The next few days ran smoothly. Markl was starting to get used to the idea that Howl was going away for a while. I was busy doing opening the shop. My first customer was an elderly lady called Maureen. She said she could smell the flowers from down the street and had to come and investigate. That made my whole week! I'd asked Markl if he wanted to go and play with Toby whilst I was working in the shop but he clung to me and said he wanted to help. I really didn't mind! He was great at entertaining customers that were waiting.
The shop was quite full all the time after a week of people telling their friends about it. I had to admit I was proud. Howl had called a few times to check up on how we were doing and Markl got upset those nights but all in all, we were coping.
After three weeks, Calcifer started to get weak. Boiling a pan of water took twenty minutes and so I asked him what was going on. "Sophie… It's Howl. He's been further away than he said. I can't absorb any of his power when he is this far away." That made me worry. "I'll call him Cal and ask him to come back." He flickered and I put a lump of wood on the mantle next to him.
I decided to call Howl from my room. I sat on my sofa and smoothed over my dress. Honestly I felt nervous about what would come from the phone call. Would he be angry that I was calling? Or would he be happy to hear from me? I knew I had to do this for Cal and for the house.
He answered on the first ring. "Sophie! Are you okay?" I smiled. "Yes Howl I'm fi…" He cut me off. "Sophie this has to be quick." "Okay. It's just Calcifer. He's growing weak with you being away for so long." That's when I heard it, a woman's voice asking who was on the phone HONEY. "Well." I said, my voice dripping with venom. "I can see you're busy so I guess I'll leave you to it. Please send someone to heal Calcifer until you get home, Goodbye." I hung up the phone and burst into tears.
How could he do this to me? After all he'd already put me through. I was furious. I pulled the daisy chain down from my wall and threw them in the bin. I pulled off the purple necklace he had given to me and threw it under my pillow and then stormed out into the shop. I carried on my work with tears in my eyes and by the end of my shift I was still feeling terrible. I checked the phone and saw that he had called me several times. He left one message and I begrudgingly pressed the phone to my ear. His voice sounded hoarse. "Sophie it's not what you think, but I can't come home yet. I have too much left to do. I'll send Prince Justin over tomorrow. I lo. I have to go."
I fell into a trance that night. I couldn't sleep but felt exhausted. I couldn't stop thinking about Howl. What was he going to say? Who was that woman on the phone? The questions kept coming. I decided it was time to get out of bed and got myself dressed and ready to see the Prince. I was not in the mood to put on a posh frock but I had no choice. I had to show him my respect. I put on a deep green dress and even stretched in a petticoat. I put my hair up in an intricate design of twists and turns and even put some makeup on. I then went to wake Markl.
"Sophie! You look so pretty!" I blushed. I never was good at taking compliments… even from a boy Markl's age. "Thank you! You look pretty handsome yourself today! Are you looking forward to seeing Prince Justin again?" He nodded enthusiastically and continued to shovel cereal into his mouth. After breakfast we went into the living room and Markl showed me some of the toys and gifts that Howl had given to him. We were watching a pig delicately flitting around the room when the doorbell went.
Before I could even look up, Markl had opened the door and jumped into the arms of an unsuspecting Prince. Luckily he wasn't like a normal Prince. He had known us under a different name- Turnip head. When he was under a spell I showed him kindness which he had never forgotten. He got straight to work after hugging us both and taking off his coat. He pushed his sleeves up to his elbows and knelt down in front of Calcifer. He picked him out of the fireplace he lived in and Cal turned a bright red colour as soon as he did. Prince Justin took a deep breath, closed his eyes and blew out an impossibly long breath. As he did so, a gold coloured flame passed out of his mouth and into Cal who showed his appreciation by whooping and flipping up into the air. I smiled widely seeing him back to his old self and Markl burst into a fit of giggles and fell to the floor.
I insisted that Prince Justin stay the night as he seemed rather drained after performing the ritual and I treated him to an evening meal at a restaurant in town. We laughed and had such a fabulous night that I forgot all about the business with Howl and I went to bed with a smile on my face. I think that having Prince Justin in the house was good for Markl too. He didn't have a nightmare and slept soundly all night and this spurred on my decision to ask Prince Justin to stay for the rest of the day. I was pleasantly surprised when he accepted and danced off to get dressed…
Hi guys! Natalie here! Stay tuned for what happens on the day spent with Prince Justin and to find out what happens when Howl returns…