December 5, 1779
When morning came, Lillian went downstairs and opened the tavern before Mr. Mortner and Cassandra came in. She went behind the counter and picked up a rag to wipe down the tables when she heard a familiar sound coming from somewhere, a squeaking sound that drew her attention over to a corner. Lillian walked over and got down on her knees to examine a small hole at the bottom of the wall. The squeaking sound grew stronger.
Lillian had a probable idea as to what it could be and got up and went back to the counter to look for some food. There was no bread or meat to be found, but she did find an apple and cut it in half and went back over to the corner. She dropped down on her knees again and took a tiny bite out of the red fruit, then removed it from her mouth and placed the nibbled piece on the floor. She waited a minute to see what would happen. Before long, a tiny pink nose and a pair of whiskers poked out to sniff at the delicious offering left at its door, followed by a small creature with brown fur, dark beady eyes and a long brown tail that greatly resembled a worm.
"Hello, little one", said Lillian. "I didn't think I would ever see you again."
The mouse approached the food that would serve as his breakfast and picked up the bite of apple into his dainty little hands to eat it. Lillian didn't noticed at first, but when the mouse perked up his ears to listen for something, an ominous shadow loomed over her. Only when the mouse stopped eating and retreated back into the hole in the wall did Lillian sense a dark presence standing behind her and turned her head to look and see who it was.
Before she could let out a word, Lillian felt a rough hand grab her by her hair. She screamed as she was dragged away and found herself being hoisted up on her feet by her captor, who held her down on one of the tables.
Familiar laughter assaulted her ears, a mocking tone filled with malicious intention. "Thought you were rid of us for good, huh? Well, think again, tramp", said a male voice.
"Get off me!" Lillian pleaded. "Please, let me go!"
The man forced her to stand up straight and turned her around to face him, to which Lillian's eyes widened with fright. She recognized the face of her captor, for he was one of the three men who raped her five weeks ago.
"I'll let you go, all right", said the man, smiling wickedly. "Right after you see what me and the boys brought for you."
The man turned Lillian around so she was facing the door, just in time to see the man's two companions enter the tavern. One of them had their hands behind his back, hiding something, while the other held a snake-handled blade that looked all too similar to the Hessian's signature weapon.
"Where did you get that sword?" Lillian questioned.
"We took it from the Horseman, right after we cut off his head", one of the men answered, as he moved his hands to the front and presented her with the head of the Hessian, blood dripping from the bottom of his neck.
"No! That's not true!" Lillian screamed, crying. She was utterly mortified to see him dead.
"It is true, and now we're going to do the same thing to you, you little bitch", the first man whispered in her ear. He punched Lillian in the back, hitting her spine and causing her to scream out in agonized pain as she fell down on her knees. The man who hit Lillian grabbed her hair again, tugging hard on her ebony locks to lean her head back while one of the other men raised the Hessian's sword and brought it down to claim her head as a prize.
Everything faded when a flash of light appeared. Lillian found herself sitting up in bed, her body drenched in sweat. Breathing heavily, she put a hand to her neck, feeling no scarring or pain. It was all just a bad dream.
Suddenly, the church bell rang. Lillian remembered that it was Sunday and moved the blankets off her body and went to pour some water into a basin to wash her face and changed out of her nightgown into one of her mother's dresses, then she turned and opened the chest at the foot of her bed to retrieve her father's bible before heading out the door. She walked down the stairs and saw Mr. Mortner was waiting for her at the bottom.
"Good morning, Lillian", Mr. Mortner greeted her.
"Good morning, Mr. Mortner", said Lillian. "Where's Cassandra?"
"She's in the church, waiting for us", Mr. Mortner answered. "Are you all right?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"
"You looked troubled."
Lillian sighed in defeat. "I had a nightmare", she confessed. "One of the worst I've ever had."
"I'm dreadfully sorry to hear that, my dear", Mr. Mortner condoled her. "I shall pray for you this morning."
"Good morning, sir."
Lillian and Mr. Mortner looked over and saw it was Albert who spoke. He was dressed for morning mass, wearing his long, dark brown coat and matching vest over a white shirt and dark trousers with brown buckled shoes.
"Good morning, Albert", said Lillian. "How are you today?"
"Very well, thank you", said Albert. "I must say, you look beautiful this morning, Miss Waise."
"Albert, you embarrass me."
"Do I now? Either you are blind to see how right I am, or I am a fool for saying you are wrong."
Lillian smiled at Albert. His witty, but genuine words brought her comfort, making her forget all about her horrible dream for the time being.
"Come along, now", said Mr. Mortner. "We'll have plenty of time to socialize after the service."
Lillian walked with Mr. Mortner into the church and sat down in the front row with Cassandra, who stared forward. Lillian greeted her with a friendly tone and a smile to match, hoping to make amends by apologizing for what she said yesterday. True to her oath of never speaking to Lillian again, the red-haired woman stood up and went to sit in the third row behind her. Lillian was about to stand up and go speak to her, but Reverend Steenwyck had already begun his sermon. Near the end of the service, while everyone bowed their heads to pray, Lillian looked back at Cassandra, who looked away from her, refusing to make eye contact, let alone engage in worship.
