A/n I mention in this story that the Old Dutch Church doesn't have a congregation. In real life it does, but I changed that for my own purposes. Many thanks to all who have reviewed the story or added it to their alerts. Also, thank you to my wonderful beta REIDFANATIC.
Disclaimer: I own only my own characters. Anything from CM or Washington Irving is not mine. No copyright infringement is intended.
Reid hears the "real" story
He knew that they were going to look for him; maybe they were already on their way. He couldn't make it easy for them. He had to do this alone. His stomach gave another protest as he put his phone away in the pocket of his jacket and he turned around to leave. He didn't see the man standing behind him and so he nearly knocked him to the ground.
The young red haired man put a hand out to steady Reid. "Sorry man… I didn't mean to sneak up on you."
When Reid's heart beat returned to normal, he assured the man that he was fine. "I wasn't looking where I was going."
The young man in front of him had dark blues eyes. They were the same shade as JJ's. He shook himself at the thought of her, and the other man regarded him curiously as he stood there with his hands in his pockets. The man wore a light blue jacket and grey chinos. His shoes were blue Converse the exact same brand of shoes Reid happened to be wearing that day.
"No problem. I'm what you would call a guide. The church doesn't have a congregation, but we get a lot of visitors. You must have just missed the last big group of tourists. I wish they'd keep better track of their kids when they come to places like this. Those kids think Halloween is an excuse to knock over headstones and write foul words on the mausoleums." He spoke with a happy go lucky tone that was very engaging.
"You're not from around here, are you?" The man asked Reid. He pulled a pack of menthol cigarettes from his pocket.
"No…" Reid responded, watching the man light the cigarette with a long, pencil shaped lighter.
The man saw that Reid was looking at his lighter and he grinned at the agent. "This was a gift from my mother if you can believe it. It was special made in Italy, pure sterling silver."
"Ah - listen… I was wondering if you could answer some questions for me." Reid stammered, he decided that it didn't matter if the man thought he was nuts.
"Let me guess… you want to know if the headless horseman is real."
His hands went clammy and some unknown fear pushed the blood hard through his veins. The young man held out a hand to Reid. "My name is Roger De Vries. My family's lived in Sleepy Hollow since it was first colonized. I can tell you all you want to know about this village and the headless horseman. What's your name?"
Reid took the man's hand tentatively and shook it. "My name is Spencer Reid, and no, I'm not from around here."
"I didn't think so," De Vries observed as he flicked a bit of ash from the end of his cigarette. He gestured in the direction of the church.
"Come on… it's too cold to stand around here." As if the wind could hear him, a gust pushed over the two of them and Reid began to shiver under his jacket. He should've worn his usual long sleeved shirt and sweater for this outing.
De Vries jerked his head again in the general direction of the church. "I've got some coffee brewing in the office."
The two men made their way back to the churchyard. The sky was turning grey as clouds began to move into the area. The wind was picking up again and Reid looked at his watch. His stomach gave a loud grumble when they crossed the threshold of the church. De Vries shut the door behind him and pointed to an alcove Reid hadn't seen when he'd been in the church the first time.
"That's my office over there. It's a cracker box, but its home." He said with laugh.
Reid followed him into the office and saw that De Vries was right. There were two chairs, one hard backed and wooden in front of the desk, and the other leather and much more comfortable looking, behind the desk. There was a tall cabinet to the left of the desk, and just inside the door stood a table with a hot plate, and a pot of wonderful smelling coffee steaming on top.
De Vries motioned for him to sit down. He went to the hard backed chair and tried to get comfortable. "We've got the best deli in New York down the street. It's the best kept secret in the state. The knuckle heads in the big city think they corner the market on a good deli sandwich, but they don't know what they're talking about. You want something to eat?"
"Ah - I don't know…"
"Trust me… you won't be disappointed. What would you like?"
Reid decided that the man wasn't going to take no for an answer, so he gave in and decided on ham and Swiss on wheat bread. De Vries picked up the phone and called in the order. He got roast beef and cheddar on sourdough bread.
"The sandwiches will be here in a few minutes. Lets have a cup of coffee, and I'll fill you in on everything I know about the legend." He opened one of the file cabinet drawers. When he turned around there were two coffee cups in his hands.
He grinned at the way Reid was looking at him. "I know it's dumb, but I lose my coffee cups if I don't keep them in here. I'll give them a quick rinse in the bathroom sink." He left the room and Reid began to look around the small room.
It was utilitarian rather than welcoming. There were none of the usual things you might see at a desk. He didn't see any pictures of family or friends. There was a plaque on the wall behind the desk commemorating the establishment of the church as a historical landmark in 1961.
