Authors Note: Alrighty, I'm assuming you all realize I don't own the
characters, either the wonderful Washington Irvine or someone of the like
does and that goes without need of being said. This is based on the movie.
I don't have a title for this yet as of the beginning of chapter one but
once I have one then I promise to get it up there. This is kind of a test
to see if anyone likes the story, if they do I'll most certainly continue
writing it. I promise that this story has an interesting plot filled with
twists and turns once it gets rolling. In later chapters it will also
explore the headless horseman and his personality as well as his possible
background. On with the show...
Ichabod looked out the window of his carriage gloomily. He never had wanted to return to this horrible place; it held nothing but all-too-recent bad memories for him. However it was not his decision to be sent here, it was his superior's. Therefore this left him in a situation that he was helpless to avoid.
Not too long after he had returned to New York with Katrina and Young Masbeth from Sleepy Hollow, his entire life seemed to fall out from under him. Katrina had brought him so much happiness, being the only member of female company who ever dared to be attracted to him, the strange and morbid constable. He should have known the happiness could not last.
After he had made his statement to the Burgomaster, one which stated that the guilty party had been killed in self-defense, Ichabod had more then proven his work's usefulness in deducing the killer. Unfortunately the Burgomaster still wished to see more proof before using the system in the courts.
No more then a month after Ichabod's return to New York Katrina seemed to drift further and further from him. Young Masbeth had gotten a job as an assistant page in the city and she was in charge of looking after him. She would ride into town to fetch him and be gone for increasingly long amounts of time.
Nearly three weeks later he was dismissed from his work early and was on his way home when he spied Katrina in the company of a young man. When he asked her about it later she regretfully in formed him that it was a local blacksmith whom she had been seeing for quite a time. She was worried about telling him of her activities because she didn't wish to hurt him.
Needless to say she moved out within the week, leaving Ichabod behind in a deep depression. Young Masbeth tried as hard as he could to help his guardian cheer up but despite his valiant efforts Ichabod drifted more and more into his own world of sadness and despair.
Now, here he was; in a carriage on his way back to Sleepy Hollow on business. A new set of happenings had begun in the town and, because of his familiarity with the area, Ichabod was sent to investigate. Young Masbeth sat opposite him in the carriage; sleeping on the way back to his birthplace.
Glad to have his mind distracted from the subject of Katrina, who'd left him almost ten months ago, Ichabod opened the leather bound journal that lay in his lap. His eyes scanned over fresh pages of the dark book, looking for the information on the latest happenings in Sleepy Hollow.
On the second page of his freshly started book Ichabod found what he was looking for and began to read his neatly printed writing. The victims had been found in open ground, much as before, he noted. This time, unlike the last, the killer had not been so neat in his work; a sure sign that this was NOT the work of the Headless Horseman.
There had been five victims; two were alive and three were dead. The dead were found with their throats torn open savagely, as if ripped apart by some wild, bloodthirsty beast in the night. Indeed that's what this may be dismissed as. The other two, who still lived, were found near the church yard in a comatose state. After a night of rest they would awaken in the morning, not remembering a thing but feeling very weak and very thirsty from the moment their eyes opened at sunrise.
Ichabod looked up as the carriage came to stop. Through the window he saw the familiar deer head posts that marked the entrance to the town of Sleepy Hollow. Masbeth stirred in his seat across the coach, his eyes falling on the same sight. He yawned and opened the door, landing on the dirt road and looking around at the buildings. Ichabod followed shortly after, assisting his ward in lifting their luggage from the coach before it road off down the trail.
"Where will we be staying sir?" Masbeth wondered. Over the past year Ichabod had quickly learned the boys first name to be Jonathan, just like his father's had been before his death.
"I'm not sure; perhaps we should go into town and ask." Ichabod suggested, looking out at a town that seemed not to have changed at all since he had departed.
The two made their way to the familiar buildings slowly. They were greeted in much the same way Ichabod had been when he first came to investigate the murders of the Headless Horseman. Windows were being shut all over, but not without a slight bit of hesitation from some at recognizing either Jonathan or Ichabod.
"It doesn't seem to have changed much since we were both here last." Jonathan observed, looking first towards the cemetery and then over in the direction where they had rebuilt his fathers watchtower.
"So it would seem on the outside I suppose." The constable gave a small smile at the boy in seeing what he was looking at. In all his thoughts of what memories this place would bring back for him he hadn't once thought of what the boy would remember. His father had been killed here after all.
As they neared the church they stopped abruptly; they could hear a soft voice humming a tune nearby. Ichabod looked at young Masbeth quizzically and the boy shrugged. Slowly they moved towards the voice, rounding the corner to where the church rested and met up with the road that led to the Western Woods and the Van Tassel's old estate.
