Chapter 4...There she goes.
There she goes...
there she goes again...
racing through my brain
and I just can't contain
the feeling that remains...
Dawn groaned and opened her eyes.
"I had the weirdest dream," she told herself, "I dreamed I was in--"
She trailed off when Katrina rushed over to the bed.
"Here, drink this. It will calm your nerves and give you strength."
Dawn took the cup.
"I guess it wasn't a dream, was it?"
"Afraid not," Ichabod responded, getting up from his chair, "we hid your machine in the barn. We don't want you getting arrested for witchcraft."
Dawn sighed.
"So, that's still an issue, is it? Fine. Thanks for getting it for me. I don't know how I'm going to get home."
She took a long drink from the cup. The tea warmed her insides and she didn't feel quite so out of it.
"How long was I out for?"
"All morning. The noon meal is being prepared as we speak," Katrina informed her.
Dawn rubbed her head.
"That's gonna leave a bruise," she said, wincing at the lump, "I gotta be more careful to fall backwards next time."
"If you don't mind my asking, where did you come from?" Ichabod asked.
"I came from a place in the future, a place called Grandsville. I was at college there. I was driving home from the university when I got lost and I think I majorly took a wrong turn," Dawn explained, "I don't even know how I actually went back in time."
It sounded strange, but Ichabod believed her.
"I noticed all of the unusual things you had in your machine," Ichabod commented, gesturing to the pile of belongings that he and Masbeth had retrieved from the car, "would you mind showing them to me?"
Dawn nodded.
"Just promise me that you won't take anything apart without my permission," she smiled.
"All right."
Dawn sat up, testing her strength. Upon finding she was okay, she got up and wandered over to the pile. First, she retrieved her iPod.
"See this? It plays music, kind of like a music box but it has different sounds; kind of like when you have people all playing instruments at the same time. These go in your ears," Dawn said, showing him the earpieces, "and you press this button to turn it on and make it work."
She turned the volume down first to keep from hurting his ears, then gave him the earpieces. He carefully put them in, not knowing what to expect. She scrolled through the list of songs, trying to find one he wouldn't make a face at. Upon seeing a nice, relaxing piano song, Cascada's "Everytime we touch", the slow version, she pressed play. Ichabod had the face of a child with a new toy.
"Fascinating," he commented, "how does it work?"
She turned it over and pulled the cover for the batteries loose.
"See these things? They're batteries. They have electricity stored inside, like lightning. Unfortunately, they'll run out eventually and I'll have to figure out how to keep this thing going," Dawn told him, "where I come from, there are wires in everyone's houses hidden inside the walls. There are holes that you plug the batteries into where they store up the electricity, then you can unplug it and take it anywhere you want. It clips to any part of your clothes that you want and it even fits in your pocket."
After that, she showed him her cell phone, laptop computer, the guitar and the portable amplifier, her psychology textbooks and notes, and her backpack. Katrina went downstairs to see if lunch was ready yet. Masbeth played with a few of the things she showed him. Dawn was in the midst of telling them stories about the future when Katrina informed them it was time to eat.
"And the women don't have to wear dresses all the time, either. Most of us wear jeans, like I've got on, or we wear shorter skirts that come up to here," Dawn said, placing one hand on her thigh, "and we usually have separate shirts that we wear. We have the option to change our hair color, the color of our lips, and everything. Women are a huge part of the workforce and we get to earn money, too. Women get to do a lot of things there that they probably don't do here. If I had to walk around with layers and layers of material on me all day, I'd die of heatstroke."
Dawn took a bite of bread.
"I would like to see this world of yours," Ichabod commented, "full of machines and science."
"I think you would get tired of it after a while," Dawn admitted, "other than my music stuff, I know I did. Everything starts to be routine after a while, and it stays the same. People there are a lot more selfish. Somebody's barn catches fire, the whole town comes and rebuilds it in one day here. Up there, they just watch it burn and leave. They don't take the time to really know each other there."
Dawn was amazed at how much better the food tasted here. Spices were the only preservatives used and she didn't have to wonder which package it came out of. There were a lot more fresh fruit and vegetables here and it would probably be good for her after living off of Ramen noodles for four semesters.
After lunch, Ichabod and Masbeth took Dawn to explore the town. Dawn hadn't ridden a horse before and was hanging on for dear life. Ichabod suppressed a chuckle at her inexperience; a year ago, he'd felt the same way. He was still rather wary of horses at times. By the time they made it to town, Dawn had to force herself to release her hard grip on the reins. Her knuckles had been turning white.
"And I thought learning how to drive a car was hard!" She said, grateful to get off.
Ichabod introduced her to several people. Many of the richer ladies whispered behind their hands at the strange girl who wore pants and rode her horse in such an unladylike fashion. Dawn was amazed that they were even still here.
She tried to ignore them, but felt her face flaming anyway. The men were much more polite to her. The children were probably the most open-minded and were happy to meet someone knew.
"Play with us!" One little girl shouted, grabbing Dawn's hand. They pulled her into the circle and began to dance around, singing "Ring around the Rosie!". Dawn laughed, stumbling a bit as she struggled to keep up.
They visited several of the little shops. Ichabod usually talked with all of the shopkeepers and Dawn wandered around, looking at the different things.
As they were on their way home, Dawn had accumulated several free things: a small heart-shaped cake, a wooden comb with a sleeping cat carved between the teeth, and a silver heart-shaped locket.
"This is real silver, too, isn't it?" Dawn asked, twisting the chain and letting the small heart spin.
"Yes."
There she goes...
there she goes again...
coursing through my veins
and I just can't contain
the feeling that remains.
Dawn lifted her hair and he placed it around her neck and fastened the clasp.
Neither of them noticed the shadow on the hill above them.
The Hessian was silent, unmoving. Daredevil was uncharacteristically quiet.
That is her? he asked.
None other, the horse answered.
He observed her carefully. She was dressed in such an unusual manner that he'd almost mistaken her for a man at first. Then, as he looked more closely, he realized that she wasn't. It was very unusual to see a woman wearing pants. The fabric hugged her body and showed off every curve. She was much heavier than the other women; most of them never got very big because of all the work they did. This one was most definitely well-fed; her hips were very full. She had broader shoulders than the others. She was shorter, but very solid-looking. Her blonde curls fell free in the wind because she wore no hat and they flew out all over her head, making her look a little more untamed. When she laughed, she was uninhibited and it rang out through the air. Though plump and almost plain-looking, there was something that she possessed that the others didn't: spirit. She seemed mentally stronger than the other women as well as physically. She had not been raised in Sleepy Hollow and had not been raised in fear like the others.
She is different, the Hessian commented.
He wondered how she'd even ended up here. A woman like that deserved to be in a position of power, not in some little farming town where, with the exception of him, nothing ever happened.
One of the children climbed on her back. Not protesting a bit, Dawn ran around in circles and bounced up and down, making the child shriek with laughter.
She's very strong, Daredevil commented.
Though the Hessian was unaware of it, his horse seemed to have found a match for him.
Dawn now had two children trying to get on her back at once. She collapsed under them (probably on purpose) and they both burst into laughter. The others all gathered around. One of the girls had fashioned a wreath from some wildflowers and placed it on her head.
They were both hidden in a shadow, so Dawn couldn't see them, but she turned her head, and for a second, it felt as though she were looking straight at them. A thoughtful frown appeared on her face as though she knew someone was up there. Then, she turned back to the children.
The Hessian felt a stirring within. Somewhere, from deep within the recesses of his frozen heart, a shred of his soul made its presence known.
Klaus was in there somewhere.