark alleyways. On several occasions, Sophie was convinced she sensed some kind of movement in the side corridors. However this movement only ever flickered in the corner of her eye. Whenever she turned her head to look directly at whatever seemed to be moving, she could detect no sign of it.
Now, you really are imagining things, she told herself firmly. Dreary music coming from nowhere! Shadowy creatures prowling around the corridors of a hospital! Whoever heard of such nonsense? Deciding that the black shapes were nothing more than the result of being in an unfamilar place late at night, Sophie fixed her eyes straight ahead of her, determined not to look into any more shadowy corners.
It was at that moment that she really did see something. A dark figure - something like a black flame or a fireside shadow -- flickering as if it were not quite sure of its own exact size or form - darted noiselessly from a side corridor on the left, just a few yards ahead of them, and disappeared into another narrow corridor on the right.
"What was that?" she asked.
"What was what?" asked the nurse, sounding a little distracted.
"I thought I saw…" began Sophie. Then she stopped, realising that she wasn't by any means sure what she thought she'd seen.
"She's just tired," said Howl, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "We're all tired," he added gloomily.
Sophie looked up at him and decided that even if the wizard was up to something, he wasn't faking the look of a man desperately in need of a good night's sleep. It astonished her that Howl gave no sign of having seen or heard anything out of the ordinary and she very much wanted to quiz him on the nature of hospitals in his world. She knew that magic was a less-utilised resource in Howl's world than in her own, but surely what there was available must be used to cure sick people in hospitals, she thought. And if the sight of the darting figure had given her a chill of fear, then what of it? Hadn't she assumed Calcifer was an evil demon? You can't always judge by appearances, she reminded herself. Perhaps the creature was a force for good. But it was clear she wasn't going to get much conversation out of Howl until he'd had a chance to rest. Learning about hospitals in Wales would keep for another day, she thought.
"It's been a long day," she admitted, pressing her forehead against Howl's shoulder as she tried to push the flickering images of shadow people out of her thoughts.
"This way, please," said the nurse, giving Sophie a funny look and pushing open the double doors that let onto a small ward. Gareth was sitting up in the bed nearest the door, his bedside lamp giving out the only light in the darkened ward. When he heard the ward's double doors creak open, he looked up.
"Your family is here, Mr Parry," the nurse told him.
"Well, thank heavens!" said Gareth. "Hospitals aren't really my cup of tea."
Megan ran to his side with many questions none of which seemed to require immediate answers beyond the reassurance that he felt perfectly fine now and was well enough to make it to the car.
"Yes, but what happened?" asked Sophie, as Megan checked the bedside cabinet for anything that Gareth might have left in there. "Was there a storm?"
"That's the strangest thing," said Gareth, swinging his legs out of bed and cautiously hoisting himself to his feet. "I was just walking along the high street, thinking what a beautiful clear night it was. How beautiful the stars were looking. There was a flash of light, blinding it was and - pff". He gestured with his arm to indicate he'd keeled over at that point. "I don't remember much after that," he said, shaking his head. He was a big man, powerfully built and a full head taller than Howl; it was obvious Neil was going to take after him. Normally Gareth's movements had a strong, easy grace about them, but at that moment he seemed less sure of him self than usual. Even if he was unharmed, the experience had clearly been a very traumatic one.
"Very strange," said Howl.
"Just unlucky," said Megan. "Could have happened to any one of us."
"Yes, very unlucky," said Howl, not sounding completely convinced. It was clear to Sophie that he had other ideas about what had caused Gareth's accident. Sophie suspected she knew what Howl was thinking.
"It seems as though everything in your world is caused by luck," Sophie told him under her breath. "Including," she added meaningly, "the kinds of things that we would call magic."
Howl nodded briefly to indicate he'd heard but that he had no intention of discussing the subject in front of Megan.
"I think he'll be all right now," Howl said, detatching the doctor's clipboard from the end of Gareth's bed and holding it under the lamp.
Sophie looked at the clipboard too and wondered what made Howl so sure of that. Apart from the name "Gareth Parry", she couldn't understand much of what was written there. It seemed to be written in the kind of secret language, full of long words, that doctors used to talk to one another.
"You'd know all about that, would you, Doctor Jenkins?" Gareth sounded skeptical and he was still shaking a little with the after effects of his ordeal, but Sophie was pleased to see he was laughing. At least he'd recovered his sense of humour. Howl grinned back and shrugged.
Megan sniffed. "He's not a proper doctor, Gareth. I've told you. Just a doctor of weird historical nonsense that no one else cares about."
Howl didn't bother to defend himself, but there was nothing unusual about that. Sophie knew that perfectly well, even if she still found it quite incomprehensible. She felt irritated on his behalf and had just opened her mouth to deliver a waspish retort, when Howl gave her a warning look. Sophie shut her mouth quickly, feeling equally annoyed at both of them. If Martha or Lettie put me down like that, she thought, I don't think I'd be able to hold my tongue with them. Howl's such a coward and it's all down to pure laziness really. Just because he can't afford to get angry and use magic - that's no excuse for not standing up for himself. But he simply can't be bothered to do so half the time. And Megan takes full advantage of that!
