Ichabod: A Sleepy Hollow Story

Ichabod: Part Two

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Ichabod Crane and Diedrich Knickerbocker have just settled in to Sleepy Hollow, a town with many paranormal tales and strange inhabitants. Ichabod took a trip into town to find out where the town's schoolhouse is, for he is a schoolmaster. While he was out, he met Brom Bones, who told him about the Headless Horseman, the best known story of Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod returned home to report this to Diedrich; for him and Diedrich are ghost hunters...

August 18, 1820, 12:13 AM
Ichabod leaned over the edge of the bank to look down at the river. The river that ran under the bridge was quite unimpressive. It was more of a large ditch. "Okay Diedrich," Ichabod started, "you know geography better than I do, so tell me: How can this be a river?"
Diedrich shook his head, "I'm sure it was much larger at one point, but it seems to have dried up."
"You don't say," Ichabod said, turning to look back down at the "river."
After pondering for a few seconds, Ichabod stood back up. He walked over to their small supply wagon and took out his boots. After putting them on, he went back over to the riverbank and slid down into it. Diedrich knelt by the edge and called down, "Anything noteworthy to add to the journal?"
The journal Diedrich was referring to was the notebook Ichabod owns. He writes down everything he encounters. It's basically their guide.
Ichabod called back up, "No, but the water is more murky when you're in it. I guess it just looks clearer from up there." Ichabod then waded farther downstream. "The current is very weak," continued his assessment of the river, "and it also goes up to my knees." He stomped his feet, then continued, "The bottom feels rocky and, well, river like." Ichabod then waded his way back over to the riverbank and tried to climb up, but he slipped on the slick mud.
"I think you might've needed to think that through a little more," Diedrich said with a smirk.
"Yes, yes, very funny," Ichabod said, with a bored expression.
"Hey, you're supposed to be the more optimistic of the two of us."
"Just throw me down the rope." Diedrich walked over to their wagon to get their rope, in case of things just like this. He then heard the sound of the river get much louder.
"Ichabod?" Diedrich called out. When Ichabod didn't respond, he rushed to the edge of the river, only to see that Ichabod was gone.

Ichabod tumbled through the murky water at an incredible rate. The water was now at the proper height, so he was fully submerged. The river's current had gone from almost nothing to unbelievably fast in the blink of an eye.
Ichabod's vision was obscured by the murky water. He just kept tumbling, nonstop. The water pressure was causing him to lose oxygen quickly. Then, just before he blacked out, the water level dropped back down to what it was before, as did the current. Ichabod clasped the riverbank with all of his remaining strength. The riverbank was now at his level.
He then took in a huge gasp of breath and began coughing up murky water and whatever sediment flew into his nose and mouth. For a while, he just lied there on the bank, trying to comprehend what had just happened. When he caught his breath, he lifted his head to see where he was.
In front of him there was an open field, with lots of mangled, untamed grass and patches of flowers. On the other side of the bank, there were fewer trees than before, which meant he was near the edge of the woods. Damnit, he thought, how far did I go? He then reached up to feel for his hat, which was thankfully still there. He shakily stood up on the bank and took in exactly how drenched and dirty he was. He then shivered with the cold air, even colder now that he was wet. He began rubbing his arms, trying to keep warm. He then felt a sharp pain at his side, which caused him to grit his teeth. That current must've broken my ribs! he thought, What the hell happened? How did that even happen? Ichabod had too many questions and no answers. I'd better find Diedrich, he thought. He's either going to be really happy or really pissed when he sees me.
Ichabod had been walking down the riverbank towards the way he came for a while now. As he walked, he kept feeling that pain in his side. He also thought, so if the bridge is haunted like that man said, does that mean the river is haunted too? Is that why it carried me away like that? It's almost as if it didn't want me in the river. It was almost as if it tried to kill me. Ichabod's train of thought was interrupted by the sound of the river rushing rapidly, the same way it did when Ichabod was taken away by it. He turned to see it fly by him at an incredible rate. He was sprayed with the water, just making him colder. He squinted his eyes to look down the bank to see someone dropped off the same way he was, only that person wasn't moving.
Ichabod ran down the river bank as fast as he could. The cold air tore at him, causing his eyes to water. His side also felt like it was about to poke through. He finally reached the person. It was the girl who had run into him! Her nose was bleeding terribly and her arms were badly cut. Ichabod has only realized then that his face had a few cuts. Ichabod quickly kneeled down to her side and removed his hat. He placed his head on her chest to listen for her heartbeat. He heard nothing. He then placed his ear next to her mouth. She wasn't breathing either. Ichabod went into a panic. He didn't know how to get her heart started again. He began frantically pushing on her chest. He put his head down again and heard nothing. He tried pressing on her chest again. Nothing. If only Diedrich were here! he thought in his panic. He pressed down on her chest again. Nothing. Again. Nothing. Again. Nothing. He listened once more and heard water in her lungs. One last time, Ichabod pushed down as hard as he could and then leaned over and blew air into her mouth. Finally water sputtered out of her mouth.
Ichabod collapsed on the ground in relief. The whole process only happened in less than a minute, but it felt like hours. The shot bolt upright and breathed heavily. She turned and looked at Ichabod. They both just sat there looking at each other and panting heavily.
Finally, the girl said, "You perverted bastard! You were kissing me!"
Ichabod looked at her in astonishment, "Don't worry your little face, it'll be our little secret. I won't tell your parents or anything. Oh, and let's ignore the fact that I just saved your life!"
"Eugh!" she screamed and wiped her mouth on her arm. She moved her arm only to see it smeared with blood from Ichabod's lips and her arm cuts. "This is disgusting!" she shot up onto her legs, "This never happened!" she began walking away before tripping on the ground and panting some more.
"I suggest getting some more rest before moving again," Ichabod said. Suddenly, they both realized who each other was.
"You ran into me!" they both yelled simultaneously.
"I ran into you?! More like you ran into me!" Ichabod said loudly.
"What?! You clearly ran into me!" she returned quickly.
"You know what, that doesn't even matter! It's water under the bridge now!" Ichabod said.
The girl stared at him, mouth open wide. "You did not just make that joke at a time like this!"
"Oh, pardon me," Ichabod apologized.
"Apology not accepted!" she yelled.
"Okay we both need to calm down. We got off to a bad start," Ichabod said calmly.
"A bad start? A bad start?! I just woke up to some stranger kissing me! You have no right to say this is a bad start!"
"I saved your-," Ichabod cut himself off and sighed, "We're both shaken, okay? We both got swept away by that river."
Finally slightly calm, the girl said, "Wait, you were swept away too?"
"Yes, that's why I was nearby. How did you end up in the river anyway?"
"Well, Brom Bones showed up at my house at midnight at took me right out of my house! I wasn't even properly dressed, as you can tell, I'm only wearing my nightgown. They took me out here as some form of revenge for getting Greta's cheese back and threw me into the river. Luckily, I'm a good swimmer and began swimming towards the shallower bank, but then the river's current went insane!"
So Brom's his name, Ichabod thought. "Well, I'm terribly sorry about all of this. My friend, Diedrich, is a doctor. He can patch us both up! By the way, my name's Ichabod Crane. I'm the new schoolmaster in town, and I-"
"Ichabod Crane?"
"Um, yes, that would be my name."
"So you're the one Erna, Greta, and Whilhemina were giggling about. Well I can tell that they were wrong about you. There's nothing redeeming about you at all."
"...Thanks. By the way, might I ask your name?"
"Allison. Allison Kort. Now let's go. I want to get cleaned up as quickly as possible."
"Look at that, the first thing we agree on."