Ichabod and the boy stopped once more as they came across the owner of the voice they had heard a moment earlier. It was a young woman who was carrying a basket filled with herbs and flowers. She had her back turned to them and was picking a few wildflowers that grew near the side of the road.
When the young woman finished and turned around she froze, her eyes landing on the two strangers who were watching her. One was a boy with short black hair and curious brown eyes and the other was a young man, perhaps a few years older then her, with wild black hair and tired chocolate eyes.
Ichabod's breath caught in his throat as he saw the girl. She had fiery red hair that fell in waves down to her waist yet she wore it up in manner that kept it behind her and out of her eyes. Her dress was an elegant yet graceful mix of forest green and a cream color with a corset top and that fit her curves perfectly and fell around her feet, on which she wore leather boots. It wasn't until her noticed that her emerald eyes were assessing him as well that he quickly cleared his throat and looked away to hide his blush.
"Hello." The girl began slowly, sensing discomfort from the older of the two men before her.
"Hello..." The boy spoke in place of the man who was looking away. "My name is Jonathan Masbeth and this is Constable Ichabod Crane from New York. He's been sent here to investigate the recent... um... events in town."
"Constable?" The girl repeated and looked up at the man who was still looking over at the church as if there was something of interest there. "Well my name is Diana Aphrodine. I suppose you two will be needing a place to stay while you're in town?" She sighed.
"Yes, actually we were just looking for a place." The boy confirmed.
"Well then I suppose the two of you can stay with me if you like. I'm afraid my home isn't very large at all... but with everything that's going on recently I doubt you'll find anywhere else to stay." Diana offered with a warm smile.
"That's very kind of you, thank you Miss. Aphrodine." Ichabod spoke up, looking at the girl now.
"So you do speak! I was beginning to wonder!" The girl joked. Masbeth chuckled a bit as the constable flushed. "Come with me, I live halfway between here and the hillside manor."
"Do you mean the Van Tassel's old home?" Ichabod inquired almost immediately.
"Well Peter Van Dane, the notary, banker, and current head of the town elders lives there now. I have heard that that is where the Van Tassel's once lived however, though that was before I moved to Sleepy Hollow." Diana supplied as she led them across the bridge towards the road that led to her home as well as the old estate.
"When did you move to Sleepy Hollow?" Jonathan wondered.
"Me? A couple months ago," Diana answered. She looked over at the constable with concern; he seemed to have an air of sorrow around him. "Are you alright?"
"What? Oh! Yes, yes I'm fine, just thinking is all." He offered her a less than half hearted smile of reassurance.
"Well if you are certain..." She trailed off deciding not to press the matter. Maybe later she could speak to him, when the boy was not around. Until then she supposed what was on her mind would have to wait.
Ichabod looked out the window of his carriage gloomily. He never had wanted to return to this horrible place; it held nothing but all-too-recent bad memories for him. However it was not his decision to be sent here, it was his superior's. Therefore this left him in a situation that he was helpless to avoid.
Not too long after he had returned to New York with Katrina and Young Masbeth from Sleepy Hollow, his entire life seemed to fall out from under him. Katrina had brought him so much happiness, being the only member of female company who ever dared to be attracted to him, the strange and morbid constable. He should have known the happiness could not last.
After he had made his statement to the Burgomaster, one which stated that the guilty party had been killed in self-defense, Ichabod had more then proven his work's usefulness in deducing the killer. Unfortunately the Burgomaster still wished to see more proof before using the system in the courts.
No more then a month after Ichabod's return to New York Katrina seemed to drift further and further from him. Young Masbeth had gotten a job as an assistant page in the city and she was in charge of looking after him. She would ride into town to fetch him and be gone for increasingly long amounts of time.
Nearly three weeks later he was dismissed from his work early and was on his way home when he spied Katrina in the company of a young man. When he asked her about it later she regretfully in formed him that it was a local blacksmith whom she had been seeing for quite a time. She was worried about telling him of her activities because she didn't wish to hurt him.
Needless to say she moved out within the week, leaving Ichabod behind in a deep depression. Young Masbeth tried as hard as he could to help his guardian cheer up but despite his valiant efforts Ichabod drifted more and more into his own world of sadness and despair.
Now, here he was; in a carriage on his way back to Sleepy Hollow on business. A new set of happenings had begun in the town and, because of his familiarity with the area, Ichabod was sent to investigate. Young Masbeth sat opposite him in the carriage; sleeping on the way back to his birthplace.
Glad to have his mind distracted from the subject of Katrina, who'd left him almost ten months ago, Ichabod opened the leather bound journal that lay in his lap. His eyes scanned over fresh pages of the dark book, looking for the information on the latest happenings in Sleepy Hollow.
On the second page of his freshly started book Ichabod found what he was looking for and began to read his neatly printed writing. The victims had been found in open ground, much as before, he noted. This time, unlike the last, the killer had not been so neat in his work; a sure sign that this was NOT the work of the Headless Horseman.
