Boosht Hollow

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After a series of murders have been carried out at the small village of Sleepy Hollow, constable Howard Crane has been called out to investigate them. Can he slove the mystery with his new friend Naboo and his new love interest, the mysterious Vince Van Tassel?

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Chapter 2

Contents

Chapter 2

The Next Day…

The streets were busy with the sounds of people selling their wares on the market, pigs roaming free to pick up any scraps and rubbish for food. Some people went by in carriages, as many others walked along admiring the selection of things on sale. One building behind a stall selling fruits and vegetables, was the home of one Howard Crane.

On the second floor of the house, was the main bedroom. It was quite large with many books, papers and jars of chemicals littering the floor and the many shelves, charts of human anatomy covering the walls. Howard himself, was standing next to the open window, holding a bird cage containing a large red bird “Goodbye, my sweet pet. A sad farewell to you, my friend” He said, before releasing the bird, watching as it flew into the distance. He then looked down to see the coach taking him to Sleepy Hollow park by the stall.

Howard finished packing the essantials he would be needing and made his way out the house, locking up before clambering into the carriage. The driver started the long journey by gently whipping the horse, its hoofbeats clip-calpping on the cobblestones. An hour later, Howard found himself in the English countryside, the large green hills rolling in the distance, grey clouds gathering as a sort of forbading warning.

A few minutes later, a light rain showered down upon the carriage, water dripping slowly down the window as Howard looked out, quite tired and bored from the journey. He looks down at his hands, seeing the many small scars covering his smooth skin of his palms, before sighing and looking out the window once more.
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Near the forests outside the village of Sleepy Hollow, two familes of migrant workers travel down a worn path that leads to over-burdened horses, satchels tied to their saddles. They watch as Howard’s carriage travel from the other direction, the constable looking out the window, unafraid.

The coach drives towards two vine covered pillers, pieces crumbling off, then stops just outside “This is where you get off, gov’ner” The driver replied, gruffly as Howard got off, carrying his baggage with him. He looked up at the grey-white pillers with unease, before turning to see the coach quickly driving away. He gather his luggage in his hands and started walking down the lone, dust, straight road towards the village. He dosen’t however see the three dead ravens, hanging on the large branch of a dead tree behind him. The pieces of twine were tight around their thin necks, their beady black eyes opened to the skies.

He keeps walking until he gets deep inside the village square. The village is bordered by brown, wooden houses and buildings, the after-rain mist spreading along the barren ground making it seems almost myterious, spooky. A church and graveyard is situated at one end of the small village, the thin fog drifting around the grey tombstones.

A quiet conversation is going on between two men sitting outside a tavern, looking at Howard as we walked by. A criminal was sitting in the stocks, his eyes drawn with fear and tiredness as he waited to be released. Howard hears a quiet crying noise and looks up to a near-by building to see an old woman sobbing in a window.

Ahead of him on a large hill, was a large mansion, dark and forebading againest the greying sky. He goes up the pathway going to the mansion entrance when he sees a group of children playing in front of the grand building, a young blindfolded man in the middle of the circle of kids and being spinned by a large man with curly brown hair and wearing an all blue suit and trousers.

“This is such a stupid game, Fossil” The young man shouted, getting dizzy from all the spinning.

“Come on, Vincey. Stop being a wimp and play” The young man-Vince reached out to find the large man-Fossil, as he backed away laughing with two sisters, Ultra and Neon. Howard strides up to them and coughs politely, no-one notising him as they continued the game, until two other girls, Ebola and Antrax pulled on his fingers “Come on, you’ve gonna play with us”

Before he could protest, Howard found himself being pushed into Vince’s arms “Hey, I’ve finally caught someone, Now can we finish?” The younger man asked.

“First you have to say who it is” Ultra giggled with her sister, Vince raises his hands to Howard’s face and touches the soft skin, making him uncomfortable and Fossil jealous “At least make a guess” Neon called out.

“I dunno, is it Fossil?” Vince asked, making the girls laugh. Howard also gave a small smile before releasing the younger man from his blindfold prison, gasping at the beauty underneath. Baby blue eyes were set with pointed features, full lips and a slightly shaped nose, the whole thing framed with longish black hair. His frame was thin, but tall and sturdy and a slight blush bought colour to his pale skin “I’m sorry, I didn’t know about you”

“No problem, I’m actually looking for Victoria Gidon Van Tassel” Howard said, gently as the blush started to deepen on Vince’s face “Yes, she is my mother” The younger man answered, looking away shyly.

“What we don’t know is your name yet” Fossil demanded.

