Ichabod: A Sleepy Hollow Story

Ichabod: Part Four

Last chapter:
After turning Mr. and Mrs. Kort in to Constable Lawrence, Ichabod spoke to the good-natured Claus. Claus informed him of a hanging tree where his great-grandfather was hung after being accused of being a demon. Ichabod then had supper with Katrina, where she informed him about her family and the legend of the Headless Horseman. Ichabod told her about his past as well, but he wasn't entirely truthful. Afterwards, he and Diedrich encountered a strange spirit, which informed them about a grueling prophecy...

August 18, 1820, 10:28 PM
"So, Ichabod, what was up with that spirit?" asked Diedrich as he and Ichabod wrote in the Journal.
"Well, I gathered that it was a prophetic spirit, which means its prime goal is to inform someone or something about a prophecy. It said its name was Charlotte, and what we heard was that it was a little girl that fell into the well. From her disfigured posture, she must've broken everything once she hit the bottom, ultimately killing her. After she died she was possessed by the prophetic spirit, and since then her body has been used as a puppet for that ghost," explained Ichabod.
"She mentioned she had killed other ghost hunters," Diedrich stated.
"Yes...she must've used the same thing she used on us to lure them to her. If they helped her, she deemed them worthy to hear her prophecy. If they neglected or tried to kill her, she would deem them unworthy and, well, let's say their ghost hunting days would then be over," said Ichabod.
"I assume you've encountered prophetic ghosts before?" asked Diedrich.
"Yes, though none of them have acted quite like she did. The last one I met was at one of my old schoolhouses and possessed one of my students. The exorcism went well, but it scared the hell out of my other pupils," Ichabod said with a chuckle.
"What did it tell you?" Diedrich inquired.
"Oh, the same usual things, only this one said I was doomed to die a horrible fate at the hands of the banshee. A day later I killed the banshee. Too bad I couldn't have seen the look on that prophetic ghost's face when he was wrong!" Ichabod laughed at his own story.
"Well, now she's documented," Diedrich said as he finished the Journal page. Diedrich then leaned back in his seat and sighed. "Ichabod," he started, "are we still going to the bridge tonight? I'm terribly tired."
"We have to go! The sooner the better! Besides, it's our-"
"Job, yes, I know," Diedrich said with closed eyes. Diedrich sighed again, then said, "So, when are we-" Diedrich looked around the room. Ichabod had already gone upstairs to gather supplies.
"Damnit, Ichabod," Diedrich muttered under his breath. He then rose from his seat and went to go get his supplies as well.
Ichabod again pulled out his key and unlocked his weapon chest. This time he pulled out his favorite weapon, an enchanted silver hanger sword, by the name of Venator. He also grabbed a flintlock pistol and loaded it with rock salt, another effective way of fighting spirits. Diedrich loaded up their supply wagon, and the two met downstairs. They then took off for the bridge.

As they walked towards the bridge, Ichabod turned to Diedrich and said, "I forgot to mention this earlier, but I think there's something up with Baltus VanTassel."
"Like what?" Diedrich asked.
"Well, he seems rather intimidating, but in an unnatural way. As you know, I'm not easily intimidated, and he did it in a matter of seconds," Ichabod explained.
"Any theories?" Diedrich questioned.
"Hmm...To be honest, I haven't a clue," Ichabod said, clearly surprised at himself. Diedrich looked at him with a surprised look as well.
Suddenly the two heard a rustling in the nearby bushes. Diedrich turned and swiftly hid the supplies in a bush.
Ichabod pivoted around towards the disturbance and had his hand on his sheath, ready to draw Venator. Diedrich pulled out one of the traps he had made, which was a net gun with silver laced into the netting. The two moved closer, carefully and battle-ready. They stood ready for what seemed like minutes upon minutes. The tension was thick in the air.
Then a rapid barking came from the bushes. Diedrich cocked and aimed his net gun, ready to trap. Ichabod positioned himself into a readied stance. The barking then died off, as whatever it was went elsewhere. After a few more moments, the two released a huge sigh almost simultaneously.
"Well, Diedrich, false alarm. Good hustle, though. That's probably the quickest I've seen you get battle-ready," Ichabod commended his friend.
"Thank you, Ichabod. It sounded like a stray dog, hunting for food. It probably heard us talking and came to check us out. When he saw us, he must've gotten scared and found something else to hunt," Diedrich theorized.
