Woman In The Hollow

One

Ichabod's Pov

I always thought that my knowledge and unethical ways could lead us into a better judicial system and save more lives from the crazy people in our world. But now here I am in a carriage on my way to a little town I have never heard of. The driver dropped me off at the entrance of the town. The town was small, grey and dark and I could definitely tell it was farm land by the smell in the air. As I walked through the town the townspeople avoided me and closed their windows and doors at the sight of me. I noticed that on the side of the town was a large wooded area and in between the town and the woods was a hunting stand which was surrounded by long pointed sticks. Next to the hunting stand was a man with a gun and a little boy which I assume is his son. Already the town seemed very unwelcoming and strange but not only that I had no place to stay and didn't even know where to begin looking for Baltus Van Tassel which is the man I was told to find when I arrived.

After awhile of wondering I finally found a house which showed promise of people. It was a large house on a hill which was now the only thing that could be seen in town as the sun had gone down and the house windows were flooded with candle light and the air surrounded with the sound of music. As I walked up to the front door I noticed two people kissing roughly in the dark. Feeling uncomfortable and disgusted I quickly opened the door to be greeted with a room full of people dancing and talking. As I walked further into the crowd I saw a group of men surrounding a young women with a blind fold saying "who's got a kiss for the pickety witch?" As I tried to walk around the group suddenly the woman spun around in my direction grabbing my face.

"Is it Theodore?" She asked.

"No, pardon miss I am only a stranger." I replied.

"Then have a kiss on the account." She said before leaning forward to peck my cheek. It was a very awkward and embarrassing way to be noticed in the room and was wishing I could soon leave and find a place to sleep. But she took her blind fold off and the beauty of her face took me out of my thoughts.

"I am looking for Baltus Van Tassel." I said trying to cover the shock in my voice from her beauty.

"Well I am his daughter Katrina Van Tassel." She replied.

"And who are you my friend? We have not heard your name yet." A man said from behind me.

"I have not said my name yet." I replied walking away. Suddenly someone  grabbed my shoulders and spun me back around."You need to learn some manners!" The man said to me taking me off guard.

"Now no raised voices this is supposed to be used to raise spirits in such dark times that I am and my dear wife are giving this little party. And you sir are most welcome even if you are selling something." Said a large elder man coming through the crowd.

"Sir, I am constable Crane set to you from New York to investigate the murders in Sleepy Hollow." I said to introduce myself and my presents.

"Then Sleepy Hollow is grateful to have you constable Crane."  Lady Van Tassel said.

"I am honored to be able to help this town of yours, but I must ask for it was a long journey to get here is there any place I can stay while investigating?" I asked silently pleading for a place to stay.

"Dear, do we have a free room in our house?" Lady Van Tassel asked her husband.

"Unfortunately I don't think that we do and if I am being honest constable Crane not many people in this town have homes with rooms to spare."  Lord Van Tassel said to me.

"Well, what about the ill mannerd woman that lives in the house next to the woods? I'm sure the constable would appreciate being with someone that behaves like him." The man, who's name I learned is Brom, suggested to Lord Van Tassel.

"Yes, I believe her name is Y/N" Said Katrina.

"I think that should work I mean she has that house all to herself there's got to be a spare room in there. Good thinking Brom. Well constable, myself and Brom can escort you to Y/N's house in just a few minutes." Lord Van Tassel said to me.

"Thank you, that would be much appreciated sir." I said.

It was dark and cold outside and I was definitely greatful to have people with me walking through the quiet town. Out of the darkness I saw a house which stood further way from the town and closer to the woods. The house looked out of place compared to the houses all crammed together in the town. The house looked like it was more recently made and it was not necessarily a large house but still larger than the houses the townspeople lived in. We walked up to the door and Brom knocked on it three times. "Just a quick warning this woman is alittle weird." Brom said quietly right before the door opened. Standing in the door way was a woman. I noticed how she dressed it was certainly not normal. Instead of an elegant long and puffy dress she wore a thin fabric dress that came down alittle bit past her knees and she wore long stocking to cover her legs and had on tall black boots with laces tied up on the front of the boot. She also had on no makeup and she let her hair down and let it sway freely around her face instead of styling it up in a fancy way.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

"Gentleman." Brom said.

"What?" She asked.

"How can I help you gentleman? I mean honestly women who taught you your manners." Brom said to her.

"Anyway, Miss. L/N this is constable Crane he is here to investigate the murders that have happened recently and he needs a place to stay while he is here." Lord Van Tassel explained.

"So you want him to stay here?... Ok sure." She said.

"Well than have a good night constable and I will see you tommorow." Lord Van Tassel said to me before leaving with Brom.

"Follow me and I will show you your room." She said going back into her house. She walked up a small flight of stairs which lead us into to a hallway with three rooms.

"Your room is at the end off the hall." She said. I walked to the room she indicated to and opened the door. There was a bed in the far corner of the room right next to the bed was a window with a new candle on the window sill. Across from the bed on the other side of the room was a desk and chair and right next to the door was a coat rack.

"Sorry it's a bit dusty but no one is ever in this room so I have no reason to keep it clean. And here are some more candles for you constable." She said handing me two more candles.

"Thank you Miss. L/N and I am sure the room is just fine the way it is." I said putting my bags and small traveling chest down on the floor.

"Please, call me Y/N." She said back to me.

"Well thank you Y/N for letting me stay in your house and I hope you can pardon the sudden intrusion." I said.

"Its really no big deal constable. Have a good night I will be down stairs let me know if you need anything." Y/N said before closing the door.

I quickly put my stuff in any empty space in the room and headed to bed. As I lied in bed waiting for sleep to come over me I thought about my home in New York this creepy town and it's people but one person was on my mind in particular Y/N. She was definitely a different type of woman from the other woman in town but for some reason it was intriguing to me. She was intriguing to me.

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Hello everyone! I am back with a new story and I hope that you enjoy it. I will try to have more scheduled and regular updates with this story. I hope you enjoy reading this book.