An: This chapter is a longer then the others, but it was mostly just because I couldn't cut any of this adorable content!

Cedric Crane and the legend of Sleepy Hollow

Chapter 10: A fortress of fear

Cedric Crane entered the Sleepy Hollow tavern to find it mostly empty, with only the owner and her son lingering in the dining area. The loud scraping sound the door made when opening alarmed Lucious Lockhart, and he lifted his head to meet the noise. Lucinda Lockhart, at the other side of the room, was disposing of a meal that had been abandoned by the last customer, and when she noticed Cedric, she smiled at him.

"Good afternoon Mr Crane. How was your morning?" She greeted, collecting the messy plates and carrying them beyond the bar for washing. All the other tables in the room were bare, except for the booth immediately to the right of the staircase. There, the sweater wearing tavern pup was cluttering the space with his play things. Realizing that the visiter was only Mr Crane, the boy returned to his distractions. He seemed rather content all alone in the corner, as he scribbled on parchment with bits of colored chalk.

In the warmth of the day light, the fireplace that lit the night before was forgotten, now dim and nearly smothered out by soot. The smell of something savory cooking over a stove filled the room, and it met Cedrics senses with welcoming comfort. Even though he'd eaten a lions share of sugar treats at the Van Tassel estate, Cedric again felt as though he could finish off a feast all on his own. He made his way into the tavern, and sat in the chair directly across the bar from Lucinda. "Fine, but I am rather famished. Is there anything for lunch?"

"Coming right up." She replied, and though her eyes were dark with sleep deprivation, she winked at him before heading into the kitchens. She soon returned with a plate of baked black beans and a slice of bread. Placing it in front of Cedric, she began preparing him a drink as well. "Did things go well with the school house? Did you get the job?"

When Lucinda paired his meal with a glass of tea, Cedric had already devoured half the serving. He swallowed a bite before replying to her questions. "Mr Van Tassel and I have reached an agreement, but it'll still be some time before I can start any lessons."

Lucinda gave an almost pouting expression as she took up one of the messy plates and started to scrub. "That's too bad." She said, her eyes focused on her task. "Lucious and the others have already waited so long. His father could care less about our future here, all he ever does is sleep and drink, but I want my son to have a better life than that…"

Cedric noticed the fervor in the plates scrubbing intensify with every word, and her eyes becoming emotional. "…If he could just read and write, I'd be happy enough with that, but no matter what I try, he just won't give it a chance. He's so well behaved otherwise, I just don't understand-…" Her words faded when he placed a comforting hand over hers, preventing her from washing any more furiously.

The two of them shot a glance over at the boy in the booth, but he seemed oblivious, as he continued his chalk scribbles.

Seeing that the child wasn't giving them any attention, Cedric returned his gaze to Lucinda. "Children are like that Mrs Lockhart." He said with a sympathetic smile, then he retracted his hand to rest his arms atop the bars surface. "You are not lacking in any teaching skills, I'm sure of that, but, children simply need patience."

Lucinda gave a sigh, calming what ever emotional stress she was feeling before, and placed the now cleanly scrubbed plate on the stack of identical ones. She then took another from the dirty pile, and began washing this one as well. Her eyes were down cast, not really focused on the cleaning anymore, but rather something in her mind, something far away.

Now in silence, Cedric scanned the plate he'd nearly forgotten was for him. It only had a few more bites of beans left on it, and the graciously given food reminded him of the importance the bar maiden placed upon his role in Sleepy Hollow. At that moment, the soon-to-be school master made a decision, and he then lifted the plate to very rudely scrape the remains into his mouth like a savage. Lucinda stared at him in confusion, until he lowered the plate and handed it to her for washing.

He wiped his lips and cheeks with a napkin, before standing from the seat. "I will speak with him, let us see if I can crack this mental blockade." The bright appreciative smile that spread across Lucindas face wasn't missed, but it wasn't acknowledged either, as Cedric quickly moved away from the bar.

Approaching the child, Cedric investigated the tables contents. A few stuffed toys were sat up straight in the booth seats, all in need of repair, and scattered about the surface were several pages of crudely done drawings, sketched in many different soft pastels. "Good afternoon, Mr Lucious." Cedric greeted the boy, looming over his right side.

He seemed unfazed by the tall figure above him however, as Lucious didn't even look up from his drawing when addressed. "Hello Mr Crane." He replied, hands busily crafting images out of color.

