Boosht Hollow

[nextpage title=”Chapter 8″]

Chapter 8

The next day, Howard woke up with less pain then before. He thought about Vince’s potion and smiled, but jumped in fright at the sight of Dixon Van Tassel sitting at the foot of his bed “You sleep like the dead, you know” He sneered.

“I do not wish to be served by the lord of the house” Howard admitted, a little bit afraid of the man in front of him.

“Well, the servent Donny has gone missing. Ran off I suppose, seemed he was having an affair with his girlfriend” Dixon replied, taking a knife and a apple, then started slicing off the skin.

“Where’s Vince?” He asked, concerned. He knew how much Vince was afriad of his step-father and knew Dixon disliked Vince just as much.

“He was here with you till dawn, now it’s his turn to sleep” Dixon answered with another sneer, before leaving the room with his peeled apple. Naboo walked passed him with a large jag of water, filling the wash bowl on the table.

“Well, time I was up and working, I feel fit enough now anyway” Howard said, getting up without grunting in pain as much as before. He then gathered all his notes and piling them on the floor, he had enough the cover the floor of the entire room “Doctor Bryan Ferry, Reverand Harold Boon, Notery Tommy Nooka and Magistrate Lance Doir-who lost his head. Four frightened men who were meeting each other the night Dior died, this sounds like a conspiracy”

Naboo watched in silence as Howard wrote in his large notebook on the old wooden desk by the window “What is the secret that connects them? Doir knew about the widow being pregnant, but wouldn’t say the name of the father. By process of elimonation, I shall make a list of everyone in the village, starting with Victoria Van Tassel. I feel we’re getting close”

“I suppose Victoria is the chief villagers now Van Garret is dead” Naboo replied helpfully.

“Yes, I was wondering about them” Howard opened the bible that was in his room and searched through the family tree of the Van Garrets and the Van Tassels, slamming the book shut when he thought of an answered “Come with me, we need to visit the notery” He stored all of his notes away before he and Naboo left the room.
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They rode down the village to the notery’s office, going inside the dusty building to find stacks of papers, notes and books, gathering dust and cobwebs from all the years they haven’t been touched “Hopeless” Howard muttered, going around the tables and chairs to the main desk. Naboo looked around then saw a black, leather satchel propped up on one of the walls “Bollo’s satchel, he used it while working for the Van Garrets”

Howard gave him a look then opened the door of the grandfather clock, jumping in fright as Tommy Nooka stood inside, his head just fitting in “Just leave me alone, alone I say!” He said, getting out of the clock and to his desk.

“When you’ve shown me the last will of old man Van Garret” Howard commanded, getting to the side of Tommy.

“The will says everything goes to his son” Tommy explained, clearly afraid.

“Who died with him? Remember? So the estate passes to the next of kin” As he said this, Naboo rooted through his ex-familar’s satchel and pulled out a piece of folded, worn out paper, the red wax seal in half “Sir, look at this”

Tommy gasped in shocked and hid his face behind his hands “I’m a dead man…” He whispered, as Howard opened the paper “Van Garrets seal, broken I see. Seems he also made a new will just before he died, naming the widow as the next inheritence”

“Look, a marriage certificate too” Naboo replied, pulling out another old piece of paper and handing it to Howard.

“Old man Van Garret secretly married the widow, left everything to her and her unborn child. So the new will is stood between the Van Garret fortune and the person who would have got everything” Howard explained, still looking through the print of the will in his hands.

“It’s true. We four were drawn in against our will” Tommy muttered, trying to get himself out of trouble.

“Now I see, the roles the four of you played. Reverand Harold knew about the secert because he performed the marriage, Doctor Ferry attended the pregnant woman, Magistrate Doir gave protection of the law and you sealed the documents, which had been entrusted from Van Garret to his faithful servent Bollo. The four conpirators drawn into the plot” Howard went on, knowing he was getting close when Tommy got up in anger.

“We did not know it was a murdering plot…” He was cut off by the constable “I’ve not finished yet. The father and son killed by a horseman raised from the grave to chop people’s heads off. Now up pops a widow with a claim on the fortune, off with her head. Bollo was summoned to bear witness at the changing of the new will, off with his head” Naboo flinched at these words “The horseman came because someone has the power of summoning over him. Someone who dug his skull up, with must be restored to the horseman before he will return to hell. Someone who stood to gain or lose a fortune, none other then Van Garrets next of kin, Victoria Van Tassel”
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Howard and Naboo rode back to the mansion, in silence as they entered Howard bedroom. Sitting by his writing desk, was Vince looking down at his notes with a shy smile “Vince? What are you doing in my bedroom?”

“Cause it’s yours. Why? Is it wicked of me to be here?” Vince smirked, getting up and facing Howard, who just shook his head “I missed you, where’d you go?”

“To the notery. I had questions to ask Nooka” Howard replied, a little suspious of the young man in front of him.

“Did you learn anything useful?” Vince asked, quite curious.

Howard and Naboo gave each other a knowing look and turned back to Vince “Maybe…”

“My mother thinks you should return to London. I don’t know why, perhaps she looked in your notebook and didn’t like what she saw” Vince explained, giving a small sterned look at Howard “What have you got in your hands?”

