Horseman

Carolyn was inspecting the antique columns of the old mansion when she felt a hot breath on her neck.

She turned and gave Chris a hug.

"So, how's it coming," he said, "Found any ghosts yet?

"She stuck her tongue out at him playfully. After all, SHE was the one that was interested in the history surrounding this town.

She replied, "Not quite yet, but I do believe that I'm on the right track this time. We have visited several other towns, but this is the first one that matches so many of the descriptions from the story."

Carolyn was a graduate student, and she was working on a paper that studied the basis for local folk tales and myths. Her main focus for the paper was "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." This abandoned town fit the description almost word for word from the book. The high steeple of the church, the general store with part of the front wall missing, and the small schoolhouse all pointed to the fact that she had finally found the correct town.

Carolyn and Chris had been married for two years now, and they had been looking for this town together ever since. Although Chris never complained, she knew that he had to be tired of traipsing about the countryside whenever they had a free weekend. Now that she had found her setting, she would take some pictures and make some notes before heading back home.

She walked back to the car and got her camera. Thank goodness for digital, she thought, at least she wouldn't have to lug any film around with her. After taking all the necessary photos and making a note of the location on her GPS, she and Chris headed back to the car. It was getting into the late afternoon, and she wanted to find one last element to be sure that she had the right place, and that was the infamous bridge.

In the original story, the bridge was the limit for the Headless Horseman. If the traveler could simply get as far as the bridge, then the person would be safe from the Horseman. She just knew that if she could find the bridge, all of her work would actually MEAN something.

Chris drove around for a while, but they couldn't find the bridge. Her heart sank. She had just known that this was the right place. It was now almost fully dark outside, and they had to be getting back to the hotel.

Suddenly, she saw a flash of movement through the trees. Squinting her eyes, she was able to make out the shape of a man riding a horse against the background of the foliage. She turned to Chris to show him what she had seen, but his eyes were wide open and his jaw was hanging open. He had seen it, too.

"Who the heck has a horse all the way out here?" he asked, "And why didn't they say something to us when we were wandering aimlessly for the past few hours?"

Through the dimming light, Carolyn rolled down her window and shouted, "Hey, do you need some help?"

The horse turned toward them, and they saw the rider draw a long, shining sword from a scabbard in the saddle.

Carolyn's blood turned to ice. "Um, Chris, maybe we should just go. It doesn't look like that joker needs any of our help."

He gulped and nodded, then he put the car in Drive. When he hit the accelerator, nothing happened. In a panicked voice, Chris stammered, "I-I think we're stuck. I'm going to get out and push, and I want you to get in the driver's seat and get it going." She nodded dumbly.

He took a deep breath and jumped from the car, and she slid in front of the steering wheel. She looked in the mirror, and he waved nervously to her and started pushing. She started easing her foot down on the gas pedal, and she peeked off into the woods to see where the horse and rider were, but they were gone. She knew. Deep in her heart, she knew. That wasn't a horseman, it was the Horseman. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, as if confirming her thoughts.

She turned back to the task at hand. She added a bit more gas, but the tires kept spinning. She looked up into the rearview mirror just in time to see Chris be impaled on the horseman's sword. She screamed in horror as his writhing body was lifted into the air and slammed into the back window of the car. Chris peered at her through the blood pouring from his face and tried to speak, but he couldn't seem to force the words out. A tortured look went across his face as the sword lifted him into the air again.

Carolyn could no longer watch. She floored the accelerator and the car leapt forward. She willed herself not to look into the mirror at what was happening to her husband. Suddenly, she could see a wooden structure through the woods. She flicked on the high beams and saw an old covered bridge through a break in the trees. She gripped the steering wheel with white-knuckled hands and sped up even more. There was a barricade in front of the bridge, so she jumped out and ran into the tunnel. She could barely see twilight gleaming through the other end of the bridge, and she was sprinting for her life.

She never saw the sign outside the entrance, proclaiming, "Bridge Closed for Repairs." She never stopped running, even when she fell through the hole in the bridge and onto the jagged rocks below.