Roundabout (Sequel to "Bad Blood")
DJ Dubois
Originally Planned—10/88; Written January 2014
Rating T (Teen)—Language, Dark Magic, Violence
Notes: The characters from Sleepy Hollow belong to FOX. All other characters are mine and fictitious.
Prologue [Wabash, NY—September 20, 1794]
Activity dominated the village landscape on that first Autumn day. Farmers carted crops, crafts and other wares into the Dubois' Mercantile. Clanging echoed from the forge at MacRalston's Livery. A few travelers ate and slept at Ebenezer's Inn or MacLindy's Tavern.
Life seemed pretty normal on that day for the small village fifteen miles from Albany…but that was about to change….
Even as the villagers passed by the mercantile, Jeremy Crane walked anxiously from MacRalston's on an errand for his boss. Since his arrival six months earlier, he'd made strides toward fitting in. He'd managed to get Roger MacRalston to take him on as an apprentice. He'd attended church faithfully making still more friends in the process.
Granted the mercantile had proven a safe haven for him during that time. Even when the bullies pushed and pressed him, the Dubois family understood Jeremy's shyness. They'd shown him kindness and patience. Often the two sisters who ran the mercantile would invite him to go with them when they had Sunday dinner with their brother, Ricardo, and his family on the farm west of the village center. They would allow him to linger in the store even if he wasn't buying anything…as if they understood the needs of a troubled person and time to get his or her thoughts composed.
Jeremy cast an anxious glance around the green. Admittedly since escaping from the home, he'd drifted from town to village to town. He hoped to find a quiet place where he could live, work a trade and have peace. He didn't want any of the troubles which would force his powers to manifest themselves or for his mysterious protector to appear again….
….such as had happened in other villages to the south along the Hudson's palisades….
It won't happen here. I can't let it happen. He nervously pushed the mercantile's front door inward and almost crept into the sanctuary of sorts. He admired the finely hewn shelves and counters. The former bulged with a cornucopia of farming aides and some food stuffs. Bolts of cloth rested in a slot off to the far right corner of the store. He knew bigger farm implements were locked in the storeroom whose door stood next to the old grandfather clock by the stairs. He glanced at his list. Shouldn't take much. Hope that they have what I need. He saw his friends at work.
A rouge haired petite young woman laid a bolt of beige poplin cloth across the counter for a farmer's wife and elaborated on its qualities for her customer.
A raven haired woman of about the same age wiped the counter down and straightened the wares on it. She glanced up and smiled at him. "Good morrow, Jeremy. How are you today?"
He approached the counter slowly and managed a smile. "Good morrow, Miss Jennifer. My master wanted some…things."
"Let's see what you have today," she indicated while motioning for his list. After taking it, she nodded. "I have just what you need. Let me get them out of the storeroom. It'll take a minute. Meantime we just received some of those maps you like so much. They're in the display by the window. Maybe you might like them? Be right back." She headed toward the storeroom.
He headed toward the desired place; his feet creaking across the polished board underfoot. He looked around again but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Still the hair on his neck stood on end…
…something wasn't right there….
He shook his head and glanced toward the case. Just as Miss Jennifer had promised, printed maps of the Hudson Valley and most of New England sat under the glass. He smiled in spite of his nerves and began figuring to himself how much time he'd need to earn the money to purchase some of them. He allowed himself to relax and lose himself for a minute.
A sudden shove brought him back to Earth rudely.
He braced himself with his hands so as not to break the case. He turned to find a hulking blonde man in a brown overcoat glaring at him. "Mr. Thompkins, what was that about?"
"You slipped, Crane. Don't blame me for your clumsiness," Thompkins retorted rudely while shooting him a rude smirk.
Jeremy shuddered while pulling himself to his feet. His eyes watered. "Sorry, Peter." He turned and tried to leave.
Thompkins grabbed his arm and yanked him into the case and shelves scattering the goods and breaking glass.
