Authors note/
I don't own any of the sleepy hollow legends or Mrs. Van tassels story. I
watched a movie entitled the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and thought of this
story. My Second fanfic please have mercy. My first one In the Cards was a
major bust and im sorry. Please read and enjoy/
Time governed the lives of men, taking the mind and body while remaining unseen. The seasons change in their usual order. From birth to childhood, from childhood to the exciting age of great change and finally to adulthood in which the young fade into the icy hold of the tomb. Nothing abnormal about the continuous transitions the world undertakes. One would think it abnormal if these very necessary and natural phases never occurred. Such places simply did not exist. Not in the modern day and age of the twenty first century. However, such a place did exist not far from the busy metropolis that is New York City. In the steep ridges of the Hudson River Valley on the Tappan Zee there lay a small sheltered place called Tarrytown, named so because of the Dutch farmers that used to tarry there on market day, but the locals knew this place as Sleepy Hollow. Strange were the tales they told out of Sleepy Hollow. Stranger still were the folk that told them. It seemed to be the favorite pass time of the community to recall legends of their serene little valley. Ghosts and goblins of years past haunted every tree and spring there and any local you ask will swear to an inch of his life that the hollow was bewitched by an Indian Medicine man when the Dutch first settled. So the legend says. That the legends were still told and citizens knew them by heart but would still stop and eagerly listen as you told them the same story for the hundredth time with a different flourish added in was a testament to the size of Tarrytown. There was however one tale that never changed in language or content and that was the tale of the Headless Horseman. The most honored denizen of Sleepy Hollow and frightful midnight rider.
This is the legend told by Amellia van Tassel in 1791. "The horseman lost his head in a skirmish in Sleepy hollow on the night of the full harvest moon. A British frigate had landed with a force of infantry intent on taking Sleepy Hollow. A group of Sleepy Hollow men persuaded a Hessian captain to turn his coat and lead them against the British for a pack of gold coins. The Hessian captain organized the colonist defense and as they charged the invaders a round of British grapeshot struck him in the head and carried clean off his shoulders. Legend has it that at that moment the full moon turned red as blood. The body of that captain rode on sword still upraised strait into the British lines. The men led by their headless captain drove them redcoats out of the Hollow and they never came back."
The story has always remained the same at every event and party for over 200 years. Now this tale raises a question of profound importance. What became of the gold that turned the captain and led him to his death? Well several of the men at the battle took the gold and divided it amongst themselves. After all, the Captain was dead and had no use for it. Many had their share melted down and remolded into jewelry for their wives and daughters. Others hid the gold in diverse places around Sleepy Hollow or in their own houses. The years came and went and the town grew and slowly modernized according to the times. Streets and paved roads made their appearance along with such conveniences as electricity and running water. Such changes were still fresh in the minds of the inhabitants. Time for them traveled at such a slow pace that as one man stated to break the tranquil silence of the valley was like to committing an act of sacrilege. Tarrytown was by no means a ghost town, pun not intended. The people had full and happy lives with lots of happy children. They went to work and sometimes commuted into nearby cities for such things as Super Wal-marts and hospitals. There was a doctor there but his was a local practice with nothing worse than the usual every day ailments to be concerned with. Every child went to the small elementary and high schools situated side by side on a flat stretch of land surrounded by old oaks and various fields for sports. Some families still dealt in farming, cows and hay being the main crops. The largest of such family farms were run by the Blakes, the Olsons, the McAtterrs, and the von Ryans.
As everyone knows the Legend of Sleepy Hollow centers on the gangly school teacher, Ichabod Crane and his attempted courting of Katrina van Tassel. This story says nothing of the School Master except in passing reference and that is how it should be. It is a modern tale told in modern times on a modern subject and no offense is meant by it being so to those who are heartsick over the old legend.
It began on a hot day in the late of summer when Sirius shines most bright. A girl found her way to Tarrytown. With a Dixie accent, high brow and sharp nose she came to her new home of Sleepy Hollow. She was known as Samantha Blake from Tennessee and had come to stay with her relatives the Sheryl and Otto Blake. Samantha brought with her not only her suitcase but the hard earned ideals that the south can instill in a girl of sixteen. The Blakes had children three boys to be exact, Paul, John and Richard. They were the roughest bunch of boys too. They kept the practice of the legendary gang known as the Sleepy Hollow Boys, founded by none other than Abraham van Brunt some seven to eight generations prior. They were all older than Sam but that suited her just fine. She was happily tucked into the guest room on her first night. Later it would be known as Sam's room. The boys at first resented her presence but after she had proved her metal by beating Richard at belching and scaling the roof in record time they accepted Sam as an equal into their ranks.