After the service, Lillian talked briefly with some of the townspeople for a while, then she went to Mr. Mortner and asked him if he had seen Albert, who slipped away quietly from town the minute church was over.
"Yes, I believe he said he was going for a walk", Mr. Mortner answered.
"That's unusual", said Lillian. "Which way did he go?"
"He went that way, towards the direction of the mill", Mr. Mortner answered.
"I'll go after him", said Lillian, holding her father's bible to her chest as she started walking away.
"Wait a minute", said Mr. Mortner to Lillian, who stopped in her tracks and turned back to look at him. He walked up to his ward and asked, "What is the meaning of you and Cassandra not speaking to each other?"
"I'm not the one refusing to speak to her", Lillian explained. "Cassandra and I had a dispute yesterday and she vowed never to speak to me again. I tried apologizing to her, but she still refuses to talk to me."
Mr. Mortner sighed solemnly, looking weary. "I'll have a talk with her", he said. "I don't know what's become of my daughter lately, but the sooner Albert makes a woman out of her, the better."
"I hope so, sir", Lillian agreed, then she turned and walked away again, making the sign of the Cross as she prayed silently for forgiveness for lying to Mr. Mortner. What she said about Cassandra was true, but Lillian feigned ignorance and acted unaware of Albert's whereabouts, already knowing he had gone to meet her at the windmill, as they agreed to do the night before.
Lillian arrived at the windmill and stood in the doorway a moment, looking over her shoulder to make sure nobody had followed her before she went inside. The interior of the windmill was large and shadowy, with clutters of boxes, machinery and other junk scattered about. Lillian looked up and spun around to see how high the windmill was. About fifty feet, she guessed. She remembered being scared of this place when she was very little, how it looked like a giant bat with tattered wings at night. She also remembered rumors that the abandoned mill was haunted by the ghost of a murdered child who died there. This was false, but Lillian still had her doubts.
Lillian heard a noise that made her gasp and look straight ahead. It sounded like the windmill groaned. It was an old structure, but Lillian began to wonder if someone really died in the mill, child or not.
"There you are", said the voice of Albert. Lillian turned around and saw him sitting on a small fortress of bags filled with grain.
"How long have you been waiting here?"
"Fifteen minutes. I was hoping you would follow me soon as church was over."
"I wanted to, but I had to talk with some of my neighbors first", said Lillian. "Otherwise, I would have looked suspicious. You may not care about rumors, but I do."
"That's the problem with these people", said Albert. "There's nothing for them to do in this town except farm and gossip. If you lived in the city, you wouldn't have time to gossip about anything."
"We can talk about that later", said Lillian. "Right now, I have something to tell you. Something important."
"Something you meant to tell me last night?"
"Yes."
"And what do you need to tell me now that you couldn't tell me last night?"
Lillian went over and sat next to Albert with a heavy sigh, looking down at her father's bible in her lap, raising her right hand before placing it on top of the holy scripture. She looked at Albert again.
"Swear to me, upon this Holy Bible, that what I am about to reveal to you, you will never speak of to anyone", Lillian told him.
Without hesitation, Albert put his hand on the Bible, obeying her command. He kept a straight face, not knowing where this was leading to, but trusting Lillian all the same.
"Do you swear to secrecy of what I am about to reveal to you?" Lillian questioned.
"I swear", Albert vowed.
"And do you swear, once you leave this room, that what I reveal to you, you will not speak of it to anyone?"
"I swear to God."
"Let it be written, then", said Lillian.
Albert never once showed any sign of fear. Whatever it was Lillian was about to tell him must have been important for her to make him swear on the Bible, otherwise she wouldn't have been so serious.
Lillian set her father's bible down next to her and stared forward, avoiding eye contact. "Last night, I had a dream", she said. "It wasn't even a dream. It was a nightmare. I was alone in the tavern, and then right out of nowhere, there was this man. He held me back as two other men approached me. One of them was holding a sword, and the other one..." Tears came to her eyes as Lillian turned away from Albert, who reached into his coat pocket and puled out a handkerchief.
"Here, dry your eyes", said Albert.
Lillian accepted the handkerchief and wiped away the tears from her face, then she tried giving it back to Albert, who took hold of her hand and wrapped her fingers around the cloth.
"Keep it", said Albert. "I want you to have it."
Lillian looked at the handkerchief, then put her hands in her lap and stared forward again. "This isn't the first time I've dreamed about these men", Lillian continued. "I've seen them before. They've been dead for a while, so I can't understand why they keep appearing to me when I sleep. I thought since they were dead that I would no longer be haunted by their faces, but I was wrong. Because he killed them, I thought I could live my life-"
"I don't understand", Albert interrupted, looking confused. "Who are you talking about?"
Lillian looked at him. "Five weeks before you came here, three men from the city came into the tavern", she explained. "They acted boorishly and started harassing Cassandra, so I went over and confronted one of them and told him and his friends to stop their nonsense or leave. They left, but I didn't know they were still in town. Richard Vallingby asked me to take a walk with him afterwards, and by the time I was getting ready to close up for the night, the men came back. They knocked him out cold and dragged me into the Western Woods. One of them threw me down on the ground and forced a kiss on me before he tore open my dress-"
"Stop", said Albert, standing up. "I've heard enough."
