Chapter 5
The next day Belle and Adam went back towards the site where they'd left Inspector Irving the night before. When they arrived, they found Tina looking all around in a panic, clutching a letter to her bosom. Belle rushed up to Tina to ask her what the problem was and why she was nearly crying. Tina proceeded to show them the letter from Irving which was more a rhyme than an actual message.
The rhyme went on to say that time holds no barriers to the desires of some who want their own way in the world. It was very strange indeed. There was also a phosphorescent glow to the edge of the page, which no one could explain.
This prompted the trio to look more around town and ask the townspeople more questions about any of these clues, especially since the inspector had since disappeared as well. They asked the townspeople and finally someone informed them that the current schoolmaster knew something about rocks, so they should ask him for more information.
When they asked him though, he treated them sourly and did not want to answer many of their questions. Still though there was something about him the prompted Prince Adam to become suspect of his actions. This prompted Adam to usher Belle and Tina out of the schoolhouse and town the road back toward town.
On the way back to town, Adam, Belle, and Tina began to discuss their impression of the schoolmaster, if anyone had any notion about the whereabouts of Irving, as well as the mystery behind Ichabod Crane's disappearance. By this time the sun was setting, casting an unusual hue to the sky and landscape around them.
Suddenly out of the corner of their eye, they spied a figure walking down the road with a haggard appearance, yet joyful expression. Adam led as they approached the man.
"Who goes there? We're just a few travelers on our way home!" he asked cautiously.
"Why friends it is I, your friend Inspector Irving"
"Oh Irving it is you! By where were you all day, and why are you glowing?" Tina asked as she rushed toward him.
"Oh it was the most wondrous thing! I was down at the bridge last night and these little glowing men with beards and spirits suddenly appeared, asking me to play ten pins and partake in their brew!" Irving exclaimed.
"Oh goodness little glowing men with ten pins and homemade brew? To me that sounds like it was nothing but a dream for you." Belle sighed.
"Oh but it was dear lady! That and more!" Irving sighed.
Irving then began to explain his ordeal in full, describing all that had transpired and how to him it seemed but merely an hour of time had passed, when in reality it'd been nearly 24 hours.
In the end, the four of them decided to set up a trap for whoever it was that Irving had seen. Irving was unsure, but went along with the idea. That night all four of them decided to spend the night by the old bridge to see what would happen next.
They decided to have Belle and Tina dress up like men and ride their horses down the road to try to entice whoever might come by into believing them as gullible as Crane had been. Both women were good riders and knew how to fire a pistol if it came to that. The women though hoped it wouldn't have to come to that though.
At about midnight, when they'd nearly fallen asleep and were about to give up hope of seeing either Irving's men or the Headless Horseman, they suddenly heard hoof beats come thundering across the bridge! The two men looked up to see a rider come through the bridge and his horse nearly slide in the gravel at the end. Then the second rider came on the first one's heels, and Adam and Irving realized the two riders were Belle and Tina.
The women slid from their horses just as a third rider came thundering up on a snorting black stallion. The seemingly headless rider suddenly threw a glowing pumpkin in their direction, nearly hitting the two riders. Belle and Tina, though terrified, decided to psych him out by pretending they'd been hit and laying on the side of the road.
Suddenly the "headless" rider dismounted and assumed he's gotten the jump on two riders, when seemingly out of nowhere Adam and Irving jumped out and surprise the would be attacker. The two younger men were able to subdue the attacker and pulled down his cape to reveal it was the schoolmaster!
Tina rode to get the local law enforcement while Adam & Irving began to question the man about what he'd almost done and if he had anything to do with Ichabod Crane's disappearance the previous year.
The schoolmaster then went on to tell a strange story about how he'd lived quite a while ago up in the Hudson River Valley and that he'd met these little men who led him to distraction and caused him to sleep for 20 years. Then he learned that to regain his youth he had to get the timepiece of a younger man to help him, so that was why he'd opportuned on Ichabod Crane after he'd fallen off his horse after being chased by Brom. He stated that Ichabod had been in bad shape after his fall, so despite stealing his pocket watch, Rip had attempted to nurse him back to health, however Crane had been in too bad of shape so he just buried him after he died. He had also shot Crane's horse because it'd broken a leg.
He then claimed that he'd only wanted the timepieces of the men he'd thought Belle and Tina were, but Adam & Irving didn't believe him. It was by that time that the law came, and so they took Rip Van Winkle off to jail to await his sentence.
Adam & Bell, as well as Irving and Tina, were glad that the mystery was solved. The rest of their time was spent peacefully then as time took it's course for their lives. Irving and Tina married and moved to New York City, while Adam stayed along in Sleepy Hollow for awhile, then moved closer to Toronto once their baby was born.