Disclaimer: I do not own Sleepy Hollow, the movie, or the original story, which was written by Washington Irving. I do not own the movie's characters. The only character I own is Artemesia.
Chapter One
October, 1799
The skies over New York City were grey and obscured by clouds. The late fall air had a chill to it as it lazily drifted about. The streets were mostly empty in the late morning.
One particular figure didn't mind the cold. He was dressed in all black besides his shirt, which was a pristine white. His thick dark brown, almost black, wavy hair was neatly combed, and trimmed well. He pulled his black woolen jacked tighter around himself. He slowly made his way down the street, taking in the surrounding area.
The man is Constable Ichabod Crane. Some of his colleagues called him squeamish, klutzy, a dreamer and probably many other things that he didn't wish to hear. He was also very sure his colleagues would rather have him dead then have him as a co-worker. They would also probably do anything to get rid of him.
Ichabod rounded a corner taking a deep breath of the fall air. He let out the breath in the form of a sigh. He had been told to patrol the streets and look out for trouble. As usual. Unfortunately all the trouble was in his head. A new millennium was about to begin; yet they were still using medieval torture devices, which is highly unjust.
He sighed again as he kept walking. No one shared his vision. He wished someone did. Since the chilly air was keeping most people inside, Ichabod's rounds were relatively boring, and that left him to his troubling thoughts. He turned and headed to the more busy part of the city. He hope the people would create distractions for him. He made it to the shop areas and found himself immediately enveloped in people. He watched a few couples walk along the street happily and watched as others ran around frantically.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small book that he had been reading. He found his place and started to read and walk. He was able to read and walk affectively, till he rounded the corner of a building. He collided with another person and stumbled back as his book and a basket hit the ground. The wrapped contents of the basket spilled out.
" Oh! I am so sorry!" Ichabod said, bending over to place all of the baskets contents back inside.
" No, it was my fault! I wasn't looking ahead of me…" Said a fairly timid female voice. A pair of small, pale, female hands began to help his fairly large hands. He placed the items back into the basket and picked it up. The woman he ran into picked up his book. Both straightened up. The woman was wearing a dark blue coat with her hair loose around her face. He held out the basket, which she took. She gave the book back.
" It's a good book, by the way." She said with a small smile before walking off. Her light brown hair fluttered in the breeze as she walked away. He looked down at the book in his hands. His fingers were lightly gripping the leather covering of the book. He smiled slightly. He slid the book into his jacket. He slid the book into his jacket again and walked off.
oOo
When he returned home that night, all he wanted was sleep. He tossed his jacket carelessly over the railing of the staircase and sat on the stairs. He turned on an oil lamp and put his head in his hands. He felt like the whole world was turned against him. He had found a body floating in the water only an hour ago. The Burgomaster had put down his ideas again. In fact, he told him to take it to court. And he was going to. Again.
Ichabod knew he wasn't going to do well without proper sleep. He stood but spotted his book, which had fallen onto the floor. He picked it up. He remembered the small hands that had handed it back to him. He opened the cover and walked upstairs. He sat on his bed and began to read. He knew he needed sleep. But the book was calling.
It was late afternoon the next day. Ichabod was slowly walking down the street He was in a mix of shock and worry. This time, in court, he had a partial victory. But only partial.
OOO
" The new millennium is almost upon us. In a few months, we will be living in the nineteenth century. But our courts continue to rely on medieval devices of torture." Ichabod said as he stood in the court before the High Constable, the Burgomaster and a room of people.
" Stand down!" Said the High Constable.
" I stand up!" Said Ichabod. " For sense and Justice." The burgomaster gave Ichabod a look of pure hatred and distaste.
" Constable Crane! This is a song we have heard from you more than once. Now, there are two courses open to me. The first, is to let you cool your heels in the cells until you learn respect for the dignity of my office…" The burgomaster suggested.
" I beg pardon. But why am I the only one who can see that to solve crimes, we must use our brains, assisted by reason, using up-to date scientific techniques?" Ichabod asked as he took a step forward.
" Which brings me to the second course." Continued the Burgomaster. " There is a town, two days journey to the north in the Hudson Highlands. It is a place called Sleepy Hollow. Have you heard of it?"
" I have not." Ichabod said.
" An isolated farming community, mainly Dutch. Three persons have been murdered there, all within a fortnight. Each one found with the head lopped off."