Howard looked down at the will in his hands “Evidence. Sorry, but now I must ask you to leave”

“Then I will leave you to your thoughts” Vince said, coldly as he briskly walked out of the room. He turned his head round one last time to see Howard place the evidence in a drawer of the writing desk, then shut the door behind him. Howard gave him a strange look then saw a large spider on the floor by his bed, leaping up onto the chair in fright.

Naboo smirked at him as it crawled under the bed “It’s just a spider, you know”

“I don’t like them, just kill it, kill it now!” Howard nearly squeaked in fright.

Naboo rolled his eyes and looked under the bed, his eyebrows furrowing as he notised chalky lines underneath “There’s something here, sir” He pulled the bed across, to reveal a magical designs of complicated lines drawn in a circle, with a large eye in the middle “The evil eye…” Naboo muttered “There is someone casting spells against you, I should know about magic”
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Twilight came and Howard sat at his desk, notebook open as he thought about all the infomation so far. He then heard a noise downstairs and woke Naboo up, telling him to follow him. They saw a claoked figure walk outside the mansion and continued to follow it, across the village and into the woods.

The forest floor was covered in fog and mist, the sky grey with clouds, making it nearly impossible to see anything “Wait here” Howard said, notising the figure’s lantern shinging down a hillside. He got out his pistol and slowly hid behind a tree, watching as two figures lay together on the leaves and dirt of the ground.

The woman on top of the man below moved downwards to reveal Dixon Van Tassel, very much enjoying himself as the woman worked her magic on him. He picked up a small dagger he had bought with him and cut his palm open, spreading the blood on the woman’s back. Howard could only look on in disgust and shock at the sight, before finally walking off in a daze before anything worst happens.

He and Naboo got back to the mansion before anyone notised they were missing and went straight up to Howard’s room. Howard knew something was wrong and went over to the writing desk, opening the drawer to reveal all the evidence was gone. He could only think of one person who would want to get rid of it and without a word to Naboo, he went back outside and gathered his horse, riding to the burned cottage Vince showed him.

It was becoming dawn as he got there, watching as Vince ripped up the evidence and threw it onto a small fire he made himself “Vince, you took the evidence and burnt it, why?”

“So you wouldn’t be able to accuse my mother with it then” Vince answered, no emotion in his voice as he stood up and brushed himself down.

“I’ve accused no-one. But if there is guilt in her, I’m afraid not even your spells could alter it. Your mother has the motive, it’s she who stands to profit from these murders” Howard explained, trying to defend himself.

“If you knew her, you wouldn’t think that. You never felt anything for me nither” Vince spat out, anger boiling inside him at the harsh words Howard told him.

“I live by reasoning, why else did the four conpire to conceal…” He was cut off by the young Van Tassel “You’re the constable, not me. Find some other reasoning and let me and my family be”

“I can’t, not one or the other. I’m heart-sick with it knowing it’s hurting you” Howard said, his voice full of pity.

“I believe you have no heart, and to think I was going to give mine to you” Vince sighed sadly, looking away from Howard.

“I think you loved me that day you followed me into the woods, to be brave enough to go in there” Howard replied, placing his hand on Vince’s shoulder, only to have it shrugged off.

“What peril is there? It seems my own mother controls the headless horseman” Vince said, his anger peaking as he got onto his white horse “Goodbye Howard Crane, I curse the day you came here” He spat out, before riding off into the mist.

Howard stayed at the burnt cottage for a while to think things over, then returned to the mansion to see Dixon in the kitchen, making lunch “Where’s Vince?”

“He will not see you, came home in a temper and stormed up to his room” Dixon replied, adding more ingrediants to the stew he was preparing “By the way, I know you saw me in the woods last night. Promise not to tell my wife about it” They both jumped in fright as the kitchen door banged open and Victoria walked in “The town is in an uproar, Nooka is dead. Hanged himself in the night, Reverand Boon has called a meeting in the church tonight. Everybody is to speak against you, constable”

Howard looked away in shock as Victoria notised her husband’s cut on his hand “What happened, love?”

“Just an accident while making dinner, I’ll get some arrow-root flowers from by the woods later and bind them with the wound” Dixon smiled, no real emotion showing in it.
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As early evening fell, the mist rose from the ground slightly to give a more less evil presence. All the villagers were gathering inside the church except Victoria, who rode off to find her husband. She found him picking the wild arrow-root flowers just outside the entrance to the western woods “Hurry up, the meeting’s about to start”

Dixon just smiled up to him and carried on, lightening and thunder suddenly cracking in the sky. The wind picked up and the leaves and trees rustled as Victoria stared wide eyed at the horseman riding up behind Dixon, his sword drawn out.

At the church, Reverend Boon was finishing off bringing people inside as Howard and Naboo stood out of sight behind the wall of a near-by house. Then shouts were heard “The horseman is about. Vince? Vince?” The young Van Tassel ran out from the crowd to his mother “He killed him, the horseman killed Dixon”

Secertly, Vince was glad his step-father was dead. He never let him have any fun, was always going on about how strange Vince was with his white magic and how it was improper. He was afraid of Dixon, but now it felt like a weight was lifted off his chest. He looked at his mother with pity and sadness for her, then heard hoofbeats beating in the distance were Victoria rode from. They both ran inside, with Howard and Naboo ebing the last two inside.

