Chapter 4

- "Who wouldn't want that power?"

My mind was spinning out of control and I could barely concentrate. Time travel, of that I was sure.

When I was convinced that the Hessian's footsteps had already moved away, I took the stone and examined it. It had lost its warmth and it looked like an ordinary yellow stone again. How could the Horseman know how to use it? And why hadn't he tried to go back in time long before? The man seemed indecipherable, sometimes ruthless and violent, and other times he was kind enough not to cross the line with me if I didn't want it.

I was trying to go over in my head what I knew about that time. 1779. American Revolution and Independence. Great, I had arrived in the middle of a war. My history teacher would kill to be in my place.

I folded my clothes and put them in the sack, I thanked the Hessian for at least be considerate enough by giving me that heavy cape; The pants were a bit wide and long, but I fitted them as well as I could with the belt. I took the Hessian's things and left the small room.

The space outside was dark and the only light was visible at the end of a wooden stairway. I climbed slowly, still barefoot, mentally preparing myself for the shock of seeing the world from 200 years ago. A large room was before me; It seemed to be a tavern with several tables crowded with men in military uniforms who drank beer, laughed and sang to the rhythm of the music of a harpsichord. Some women wrapped in brightly coloured dresses fluttered like butterflies between tables laughing, pouring alcohol and putting their hands where they shouldn't.

I looked for the Hessian in the crowd but couldn't see him anywhere. I moved forward trying to go unnoticed and begging to get out of there soon. Suddenly I felt a hand grabbing my arm and when I turned, I realized that it was not the Hessian. A man nearly seven feet tall, with a long reddish beard, looked at me with watery intoxicated eyes.

- "Look what we have here. A new girl!" I tried to pull away from him but he was still holding on tight. - "Wait, wait, nobody refuses to be with me. I have never seen you around here. Hey Paul! Paul! How much for this one?

A short, bald man looked at me from behind the bar, arching his eyebrows in surprise.

- "She is worth ten." - He said after a few moments.

- "Ten coins? But if he is not so young! I give you six. "

At that moment I took advantage of the giant's distraction and, horrified, I ran between the tables while he followed me. I knocked down some chairs and spilled several cups of beer, but the soldiers seemed to have a lot of fun. They screamed and clapped as they cackled each time I tripped trying to dodge the giant's hands.

- "No Please. Stop!" - I was begging when he finally caught me.

- "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!"

The Horseman's voice thundered above the bustle of the tavern and in an instant everything stopped. All eyes fell on the Hessian that was approaching with quick steps looking angrily at me.

The giant who was at least five inches taller than the Horseman shot him a dismissive look as he exclaimed:

- "I saw her first and I will keep her. Hey Paul, I'll pay you the ten coins."

It was only a second, the shine of the Horseman's sword unsheathed and the muffled cry of the people. I closed my eyes and when I opened them, I saw how the sharp tip of the sword stopped almost grazing the flesh of the giant's neck. The Horseman's face had changed, his features had a fierce expression and his eyes were shining in a demonic way.

- "Get out." - He snapped at me.

My feet were nailed to the ground and only because two women took me to another room in the compound was I able to move.

- "How dare you get into a men's fight? - One of them told me while looking at my men's clothes. The other young woman cracked open the door to spy on what was happening. - "Why are you dressed like this?"

I ignored her question and went to the door to see what was happening outside as well, but she slammed it shut.

- "You better not see it." - She looked me up and down and also asked. - "What happened to your dress?"

I was tempted to ask them for help. To explain to them that I came from the future and that I needed to flee from the Hessian but then I thought better of it, it seemed to me that they would not have been more than 17 years old and that they were surely in a worse situation than mine.

I didn't know what to answer so I said the first thing that came to mind:- "The Hessian has given me these clothes. I come from a distant place and I did not have adequate clothing for winter."

They both opened their eyes wide.

- "Commander Schaffer has given you that? I have never seen him be so generous to his prisoners of war."

- "Pri ... prisoners of war?"

- "Yes, he must have brought you here to sell you to Paul. He's done it a couple of times already." - The girl spoke to me in a low and nervous tone, I supposed she didn't want to scare me with her words. - "But it is the first time that I see him trying to defend one of the women he brings."

I wasn't too surprised to find out about the shady deals the Hessian was involved in, but the very little consideration I had for him disappeared in an instant. If I wanted to survive and go home, I had to swallow my fear and be more cunning than him.

"He hasn't brought me here to sell me."

The young woman gave me a pity smile and answered:

- "I know it is hard, but after a while you will realize that it is better to be here than to starve outside." - And turning she kept spying through the door.

After a minute that seemed like an eternity to me, she finally said:

-"It's over."

I almost ran out of the room. I wanted to leave that place immediately but stopped short when I saw the huge pool of blood on the floor that some servants hurried to clean with rags and buckets of already reddish water. The music had started playing again and everyone was behaving as if a murder had not taken place there. A familiar voice called me:

- "Come, come, drink with me."

