The Battle has Won, but the War has Just Begun (Ichabod Crane)

Chapter 7

"So do we leave her body in the open like this," Katrina asked.

"No silly. We take and hide her body in a secure place where no one would think to look for it," Sara said coming up behind the girls. "Lucky for you ladies, I know of a spot where we can put her. Nothing and nobody will bother her there. She will be completely safe."

"Are you absolutely sure about this," Katrina asked.

"Hey, you made it quite clear that you would rather be married to Ichabod Crane. We just happened to remove the biggest obstacle standing in your way of having that happen," Catherine reminded. "So, you should be a little more grateful for what we had done for you. The only obstacle that you have to worry about is breaking Abraham Van Brunt's heart. Hopefully he doesn't learn the truth about what happened to his sister. Who knows what he will do if he learns about this. He might snap and go on a mission to figure out who would take his precious sister away from him."

"That is what I fear. You have seen how protective Abraham is of his sister. He will stop at nothing until he manages to find his sister and bring her back. And if he does that, and I get married to Ichabod, Winter will expose all of us to get back at me," Katrina said.

Catherine rolled her eyes at Katrina's worried rants. "Will you stop worrying? We managed to hide Winter Van Brunt's body so well that nobody will find her for many years to come. If you keep worrying like you are right now, then you are going to trigger someone, and they will grow suspicious of you. Stop with the worrying and start acting natural about this."

"Catherine does have a point. You're worrying so darn much that if I wasn't aware of what is taking place right now, I would become suspicious of you too. I can feel the worry flowing off of you in waves. You need to calm yourself and go along with the decision you made. The only time you have to worry about Winter Van Brunt is when the time comes when she's finally woken from her dormancy. Which you won't have to worry about as long as nobody goes looking for her and wakes her from her dormancy. But there is a time and place to worry about all of that. Right now, all you have to worry about is that you manage to not only get Ichabod's attention and get him to fall for you, and eventually become his wife," Sara said.

"Right. Should I wait a bit of time before pursuing Ichabod? I don't want anyone else growing suspicious, saying that I got rid of Winter Van Brunt, only so I could remove her out of my way so I could have him all to myself," Katrina said.

Sara scoffed. "That is basically what you did. I hate to break it to you, but that is basically what you did. Winter Van Brunt was the only thing that was standing in your way of getting the man that you truly want. So, you can try and deny that you didn't do anything wrong to get what you want, but you helped placed Winter Van Brunt in a dormancy. So, there is no turning back now, not unless you want to awaken Winter Van Brunt and deal with an angry witch who will most likely come after not only you, but the rest of the coven. The choice is up to you Katrina, but make sure you make a wise decision, because either way you're going to have to deal with someone getting hurt, getting angry and most likely will have to deal with a disgruntled Abraham Van Brunt."

Katrina sighed. "I don't know what I will do. But I guess I will have to deal with it as it comes."

"And that is the Katrina Van Tassel that I know and love like an older sister that I will never have," Sara said.

Several months passed since the announcement of the arranged marriage of the Van Brunt children.

Abraham Van Brunt had not only noticed the absence of his baby sister, but he noticed that Katrina Van Tassel was trying to gain Ichabod's attention, growing closer and closer with him.

What on earth is going on between Katrina and my good friend Ichabod? Surely Ichabod isn't taking interest in my betrothed. Surely, he would be putting all of his efforts into finding my little sister and trying to bring her back home. Surely Ichabod still loves my sister and is wanting to find her, that way they can go through with the arranged marriage, Abraham thought to himself making sure he kept himself hidden as he watched the exchange between Katrina and Ichabod.

Ichabod was making his way to one of the many places that he knew Winter liked to go when she felt overwhelmed with everything going on around her. Where on earth is Winter? Normally she would return home to keep her family from worrying about her. Did Winter run away, because she's nervous to go through with the arranged marriage to me, Ichabod thought to himself all while Katrina was trying her hardest to gain his attention.

"Are you alright? You look as though you haven't slept in many nights," Katrina said, hoping that Ichabod would give her the time of day.

"What," Ichabod said snapping out of his thoughts.

"I said I hope that you are getting plenty of sleep. I understand that you are worried about finding Winter. But maybe Winter got cold feet and changed her mind about this wedding. Maybe she couldn't go through with it," Katrina suggested hoping she would get somewhere with Ichabod.

"Now why would you go and say something like that? When Winter found out that we were meant to be wed, she seemed to be happy. She didn't seem to be too bothered by the fact that we were to become husband and wife. I don't understand why Winter would suddenly change her mind about wanting to go through with the arranged marriage," Ichabod said.

"Maybe the pressure of the arranged marriage has gotten to her. Or maybe she didn't like the idea of another woman coming along and taking the title of Van Brunt away from her. After all, if Winter went through with the arranged marriage to you, she would no longer be a Van Brunt. I would become the new Van Brunt, while she would become a Crane. Maybe Winter wasn't ready to give up the power that comes with the Van Brunt last name," Katrina said.

"What are you trying to get at Ms. Van Tassel," Ichabod asked.

"Are you really willing to sit around, waiting for the return of Winter, knowing that she could possibly be gone for the rest of our natural lives? Are you really willing to sit around hoping that she will come back and give you children, to help keep the Crane last name going? If you ask me, I say that Winter is being selfish, hoping that you would sit around waiting for her to decide to make a grand return to give you everything that you desire. Why would you go and punish yourself by sitting around waiting for her; when you could have everything that you want now," Katrina said.

"What are you suggesting Ms. Van Tassel," Ichabod asked.

"Rather than sitting around hoping that Winter returns, you should just marry a woman who is here, and is willing to give you everything that you want right now," Katrina said.