" Lopped off?" He asked quietly.
" Clean as dandelion heads, apparently. You will take these experiments of yours to Sleepy Hollow, and there you will detect the murderer. Bring him here to face our good justice. Will you do this?" The Burgomaster asked. Ichabod straightened up and held his head high.
" I will." He said.
" Remember it is you, Ichabod Crane, who is now put to the test."
OOO
Murder. Three murders in a fortnight.
Heads lopped off.
Those were the thoughts passing through Ichabod's head as he packed a bag for Ichabod's head as he packed a bag for the trip. Medical instruments and books and other things he thought necessary in another bag.
He heard chirping and turned around. Next to the window in a cage was a small cardinal. He slowly walked over and opened the cage door. He delicately took the bird in his hand and walked to the window. He looked out the window with his dark brown eyes. He opened the window and released the bird. It flew off, twittering and bringing color into the desolate grey sky.
OoO
THUD!
Ichabod jumped awake as the carriage he was riding in hit a rock and bounced up and down harshly. He rubbed his cheek, for it had smacked against the side of the carriage. He had high cheekbones, which stood out on his pale face. He looked at his hands. He had dozens of circular scars on his hands. He never knew how he had received them. He only knew he'd had them as long as he could remember. He was also a fairly tall man with a tendency to sometimes stumble over his won feet. Some called him faint of heart. In fact, even he thought he was faint of heart sometimes. Perhaps that was why he was so nervous to go to Sleepy Hollow.
Just after sun down was when Ichabod arrived at Sleepy Hollow. He grabbed both of his bags and exited the carriage. The town was rather isolated and obviously was a farming community. The small buildings were either painted muted colors or weren't painted and kept the wood grain showing, which most buildings were.
The air smelled of wood smoke and Ichabod could almost feel the tension in it. There wasn't anyone outside. Everyone was inside. No one was by the small white church or strolling around the forest edge or farming. The dirt streets were empty. As he walked down the street people closed the shutters on their windows. Ichabod looked around and saw what appeared to be a watchtower made of wood. A young boy perhaps around fourteen or so was leaving, walking away from it with his head hung.
Ichabod found his way to the Van Tassel's manor. It was large compared to the smaller homes he had seen. He walked up the steps to the porch in the darkness of night and up to the door. He knocked on the door then heard a sound over the noises of the apparent party inside. He heard the gasping of breath. He hesitantly looked to the right only to wish he hadn't. Two people in the shadows were glued together at the lips in a heated kiss. He looked back at the door and tried to keep a straight face. The door was opened and Ichabod stepped into the crowd of people inside. It appeared the whole town could be there. Everyone was smiling and laughing as if everything from the last fortnight hadn't happened. They might be able to forget, but Ichabod can't.
Ichabod distractedly made his way into a large room. By the fireplace a circle of men stood as a grinning, blindfolded blond woman spun around in the center. Her arms were outstretched as she tried to grab one of the men.
Out of nowhere two female hands gently grabbed Ichabod's face. He looked down shocked, and found that the blond woman was grabbing his face. She smiled and felt his cheeks.
" Is it Theodore?" The woman asked. She appeared maybe a few years younger than he.
" No. Pardon, miss, I am only a stranger." Ichabod said. He realized the man standing next to him was giving him angry looks.
" Then have a kiss on my account." She said and kissed his cheek. She removed the blindfold and smiled at Ichabod. " I am Katrina Van Tassel."
" I assume your father is Baltus Van Tassel?" He asked.
" He is." Katrina said. The man standing beside Ichabod stepped up to stand close to Katrina.
" We haven't heard your name yet, friend." Said the man with a slightly dark tone to his voice.
" I have not yet said it." Ichabod said.
" Then say it." He said.
" Brom." Katrina said. Another woman walked over to Katrina and handed her a glass of water. Ichabod could have sworn he'd seen her before…
" I am Constable Ichabod Crane from New York, here to investigate the murders in Sleepy Hollow." Ichabod said in the most professional manor he could manage. He bowed slightly to Katrina. Almost everyone went quiet.
" The murders." Said an older man's voice. Ichabod turned to see an older man standing a few feet away with an older blond woman behind him. " I am Baltus Van Tassel." Baltus said holding out his hand. Ichabod shook it. " This is my wife, Lady Van Tassel." Baltus gestured to the older blond woman, who smiled and curtsied.