"No, you haven't", said Lillian, grabbing hold of his hand. "Please, Albert. You must hear me out."
Albert was not comfortable with what she was revealing to him, but sat back down and listened to the rest of Lillian's story, though he wasn't looking forward to further details.
"I tried fighting the man off, but he hit me and thrust himself inside me against my will", Lillian continued. "His two friends stood over us and watched while he took his turn raping me. When he finished, the other man did the same thing. When the last man was on top of me, a cloaked figure came riding through the forest on his horse and raised his sword to kill them. I do not know his name, but around here, we call him the Hessian Horseman."
"Who is this Hessian Horseman you speak of?"
"If you saw him, you would not forget his face. He's paler than death, but he is very much alive. His face is ordinary and fearsome at times, but to me, he is handsome. His hair is dark as a black oak tree. His eyes are bright and shine like precious jewels. He wears black armor and rides around on a black horse named Daredevil, wielding a sword with the head of a snake. One would assume he were a demon conjured up by Lucifer to claim the souls of Christ's followers and deliver them into Hell, but I know that is a falsity. Before I met him, I never believed any of the stories people told about him. Because I met him, I refuse to believe any of their accusations."
"But that doesn't tell me anything about him", Albert argued. "Where did he come from? What importance is he to you?"
"The Hessian is a German mercenary who loaned his service to the British to help them fight us in this war", Lillian explained. "He kills who he's ordered to kill, but he does not harm the innocent."
"Does Cassandra know about him?
"Everyone knows about him. Most of the town would rather see him dead, especially Cassandra. She prays for his death everyday, and that, I fear, may soon become a reality."
"Why? If the Horseman was hired to kill people, why do you wish for him to live?"
"Because I love him. The Hessian was chasing a soldier when he heard me screaming and came to my rescue. He came galloping towards the men on his horse with his sword and chopped off their heads."
Albert held a hand to his neck. "You saw him do this?" He asked.
"No, but I've seen him do it before, especially in my visions", Lillian answered. "I don't remember seeing him kill those men, but once they were dead, the Hessian turned his attention over to me. I saw him come towards me and watched him kneel beside me just as my vision went black. I tried to get a look at his face, but I passed out from the pain. When I woke up, I saw him standing over me. I thought for sure I would be his next victim, but rather than kill me, he comforted me and reassured me he did not mean me any harm. I wasn't sure whether I should trust him, but the fact that he saved me opened my eyes to how wrong everybody was about him."
"The Hessian didn't try to force himself onto you, did he?"
"No!" Lillian exclaimed defensively, then she lowered her voice and said, "No, he didn't. The Hessian saw I was hurt and wrapped me in his cloak and carried me to a safe location. There, he tended to my injuries and cared for me for two days. When I was feeling better, he gave me some clothes of his and lifted me onto his horse and took me back home. He stopped some distance from town so we wouldn't be seen together and had me walk the rest of the way. Cassandra and Mr. Mortner were relieved to see me, but I knew they would be shocked if I told them who saved me, so I lied to them and said the Hessian was a hermit."
"But he isn't a hermit", Albert mentioned. "So, neither one knows it was the Horseman who saved you?"
"No, and they will never know! Albert, you swore to me-"
"I promise you, I won't tell a soul. Trust me, Lillian."
Lillian stared at him for a moment, then relaxed herself. "All right. I trust you."
"You were crying yesterday because you said someone broke your heart. Was that someone the Hessian?"
"Yes."
"What did he do that made you cry?"
"It's wasn't something he did, but something he said. Yesterday, I had a vision he was about to kill Richard, so I ran into the woods to stop him in time and held a knife to his throat. That was when he told me to kill him."
"Why did he ask you to kill him?" Albert wondered.
"I don't know, but I knew I couldn't do it", Lillian answered. "I think he's hiding something, a dark secret of some kind, but I don't know for sure what it is. I have an idea of what it might be, but I'd rather not say what it is."
Albert lowered his eyes and nodded, understanding why she did not wish to speak about the Hessian's past.
Sniffling, Lillian wiped more tears from her face with the handkerchief. "I don't expect you to believe me-"
"I believe you, Lillian", said Albert, looking at her. "No matter what you say or what you see, I believe you."
"You're the only one who does", said Lillian. "Nobody else would understand or believe me."
"Does the Hessian know about your...predicament?"
"What predicament?"
"Your visions."
"Yes, but I don't think he believes them. He says he does, but I don't believe that's true."
Albert chuckled. "I was mistaken", he said. "The Hessian is the real fool. If you were to be his bride, I would envy him."
"Why do you say that?" Lillian asked.
"Because you are my friend, and I want nothing more than for you to be happy."
Touched by his words, Lillian shed a tear and hugged her arms around Albert, who started having doubts about Cassandra. He began to wonder if maybe he had chosen the wrong woman to propose to and marry.