"Here we are. I daresay a hot cup of coffee would warm us both." De Vries reentered the room and startled Reid from his thoughts.
"Do you like cream or sugar?" De Vries asked fiddling with the coffee cup
"Just sugar is fine," Reid said.
De Vries fixed his cup with cream only, and gave Reid his sweetened coffee before sitting down. "Now… let me tell you all about what I know of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow."
He leaned back in his chair and sipped on the hot coffee. "Washington Irving only knew part of the story. You see.. the man known in the story as Ichabod Crane was a gold digger. If you read the story, Irving tells us that Ichabod Crane was wooing Katrina Van Tassel and that they had a falling out after a Harvest party. He then left on horseback, and the only thing that was found the next morning was a smashed pumpkin and the saddle that belonged to the farmer that lent him the horse.
"Katrina did send him away. She knew he had designs on her father's wealth. She never had real intentions of taking him anyway. She loved the man you know as Bram Bones. She was trying to make Bram jealous enough to finally ask her to marry him. The fact is that the supposed attack of the headless horseman was Mr. Bones on his horse. He wanted to scare Ichabod Crane into leaving. He was successful and the school teacher was never seen in Sleepy Hollow again. So you see the headless horseman is a myth,"
Reid put his empty cup on the desk. "So you're saying that the townspeople made up a specter to rid themselves of a less than likable schoolmaster." He asked skeptically. There was something in De Vries eyes that had Reid suspicious. The man was leaving something out, or lying about something.
"No… most of the residents of our fair village believed in the headless horseman and some still do."
"So what was the genesis of the legend? Where did the headless horseman come from," Reid asked?
"There was a Hessian trooper killed in the battle of White Plains. He was beheaded by a cannonball. He was buried in the church and if he's ever risen, I've never seen it. There is also a legend that says that a witch doctor cursed this land and the families of the founding fathers. The original inhabitants of this land weren't happy when the white man came here. I don't blame them. My ancestors weren't exactly the sharing type."
A chill had entered Reid's heart, and he was perplexed. It was a simple enough tale, but why did it persist in its power nearly two and a half centuries later and why was he here if there was nothing to it as De Vries claimed.
There was a knock at the door and De Vries got up from his chair. "It would appear that our food has arrived." He opened the door and greeted a short blond woman, carrying a white bag. She was about forty and very plump. Her eyes were as gray as the skies had been outside and she smiled widely at Spencer.
"Here's your order Mr. De Vries." She handed him the bag. He put it on the desk and reached for his wallet. He gave her a few bills and she nodded her head at him.
"Have a nice day Delores." He called after her when she left.
Reid turned away and reached for his empty cup to pour more coffee. He didn't see the needle in De Vries hand, but he felt it go into his neck and then everything was dizzy and black.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The pilot says we should be landing soon." Hotch said, coming back up from the cockpit. They'd been caught in a busy pattern over La Guardia, and they had been circling the airport for half an hour.
"It's about time. I didn't think small jets like ours had to wait their turn to land." Morgan was complaining.
"Of course they do. Didn't you ever see Airport '75? There was a jetliner that got into a mid air collision with a private plane, and during the course of the movie the private plane had to wait their turn to land. I think that's what caused the crash. I don't really remember." Emily said as everyone stared at her.
"What…" She asked, looking confused.
"You sounded like Reid there for a moment. It was creepy." Morgan explained and they all nodded.
"Thanks… I think!" She said looking just a little put out.
The pilot announced they were next in line and they began to gather up files and personal items. As they were there looking for Reid, and Hotch hadn't wanted to give Erin Strauss any reason to come after the team, they rented an SUV instead of meeting a local agent. They would contact the police when they arrived in Sleepy Hollow.
The drive from the airport out of New York to I-287 and beyond was a nightmare. The traffic was snarled up by a three car pile up ahead of them.
They inched along at a stop and go crawl that was getting on JJ's nerves. She tried one more time to call Reid's cell, but it was useless. "Can't we put on the siren Hotch?" She asked him. He pinned her with his dark eyes in the rearview mirror.
"It won't help; we'd just sit here annoying people. No one is going anywhere, anytime soon." Their forward motion had stopped all together.
It's almost like someone or something is trying to stop them from getting to Reid.
That was a ridiculous idea. Reid was fine. The others would think her crazy if she voiced those thoughts.
Then they were past the blocked traffic and it looked like smooth sailing. JJ looked at her watch and saw that they were an hour and half past schedule.
A hand touched her arm and she looked over to see Emily watching her. "He'll be okay." She said softly, but JJ could see that the other agent didn't believe her own words. She looked out the window and watched buildings and trees dressed for fall flashing by. Something was very wrong and she was sure they were already too late.