" I am pleased to meet you." Ichabod said.
" And Sleepy Hollow is grateful to you. We would be honored if you were to stay in our household." Lady Van Tassel added.
" I would be honored." Said Ichabod with a nod of his head.
" If you would care to join me in my study, I shall tell you about the murders. Artemesia, if you would take the Constable's coat." Baltus said before walking down the hall with his wife.
The woman who had given Katrina the glass of water, stepped forward. She held out her hands to take his coat. He looked at her and knew she seemed familiar.
She was his age or a year or so younger, her wavy light brown hair was pulled back slightly, her skin was fairly pale, and she had blue eyes that were the color of a cloudless sky.
" I would prefer to keep my coat, thank you." He said. Artemesia nodded once and stepped back. She curtsied to Katrina and Ichabod before walking off.
" Do excuse her. She is rather shy and awkward around new people." Katrina said. " She's usually my personal maid.
" Then I excuse her. If you could point me in the direction of your father's study?" Ichabod asked. Katrina pointed down the hall. Ichabod nodded graciously and walked to the study.
When he entered the office he saw Baltus, Lady Van Tassel, and four other men.
" Ah! Constable Crane. I am pleased to introduce you to Reverend Steenwyck," He gestured to an almost startled looking man in a wig, "Doctor Lancaster," He gestured to an older man with frizzy hair, " Notary Hardenbrook," He gestured to a very old ma with a clouded over eye, " And Magistrate Phillipse." He gestured to a rather plump man in a wig, clutching something in his hand.
" Pleased to meet you all." Ichabod said. The men nodded.
" Leave us, dear." Baltus said. Lady Van Tassel nodded before leaving.
" Could you please tell me about the murders?" Ichabod asked setting down his bags. " I understand the victims were Peter Van Garret and his son. Found together. Decapitated. The other was Widow Winship. Also decapitated. The heads found severed."
" Their heads weren't found severed." Said Reverend Steenwyck. " Their heads were not found at all."
" The head are… gone?" Ichabod asked timidly.
" Taken." Said Notary Hardenbrook. " Taken by the Headless horseman Taken back to hell."
" Headless Horseman?" Ichabod asked in confusion.
" Perhaps you should sit down, Constable." Baltus suggested. Ichabod took a seat in a chair by a small table. Baltus stood by the fire.
" The horseman was a Hessian mercenary sent to the shores by German princes to keep Americans under the yoke of England. But unlike his compatriots, who came for money, the horseman came for love of carnage.
" He rode on a mighty black steed. He made his kills by slicing off the heads of his enemies. He sharpened his teeth to instill fear in everyone. But the butcher didn't meet his end till that winter. He was decapitated by his own sword. He was buried and they say his ghost haunts the woods, chopping off heads till he gets his own attached again." Baltus finished.
Notary Hardenbrook looked to Ichabod. His hands, which gripped a teacup and small plate, were shaking out of control. Ichabod quickly put the teacup down. He tried to compose his face, failed, and stood.
" Gentlemen. Murders cannot be carried out by ghosts. We have murders in New York without benefit of ghouls and goblins." He said.
" You are a long way from New York, Constable." Said Baltus.
" The murder is obviously an imposter of flesh and blood." Ichabod insisted coolly.
" You'll see." Said Magistrate Phillipse. " You'll see that the horseman is no imposter." Ichabod looked down.
" You say you are here to investigate using scientific techniques? Learned from books?" Reverend Steenwyck asked.
" Yes, many books on science and medical information." Ichabod responded.
" There's only one book I recommend for you." The Reverend said and dropped a heavy Bible on the table beside Ichabod.
" Ah." He said.
" Sarah!" Baltus called. A young woman perhaps the age of twenty stepped inside. " Could you show Mr. Crane to his room?" Sarah nodded and took Ichabod's bags. He quickly grabbed the Bible off the table and followed her.
The house smelled of pumpkin, cinnamon, fall air, and wood smoke. There were carved pumpkins around the house and Sarah led him through the kitchen and upstairs to an attic room. It was plain- a desk, a bed, a chair and a few windows amongst the large room. Ichabod set the Bible on the desk and Sarah set his bags on the bed. He took off his coat and began to unpack.
" Thank you." He said absently to Sarah.