For the homeward journey, Megan climbed into the back of the car with Gareth, leaving the front passenger seat to Sophie. Sophie felt a little faint at the idea of hurtling through the dark without being able to hide behind the driver's seat. She hesitated for few moments, taking slow deep breaths of the chilly night air in an effort to make herself feel calmer. It wasn't really working. She always avoided travelling in the front of the car when she could. Noticing her colour, which was distinctly green, even under the phosphorescent orange glow of the car park lights, Howl was concerned.
"Of course, if you're feeling ill, you couldn't have picked a better place," he observed and nodded towards the hospital. That did it. Those eerie darting shadows! That languid, barely audible music! Imagination or not, Sophie had no intention of going back inside the hospital. She got into the car. The best thing, she decided as she fastened her seat belt, would be to think about something else. She rested her head against the passenger door window and focussed her attention on the sky. As they left the lights of the hospital behind them, the stars became visible once more and Sophie looked across the mountains for the greenish gold stars she'd wondered about earlier, but they must have set, she realised. She couldn't see them any more.
"I don't think I care much for hospitals," she remarked to Howl, hoping that he would make some comment on the strange atmosphere she'd sensed in there. "What a horrid place." For all Sophie knew, hospitals in Howl's world were always crawling with malevolent supernatural entities, although she didn't think it would make a lot of sense to allow them access to a place where there were so many sick people they could prey on.
"It's quite a nice hospital, as hospitals go," said Howl, not looking at her. In spite of Megan's lack of faith in his driving skills, he seemed to be giving the road ahead his full attention. "But I didn't like it at all tonight."
Sophie was wild to hear exactly what Howl meant by that remark. Had he noticed something different about the place? Had it seemed somehow different from how it had been on previous occasions? She wanted to ask him too whether he'd noticed any of the strange darting shadows that she was growing more and more convinced that she'd really seen. However, Sophie knew, that was likely to be the most direct answer Howl would give her while Megan and Gareth were in earshot and fell silent once more.
It was Gareth who picked up the conversation. "I don't much care for hospitals, myself," he told Sophie. "Make me feel uncomfortable, they do. I couldn't have been in there an hour but I was imagining all kinds of nonsense. Felt like something was coming for me and I'd never leave the place alive. Stupid, really, but there you go."
"Don't talk like that," said Megan. She took his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "You're going to be perfectly all right after a good night's sleep the nurse said."
"I know, cariad," said Gareth calmly. "It's all nonsense, of course, but I'm glad to be out of there all the same."
Sophie didn't say anything. She was a little surprised at Gareth's perceptiveness. Of all of them, she would have thought Gareth the least likely person to sense any kind of magical disturbance. He always gave the impression of being exactly what he seemed to be, a marvellously uncomplicated man whose straightforward character would most likely render him unaware of the hidden depths and undertows of other people's natures. And yet, neither Howl nor Megan seemed to have found the place particularly troubling. It only went to show, thought Sophie, how easy it was to jump to conclusions about people. Perhaps Gareth hadn't seen what she'd seen, but he'd certainly sensed that there was something wrong with the atmosphere of the place.
By the time Howl pulled up in front of "Rivendell", Gareth was, he said, feeling perfectly well, but Megan wasn't by any means convinced and insisted on wrapping a blanket round him as he was getting out of the car. In spite of Gareth's grumbles, perhaps it was a good idea as it seemed to make Megan feel better at any rate. Sophie left Megan to help Gareth out of the car and walked up the little concrete path towards the doorstep where Howl was standing.
Howl had produced his collection of flat yellow keys and was unlocking the door. Even through the frosted glass panels of the front door, Sophie could see there was something wrong with the living room. It was as if someone had been moving the furniture round. Most likely Neil or Mari had woken up in the night and, discovering their parents were missing, decided to get up to some fun and games. She drew a breath, anticipating another drama and, as Howl had opened the door a fraction of an inch, caught a faint gust of a burning smell - it was like the smell of the fire burning in the hearth of the moving castle, thought Sophie feeling homesick again. The houseproud Megan would not be pleased.
"Hm," muttered Howl as if in agreement with her. "This doesn't look good." He opened the door wider so they could step inside.
He'd spoken softly, but Megan's sharp ears missed very little. "What is it? What is it?" she asked, pushing past them. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of her tiny living room, normally so cosy and neat.
The only piece of furniture that was upright was the orange sofa and, judging by the strewn cushions, magazines and bags that surrounded it, that had also been upturned at some point in the evening. All the laundry that Megan had lovingly ironed and folded now lay creased and trampled on the brown carpet. Neil and Mari were huddled together on the sofa, closer to one another than they would normally have condescended to be. Their eyes were large and dark with fear. At the sight of Megan, Mari squirmed down from the sofa and ran to her. "It wasn't us, mam," said Neil, watching his mother anxiously. "I heard a noise. It woke me up. Mari, too. I made her stay upstairs until everything was quiet. When we came down, it was like this."
"Oh!" exclaimed Megan, scooping little Mari into her arms as she surveyed the chaos. "We've been burgled. Who would do something like this? And what's that smoky smell?" She sounded more saddened than shocked or angry. It was obvious that the contemptuous way the intruder had treated her home felt like a personal insult to her.
Gareth was immediately at her side. He put a protective arm around her shoulders. "I'll call the police station, del," he said.
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All characters belong to Diana Wynne Jones