Eleanor refused to venture into the attic, so Ichabod asked Katrina to take her back to her room and stay with her. The rest of them, each armed with a candle, disappeared one by one up the ladder and into the dark space above.
"They shouldn't be up there," Eleanor said, as she sat at the foot of her bed, fingers picking nervously at her skirt.
"Ichabod will keep them safe," Katrina assured her. "I promise."
"Mr Green shouldn't be going up there," Eleanor continued as if she wasn't listening. "Not with his leg still healing."
"He seemed to manage it just fine," Katrina replied, trying her best to put the woman at ease.
"And an old man like Mr White, and a young woman like Rebecca, and my Frank, with his heart, no, no, they shouldn't be up—"
The woman's voice caught in her throat, as both her and Katrina's head snapped upwards.
"Oh Lord," she gasped.
Step, scrap, step, scrap, step, scrap, step, scrap…
"It's the ghost!" Eleanor cried; her eyes still wide and fixed on the ceiling.
Katrina tore out of the bedroom and down the hallway.
"Ichabod!" She called, racing towards the ladder.
"Katrina, no," Eleanor begged, chasing after her. "It'll get you as well!"
Katrina didn't listen; she would sooner face a thousand ghosts than not run to the aid of her dear beloved.
She felt Eleanor's hands around her ankle, urging her back down the ladder, but she resisted.
"Oh my Frank," she heard Eleanor wail from below.
Moments later, Eleanor was on the ladder as well, climbing and eager to check on her own husband. The two of them scrabbled mindlessly up and up, finally heaving themselves through the hole in the ceiling and collapsing in a tangled heap on the floor.
"What's this fuss here," Mr White demanded, looking down at the pair of near-hysterical women.
Katrina and Eleanor began to calm themselves as they noticed their husbands, fine and fit, approaching with concern on their faces. They were followed by Rebecca and…
Step, strap, step, strap…
"Mr Green!" Katrina and Eleanor said together.
"The sound of him stepping and then dragging his broken leg, that's the noise that Eleanor was hearing!"
Katrina noticed the proud smile on Ichabod face and knew she had come to the correct conclusion.
"Marshall?" Rebecca said. "There must be some mistake."
"I'm afraid not," Marshall replied, hobblingly quickly to the ladder. "I married you for your money, and after I had spent it all on beer and whores, I decided to make some of my own by selling stolen goods!"
Katrina and Eleanor let out a squeal as he kicked them out of the way with his good leg and then started down the ladder.
"Stop him!" Mr White cried.
However, there was no need to worry, for in his haste Marshall Green miss-stepped and fell, consequently breaking both arms and his other leg. He lay groaning in pile on the floor.