Inside the church were fairly big, which was good because everyone was going mad, rioting and yelling at each other. Every man who carried a rifle with them had to brake open a window and prepare themselves for when the horseman appered again. Victoria pushed her way to the front of the alter, where Harold grabbed her by her coller “You’re the one the horseman wants, get out there and give him you”

Vince watched in shock, then dropped to his knees and muttered a spell to himself, drawing on the ground with a piece of chalk from inside his jacket pocket. Howard looked through one of the window near the main doors, seeing the horseman couldn’t get any futher then the gate, the horse itself pawing at the gatepost “He can’t enter the place” He muttered to himself, moving to the alter where Victoria and Harold were still arguing.

She had enough then and pulled the pistol from Doctor Ferry’s pocket, clocking it and pointed it towards them “The next person who touches me, will get a bullet”

“Stop, it’s now time to confess our sins” Harold suggested, hoping to quiet down the mood.

“What do you know then?” Victoria asked, pointing the gun towards him.

“Your four friends played you false, we were posessed by one–” He was cut off when Bryan picked a wooden cross off the alter and slammed it down on his head, the shock making Victoria pull the trigger of the gun and kill him. Vince looked up from his work in fear at what his mother had done, getting up and walking to her as she went up some steps in front of a large stained-glass window, hoping he could help her.

Outside, the horseman made his way behind the church and picked up some rope hanging of the fence around the church, then getting a sharp, pointed bit of metal and rode a bit away from the gunfire erupting from the church windows. He tied the rope around the metal and waited for the right chance.

Inside, Victoria had gone mad with anger and confusion, getting to the top of the stairs and standing on where Harold could give his sermans “There is a conpiracy here and I will get it out” Vince looked at Howard, knowing now he was right about a conpiracy, when the metal spike shot through the window and straight through Victoria, blood splurting out as it stuck in her middle.

Vince screamed in shock and disgust, as everyone one else gasped loudly. Then, Victoria shot backwards through the rest of the glass and was dargged across the small graveyard until she was smashed into the fence and was trapped, too weak to do anything. Vince and Howard raced up the stairs and looked down to see the horseman go over to her and slice off her head with a single stroke.

Vince gave one last whimper of fear, then fainted, the shock too much for him. Howard bent down to help him, then stopped at the sight of the piece of chalk that fell from Vince’s fingers. He then stood back up and saw the same design from under his bed, was in the middle of the floor of the church. His mind then knew Vince was the one casting the spells against him, Vince was the one summoning the horseman.
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Back at the mansion awhile later, Howard looked down at the pale figure of Vince, still asleep after all the excitement. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for the young man, he just lost his mother and step-father in the worst way, he had no-one left “It was an evil spirit that posessed you, I hope it’s satisfied now and leaves you alone. The evil eye’s done its work, my life is over, I must prepare now for a lifetime of horrors in my dreams”

He rested his hand on Vince’s, careful not to disturb him “Goodbye Vince, I will miss you” He the made his way downstairs and sat in front of the large fireplace in the kitchen, looking at his ledger one last time. He opened it to the middle pages to reveal pcitures of Vince he drew, him with the blindfold on when he first met him, sitting by the fireplace of his first home. Then he threw it into the fire, watching as his feelings went up in smoke and flames.

But he kept one thing close to his heart, the book Vince first gave him, about the magicial and spiritual world. He was going to burn that too, but desided against it, knowing it was very personal to him now. He then heard the carriage arriving, to take him back to London. He went outisde with his cases, but was stopped by Naboo’s voice “You think it was Vince, don’t you? A strange sort of witch with a loving heart, ho can you think that?”

“I have good reason to” Howard answered, knowing very well he didn’t really.

“Then you are bewitched by this reason” Naboo yelled, getting upset himself. Howard just sighed and walked over to the carriage, getting in before glancing once more to Vince’s bedroom window “Farewell Naboo, look after him” Then got in and drove off, not notising Vince had got up and watched him leave through the window, a small tear falling down his face as his heart broke in two.

As the carriage journeyed througfh the village to the outposts, Howard took the opportunity to glance once more at his surroundings. He looked on as two men took what seemed to be the body of Dixon Van Tassel off a cart to take into the ex-dcotor’s office, an arm sticking out to reveal a wedding ring on the middle finger and the large cut on his hand.

He then had an idea and got out the book Vince gave him and opened it up to a page titled ‘For the Protection of a Loved One Against Evil Spirits’, on the page was the design of the evil eye the young man kept drawing. He then knew the truth and stopped the carriage driver, making him go the other way.

Back at the mansion, Vince was sobbing silently in the large armchair in the living room, when a presense starled him. Looking up, he gasped in shock as the very alive Dixon Van Tassel “Why Vince, it looks like you’ve seen a ghost” He sneered, before striking the young man across the face hard, knocking him completely out.