Jeremy screamed as the glass gashed his arm. His heart sank as he saw the various goods fly in all directions from his impact. He glanced toward the corner to see the familiar grey humanoid figure standing there…
…his protector…the Golem….
"No. Don't," Jeremy pleaded not wanting a bigger scene.
Thompkins slapped the boy. "You talking to them spirits again! Cut it out!"
"Peter Thompkins, leave him alone! What have you done?" the rouge haired woman protested.
"Stay out of my way, Penelope. This little ingrate's trespassin' in here!" Thompkins spat.
"He's waiting for Jenny to finish with his order. I saw them at the counter." Penelope stepped between the two men. "I don't want trouble." As with Jeremy, she felt something out of the ordinary but unlike him, couldn't discern its source. But she knew the feeling well.
…it felt like her late father's alter ego….
Jennifer came out of the back with a medium sized paper bag and a small box of baking soda. Her eyes went wide when she saw the mess. "What in Heaven's name is going on?"
"Sorry, Miss Jennifer. It's my fault," Jeremy dismissed. He staunched the wounds on his arms with his shirt sleeves.
Penelope shook her head. "Mr. Thompkins, please leave. The sheriff will hear of this." She pointed toward the door.
Thompkins laughed derisively. "The brat here's like your old man. An' here we thought when he went to Hell, it'd be over." He shoved Penelope aside and smacked Jeremy two more times.
"My word! I'm going to get the sheriff!" the other customer declared before rushing out the door.
Jeremy screamed again and clapped his hands over his ears. His head went numb. His scalp burned.
At the same time the grandfather clock in the corner burst into flames.
"Goodness me!" Jennifer exclaimed. She rushed for the corner clock hoping to save it. Seeing that it was already engulfed in flames, her heart sank. She knew she couldn't try saving it without risking the rest of the store. With one shove, she pushed the burning implement through the glass window and into the horse watering trough below it.
The devastated clock smoked and bonged its death knell before going silent.
Thompkins stared at Jennifer. "You're one of them too! I knew it! Just like your father!"
Penelope slapped the rude intruder across the face. "Stop talking about Papa like that! He was good to you, Peter Thompkins! How dare you? What happened wasn't his fault!"
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Jeremy cried before running out of the mercantile as fast as he could manage.
"Jeremy! Jeremy, come back!" Jennifer called. She wheeled around toward Thompkins and her sister. "This is not the end of this!"
"I'll say! You're comin' w' me!" He grabbed Jennifer's arm and tried to pull her out of the mercantile. He gave two strong tugs but couldn't budge her.
"Seems you're the only one who's leaving," Penelope interjected knowing that once her sister had braced herself, nothing would move her if she didn't want it to. She motioned toward the door. "Go! Now! Don't come back!"
"Whatever," he scoffed at the two sisters. "The whole village will know you for the witches that you are!" He stormed out of the mercantile.
"Are you all right?" Penelope asked her sister. She could see the soot and burns across Jennifer's dress.
"Perfectly well. I need to find Jeremy Crane. If that bully and his companions start something with him, I don't want the whole town going up in a pyre," Jennifer insisted. Her eyes moved toward the broken window and the burn mark where the grandfather clock had been.
"Ricky's going to have a fit. You know how he loved Mama's clock," Penelope lamented.
"Later. Right now keep an eye on things here. I'm going after Jeremy," Jennifer insisted before rushing out of the mercantile as fast as humanly possible. While she could've run fast enough to circle the village in a few seconds' time, she didn't want to cause any bigger of a scene than they were dealing with already. She listened intently.
From behind Ebenezer's Inn, she heard yelling and fighting.
"Not again!" She ran toward the other side of the Green knowing it was too late to prevent what was to come.
But she had no idea of what would follow….
[Behind Ebenezer's Inn—Five minutes earlier]
Jeremy slumped behind the three story inn and shuddered in silent rage. He couldn't believe that Thompkins had harassed him like that. Worse he'd damaged his friends' store and destroyed the heirloom clock. How can I be trusted in there? All I do is destroy things! He made up his mind that he would move on as soon as the sun set.