“Unless you’re Victoria, then it’s none of your business” Howard said coolly, making Fossil fly towards him with his fist raised. Vince stepped in front of Howard to protect him “Hey, Fossil. Ease off him”

“What’s going on here?” A eastern European accent rang out, causing everyone to look over at the opened front door. A woman in her 40’s was stood in the doorway, her dark hair tied up in a bun. Behind her was a tall man with a large blond moustace and blond hair “That’s my father-in-law, Dixon Van Tassel” Vince whispered quietly yo Howard, almost afraid of the man.

“Can I help you, sir?” Victoria asked, her eyes curious “Yes, I have been sent from London with this letter, I understand you offer me room and board” Howard answered, notising all the children had stopped playing in fear and hide behind Vince “But I wish it best that we speak alone”

“Of course, please follow me” Victoria agreed, showing the way into the house. Dixon moved from behind his wife and walked quite angerily towards Vince “Don’t you think this is a bad time to play around, Vince?”

“They’re just kids, we were just playing to pass the time” Vince replied meekly, trying to back away from the taller man while protecting the children. Dixon snorts in disgust and anger, then moves away from the group with Vince following him into the house with Victoria and Howard.
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Doctor Bryan Ferry takes a seat by the fire in the parlor of the mansion, joining Howard and three other elders. A yound servent, Kirk comes in bringing a pipe cradle as Dixon sits down near by.

“Thank you, now constable Crane, we are joined today by doctor Bryan Ferry, clergyman Harold Boom and our noble magistrate Lance Dior” Howard couldn’t help but notise Lance looked a bit like Vince, only not as beautiful, his face wasn’t as smooth, his hair didn’t shine as much. He also notised the clergyman looked sort of like himself, but he didn’t say anything to upset anyone.

Dixon cleared his throat before carrying on “I am into charge of all finacial matters of this village, and this fine person to the left of me is our notery, Tommy Nooka” The gentleman had quite a large head, but again Howard didn’t say anything to not offend anyone.

“This is an honor to speak to you all. I will need all the infomation you have on these murders, but I ask you all now if you have any idea who the killer might be?” Howard asked, getting shocked glances from everyone. Lance gave a quick glance to Dixon before answering Howard “To be truthful, you were not what we expected, mate”

“What do you mean?” Howard asked, a bit annoyed.

“Well, didn’t your boss tell you a lot about this job?” Bryan asked back.

“They just told me that the victims were beheaded…” Harold just shook his head in disgust “The heads were never found, they were taken by the Headless Horseman, taken back to hell”

“I don’t beileve that” Howard said, giving a disbeliving look to everyone in the room. When they all gave him a ahrd stare back, he started changing his mind “So, you haven’t really been well informed of our troubles…”
“I will explain then, the horseman was a cockney murderer, sent to us by London to keep the criminals at bay. However, he came willingly, for love of carnage. He was famous for charging hard into battle on his horse Boffo, chopping off heads at full speed. Just to look on him made your blood run cold, he had filed down his teeth to rapiers to add to the ferocity of his appearance and the cold, blodthirsty look in his polo vision could turn you to stone. He wouldn’t meet his end till the winter of seventy-nine…”

+++++Flashback+++++
The green skinned cockney ran for his life from the soliders chasing after him, rifles firing after him. He came to a dead end surrounded by tall rocks and one of the soliders raised a gun, firing so the bullet landed into the horseman’s arm, blood spraying fresh from the wound, his sword falling helplessly from his now useless hand. A second solider grabs the sword as they run after the cockney.
The horseman turns to face the soliders, reaching behind his back to grasp a steathed knife, before throwing it perfectly into one of the solider’s eye socket, blood splashing and making him fall instantly. He then readies an axe also from behind his back, then starts battling with the other three soliders, steel againest steel.
The horseman manages to fend off all the attacks, until a solider lunges and buries his sword right to the hilt into the cockney’s side, the sound of flesh being sliced and bones being broken could be heard echoing around the rock enclosure that trapped them. The cockney brings his axe down and breaks the sword at the hilt. He brings the axe up once more, striking another solider down in a slash of blood and broken bits of bone.
The horesman staggers, howling in pain as he tries to pull the blade from his ribcage and as the remaining soliders close in…
+++++Flashback Ends+++++

“Apparently, he cut off his head with his own sowrd, the legend as been around for twenty years” Lance explained, a afaraway look in his eyes.
“Only recently has the headless horseman been seen around the forests and our village, looking for a head to fit his own shoulders” Dixon concluded, sighed sadly.
“No one knows if it’s him to be sure, or why now he chooses to come out of his grave” Bryan kept on, keeping a hard stare on Howard.
“Fien, I will everything I can to find your ‘horseman’, but I’ll be looking for a human male, not some goblin from hell” Howard replied, determinded to do his best.