Bewitched (Ichabad Crane x Reader)

Chapter 10- The Will And Certificate

Ichabod slowly wakes up and looks down to see Y/n sleeping peacefully, her head on his chest and being mindful of his wound. He then looks up to find Lady Van Tassel sitting on the bedside looking at the both of them. Startled, he covers Y/n with his sheets.

"You slept like the dead. Also, do not worry, her secret is safe with me." Lady Van Tassel says grabbing a bottle of water and pouring it into a mug. Also, not minding Y/n being a girl rather than a man.

"You're too kind to us. I do not look to be served by the lady of the house." Ichabod smiles at her with gratitude and holds Y/n closer to him.

"Nor would you be, but that the servant girl has vanished." She says while putting down the bottle and mug.

"Sarah?" Ichabod questions.

"Run away like so many others. They're all leaving in fear." She cuts an apple in half and gets up to leave the room. Young Masbath enters shortly after with a pitcher of water in hand.

"Well, I'm fit for another day, I think. Fit enough to face a mortal adversary." Ichabod slowly gets up and turns to look at Y/n. He smiles in adoration at how peaceful she looks and would love to leave her like that, but knows they have a busy day.

He gently nudges her awake and she wakes up after a couple of tries. "Come on, love. It is time to wake up." Ichabod whispers to her. She looks up at him with a smile and sits up to kiss him.

"Morning." She whispers and he whispers back. Ichabod asks Young Masbath to wait outside for a bit so the two can freshen up and when they call him back in they start to look through all of the information papers and scatter them across the floor.

"Doctor Lancaster, Reverend Steenwyck, Notary Hardenbrook, and Magistrate Philipse. Who tried to cut and run, and lost his head." Ichabod crawls across the floor looking for the men's names and placing them on the table.

"All frightened men, arguing together on the very night Magistrate Philipse was killed. It is a conspiracy here." Y/n says while helping Ichabod up from the ground. Y/n walked to the writing desk and started writing in her book, while Ichabod walked around.

"The Doctor, The Reverend, The Notary, and The Magistrate. What is this secret that unites them? Magistrate Philipse knew there were five bodies to four graves. He knew the Widow was pregnant. He would not tell me the name of the father. What does this point to?" Ichabod explains while Young Masbath sits down on a box and nods along.

"We must proceed by a process of elimination. I shall make a list of every man and woman in Sleepy Hollow, starting with its chief citizen Baltus Van Tassel." Y/n says writing key points.

"I feel we're getting very close." Ichabod says.

"Yes, I suppose Baltus is the chief citizen, now that old Van Garrett is dead." Young Masbath adds.

"Yes, the Van Garretts. I'd almost forgotten them." Ichabod opens up the Bible to see the family tree and when he sees something he slams the book shut. "Come with us."

"Where?" Young Masbath questions while Y/n looks at Ichabod with curiosity. 

"To Notary Hardenbrook's." Ichabod says while collecting the names and placing them inside of a drawer.

"Have you thought of something?" Young Masbath asked while Y/n gathered her coat and hat.

"Yes. I have." With that, they all left the room.

~~~

They entered the Notary and saw a small untidy room with piles of documents in disorder all around them. They started to walk around and look for clues. Young Masbath looked up to see his father's satchel sitting on top of documents.

"My father's satchel. Why is it here?" He walks to the satchel and picks it up examining it. Ichabod opens a cabinet door and is surprised to see Hardenbrook there. Y/n turned around when she heard Ichabod gasp and saw Hardenbrook leaving the cabinet.

"Leave me alone." Hardenbrook quiet says.

"Notary Hardenbrook." Ichabod says following him.

"Leave me alone!" Hardenbrook says louder and sits down on a chair.

"Just as soon as you show me the last will and testament of old man Van Garrett." Ichabod says standing next to him.

"The will leaves everything to his son." Hardenbrook explains.

"Who died with him. So the estate passes to the next of kin." Y/n stands next to Ichabod once understanding what Ichabod was getting at.

"Naturally. All legal and above board."

"Sir." The three looked at Young Masbath who pulled out Van Garrett's will from the satchel he's holding.

"I'm a dead man. No." Hardenbrook says fearfully and Y/n grabs the paper for Ichabod and her to see.

"Van Garrett's seal. Broken." Ichabod says and Y/n opens it to see it rewritten. "Seems Van Garrett made a new will just before he died. Naming Widow Winship?" Ichabod questions.

"And here, look. A marriage certificate." Young Masbath says giving them the Certificate.

"Old Van Garrett secretly married the Widow. Left everything to her and her unborn child. So the new will stood between the Van Garrett fortune and the person who would have otherwise inherited everything." Ichabod sums up.

"It's true. But we four were drawn in against our will." Hardenbrook exclaims.

"Your will?" Ichabod questions.

"He means..." Young Masbath says and the two consults understand.

"Of course. The four town elders. Now I see what parts you had to play. Reverend Steenwych knew the secret because he performed the marriage. Dr. Lancaster attended the pregnant woman. Magistrate Philipse gave protection of the law. And Notary Hardenbrook concealed the documents, which had been entrusted by Van Garrett to his faithful servant. The four conspirators drawn into the plot."

Hardenbrook couldn't take it anymore and got up to give him and the group distance. "We did not know it was a murdering plot." His voice is full of fear and despair.

"But I have not finished, sir. First, the Van Garretts, father and son, slain by a horseman raised from the grave to chop heads. Now, up pops a widow with a claim on a fortune. Off with her head! But murder begets murder. It was the servant, Jonathan Masbath. The night father and son quarreled over the new will, Jonathan Masbath was summoned upstairs to bear witness." 

Ichabod walks till he is next to Y/n and Young Masbath on the other side to look at the will. "Here is his signature. I'm afraid it was his death warrant, Young Masbath. The Horseman came for him." Ichabod whispers. "Came for him at the bidding of someone who had power over him. Someone who dug in the earth in the Western Woods and stole the skull. The missing head, which must be restored to the Horseman before he will return to Hell. Someone who stood to gain or lose a fortune. None other than Van Garrett's next to kin, Baltus Van Tassel!"

~~~