"Sounds good enough to me!" Ichabod said, cheerfully. Diedrich pulled the wagon back out and put his trap back. The two then began walking back to the bridge.
It was not a few seconds later, when the dog comes barreling through the bushes towards them. Ichabod quickly swiveled around and pulled out Venator. Diedrich, less prepared and startled, clumsily fell over the wagon while pulling out the net gun trap. The dog ran straight for Ichabod. Ichabod, being unprepared, missed his swing of the sword. The dog bit straight into his leg. Diedrich cocked the gun and aimed it, but saw that Ichabod was too close to fire. Instead, Diedrich threw the trap back into the wagon and pushed it towards the dog.
Meanwhile, Ichabod was struggling on the ground to get the dog off of his leg. The dog was biting down hard, and blood was spilling out. Ichabod reached for Venator, which had fallen out of his hand, but it was just out of reach. Ichabod turned back and gave a hard push in the dog, but it ran back and chomped down even harder on his arm. Some of Ichabod's blood splattered into his own face.
Finally, Diedrich rammed into the dog, stunning it. He pulled Ichabod up to his feet, and the two took off away from the path into some trees. They got behind a fallen tree and crouched down behind it.
In between panting breaths, Ichabod said, "Well that stung. I hope it didn't have rabies. For a stray dog it surely must've desperate to attack humans."
Diedrich was not in the mood for jokes when it came to injuries, "Ichabod, is there a chance is was paranormal?"
"Well, not really, but I suppose it could've been a hellhound or a black dog, but it seemed too small to even be those," explained Ichabod.
Suddenly, the dog's snarling face came through an opening in the fallen tree. As it barked, its saliva splashed on to both of them. It then began digging its way under the tree to get to them. Ichabod and Diedrich hopped up and continued to run.
As they were running, Ichabod's bitten leg gave out from under him and caused him to fall to the ground. The dog then raced towards him. Diedrich tried to pull Ichabod back up, but the dog got there first and bit down onto Ichabod's already torn coat and began ripping through it while also tearing into Ichabod's back.
Diedrich shoved the dog, but it went right back to Ichabod again. Ichabod finally pushed himself up, the dog still attached to his back, and rammed the dog into a tree. It let go and ran towards a lantern howling at it. Ichabod slumped over and sat at the base of the tree. He was very torn up and bleeding everywhere.
Diedrich looked towards the lantern and called over to them to help. As the light drew nearer, a burly man came into view carrying it. Ichabod immediately recognized the man as Brom Bones.
"Oh, Ichabod, you're a mess!" Brom noticed.
"Yes, and I think your dog has everything to do with it," Ichabod said, quite calmly for the situation.
"I'll go grab the wagon. Ichabod, can you handle yourself until I get back? I won't be gone for more than a minute," Diedrich said, worried.
"Diedrich, I've been in worse situations, I can handle myself," Ichabod reassured him. Diedrich then rushed off towards the wagon.
"So, you say my little Nails did this?" Brom asked.
"Yes, your sweet little Nails did this," Ichabod replied.
"That's strange, he usually never acts like this. Must be the full moon," Brom said with a cocked eyebrow. Ichabod looked up and saw a half-moon.
He looked back at Brom and said, "The full moon sure is strange, I'll give you that," Ichabod said, beginning to put on his act. Diedrich then showed up with the supplies. Ichabod noticed he covered all of the ghost hunting equipment. Diedrich kneeled next to Ichabod and pulled out some bandages and began wrapping Ichabod's leg.
"So, what're you two doing out this late at night?" Brom asked.
Diedrich looked at Ichabod for an answer. "We were taking a late-night stroll, for neither of us could sleep," Ichabod explained. "What about you?" he added.
"I was going on a late-night hunting trip. Nails is a coonhound, and it's the best time to hunt raccoons this time of night. You two know it's dangerous out here this time of night, right?" Brom said, with his usual mischievous mannerisms.
"D-dangerous how?" Ichabod asked, continuing his act. Diedrich began bandaging Ichabod's arm now.
"Strange things lurk in the woods at night," Brom said with a grin.
"L-like you and your d-dog?" Ichabod said with mock-laughter.
