Chapter 5 [Ten minutes later]

[Wabash Congregationalist Church]

Blissfully unaware of the stormy events to the south, Brother Tony wiped down the pews for Sunday's services. Perhaps ministers in the bigger churches and cathedrals weren't as meticulous but he didn't care. Just as with his sermons, he wanted every detail within his church to be perfect in every way.

Best to receive God's word in a perfect facility after all…..

He set the broom back in its closet and headed for the kitchen. There he found the coffee maker dripping away diligently. Pulling off the carafe, he poured himself a cup before replacing it on the burner. Then he raised the mug to his lips and savored the flavor therein.

Alas the bliss was short lived….

At that moment, the wall mounted telephone summoned him back to the real world's concerns.

He sighed heavily. "Your Work be done, Lord." He answered it. "Good morning. Wabash Congregationalist Church. Can I help you?"

"Brother Tony, this is Jenny Mills. You sitting down?" Jenny queried expectantly.

"No but should I be?" He rubbed his forehead wondering what demonic threat would be prompting this particular phone call.

"You'll want to be," Jenny insisted. "Irving just sent Abbie and me to see you folks. Apparently Katrina's former coven has returned. Their leader, Deborah Melville, just showed up at the Sleepy Hollow Police Department demanding to see her and Crane. When Abbie and Irving didn't tell her, she cast a spell and was about to do worse to us."

"About to…? What stopped her? I…."

Abbie chimed in. "Care to guess what or should I say who?"

"The Image." The minister reached for his bottle of pain reliever to try and head the pounding in his temples off at the pass. He could well imagine the potential for mayhem especially if a coven instigated his friend's inner dark side. "Anyone hurt?"

"Irving has the paramedics going there. And no our dark bodyguard didn't do anything short of his pit bull routine. He did drive her off before telling us to watch out for Katrina. Then he disappeared in his stink cloud presumably for your neck of the woods. Hey, Reverend, I did have a question about something Melville said. Maybe you might know?" Jenny continued.

"If I can. Whatever did Ms. Melville insinuate?" he asked dreading if such a statement provoked the Dark One further beyond reason.

"She made some comment about some Forsaken person and the sin involving Dubois and the demon. You know anything about it?" Jenny wondered.

He sighed while bowing his head. "Sadly I do. You remember Deirdre, David and Angela's daughter, correct?"

"Sure. She's not the forsaken. She can't be!" Abbie queried.

"She was named after the banished priestess. It is a very sad tale indeed. I will tell you more when you arrive. When can we expect you?" he explained further.

"I just turned onto 87. Give us three hours," Jenny insisted.

"Very well. Meet me at MacLindy's upon your arrival. I have to talk with David and Angela about things. Have a safe journey. See you soon," he concluded before hanging up. He frowned and slowly made his way back into the seating area. Concerns weighed his heart down anew. He looked toward the cross hanging above the altar. "Father, I thought this storm had passed with those banishments. Alas it is upon us once more. Please grant us the strength to persevere." He sat down for a minute and considered the situation anew. From his research and conversations with all of the interested parties, he'd discerned Katrina's troubled relations with her coven. He'd guessed the group was not too happy with the former head's decision to protect her beloved husband and flee with the unapproved-of twins.

The gash in one of the supporting beams in front of the mercantile served as a reminder. No matter how many times Hiram Cavanaugh had painted over it, it still stood out like a sore….almost like a reminder to everyone….

He grabbed for his overcoat and hat. Perhaps answers could be found in the doctor's office across the Green.

[Angela's Office]

Even as Brother Tony prepared to head in that direction, Jennifer came to a stop just short of where the woods gave way to the village proper. She wanted to make sure that nobody saw her just appear at her mother's door. Still she wanted to make sure that Kate got the attention she required.

A quick glance told her the coast was clear.

She looked down at Kate's quivering form. Granted, thanks to her enhanced speed, they'd made extraordinary time up the Hudson palisades. Still she wondered if the student was beyond help. Perhaps she should've taken Kate to a bigger hospital in the City, Sleepy Hollow or even Eagle Plain.

The thought came and went. No best to deal with such issues alongside people who have previously experienced it…even if the others didn't exactly remember everything about it….

…and in that sense, Jennifer trusted in her foster parents implicitly….

Let's hope we can get to the bottom of this! She carried her student out of the woods and around the side of the brick building.

"Prof…essor? Where are we?" Kate murmured. "Feels hot…like burning."

Burning? What now? Jennifer quirked an eyebrow at those comments. Maybe it has something to do with being here? But why? What would that have been? She glanced down toward her companion. "We'll see. I've brought you to a doctor who can help. Relax, Kate. All right? Nothing will happen." She knocked on the door.

Sharon, the office nurse, opened it and stared aghast at the sight. "My word! What happened to her, Ms. Dubois?"

Jennifer shrugged. "Kate's a student in one of my classes. We were driving up here for some research when she suddenly had a fit. Is Angie in?"

"Of course. Just a minute." Sharon rushed down the hall.

"We…here? Where…doctor?" Kate muttered incoherently.

"We're here." Jennifer rubbed her student's shoulder. "Relax. Okay?"

"Okay," Kate struggled to sit up in the chair. She trembled so vehemently. Her mind flooded over with incoherent memories. "J…just help me to know wh…what's going on?"

"Of course." Jennifer embraced the other woman. "We'll get to the bottom of this. Okay?"

"O…kay."

"My goodness!" Angie exclaimed as she hurried out into the waiting room. "Jenny, can you help me get her into my office?" She took one shoulder as Jennifer took the other. "What's wrong with her?"