The kindly sisters shouldn't have had to take abuse on his behalf.
Once I work enough, I'll pay them back for the clock! I promise! He squeezed his eyes shut to keep the shame-driven tears from flowing. He quaked again.
In his ears, the angry roar echoed. While few others could hear it, he knew it.
The Golem waited just off to the side…waiting for a chance at vengeance….
Jeremy sighed wishing that he'd never cast the spell that had created the protector. Despite being a great companion, the protective entity disrupted things and forced them both to move on. I'm stuck with him for better or worse! He bit his lip and gathered his breath.
A twig snapping beside him alerted him to another's presence. His eyes beheld the unwelcome sight of Thompkins with two other bullies flanking him. The former held a club in his right hand.
"Leave me alone! I've done nothing to you!" Jeremy protested.
"SHUT UP!" Thompkins swung with his weapon and struck the victim across the back. "You and those witches should make a great show!"
The two companions laughed as their leader repeated his action two more times eliciting screams from the boy. Then they saw the grey hulking figure stomping toward them from the woods. "Thompkins! What the Hell?"
Thompkins stopped beating on Jeremy long enough to see the Golem punch one of his friends through the inn's back wall and backhand the other across the green. "What the Hell? You are a SORCERER!" He crossed himself and took a swipe at the oversized doll.
The Golem, while annoyed at the crossing gesture, was not fazed in the slightest. It took the club's impact without a flinch and twisted the attacker's hand in its own. It didn't care about Thompkins' pain or agony. It didn't care about the villagers seeing it. It only wanted to protect Jeremy at any cost. It threw the remaining attacker to the earth hard knocking him out cold.
Jennifer reached the scene at that moment. She stared at the three toughs lying unconscious like flotsam around herself. She saw Jeremy raving semi-consciously off to the side. She sized up the Golem while moving around it in a wide circle. She knew it would react violently if threatened or if its precious cargo was threatened thus. She watched its every move.
The Golem watched her as well. It didn't know why but it sensed she was different from the other humans around it and Jeremy. While it knew she and her sister were friends, it didn't trust her much more than the others for that matter. It did wonder why she didn't just run like the others or attack.
"It's all right. I don't want to hurt Jeremy. I just want to get him help," she assured the hulking bodyguard. She hoped that it would react well to her wanting to help. She tried to check Jeremy over.
It roared and hoisted her into the air by the front of her dress.
She grabbed for its 'hand'. With an amazing show of strength, she pried the hand open. A sudden kick to the attacker's midsection bought her some space. She recalled her mother's stories about her father and what it was like to deal with him in these situations. "What can I do? STOP PLEASE! He needs help!"
It grabbed her by the throat intending to snap her neck like a twig. Again it hoisted her into the air.
Again she struck its hand and pried herself from its grasp. She rubbed her neck while trying to force air into her own lungs. She wanted to end this before anything else happened. Then she saw a dozen men approaching them with torches and various weapons. She shook her head. "NO! GET BACK!"
A slender yet fit man warily stepped around the mob and creature to her side. His brown hair rustled in the late afternoon breeze as he took his coat off and put it around her. "Are you all right, Jenny?"
"So far. Ricky, be careful. Jeremy's hurt and this creature showed up. Somehow it's protecting him," Jennifer gathered.
Ricardo nodded while recognizing the signs as she had. Within a few seconds' time, he'd assessed the Golem's purpose. He bellowed, "BACK AWAY! DON'T THREATEN IT!"
The mob didn't listen. They fired their muskets at the protective figure. Their pitchfork and scythes stuck in the Golem's hide with little effect. One threw a torch against it with little effect.
The Golem charged the mob scattering them like ten pins meeting a fast rolling bowling ball. It damaged two more buildings in its anger.
"NO! STOP! They don't understand!" Jennifer begged while trying to restrain the Golem.
