The Lady From Sleepy Hollow

Ichabod

"She will not see you."

Lady Van Tassel leans over an open hearth as she grips a pot with a cloth, filling it with boiling water from a large cauldron. She hardly looks at me as she focuses on her task. However, I feel she's mostly giving me the cold shoulder. Just like Katrina did earlier this morning.

I study her closely, taking note of her loosely-bandaged hand. Images of last night flood my mind, but I refuse to let the truth of what I saw cross my expression. Keeping my collected stance, I ask, "Did she say anything?"

​​Lady Van Tassel sighs again and gives me a pointed look, gripping the pot tightly through the cloth with her good hand. "Only that she will not come down."

She carries the pot over to the wooden island counter, exhaling in relief after it was securely placed. She drops the cloth she used to hold the pot onto the counter space, exhaling in relief and gingerly grabbing the wrist of her bandaged hand.

"And of Mary?" I inquire.

She shakes her head gently, her expression softer at the inquiry of her eldest. "She isn't feeling well. She's resting right now."

​​My heart sinks a little at the news of being unable to visit either by condition or command, but I decide to press on. Turning away, I respond with a curt nod, "I see. Thank you."

I take one step toward the stairwell up to my quarters before Lady Van Tassel stops me with...

​"Constable?"

I remain in place, frozen as I await the rest of her inquiry. An audible sigh escapes from her thinly pressed lips. "You have not asked me how I have hurt my hand since yesterday, which would have been polite."

Her shoes click and clack against the wooden floor as she approaches me from behind. Her voice is filled with suspicion. "In fact, you have been as careful not to look at it as not to mention it."

She strips off the bandage and shows me her still-fresh cut, red with irritation. I feel my gag reflex threaten my steadiness and collected stature, ultimately disturbed by the sight of her wound.
​​
​"Yes. I'm-I'm sorry. How did you—"

Lady Van Tassel grabs me by the wrist tightly, whispering closely to me without batting an eyelash, "I know you saw me."

​​I swallow my fear, unsure of how to get out of this immensely uncomfortable situation. Perhaps, I should play it off dimly? I turn my face slightly toward her, asking, "What?"

​She sees through my act, however, and persists. "I know you followed last night, and you must promise not to tell my husband what you saw."

I don't answer, not trusting her words or the consequences that keeping her secret would lead to. I try to pull away, feeling a panic creep onto me, but she grips my wrist tighter, preventing me from going anywhere. She whispers in a sharp demand, "Promise me!"

I jump at her ferocity, and try to pull away again. Thankfully, the kitchen door opens with a loud, squeaky creak. She pulls away from me just as Baltus enters. I relax a little, keeping my expression as blank as a new canvas.

"Town is in ferment! Horror piled on tragedy! Hardenbrook is dead!" Baltus exclaims, his eyes wild with shock.

Lady Van Tassel's demeanor switches rapidly like a candle's flame at a gust of wind, removing any vicious fiber from her character as she puts a hand to her chest. "Oh, no! That harmless old man?"

Baltus goes straight to the flagon on the kitchen counter, hands trembling slightly. I stare at the floor, still thrown with the fact that Hardenbrook is gone. I focus on Baltus's strong hands gripping the neck of the flagon, listening intently to what else he says.

​​Baltus nods, and elaborates, "Hanged himself in the night."

​​Immediately, I shift my eyes to Baltus's, my attention fully captured. "Hanged himself?"

​​Baltus pours himself a cup of water from the flagon into a chalice, saying in a rushed manner, "Reverend Steenwyck's called a meeting at the church tonight. Every man, woman and child..."

He pauses, setting the flagon down and facing me directly, and finishes with a small finger pointed to me, "Is going to speak against you."

My heart stops for a moment in complete disbelief, my lips turning down into a frown. He continues, "If you are wise, you will leave this place."

Mary... Katrina... I... They all really blame me for all of this?

Lady Van Tassel goes to calm her husband, raising her wounded hand to his cheek. Baltus notices her wound, gasping at the sight. "What is that?"

​​She smiles sheepishly and holds her hand close to her chest with an innocent flair. "Oh, I was careless with the kitchen knife."

​​He clicks his tongue at her and says, "The wound looks angry."

​​I however, realize I am no longer needed nor desired at all by anyone in this damned town. I begin to slip out of the kitchen, heading toward the stairwell up to my room.

Lady Van Tassel's voice carries through the halls, "I'll bind it later with wild arrowroot flowers. I know where some grow."

I clench my jaw, feeling angry and hurt by the town's sudden need to blame me for everything, to speak against me.

I briskly stride to my own quarters, refusing to even glance at Mary's. She must've been informed of all of this treachery and nonsense by now.

I shut the door behind me as softly as my disposition of anger could allow, and storm over to my desk. Clenching my teeth, I shrug off my coat and throw it aside, unbuttoning my vest and casting it where I had tossed my coat.

"Everything I am doin is for the sake of keeping my job, and my freedom. If this blasted town wasn't being so difficult and let me solve this case..."

A soft knock raps upon my door. I roll my eyes, composing myself before answering the door. "Yes?"