In Distress

Howl slept late that day. He hadn't really intended to, but his dream had been going too well for him to want to wake up. He had been dreaming about Sophie, something that wasn't very unusual these days. In the dream he had been dazzling her with some of his best magical tricks and she had been in utter awe of them all. Of course, Dream-Sophie was still Sophie, so things started to go a bit downhill from there. Dream-Sophie had started chastising him for being a show-off, and had handed him a list of things to buy in the market. She had just been pushing him out the door when he decided it wasn't worth it to stay asleep any longer.

"I swear," Howl said to himself as he slugged toward the bathroom, "even in my dreams that woman doesn't have a romantic bone in her body."

The end of his dream had put him in a bad mood, so he took a particularly long bath. In fact it was after noon before he finally came downstairs to greet the household. Sadly, he didn't get the warm welcome he had been hoping for.

"It's about time you came down!" It seemed Calcifer hadn't had a very good morning either. "You've got a lot of nerve waking me up after I'd finally fallen asleep just so I could heat your bath, and even then you wouldn't let me sleep! I had to keep that stupid water heated up for two hours! I'm not bound to you anymore, you know. I'd better start getting some better treatment or I'll be leaving you to move your own castle!"

Howl ignored the fire demon and looked around for Sophie. She didn't seem to be in the room but the flower shop was supposed to be open now anyway. He was about to open the Market Chipping door when the knob switched colors and Michael came in from wherever it was Calcifer had taken them the previous night.

"Oh," said Michael, "I'm glad you're up, Howl. I can't find Sophie anywhere."

"Isn't she in the flower shop?"

Michael shook his head and handed the wizard a note. "I found this on the table this morning. Apparently Calcifer was too tired to find any flowers today and Sophie decided to look for some herself. But the shop was supposed to open hours ago and she's still not back. I looked outside, but I couldn't find any sign of her. I'm getting a bit worried."

Howl read the note. He was mildly concerned about her but not very. He had an instinct for these things, and he got the feeling that Sophie's absence was just another instance of her not thinking things through. Still, if she had been gone this long, it was probably because she was having trouble getting back. It would save them all a lot of trouble and worry if he performed a locating spell.

"Michael, get out some maps of our area and Ingary," Howl instructed. "This seems like a perfect opportunity to show you that Crystal Shadow spell I was telling you about."

The young apprentice got out the maps and Howl said a quick incantation over them. Then he hung a small crystal on a chain above one of them. For a moment nothing seemed to be happening, but then Michael saw that although the crystal remained motionless, its shadow had started to move across the map.

Howl smirked. "I've never really liked the name of this spell. It's informative about the wrong things. It tells the caster what happens when it is cast but not what it's meant to do. The Crystal Shadow spell often gets lumped in with other locator spells, but what it really does is trace the path the person being sought took that day. Right now you'll notice the shadow is staying roughly in one place; that's because the spell hasn't gotten to the point where Sophie left the house yet." Howl's grin widened when the shadow began to move more. "It looks like she's just gone outside; now we'll find out where she's gotten to."

Then, to Howl's dismay, the crystal's shadow started to go mad. It began shooting off in one direction and then another, never stopping for more than an instant in any one place. For a moment he thought that the spell must not have been cast properly, but then he realized what must really have been going on. He groaned audibly.

"Michael," he said, sounded rather irritated, "check the closet. Are the seven-league boots there?"

Michael quickly confirmed his master's suspicion, and Howl sighed dramatically.

"Well, there we go," said the wizard as though the matter pained him. "Sophie's gotten herself lost zipping around with those confounded boots again. The crystal's shadow traces people's routes at an exaggerated rate, but it will probably be hours before it'll catch up to wherever she gets the sense to hold still." He handed the crystal's chain to his apprentice. "Try not to move the chain too much, it'll damage the spell. I'm going to go out and get some breakfast."

And before Michael could protest, Howl was out the door. Only Michael's concern for Sophie kept him from dropping the spell and charging after the selfish wizard. For someone who had recently gotten his heart back, Howl certainly didn't act like it.

Howl came back two hours later, but the spell was still not finished. He was tempted to go back outside for a while, but poor Michael looked like his arm was about to fall off. Howl reluctantly took over for him. Finally, after another forty-five minutes, the shadow slowed down.

"It's about time," the wizard grumbled angrily. "What was Sophie thinking, zipping around the country for so long?"

Despite his annoyance, Howl was starting to worry. He knew Sophie had more of a handle on the seven-league boots than she had had before, and even if she had gotten lost, it wasn't like her to be out this long. Maybe something had happened to her.

Howl called Michael over and had him take the crystal again. "It looks like the spell's almost done. When it catches up to where Sophie is now the crystal will move to where its shadow is and point to her location. Call me when it does."

Howl slowly slugged up the stairs. His arm was incredibly stiff, and he thought he'd soak it in some hot water. He was just about to start relaxing when Michael shouted for him. Howl groaned; it seemed the Fates had determined that he wasn't to have a moment's peace that day.

He hastily went back downstairs and looked at the map. After a moment's inspection he frowned, something was wrong here.

"I don't know what happened, Howl," Michael said worriedly. "The shadow had come to a complete stop and it looked like the crystal was about to go to it, but then the shadow suddenly disappeared altogether. Did something go wrong with the spell?"

Now Howl was truly worried. He knew that he had cast the spell perfectly; something bad was afoot. Still, he had to be sure.

"Michael, what did you do with the crystal?"

"I… I'm not sure," he looked around on the table and floor. "I thought I just dropped it, but I don't see it anywhere."

"That's because you're looking in the wrong spot." The two men looked toward the fireplace. In their concentration they had forgotten all about Calcifer.

"Did you see where it went?" asked Howl. The fire demon simply pointed up with one of his small flaming arms.

There, floating near the ceiling, was the crystal. It was spinning around in rapid circle. Michael was startled enough to let out a small yelp, but Howl realized what must have happened. He was now extremely worried.