The creature backhanded her into the building angrily. It didn't care about anything but its revenge at this point. It tossed several villagers around like the rag doll it had been.
Wabash's minister fell to his knees. "Lord, protect us from this demon! We beg you!"
The Golem recognized the prayer in motion and charged toward the clergyman. But before it reached him, it stopped and looked about the scene. It felt something…almost like…itself. It turned this way and that trying to discern its source.
Despite the relative warmth of the early fall afternoon, a sudden chill descended over the village. A strong breeze drove icy tendrils through the onlookers and participants alike.
Ricardo felt the static in the air. He shook his head at his stepsister. "It feels like…."
Jennifer nodded in confirmation. "Aye! Everyone, BACK AWAY!"
The Golem charged the siblings thinking them the source of a spell. It would stop the mystical assault before it could fully form.
A shrill scream dismissed any thoughts of that notion.
The villagers, defying the siblings' warnings before that point, now backed away like frightened mice before a hungry cat.
The minister stared toward the west…in the direction of the town's cemetery. He'd heard the rumors and legends surrounding this place before his arrival. Of how one of the founders had been semi-possessed or something like that. How the demon had protected the town before the founder had died. Then he looked at the two siblings….
…the founder…their father….
"What in God's name?" he queried.
"Reverend Winstable, he won't hurt you! Stop!" Ricardo asserted while guessing at the other's identity.
In front of the mercantile, the air felt Arctic cold. In a dark flash, an ebony shade appeared. It floated nearly ten feet tall with piercing crimson eyes. On the back of its right hand, a figure eight shaped scar cast an emerald glow across the entire area. It shrieked again in rage and indignation. It could feel the fear and hate coming from the mob, minister and the hulking antagonist in front of it. QUIT IT! AH AIN'T GONNA HURT YA! GIT BACK! Its left hand glowed jet black with dark energy.
"Saints preserve us!" one woman exclaimed. "Tis the ghost of Dubois! You brought it back! The demon!"
AH AIN'T BIG BRO, DIPSHIT! The Image glared at the unruly mob wanting them to disband so it could do its purpose.
The Golem charged the new threat leaping full brunt at the Image….
…and passing right through it….
It tore off a 2X4 and swung it at the dark construct ineffectually. It swung through the other creature with as much effectiveness as trying to hang onto Jello in one hand. Its fists met nothing but air.
The Apparition amused itself by letting the Golem aggravate itself in this fashion. Besides it wanted the villagers to know who the real protector was. Despite their hate, they needed it. They couldn't deal with this threat without it. It wished that Big Brother's wife had been there to really rub it in her face too.
After a couple of minutes, it had tired of the floor show. It swung a hand and threw a psychic blast knocking the Golem back across the square. QUIT IT! GIT LOST! HERE'S MAH PLACE! It eyed Jeremy and sensed the connection between them. Then it floated in pursuit of its quarry.
The Golem jumped back to its feet and charged again.
YER KIDDIN' RIGHT? The Apparition grabbed the other being around the throat and shot dark fire through its cloth and magically enhanced hide. SING FER ME, BOY! SING!
The Golem burned from the assault but, lacking a soul of its own, didn't spasm or grimace.
Jeremy, however, screamed in pain. His eyes went wide.
Jennifer grabbed onto Jeremy. Then she turned to the ghost of her father's alter ego and called telepathically, ["You're hurting Jeremy! STOP!"]
MAKE THE WUSS 'ERE STOP! The Dark One glared at the growing sympathy and indignation over its methods. FINE! It flung the Golem as deep as it could manage into the woods. GIT LOST! STAY OUT YA WUSS!
Jeremy pulled himself to his feet. He quivered at the sight of the dark spirit manifestation in front of them. "That's your sire, isn't it?"
"A part of him. Yes," Ricardo affirmed. "He won't hurt you."
Seeing the trouble around himself, Jeremy shook his head. "I can't do any more to you all. Sorry!" With that he forced himself to ignore the pain and run away into the woods.