" Of course. Artemesia will be up with some food soon." She stopped halfway out of the room. " Thank God you're here." She said before leaving. Ichabod glanced at the door a moment before continuing to unpack.
After about twenty-four minutes someone knocked on the door.
" Do come in." Ichabod said. Katrina's acclaimed personal maid, Artemesia, walked in, holding a tray of food.
" I have dinner for you, Sir." Artemesia said.
" Thank you, but there is no need to call me sir." Ichabod said.
" OF course." She said setting his food on the desk. She put a small vase of blue wild flowers on the desk as well. " Is that all you will require for now?" Ichabod looked at her. She was standing a few feet away with her hands clasped behind her back.
" This is going to sound odd, but I believe I may have seem you before." He said. She smiled a bit.
" It doesn't sound odd." She said. She gestured to a small book on his bed. " That's a good book." Ichabod remembered running into the woman on the street back in the city. He smiled a bit.
" It's you." He said.
" And so it is me." She responded. One question popped into his mind.
" If you live here in Sleepy Hollow, why were you in New York City?" He asked.
" I had to pick a few things up for Katrina. And I enjoy the chance to be outside." She said looking out the window. She slowly over across the room to the window and looked outside.
" So, I take it you like to be outdoors?" Ichabod asked. She smiled a full, real, happy smile.
" I do. It's a part of me that nothing can ever change. My family has lived here for probably as long as the Hollow has existed. My mother and father were farmers. We owned a small house with a few horses and a nice plot of land." Artemesia said as she leaned against the windowpane.
Ichabod joined her at the window. Night blanketed the sky and the moon and stars created light making the bare tree branches seem like skeletal hands grasping for the sky. His brow furrowed.
" You spoke of your family in the past tense." He said quietly.
" My parents died when I was fifteen. They caught an incurable illness and died within a week. I wasn't able to keep anything my family owned, so I managed to find work here in the manor." She said quietly.
" I'm so sorry." Ichabod said, thinking of his mother.
" It was years ago. But I still love to be outside. But with all the murders everyone is terrified to be outside." She told him. He would be terrified, that's for sure. In fact, he is terrified.
" Are you afraid to go outside?" He asked her. She laughed quietly and turned to him.
" Constable Crane, I've lived here my whole life. I've been in the woods alone before. No, I'm not scared to be outside. But only a fool would go out at night. Most people who go out at night don't ever come back." Artemesia said with a serious look on her face.
" T-taken by the H-headless H-horseman?" Ichabod questioned shakily.
" You're starting to catch on, Constable Crane." She said.
" You don't have to call me that." Ichabod insisted.
" Then what do I call you?" She asked.
" Ichabod." He said.
" Then that is what I shall call you. And to formally introduce myself, my name is Artemesia Clark." Artemesia introduced herself with a faint smile. Ichabod smiled and took her hand.
" It's an honor." He said with a slight bow. Artemesia blushed and suddenly became a bit uncomfortable. Being a maid most her life, she was used to being treated as just that. A maid. But here she stood, with Constable Crane bowing to her formally, just as he had with Katrina.
Once Ichabod straightened up, Artemesia withdrew her hand from his. She gestured to the food on his desk.
" Enjoy the food. If you need anything else, just give a shout." She said. She curtsied to him with a quiet, " Good night." Then she left.
Ichabod walked over to the desk and sat. On the tray was a bowl of soup, two slices of buttered pumpkin bread and a glass of water. He stared at the blue flowers in the vase a second. They seemed familiar…
Brushing off the odd feeling, Ichabod ate the food. After a long carriage ride he had been starving. All the food was gone when he finished eating. He became suddenly aware of how tired he was. He quickly removed his boots and changed into his nightclothes, which were really just a loose white shirt and an old pair of black pants.
Ichabod climbed into bed and pulled the blankets around himself. He blew out the candle and fell asleep, images of a Headless Horseman running in endless circles in his mind.
Afterword: And there is chapter one! I hope you all liked it! I tried my best to keep the lines from the movie in their correct order and in the correct wording, but sometimes I just kinda blanked out and couldn't remember. I also forgot Peter Van Garret's son's name. Actually, I don't think I ever caught it.
I tried not to make Artemesia seem timid, because that was not my intention. I plan on building her character more throughout the story!
Anyway, reviews are strongly wanted and welcomed! Chapter two should be up soon!