I got sooooo inspired by the Sleepy Hollow stories I was reading and wanted to write my own!
Clara Van Tassel is mine, but nothing else is (darn!) Anyways, I'm not telling you who she is or why she is in this story. You just have to read or guess.
Outside was cold and dark as the storm raged on. Even though it seemed like Mother Nature was having a fit in the darkness of piercing rain and loud thunder, inside it was nice and peaceful. The cottage at the very middle of the Western Woods was the only refuge in the dark forest of trees. Inside, the warmness of the fire lapping at the sides of the fireplace was a comforting and yet a hypnotizing sight. The smell of fresh bread wafted in the air as the smoke was carefully fanned to the opening of the fireplace by a young girl. Around the age of 5, the girl did most of the chores around the house ever since her mother had fallen sick around 2 months ago.
"Carefully wave the fan Katrina. You don't want any smoke inside the house." An older man said from behind the small girl.
Katrina looked back at him and slowed her waves of the fan until the smoke circulated out of the house.
"Good, you're learning quickly." The man said, proud sparks of light shining in his eyes.
Katrina smiled with happiness. She had always tried to make her parents proud and she really had to take care of things ever since illness claimed her mother.
"Is mommy's nurse coming soon?" she asked in a sweet, soft voice.
Stroking her light blonde hair, the man nodded. "Yes. She's coming tomorrow. She will help mommy feel lots better." He said, although privately, he knew it may be too late for the woman he loved so dearly.
Katrina nodded and slowly set down the fan, walking in a graceful, yet childish way to the kitchen. Slowly, she set the loaf of bread on the wooden table. "Daddy, the bread is ready now." She said to him.
Her father, a simple farmer named Baltus, lifted himself from the small chair near the fire and walked over into the other room where his wife was sleeping in bed. Not wanting to disturb her, he quietly walked back to his daughter.
"Your mother is sleeping, so we should be extra quiet so she gets some peaceful sleep." He said in a quiet voice.
Katrina nodded, but turned her head in the direction of their door as there was a soft knocking. Narrowing her eyes with confusion she walked over, looking back at her father with wonder.
Her father watched carefully as she opened the door and stopped, looking down at something.
"Katrina, close the door, it's too cold." He said, shivering a bit.
"But father, look." Katrina whispered.
Baltus walked over to the door, wincing as rain drops hit his face like pins and needles. Katrina moved aside to let her father see. Looking down, Baltus's eyes widened with surprise.
A young child, covered with blankets lay at their door step. There was a note inside the bundle and as Katrina slowly picked up the baby with care, Baltus read the note.
An orphaned child such as this one needs a loving home.
Her mother has died of a fatal illness,
And her father has been killed in battle.
Take care of her for the years she needs it
And when the time comes, I will return for her
Her name is Clara.
Baltus looked at the baby and noticed many features that he had not seen before. The child's very first sprouts of hair looked so dark, they seemed black. Ice cold blue eyes were looking at him, while slender arms reached out at Katrina.
"An orphan child." Baltus finally said.
"Oh the poor dear! Left alone in the cold and rain." Katrina soothed the child with slow and gentle rocking. The child giggled at her and cooed with cute and innocence.
"Oh father, may we keep her?" Katrina asked her dark brown eyes filled with pleading.
Baltus hesitated for a moment. It would be much easier to bring the child to the near-by orphanage in the town a few miles away from Sleepy Hollow, but looking in the eyes of his daughter, he finally sighed.
"Alright Katrina, we may keep the child, but only as long as you promise to take care of her." Baltus half-laughed for he realized he had given her the same speech when she had brought a stray cat home around 8 months ago.
Katrina nodded vigorously. "I will! Don't worry!" Katrina soon walked over to her sleeping quarters to arrange a place for the child to sleep until she could go buy a bed in the morning.
Sitting in his chair with some tasty bread in hand, Baltus looked over the note again and again. It seemed rather strange that a child would be left outside his doorstep. His, of all people, and with a strange note too.
"Clara…" he said the child's voice aloud and then went over it many times in his head. He knew something didn't seem right, but knew that right now, raising the child was the first thing he planned to do. To turn Clara into a smart, strong and true Van Tassel.