Jennifer wanted to give chase but couldn't because everyone's eyes were on her. "Ricardo, we have to get the wagon hitched up. We can find him!"
"We don't want that demon boy here!" Reverend Winstable exclaimed. He turned toward the floating Apparition beside them. "Surely your father is in Hell if he was in league with demons!"
STOOPID SHIT! WITCHIE POO HURT BIG BRO AN' MADE ME! AH SHOULD…. The Apparition raised a hand to fire a burst at the minister.
"No please!" Ricardo pleaded with it. "He doesn't understand. It won't help Papa if you do that. Thank you for helping us."
The Image glared at the villagers and then toward the woods. It knew that other than the family, they would never appreciate its efforts. FINE! STOOPIDS! LOVE YA'LL. BE WATCHIN'! With that it dissipated into thin air taking the chill with it.
Winstable turned to the siblings. "You consort with demons! We don't need that here!"
Ricardo got in his face. "Reverend, with all due respect, it protected us. I know what and who it is. He has protected this village over the past half century. He died protecting the village. You asked God for help. He sent the Apparition to do its job once more. He knows how much Mama and Papa love this place. He's as much a victim as you and I could have been from the other. Please. We have enough to do repairing this place without further trouble."
Winstable thought about it for a minute before nodding. "You didn't summon it. Very well. We shall have to watch for it as well." He walked toward the church with the other villagers in tow.
"Stupid bigots," Jennifer groused while inspecting her dress. The poplin sported several sizeable tears and burns. "This is a wreck!"
"I'm glad you're okay," he insisted. "Where's Penny?"
"She's watching things back at the mercantile. Mama's clock's gone."
"It what?" He tensed feeling indignant over the loss of his favorite heirloom. "What happened?"
"Jeremy was being beaten by Peter Thompkins in the store. We tried to stop him, Ricky. Before we could, Jeremy reacted somehow. He made the clock burst into flames," she explained.
"He's a mutant then. Like us. Too bad we can't help him. We can't risk another encounter with the grey thing and the Child's ghost," he realized. "Come on. Let's make sure Penny's okay and check the store over. Then you both can come to supper. Hannah's making her shepherd's pie."
Jennifer nodded sadly. She knew how much Jeremy loved that dish. She wanted to give chase and pull the boy back there to help him. Yet she knew they couldn't. The die had been cast.
The Apparition would never tolerate the Golem's presence. Nor would the villagers.
Jennifer shook her head mournfully. She somehow knew the matter wasn't settled. Maybe leaving the pot to simmer would head off the present crisis….
….but a boy was suffering right now…
…a protector was angry….
She knew Penny would need help cleaning up. She sighed and followed her brother toward the mercantile. Take care, Jeremy. You aren't bad. I hope you can find a better home!
[Woods]
Jeremy stopped running after about fifteen minutes. He'd put as much distance between himself and Wabash as he could manage. He slumped against a birch tree and sobbed sadly. His heart ached.
Another potential new start gone up in smoke…. More friends gone….
All because of bullying and misunderstanding.
"Why? I TRIED!" He glared at the sky looking for answers. "I was working hard! I went to service! I made friends! Is it my fault that Peter Thompkins attacked me? IS IT?" He lost his voice amidst a river of tears and choked sobs.
Beside him the Golem rubbed his shoulder as gently as it could manage.
"I know you didn't mean any harm. Wish you hadn't attacked Jennifer or Ricardo. They were our friends," he assured him.
It motioned with its head toward the village.
"No. Don't go back there. We can't cause more trouble for Miss Jennifer or Miss Penelope. They're better off without us. That thing will show up again. It doesn't like you," Jeremy pointed out. "Come. We'll keep going." With that he led the bodyguard into the woods heading to the southeast and into the mists forming over the landscape.
And so Time concealed the brewing strife for the present. Yet it lay there under the cloak developing.
And so it remained for the time being…