Cedric stood beside him, watching him work for a moment, before pressing for more conversation. "How are you today?"

"Fine." The boy replied, again, not looking up or stopping his movement. His hands were covered in chalk dust of various colors, and the sweater sleeves that normally would have stretched over his arms, were rolled around his shoulders, giving it the appearance of puffy gown. The thick black curls around his face were just as tangled as usual, and they bounced around as his entire toddler body moved with the force of his scribbles.

Spying a barely touched plate of food on the other side of the table, Cedric shifted his attention to it. "You didn't eat your lunch?"

Suddenly, his coloring hand stopped, and without meeting Cedrics gaze, Lucious said. "I'm not hungry."

With out another word from the boy, Cedric sighed and reached for the plate. "Very well then, I suppose your lovely mothers hard work will simply have to go to waste." He said, but just before he could grasp the dish, Lucious swiped it into his own hands, scooping spoonfuls of the serving into his mouth, and loudly chewing the large bites.

The plate now nearly clean, Lucious aggressively set it down with a thunk, and lowered his head again, shielding his eyes from Cedric with his thick hair. With a glance to the boy, then back to the plate, he picked it up with the intent to bring it to Mrs Lockhart, but then Cedric paused.

"Is something troubling you Mr Lucious?" Cedric asked, tilting his head to catch a peek at his face, but the child only turned away. "You know, if you are in need of counseling, I could lend you my time."

Lucious wiped his baggy sleeve across his face, poorly cleaning the evidence of his scarfed meal, and said. "I know Mama talked to you about me…" He then brought his legs up into the seat, resting his chin on his knee caps.

"She did, but your mother is only worried about your well being." Cedric said, placing the dirty plate back down upon the table. He dropped the charade of casual interest, and dawned a more authoritative demeanor. "You're causing her some amount of grief with this stubborn refusal to learn."

"She want's me to learn magic… but I won't."

"It's not just all about magic, Mr Lucious. She wants you to receive a proper education, so that when you are older, you can make intelligent decisions, and do some good in this world." Cedric explained, slapping his hands together to indicate the importance of his statement.

"Why do adults always talk like I can't hear them Mr Crane?" Lucious asked, finally raising his gaze to meet Cedric.

"Well…" Cedric was caught off guard by this question, and a twinge of guilt flashed through his expression. He thought for a moment, then crossed his arms with a sigh. "I guess you could say, that adults are afraid of children. They'd rather think of them as incapable of comprehension, as opposed to a living learning being whom, if given the time could-"

"Mama is scared of me?" Lucious interrupted, his brow furrowing, and his little hands tightening their grip on his knees. "Like how everyones scared of witches and monsters… and ghosts… and-"

"No-no-no…" Shaking his head side to side, Cedric placed a hand atop the boys head until he was ready to lift his gaze again. "Your Mother is not afraid of you Lucious, but… it's hard for adults to understand children, and people don't really like not being able to easily understand things… It… upsets them."

The small child uncurled a little, his eyes intense, over-working his young mind to interpret the mans words. Cedric moved his attention to the papers scattered around the table. "Did you draw these?" He asked, knowing full well that he was the artist, and Lucious nodded shyly, with a twitch of a smile on his lips.

"They are quite well done." Cedric commented, happily distracting the little one from the thoughts that were becoming unhealthy.

The hardly a smile, stretched into a prideful one, and the boy replied. "Thank you. I like to draw."

"Ah, so you're an artist then are you?" Cedric asked with the arch of a brow, and Lucious nodded, but then he re-thought about it, and shook his head. "You're not?"

The boy shrugged his sweater heavy shoulders. "I'd like to be one… but I'm not that good at drawing."

Cedric inspected the parchment, taking it in his hand and making an exaggerated show of his appreciation. He held it daintily between two fingers, tilting his head and making faces at it.

The drawing looked like a cat perhaps, with a pig nose, and chicken legs. It could have been wearing a bow, or a butterfly could have landed on its back, Cedric wasn't sure, but either way, he was going to be impressed.

"Well, you might not think so, but I think it's a wonderful piece." Cedric said, placing the paper back down in front of the child. "…You should sign it."

"Sign it? What does that mean?"

"It means to write your name on it." Explained Cedric, moving his fingers in the air like he was writing with a quill. "All the greatest artists sign their works of art."

Lucious put a hand to his chin. "Artists like the one who painted the roof of Mr Van Tassels office?"

With a cocked brow, Cedric stared at the boy. "You've seen that?"

