Eleanore Crane

tree of the dead

While a meeting was taking place downstairs, Ichabod had woken up once again and was pacing up and down his room while spinning the Cardinal optic that he had shown the girls between his fingers. Finally making up his mind, he slipped his coat on and walked into the meeting room, young Mazbeth trailing behind him. He stood tall at the top of the staircase and gained everyone's attention.

"Gentlemen, I need able men to go with me into the western woods"

Most of them looked genuinely surprised that Ichabod was even there. Mr Van Tassel spoke what they were all thinking.

"You.....we thought you had shot your boat"

"No" Ichabod said while making his way down the staircase "I have faced my fears and come out, determined to find the horseman's grave, in short to pin myself against a murdering ghost" He folded his arms across his chest and gave them a confident smile "Who's with me?"

Dead silence filled the room. The only person to offer to go with him was young Mazbeth.

After everyone had dispersed from the room, Ichabod caught Katrina just before she could walk through the door.

"Katrina, may I ask you something?"

"You may"

"Have you any idea where my daughter is, I wish to speak with her but I haven't been able to find her"

Katrina sighed and bit her lip. She did know where Elenore was but the young girl had asked her not to tell her Papa where she was, Katrina always kept her promises.

"I'm sorry constable but I have not seen her" Katrina quickly fled the room as Ichabod began to run his fingers through his hair in worry, this had never happened before and he didn't know how to handle it. Elenore was always with him but if not he knew exactly where she was. Mazbeth stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm.

"Don't worry Constable, I'm sure Elenore is perfectly safe, everyone in the town already knows her so if she was missing everyone would have known about it by now"

Now feeling a little at ease, but still very worried, Ichabod and Mazbeth rode their horses deep into the western woods.

"Something must connect them" Ichabod said, speaking of the murder victims "Did your father have dealings with the Van Garrets?" He asked Mazbeth

"He worked for them, we lived in the coach house, it's nothing" He paused as something came to his mind "But there was something, one night a week before the murders, an argument upstairs between father and son and my father was laid assent for it by Mr Van Garret"

"An argument between father and son, after which the elder Van Garret sent for hiss servant Mazbeth"

While Ichabod had been talking to himself, Mazbeth gained his attention as he was looking at his surroundings.

"Listen" He told Ichabod

A little confused, the constable responded with "I hear nothing"

"Nor do I, no birds, no crickets, It's all gone so quiet"

The two began look around silently begging for any animal to make one tiny sound. But they didn't receive their wish.

"Quicken pace"

They carried on trotting further into the woods, eventually they cam across an entrance of what looked to be a cave. They jumped of their horses, tying them to nearby trees.

-------------

After a terrifying encounter with an evil witch, Ichabod learned that the horseman's grave was in the same woods, the tree of the dead so the two got back on their horses and set out in search of it.

Suddenly the two pulled to a stop when being the trees they saw movement, there was some one else in the woods with them, upon a steed.

"Stay here"

Handing his reigns to young Macbeth, Ichabod jumped of his horse and persued the mestyrious figure, gun held tightly in his right hand.

He quietly snick around the trees, eyes wide to see if anyone else was there. He eventually rounded a corner and there stood a with horse, with a cloaked figure on it, their back turned to him. He aimed his gun at their head.

"Halt and turn! I have a pistol aimed!"

The figure took down its way hood and turned around to face Ichabod. It was Katrina.

"Katrina, I might have killed you, why have you come?" He asked studying over to her.

"Because no one else would go with you"

He smiled "I am now twice the man" they took each others hand and slowly leaned in towards eachother.

"Pardon my intrusion"

They both snapped their heads up to see Macbeth crouched down Beijing a tree, a shotgun in his arms.

"I think you'd better see this"

They all got back on their horses and Macbeth lead them to a small opening in the woods where one line tree stood. This tree was larger than all those that surrounded it and looked to be made of a different kind of wood from the others.

They all climbed off from their steeds and stood Infront of this monstrous looking tree, taking in every detail.

"The tree of the dead"

Ichabod was the first to advance and getter a closer look at the tree. He noticed that some sort of liquid seemed to be dropping from the tree and touched it without hesitation. Upon closer inspection, he came to the conclusion that he had just dipped his fingers and blood and pulled a disgusted face.

Going back to his horse he pulled and axe from one of the bags and walked back over to the tree.

"Stay where you are" He warned the other two.

He slammed the axe down into a rather large branch that was attached to the three, around the third swing blood was sent flying onto his face but he just grimaced and carried on hacking.

Eventually, now drenched in blood he was able to put down the axe, more like throw it to the ground, and start pulling the bottom of the tree apart.

"What is it?" Macbeth asked taking a step towards him.

"Just stay where you are, don't move"

He ripped of a large part of bark and was absolutely horrified with what he found. All of the heads from the victims lay there, their cold, lifeless eyes staring into his soul.

Macbeth turned away, not baring to look and Katrina held him close. Ichabod walked back over to them trying to clean his face with a white cloth. He looked up a little and saw what looked to be the hilt of a speed sticking out from further up in the tree.

"This tree seems to be a gateway, a gateway between two worlds"

He carful climbed up to it and cricles the sword, inspecting the ground around it.

"The ground has been disturbed" He noticed look at the dirt "the soil is loose, bring the shovel" He shouted down to the others.

Shovel now in hand, he removed the sowed and dug deep down in the ground where it had once been placed. After a while he came across skeletal remains, already knowing who they belonged to.

"The skull is gone, taken, that is why the horseman returns from the grave" He realised "to take heads until his own is restored to him" He explained as thunder rumbled and lightning began to strike.

Down on the ground Macbeth and Katrina noticed that the heads seemed to be moving and more blood was pouring out from the tree. They both advanced, Macbeth keeping a tight hold in his shot gun.

"Ichabod"

Ichabod looked down at the remains and saw that the vines around it had begun to move, he looked down just in time to see, the horseman and his horse leap from where the heads hand once been, drawing its sword it took of towards the small town of sleepy hollow, leaving the three people stood there in shock.