Time governed the lives of men, taking the mind and body while remaining unseen. The seasons change in their usual order. From birth to childhood, from childhood to the exciting age of great change and finally to adulthood in which the young fade into the icy hold of the tomb. Nothing abnormal about the continuous transitions the world undertakes. One would think it abnormal if these very necessary and natural phases never occurred. Such places simply did not exist. Not in the modern day and age of the twenty first century. However, such a place did exist not far from the busy metropolis that is New York City. In the steep ridges of the Hudson River Valley on the Tappan Zee there lay a small sheltered place called Tarrytown, named so because of the Dutch farmers that used to tarry there on market day, but the locals knew this place as Sleepy Hollow. Strange were the tales they told out of Sleepy Hollow. Stranger still were the folk that told them. It seemed to be the favorite pass time of the community to recall legends of their serene little valley. Ghosts and goblins of years past haunted every tree and spring there and any local you ask will swear to an inch of his life that the hollow was bewitched by an Indian Medicine man when the Dutch first settled. So the legend says. That the legends were still told and citizens knew them by heart but would still stop and eagerly listen as you told them the same story for the hundredth time with a different flourish added in was a testament to the size of Tarrytown. There was however one tale that never changed in language or content and that was the tale of the Headless Horseman. The most honored denizen of Sleepy Hollow and frightful midnight rider.
This is the legend told by Amellia van Tassel in 1791. "The horseman lost his head in a skirmish in Sleepy hollow on the night of the full harvest moon. A British frigate had landed with a force of infantry intent on taking Sleepy Hollow. A group of Sleepy Hollow men persuaded a Hessian captain to turn his coat and lead them against the British for a pack of gold coins. The Hessian captain organized the colonist defense and as they charged the invaders a round of British grapeshot struck him in the head and carried clean off his shoulders. Legend has it that at that moment the full moon turned red as blood. The body of that captain rode on sword still upraised strait into the British lines. The men led by their headless captain drove them redcoats out of the Hollow and they never came back."
The story has always remained the same at every event and party for over 200 years. Now this tale raises a question of profound importance. What became of the gold that turned the captain and led him to his death? Well several of the men at the battle took the gold and divided it amongst themselves. After all, the Captain was dead and had no use for it. Many had their share melted down and remolded into jewelry for their wives and daughters. Others hid the gold in diverse places around Sleepy Hollow or in their own houses. The years came and went and the town grew and slowly modernized according to the times. Streets and paved roads made their appearance along with such conveniences as electricity and running water. Such changes were still fresh in the minds of the inhabitants. Time for them traveled at such a slow pace that as one man stated to break the tranquil silence of the valley was like to committing an act of sacrilege. Tarrytown was by no means a ghost town, pun not intended. The people had full and happy lives with lots of happy children. They went to work and sometimes commuted into nearby cities for such things as Super Wal-marts and hospitals. There was a doctor there but his was a local practice with nothing worse than the usual every day ailments to be concerned with. Every child went to the small elementary and high schools situated side by side on a flat stretch of land surrounded by old oaks and various fields for sports. Some families still dealt in farming, cows and hay being the main crops. The largest of such family farms were run by the Blakes, the Olsons, the McAtterrs, and the von Ryans.
As everyone knows the Legend of Sleepy Hollow centers on the gangly school teacher, Ichabod Crane and his attempted courting of Katrina van Tassel. This story says nothing of the School Master except in passing reference and that is how it should be. It is a modern tale told in modern times on a modern subject and no offense is meant by it being so to those who are heartsick over the old legend.
It began on a hot day in the late of summer when Sirius shines most bright. A girl found her way to Tarrytown. With a Dixie accent, high brow and sharp nose she came to her new home of Sleepy Hollow. She was known as Samantha Blake from Tennessee and had come to stay with her relatives the Sheryl and Otto Blake. Samantha brought with her not only her suitcase but the hard earned ideals that the south can instill in a girl of sixteen. The Blakes had children three boys to be exact, Paul, John and Richard. They were the roughest bunch of boys too. They kept the practice of the legendary gang known as the Sleepy Hollow Boys, founded by none other than Abraham van Brunt some seven to eight generations prior. They were all older than Sam but that suited her just fine. She was happily tucked into the guest room on her first night. Later it would be known as Sam's room. The boys at first resented her presence but after she had proved her metal by beating Richard at belching and scaling the roof in record time they accepted Sam as an equal into their ranks.