The boy nodded. "Sometimes when Mama visits him, she lets me sit on the floor." Lucious let his legs dangle back down over the seats edge, and stretched his hands up like he was looking at the ceiling. "I like to look up at all the pretty ladies and clouds, and I pretend that I'm flying with them."

"I see…" Cedric murmured, considering the painting in his own memory, though he hadn't memorized it as well as the child likely had.

"…but, I don't know how to write." Lucious said a little apprehensively, lowering his hands and shifting his gaze to look at the older man.

"Oh, well that's alright." Taking a seat beside the boy, Cedric searched for a blank parchment. "Your name might be a little difficult to write, so allow me to show you how."

Lucious scooted up close to watch as Cedric took up a bit of green chalk, and began to scribe the letters, saying each one as he went so that the child could follow along. "L, U, C, I, O, U, S… Lucious." Once done, Cedric pulled his hand away so that the boy could take a closer look. "There, that's how you spell your name."

Astonished by the simple chalk scratches, Lucious picked up the paper and stared at it, but as he inspected the word, his excited expression faded. "I still can't read it…" He muttered, brow furrowed as he replaced the paper on the table.

Cedric couldn't help but chuckle at the poor boys irritation. "Of course you can't lad. Just because it's your name doesn't mean you'd recognize it without knowing your alphabet." Lucious looked up at Cedric, head tilted at a slight angle.

"My what?"

"Your alphabet. Here let me show you." Cedric then took a fresh paper from beneath the pile and placed it on top, writing each letter separately so they could be clearly seen individually. "There we are." He said as he completed the writing, and tapped the page with the end of the chalk.

Lucious stared at the long scribing, and squinted at it. "What does that say?"

With another bit of suppressed laughter, Cedric explained. "It doesn't say anything. These are letters, and with letters you can make any word from the dictionary."

"What's a… dick-shon-ray?"

"A dic-tion-ary." Cedric pointed, putting emphasis in each syllable. "A dictionary is a book that catalogs all written english." He said, reaching into his coat pocket and retrieving the book he'd read on the train to New York. He held it up for Lucious to see. "Like this one."

Cedric handed the book to the boy, and he looked it over before opening it to a random middle page. Then something like realization hit him, and Lucious quickly slapped it closed again. "It's not a spell book right?"

"Not all books are spell books Mr Lucious, for example, this book is about mushrooms." When Cedric said the word 'mushrooms', Lucious scrunched up his nose and bit out the tip of his tongue. "You don't like mushrooms do you?" The boy shook his head from side to side, frantically conveying his distaste for the fungus.

"Well that's fine, you don't have to like them." Lucious urged with the book to return it, and Cedric took it, putting it back in to his coat pocket. "There are books on many subjects. Like legends and history, or fairy tales…"

"Are there books about art?" Lucious asked, blinking up at Cedric with a sparkle in his lake green eyes.

The instructor jumped at this opportunity. "Absolutely, there are more books about arts than you could read in a life time, but you won't ever have the chance…" He offered Lucious the parchment with his own name scribed across it. "…unless you learn how to read them."

Lucious scanned the paper covered in symbols he couldn't understand, before taking it from Cedric and placing it on the table before himself. He grasped what seemed to be his favored pink chalk, and started copying the first letter as closely as he could with his shaky illiterate hand.

The 'u' was swiggly, the 'i' looked more like a lightning bolt, and the 's' was very 'z' shaped, but Lucious had rather successfully written his name for the first time. Once he finished, the boy stared at the word as if it were staring back at him. "Lucious." He muttered as if he were reading it, but he still couldn't recognize it as his name.

"There…" Cedric eyed the misshaped letters, and smiled. "…Now when anyone see's this work of art, they will know it was 'Lucious' who created it."

Cedrics smile, was met with another from Lucious, and the childs excitement showed on his face. He swiped up the paper, and climbed beneath the table, scurrying out of the booth from beneath it. Cedric followed him with his eyes as the boy rushed to his mother, art work in hand.

"Mama! Mama look!" Lucious called to her, holding the page above his head for display, and Lucinda dried her hands on her waist sash. She crouched beside him, scanning the parchment until her eyes locked onto the pink letters at the bottom. Slowly she took the paper from her son, reading it over and over, before her gaze shot to Cedric, who simply returned it with a knowing nod.

"Oh my- You did it, Lucious!" She cheered, reaching out to embrace her son, bouncing and swinging him around in her arms. "You wrote your name!"