"I wish I knew, Angie. Sorry to bother you with this. I figured you would be the best doctor for this particular case," Jennifer apologized.

"There are hospitals in New York that can handle trauma like this case better than I can," Angie noted. "Miss? We're going to help you onto my exam table. All right?"

"Just help me please," Kate relented weakly while going along with the plan. She just managed to push each shoe off before lying down….

….and that's when the next barrage of memories swamped her….

She grabbed onto Angie's arm. "DOCTOR, IT'S SO LOUD! PLEASE!"

Before Angie could react, she somehow felt her patient's duress. She experienced the strobe-like effect of the disjointed memories blurring in a mid-afternoon scene. She could make out a colonial green seeming to be like the one outside. She saw the hooded figures looming around them.

She recognized Katrina and felt her panic…..

And somehow she saw her husband threatening the figures with his bow….

…that was before the Child emerged to deal with them….

"Angie? ANGIE! What's going on?" Jennifer shook her stepmother effectively breaking the connection.

Angie slumped into a chair. "Wow. I take it back, Jenny. You were right to bring her here." She shook her head. "She's got memories trying to fight their way to the surface."

"You saw them? What did you see?" Jennifer queried.

"Are you all right? I heard the patient yelling," Sharon interceded while sticking her head in from the hallway.

"I…caused this. I should…leave," Kate whispered while forcing herself back into a sitting position. She spasmed hard and ground her teeth.

"Young lady, you're not going anywhere," Sharon countered.

"It's okay, Sharon. She's going through a lot," Angie assured the nurse. She could obviously feel the patient's pain. It screamed out at her like an angry banshee across time. Still she didn't understand how Jennifer, Dave and Katrina would be there. "I just need her to relax."

"Okay. Brother Tony's here to see you. He says it's urgent," Sharon informed her before leaving.

"It's okay, Doctor….Professor Dubois, can you stay with me? I'm just going to rest," Kate noted before lying back down and closing her eyes.

Angie rubbed her forehead in consternation. She knew her patient needed her. Yet she also recognized that Brother Tony wouldn't just show up urgently unless something was really wrong for that matter. "Jenny, stay with her. I'll be back in a minute."

"I'll yell if something comes up, Angie. Thanks," Jennifer concurred. Not for the first time, she wished that her abilities included her relatives' psychic sensitivities.

"Thanks," Angie expressed before heading back out into the main waiting area. There she found the minister waiting patiently. "Hi, Brother Tony. Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Quite all right, Angela. Are you with a patient? If so, I'll keep it brief," he replied.

"I am. Jenny brought one of her students up from the City. The girl has some sort of disjointed memories. It almost seems like the forgetting spell that the priestesses cast over us after what happened between Dave and the older Deirdre. It's strange though," she explained.

"What is?" he queried. He of course remembered when they all had to deal with covered up memories and the headaches related to the fading spell. "I would have hoped that the sisterhood would've learned their lesson after what they put us all through. Lord, help me, what they put David through." He broke off his train of thought upon noticing Angie's face. "What is it? Sit down for a minute and take a deep breath. It's all right." He glanced around to make sure nobody was listening. "You saw her memories, didn't you?"

"I did." Angie sighed deeply. "It was so blurry and disjointed. I saw figures surrounding me. We're in front of this old store like the mercantile here. Dave was coming down the stairs with his bow telling them to take off. He looked older almost like he was in his sixties and was in really old clothes. Strange. I also saw Katrina Crane. The robed figures did something to her and she disappeared into this dark portal."

"I see." From what she said, he deduced that Angie had witnessed something from the colonial past. "If Mrs. Crane is there and you saw the 'old clothes' as you put it, perhaps you were witnessing something from the past? David's ancestor, Captain Dubois, could be the man with the bow. We both know how closely they resembled each other."

"That's true," she conceded. "But that still leaves the question of how the girl is seeing the past like that? Was she there at one point? Katrina's presence would solidify that. And how do we get my patient's mind stabilized? The normal psychiatrist can't handle this. I wish I could get a hold of Cybelle or Dee Dee to help." She rubbed her head to assuage the headache forming there.

"Perhaps I can help with the figures you saw, Angela. I came over because of a phone call I received from Lieutenant Mills and her sister. They're on their way here. Apparently a former associate of Katrina Crane's attacked the Sleepy Hollow Precinct this morning. She was driven back by the Image," he recounted. "According to the Mills sisters, the woman was a witch and the head of Mrs. Crane's former order."

"I heard those robed people chanting and saw a dark portal opening up behind Katrina. Goodness! That must have been when she was banished! But how would my patient have been there and here too?" She ran her hands through her hair. Then she heard the door open and saw her youngest daughter walk in looking perfectly normal by means of a cloaking spell she imagined. "Good morning, Dee Dee. How are you?"

"Auntie sent me to fetch you and your patient. Apparently there's a connection between her and the Cranes. Sorry, Brother Tony, to intrude," Deirdre noted. "Papa and the Cranes are already waiting for us. Other forces stir. We wish to get to the bottom of this matter before Katrina's order returns to claim vengeance. Shall we?" Deirdre motioned toward the exam room.

"Quite all right, Angela. I shall let the Mills sisters know upon their arrival. God go with you," he concurred.

"Thank you. Come on, Dee Dee. I want to get to the bottom of this," Angie urged before leading the priestess toward the back room.

Brother Tony glanced toward the sky. "Father, grant us a solution….."