Katrina stood in front of the Tree of the Dead, a look of silent horror on her face. Even though her breath was slowly calming down, she could still hear her heart pounding in her ears. She cast one quick, frightened glance at the bottom of the Tree where the ghostly white hand was lying, pointing a finger at her as though trying to coax her to come closer, to coax her to follow to where the Horseman had taken the demon her stepmother had turned out to be. The thought sent shivers down her spine.

Wanting to distract herself from the eerie sight, she quickly turned towards Ichabod, who was still lying on the ground, unconscious but beginning to stir. She rushed to his side and gently took his hand.
"Ichabod?", she whispered, starting to shake him carefully. "Ichabod. Please wake up. It's over. She's gone. Did you hear me? She's gone, we're free!"

Ichabod finally opened his eyes, only to close them right away. He groaned and began to sit up slowly, all the while holding his head as if wanting to make sure it was still where it belonged. Katrina touched his shoulder, an expression of deep worry on her face. "Ichabod? Are you all right?"
He tried a smile that almost made her heart melt. "I'm fine, Katrina. Don't worry. What about you and Young Masbeth?"
Her face fell. Young Masbeth! In her worry about Ichabod, she had completely forgotten about the boy. Trembling, she got up and looked around. He was nowhere to be seen. Katrina closed her eyes briefly, for some moments feeling as if clouds of panic were rising up in front of her.

"Young Masbeth!", she called, trying not to let her fear overwhelm her. "Young Masbeth, where are you?"

Behind her, the sound of breaking twigs came out o the direction of the Tree of the Dead. She started and whirled around to see what had caused the noise. "Young Masbeth!", she sighed. "You almost scared me to death!"
The boy came out from behind the Tree he seemed to have examined more closely. "I'm sorry, Miss. But I just couldn't believe that they were really gone."
Icahbod had finally gotten to his feet as well. "And are they gone, Young Masbeth?" The boy nodded. "Not a trace left of them, Sir."

Katrina smiled, at last allowing herself to feel relieved. "Come on, let's leave this place for good!", she heard Ichabod say.

All three of them began to walk away, all three of them bathing in the relief of their victory. When they had almost reached the edge of the clearing, another sound made them stop dead in their tracks.
Behind them, they heard wood break. And after some moments, a cold, female voice reached their ears.

"Surprise!"