Chapter Three

DC: I don't own Howl's Moving Castle

"Do you think you have a problem? With the fire and rage thing? You know you could burn down the place."

"I know what I'm doing, Calcifer."

"With that hammer in that hand, I don't quite believe you."

Howl scratched his head. Perhaps he didn't know what he was doing. His magic wasn't working well at all, at least not at this moment, and the Castle seemed to be stuck on something. It wouldn't move at all, and Howl worried that some bad thing could find them out in the middle of nowhere. The castle moves just so that they, or just Howl, could feel at peace.

Sophie took the opportunity to hang up the laundry outside. The castle wasn't going to be fixed in a while, so it was the time to get something's done. She carefully pinned the clothes onto the line, and smoothed out the creases.

Markl and Heen were playing nearby. Markl loved the nice weather and having a chance at being outside. The potion shops were closed for the moment, just so that they could enjoy this time.

The Witch of Waste was inside, sleeping. There no one could bother her, and she could bother no one.

Sophie wiped her brow, and turned to where Howl was at. "How's it coming, Howl?" she called. There she noticed smoke in the air where he stood. She shook her head. Howl had developed a problem with his magic. It's been happening since he broke his curse. Whenever he got a little frustrated or angry, something caught fire. "Don't catch everything on fire, now."

"I won't!"

Sophie hung up more and more laundry. She stopped, after a few more towels were left to go, to gaze at their surroundings. They were in a field, a big one, with a little flowing river near by. The mountains were far, far to the back and didn't look to big from such a far distance. She looked up, and saw the bright sun.

But in the sky was a black dot. She stared at it and watched as it got bigger and bigger. She also noticed there was more then one dot, as it did get bigger. It seemed like everyone outside stopped and stared.

Sophie shrieked as the moving object raced over them. The people in the planes were flying pretty low, and there was a lot of noise, all of it really loud. She stopped, and fell to the ground covering her head. Her clothes she just hung either barely held on or flew off in the gusts.

Markl covered his head, as did Heen with his paws, and watched the planes fly by. Calcifer went safely inside the castle.

Howl ducked low, threw down the hammer, and ran to Sophie. He held her down better, as the planes, and other air vehicles, flew above them. The black dots in the sky didn't seem like this many. All of them were flying low. Sophie felt safer with Howl over her. This event lasted for a minute or so, before Howl safely let Sophie sit back up.

"What was that for?" Sophie looked angrily and the vanishing things in the sky. "Why did they have to fly so low?"

"I don't know." Howl seemed a little distracted. "But I think those were war planes."

Sophie looked worriedly up at Howl. He shook his head, and got up. He wiped off his pants, and went back to the hammer. "I'd better get us moving soon."

"Wow. That was so weird," Markl whispered. Heen made a raspy bark in return.

Markl went over to Sophie and helped her pick up the clothes lying around. Sophie sighed, and hung the non-dirty ones back up. She put the dirty ones in a pile. They would need washed again.

But now wasn't the time. It was nearing noon, and she found herself hungry. She ate this morning, and actually kept it down, but it felt like she hadn't ate in a long time. She worried about herself at times like these.

She stopped the laundry, and she and Markl went inside. Heen followed them in, too. "I'm going to teach you how to cook some things, Markl."

"Why do I need to learn that stuff?"

Sophie laughed lightly. "Well when you do finally live alone you need to cook something, right?"

Markl watched as she brought out some vegetables, even turnips, and a pot. She was going to make a simple stew. "Here help me chop these up."

She and Markl threw in potatoes, turnips, carrots, and leftover cooked meat into a pot of water. Heen watched with droopy eyes and a wagging tail. Sophie added salt and pepper then put it on the stove to cook. Markl stood beside her and they talked about all the sorts of foods you could make.

Sophie felt her hunger grow. She glanced down at her stomach, and it was as if it talked back to her. It growled and made other noises.

"You must be very hungry, Sophie." Apparently Markl could hear it too.

"I guess I am." Sophie stirred the stew.

"You must be crazy leaving that wizard all alone!"

Sophie leaned her head out around the corner of the little kitchen. Calcifer sat eating a log in the fireplace. "Really crazy."

"Why aren't you out there Calcifer?" Sophie asked. "Howl isn't much of a mechanical person."

"Yeah, his head is too pretty for that."

"Calcifer…"

"Alright, alright! Jeez. Can't get a bite to eat in this place."

Calcifer disappeared, leaving Markl and Sophie alone again. Markl peered into the pot. "It looks all bubbly."

"Then it must be done. When you see something watery like this you either add noodles, or whatever needs boiled, or else it's done."

Sophie took a test bite, also letting Markl have a taste, too. She sent him to wash up, and went outside the castle.

"Howl?" she called. "Come on, lunch is ready."

"This thing will burn!"

Sophie watched as her husband flicked his hand, and a piece of wood, or something, caught fire. Calcifer, afraid of the wrath of Howl, disappeared again. She sighed, and ran to Howl. "What are you doing?"

"Destroying this…this thing!"

Howl stopped the fire with his magic. Sophie watched as he stared at the smoking mess. He then turned around and gave the side of the castle a hard kick. Sophie gasped. Howl stared.

The castle did a jerk, and then came back to life. It slowly moved onto its legs. Smoke started to billow out of its pipes, and its face, if you could call it that, started to move around. Howl shook his head. "So all it needed was a kick boost," he muttered.

Sophie led him into the house, and he cleaned off. She washed her hands and got some bowls out. She set them on the table, and went back for the pot of stew.

"Master Howl," Markl said. He and Howl sat at the table. "What were those planes for?"

"I'm not sure," Howl replied. "But I don't think it was a good thing."

Sophie set the pot on the table, and every one took their turn in getting some. They ate in a comfortable silence, everyone thinking of something different. Howl wondering what was up with the planes, Markl thinking of what could happen next, and Sophie thinking about her body and what could be wrong with it.

She came up with some conclusions, all weirder then the next, but unfortunately not what the problem was. But soon she'd go to the doctor. He could figure out something.

"Since the great wizard, Howl, thought of the greatest way to get the castle running," Calcifer teased. "Where are we heading?"

"Let's go east," Howl said decisively. "Let's see what's out there."

Sophie knew he wanted to know where those planes went. They did happen to go east. Sophie and Markl went outside to collect the laundry before they started moving again.

No one minded going the way they were going to go. Calcifer set the route.

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Lala Rue here! Here is the third chapter! Hope you liked!

I'm on like chapter ten! I can't wait to post what's going on!

Well, I'll update soon if I can get some reviews!

Love, Lala Rue!