It was the Hessian; his face was lit with a happy expression and his laugh was very lively. It was the first time I had seen him smile. He was sitting at a table drinking and chatting with two women and as I approached, he gestured one of them to leave. I sat down in her place and he put a cup full to the top of brandy in front of me.

- "You can't even begin to imagine how much I missed this."

I looked at him incredulously. Did he miss massacring a person so much?

- "I thought that being the Headless Horseman you dedicated yourself precisely to that. To behead unsuspecting innocents in the woods." - I said sarcastically.

The Hessian looked at me still smiling.

- "I hardly murdered a handful being a ghost. Most passed out as soon as they saw me. It is no fun killing someone who is unconscious."

- "So that is why you didn't kill me before? Because I passed out in the snow?"

The Horseman narrowed his eyes at me.

-"No. You know very well why you're not dead yet. And you better watch the tone you speak to me."

- "You said we were going to leave." - I grumbled.

- "And we will. But now, drink."

The woman sitting on the other side of the Horseman wore a scarlet red dress that highlighted her beautiful olive skin. She rested her delicate face on his shoulder and said:

- "It has been a long time, Commander Schaffer, since you last visited us. It is good to have you back."

The Hessian had his eyes fixed on his cup of brandy and barely answered the woman:

- "Not today, Bella. Today I'm just going to drink." - He turned his face towards me and when he noticed that I had not tasted a single drop of the liquor he blurted out:

- "Obey me, drink it."

-"I do not want." - I said pushing the cup away.

The woman gave me a warning sign with her incredulous face, but it was too late.

-"You do not want?" - With a wicked smile the Hessian took the cup and spilled all its content on me. The cold liquid dripped down soaking into my hair and clothes. Without a word he filled the cup again and set it in front of me.

-"Drink it."

The liquid burned my throat, but gulp after gulp it warmed me up. The Hessian did not speak to me anymore and only dedicated himself to drinking and staring vacantly into his cup. When I was already in my third cup of brandy the Horseman finally dropped his head on the table, passing out from the alcohol. The woman quickly took him by the arm trying to lead him to one of the rooms.

-"Leave him alone." - I say to her.

At the time I was horrified at the idea of being alone in a place like this. At least with the Horseman I felt ironically protected. At least together we shared a goal, to gather the book and the stone. At least he knew that I didn't belong on this timeline. At least ... a sharp feeling shot through my chest at the thought of the Hessian together with that woman. I swallowed and drowned that spark of jealousy immediately.

- "The Commander is my client. Get yours." - She grumbled dragging the Horseman who barely managed to stay on his feet.

- "He and I have an unfinished business." - I said pulling him by the other arm and taking him back to the table.

- "I do not understand why the Commander should care about the affairs of a prostitute." - She replied. - "But as you like. There will be other opportunities."

She walked away while I tried to wake up the Hessian. I slapped his on the face and on the back, but it was no use. I asked one of the girls for a saucepan of water and I emptied it over him, savouring silently my sweet revenge. The Hessian finally woke up screaming.

- "Verdammt, der Stein!"

Then he took me by the shoulders and planted a kiss on my lips. It was only a few seconds, but the taste of liquor in his mouth and his sweet breath left me petrified. For a very brief moment when I looked into his eyes, I felt that I never wanted to leave him. The Hessian, with his face still tilted towards mine was smiling. But it was a strange smile; nervous, as if he had discovered something that still did not convince him.

- "Es ... Es tut mir Leid." - He said quickly. - "I didn't think alcohol was going to affect me that much."

He put his arm around my shoulders and guided me to the exit.

- "I still don't have shoes." - I managed to say before I opened the door. The Horseman looked at my bare feet and called Bella, the scarlet dress woman.

- "I think that in the end we will do business you and me." - He said.

I ended up wearing booties that fit me perfectly. The Hessian was riding his steed while I was behind on a donkey. I couldn't help but ask him:

- "How come your horse traveled with us too?"

- "Daredevil and I share a special connection. He has accompanied me in life and in death."

I was silent, analyzing the Horseman's response. Maybe he was much more human than I thought. I was enraptured looking at the soft flutter of his cape in the wind. The few snowflakes that accumulated on his broad shoulders. Black hair standing out against the whiteness of winter. The alcohol and the slow wobble of my mount finally beat me and with a thud I fell on the snow. The frightened donkey trotted out and the Hessian rushed down, approaching me. After making sure I was not hurt, he said sarcastically:

- "At least I'm not the only drunk here. I was paying attention to you and I thought you handled that alcohol very well."

I blushed immediately. So he had been watching me all along ...

The Horseman helped me to my feet and called the donkey back with a whistle.

- "Stay awake and be more careful." - He said as he put me back on the saddle. - "A blizzard will come soon."