"Oh no no, much stranger," Brom said, looking around. He then leaned in and said to Ichabod, "Be careful in the woods at night, Ichabod. You don't know what you might run into." As he said this, Nails snarled. "Come on, Nails, I think we're both tired. Let's head home," He said to his dog as they walked off.
Once they were out of sight, Ichabod dropped the act and turned to Diedrich and said, "That, my old friend, was the redoubtable Brom Bones."
Ichabod turned around to let Diedrich bandage his back. Ichabod's back was totally stained with blood. So was his left arm and left leg, not to mention the various other blood splotches all over him. Ichabod attempted to stand up and stumbled for a moment. He then repositioned himself and was back on his feet.
"Well, looks like I'll definitely be visiting Claus so he can patch all this up," Ichabod said, examining a hole in his coat.
"Um, Ichabod?" Diedrich asked quietly.
Ichabod turned around to face him, "Yes?"
"Maybe, uh, maybe we shouldn't visit the bridge tonight. You got quite hurt and it was by a coonhound, not some other paranormal thing," Diedrich said, worried for his friend's health.
"Oh, Diedrich, I'll be fine, c'mon! You know I recover quickly," Ichabod said reassuringly.
Diedrich then made a very serious face and said, "As your doctor and friend I'm not allowing you to go to the bridge tonight."
Ichabod looked at Diedrich with a bored expression, "Diedrich if you don't want to go I can handle it myself. It certainly won't be the first time I deal with this kind of stuff on my own."
"No, Ichabod, neither of us are doing anything of the sort. We will tackle it later," Diedrich said.
"But the sooner we know what's going on the better! This town is a huge undertaking and I want to figure it out as quickly as possible and save these people from any and all demons or ghosts in all of Sleepy Hollow. It's what we do, Diedrich. This town is different than anything either of us have experienced before," Ichabod said.
Diedrich put his hands in his face and sighed. He looked back up at Ichabod after a few moments and said, "Ichabod, it's not that I don't want to do our job. It's the fact that I don't want you to get hurt in the process. In your current state, you wouldn't be able to fight off even a low level spirit. Now come on, let's head back to the cottage and rest until tomorrow. Besides, you have school children to teach in the morning." Diedrich walked past Ichabod and began pulling the wagon back towards the path. Ichabod stood there, glumly, thinking of what to do.
After a few moments, Diedrich turned to Ichabod and said, "It's been an excruciatingly long day for both of us. It was only this morning when you fell into the river. Now, are you coming or not?"
Ichabod turned around towards Diedrich, with a strange look of determination in his eyes. He said, "We attempted to look at the bridge this morning, and it was only this morning when Allison fell into the river. We need to do this for her. We need to do this so nothing like it will ever happen again."
The eyes of both men were locked with each other. Ichabod's green eyes were filled with determination. Diedrich's blue eyes were filled with worry. The two stared at each other in silence, each thinking about what they were going to do next.
Finally, the sound of an owl broke the silence, and Diedrich said, "Ichabod I just remembered you left Venator out on the path. We'd better go and collect it before we go."
Ichabod's heart sank. He though he'd really gotten through to Diedrich. Diedrich turned back around after a few feet and said, "Well, come on, you need your sword if we're going to the bridge."
Right then a huge smile appeared on Ichabod's face. He ran up to Diedrich and gave him a huge pat on the back. "Aw, Diedrich, you are the best!" Ichabod said, beaming.
"Yes, well, don't expect that every time you give some heartfelt speech, okay?" Diedrich said with a half smile, trying to hold back a full one.
"Whatever, you're just a big, soft, pup anyway!" Ichabod said with a laugh. Diedrich couldn't help but laugh with him. Ichabod's mood was always contagious.
They returned to the path and Ichabod retrieved Venator. After examining it for a moment, he quietly gasped.
"Ichabod, what is it?" Diedrich asked.
"What if Brom saw Venator? What if our cover is blown?" Ichabod asked nervously.
"He probably didn't, plus, even if he did, he still probably wouldn't have put anything together. Besides, he's a hunter, so he probably would've taken it. Also, if our theories are correct, and he is indeed possessed, then it wouldn't have mattered anyway. It's fine," Diedrich reassured.
"Okay, well, thank you." Ichabod breasted a sigh of relief. He then pointed forward with his sword. "Onward to the bridge!" he yelled, very Shakespearian.