There had been five victims; two were alive and three were dead. The dead were found with their throats torn open savagely, as if ripped apart by some wild, bloodthirsty beast in the night. Indeed that's what this may be dismissed as. The other two, who still lived, were found near the church yard in a comatose state. After a night of rest they would awaken in the morning, not remembering a thing but feeling very weak and very thirsty from the moment their eyes opened at sunrise.
Ichabod looked up as the carriage came to stop. Through the window he saw the familiar deer head posts that marked the entrance to the town of Sleepy Hollow. Masbeth stirred in his seat across the coach, his eyes falling on the same sight. He yawned and opened the door, landing on the dirt road and looking around at the buildings. Ichabod followed shortly after, assisting his ward in lifting their luggage from the coach before it road off down the trail.
"Where will we be staying sir?" Masbeth wondered. Over the past year Ichabod had quickly learned the boys first name to be Jonathan, just like his father's had been before his death.
"I'm not sure; perhaps we should go into town and ask." Ichabod suggested, looking out at a town that seemed not to have changed at all since he had departed.
The two made their way to the familiar buildings slowly. They were greeted in much the same way Ichabod had been when he first came to investigate the murders of the Headless Horseman. Windows were being shut all over, but not without a slight bit of hesitation from some at recognizing either Jonathan or Ichabod.
"It doesn't seem to have changed much since we were both here last." Jonathan observed, looking first towards the cemetery and then over in the direction where they had rebuilt his fathers watchtower.
"So it would seem on the outside I suppose." The constable gave a small smile at the boy in seeing what he was looking at. In all his thoughts of what memories this place would bring back for him he hadn't once thought of what the boy would remember. His father had been killed here after all.
As they neared the church they stopped abruptly; they could hear a soft voice humming a tune nearby. Ichabod looked at young Masbeth quizzically and the boy shrugged. Slowly they moved towards the voice, rounding the corner to where the church rested and met up with the road that led to the Western Woods and the Van Tassel's old estate.
Ichabod and the boy stopped once more as they came across the owner of the voice they had heard a moment earlier. It was a young woman who was carrying a basket filled with herbs and flowers. She had her back turned to them and was picking a few wildflowers that grew near the side of the road.
When the young woman finished and turned around she froze, her eyes landing on the two strangers who were watching her. One was a boy with short black hair and curious brown eyes and the other was a young man, perhaps a few years older then her, with wild black hair and tired chocolate eyes.
Ichabod's breath caught in his throat as he saw the girl. She had fiery red hair that fell in waves down to her waist yet she wore it up in manner that kept it behind her and out of her eyes. Her dress was an elegant yet graceful mix of forest green and a cream color with a corset top and that fit her curves perfectly and fell around her feet, on which she wore leather boots. It wasn't until her noticed that her emerald eyes were assessing him as well that he quickly cleared his throat and looked away to hide his blush.
"Hello." The girl began slowly, sensing discomfort from the older of the two men before her.
"Hello..." The boy spoke in place of the man who was looking away. "My name is Jonathan Masbeth and this is Constable Ichabod Crane from New York. He's been sent here to investigate the recent... um... events in town."
"Constable?" The girl repeated and looked up at the man who was still looking over at the church as if there was something of interest there. "Well my name is Diana Aphrodine. I suppose you two will be needing a place to stay while you're in town?" She sighed.
"Yes, actually we were just looking for a place." The boy confirmed.
"Well then I suppose the two of you can stay with me if you like. I'm afraid my home isn't very large at all... but with everything that's going on recently I doubt you'll find anywhere else to stay." Diana offered with a warm smile.
"That's very kind of you, thank you Miss. Aphrodine." Ichabod spoke up, looking at the girl now.
"So you do speak! I was beginning to wonder!" The girl joked. Masbeth chuckled a bit as the constable flushed. "Come with me, I live halfway between here and the hillside manor."
"Do you mean the Van Tassel's old home?" Ichabod inquired almost immediately.
"Well Peter Van Dane, the notary, banker, and current head of the town elders lives there now. I have heard that that is where the Van Tassel's once lived however, though that was before I moved to Sleepy Hollow." Diana supplied as she led them across the bridge towards the road that led to her home as well as the old estate.
"When did you move to Sleepy Hollow?" Jonathan wondered.
"Me? A couple months ago," Diana answered. She looked over at the constable with concern; he seemed to have an air of sorrow around him. "Are you alright?"
"What? Oh! Yes, yes I'm fine, just thinking is all." He offered her a less than half hearted smile of reassurance.
"Well if you are certain..." She trailed off deciding not to press the matter. Maybe later she could speak to him, when the boy was not around. Until then she supposed what was on her mind would have to wait.
