Chapter 4
Sophie immediately began work as soon as breakfast was over. She put a cloth over her gray braid and another over her nose and mouth, hanging up her shawl and tying her dress so it wouldn't get in her way. "I've had enough of this!" She told me, sweeping the roof angrily before moving back to the floor. "You bugs better run before I bite your heads off!" She hissed as critters ran across the room, also trying to escape my pouncing. "I'm sick of being treated like some timid little old lady!"
I winced as she brushed everything in sight, knocking over piles of jars and book relatively harmlessly on the floor. Markl ran about, inside and outside the castle with the Porthaven door open, trying to save what he could before Sophie got to it. I snickered when I heard him tell a customer to come back later, calling Sophie a witch on a rampage.
She quickly started moping the floor. "Hey, watch it!" I cried out as water got near me. I jumped on the hearth to get away from it, handing Calcifer a large stick I found on the street since I couldn't pick up the logs.
"You need a good washing too." She said disapprovingly, looking at my dirty fur. I would not lick myself, no matter the amount of money you could pay me.
"I'll get one when you finish cleaning Howl's bathroom. I can smell the stenches inside, and I am not stepping one paw into that room without it being spotless." I spoke with my nose stuck up in the air, whiskers twitching. I looked at Calcifer concerned as he grew dimmer, then looked at the wet ground. My fur stood on end just thinking about jumping down. I couldn't help him, so I was left staring at him apologetically as Sophie carried an old sheet and placed it down.
"Sophie! Please help me! I'm going out!" Calcifer said panicked, growing smaller by the second. "Please, get me some firewood, quick! Hey, please help me. Wait, what are you doing?" He asked, gripping the metal stake when my sister picked it up with tongs. I noticed a large object at the bottom of his body, weighting him down, and tilted my head curiously. What on earth could that be? "Don't! I'll fall! You crazy lady with tongs!"
"You'll be fine," Sophie assured.
"I'll fall! Help! Verity, make her get me out of here!" He pleaded weakly.
"Sophie!" I said, glancing at my friend worried before turning back to my sister. Markl was outside sorting out the things Howl and himself needed and what they didn't while Howl was still in the bathroom.
"Don't worry, Verity. I'm just sweeping out the ashes," she explained as Calcifer held on to the stake precariously, rolling about on the edge of the cup as he held on for dear life.
"No, I'm not fine!" He said, coughing as the ashes rose in our faces. "Please! I'm going out! Please. I'm falling." He moaned and I stepped closer, worried but not able to help. I looked back at the floor again and with a gulp, jumped down and sprinted up the stairs, clawing the bathroom door.
"Howl! Calcifer's in trouble!" I yelled, yowling impatiently. The door sprang open with Howl completely dressed with trimmed blonde bangs. I barely spotted his ring glowing a faint red, flickering on and off. I raced back down the stairs with Howl following quickly and led him to the cup, gasping and jumping up on the hearth to peer inside it. Calcifer had fallen in and Sophie was gone, carrying the ashes outside.
Howl calmly picked up the cup and threw two logs onto the grate. He turned the cup over in his hand, revealing a blue flame pulsing around the object that had been weighting Calcifer down.
"What is that?" I asked him, but he ignored me, blowing softly on the pulsing flame until it grew to burn red. He place the fire back in the grate with the logs and made it rise higher. He rubbed my head with his other palm, making me purr.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't torment my friend," Howl told Sophie when she came back in with Markl behind her, and I finally noticed that Howl had a different coat on today. A white coat with purple diamonds, similar to his other coat. He walked towards the stairs as Sophie and Markl shifted out of the way.
"Master Howl, are you going out now?" Markl asked the wizard as Howl closed the door and switched the dial to black.
"Markl, Verity, make sure the cleaning lady doesn't get carried away while I'm gone." He told us with a smile, before opening the door and flying off into a world of darkness and flames. The door slammed behind him and automatically switched back to Porthaven.
"Sophie, what did you do now?" Markl asked and Sophie almost shrugged. I stared at my sister, mouth dropped.
"She almost smothered me! If I die, Howl dies too, I hope you know." Calcifer yelled, and I turned to look at him sharply. Another hint.
"Oh, be quiet. You're all right. Now quit bothering me, I've got a job to do." Sophie said as the fire demon shrank back. I stepped in front of Calcifer protectively., glaring at my sister. She paused surprised then continued to the stairs stone-faced, just as Markl raced in front of her, arms held out as a barrier.
"Wait, you can't come up here!" He cried out.
"Whatever you don't want me to clean, better hide it now." She advised, trying to hide a grin.
"Save my room for last, okay?" Markl gasped, running upstairs panicked.
Sophie chuckled and I looked at Calcifer with a smirk. "These little outbursts seem to be giving me some energy," my sister muttered to herself before continuing up the stairs.
"Are you sure you're all right, Cal?" I asked him concerned and he looked up at me surprised.
"Yeah, I'm fine now, Verity. Thanks for getting Howl." He said with a forced chuckle.
"I wonder why Sophie didn't listen to you. And I don't think she's been picking up on the hints either," I said softly. He nodded with a frown then we both looked up as Sophie called out to the fire demon.
"Are you the one moving the castle?" She asked from wherever she was and we shared confused glances before Calcifer rolled his eyes.
"Of course I am. No one else does any work around here," he said as Sophie appeared at the top of the stairs.
"I am thoroughly impressed!" She gasped with a sparkle in her eyes. "You are a first-class fire demon. I like your spark," she said with a wink before going away again. He sparked and turned a darker red, borderline purple as we both stared at where she had stood wide-eyed.
"She likes my spark! Ha-ha!" He cheered, growing in the grate as I laughed.
"Weren't you just cursing her guts just a few moments ago?" I asked him when he calmed down.
"Weren't you?" He asked with his fire hands on his hips. Markl and Sophie went outside to the Wastes to do laundry, letting me eat inside. A few hours later, Sophie called me upstairs.
"Time for your bath!" She said cheerfully and I yelped as she picked me up by the scruff of my neck, carrying me into Howl's bathroom after asking Markl for some shampoo. I hissed as she dropped me in the filled sink, not wanting to drown her twin in the bathtub. I pouted as she lathered my fur coat, then laughed as she told me about her newest meeting with Turnip-head, who had been stuck upside down in an outer section of the castle.
With my fur shiny and fresh, I laid down on the couch that Sophie had beaten the dust out of earlier as the light faded from the sky. I shifted to the floor, letting Sophie take my place as I decided to sleep on an edge of her soft quilt.
I fluttered my eyes open a few hours later, seeing blue eyes stare down at me surprised. "H-Howl?" I asked confused, moving my arms behind me to push myself to a sitting position on the hard floor, legs stretched out before me. I yawned as he stepped forward carefully and I cocked my head to look up at him puzzled. What was he doing?
"Verity?" He asked, shocked.
"Hm? Goodnight, Howl," I muttered, laying back in bed, never even realizing I had turned into a human then turned back into a cat as soon as my eyes shut. The curtains closed again and I sighed, curling into myself as his footsteps receded.
A/N: Again I would like to thank all my viewers and reviewers and favoriters and followers for continuing (or beginning) to read my story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Ooh, Verity's catching Calcifer's slips and she turned human, though only for a moment. Not too bad for a new chapter, huh?
Well, see you guys next week. Happy Halloween! (I'm going Trick-or-Treating this year as L from Death Note. I'm gonna have a blast! I've got a pair of handcuffs and everything. Ah, if only I had someone to be Light. TT-TT)