Boosht Hollow

Category: The Mighty Boosh

Characters: Anthrax, Bob Fossil, Bollo, Bryan Ferry, Dixon Bainbridge, Ebola, Howard Moon, Naboo, Neon, Other, Rudi, Saboo, Spider, Sue Denim, The Spirit of Jazz, Ultra, Vince Noir

Pairing: Howard Moon/Vince Noir

Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Drama, Fluff, Horror

Rating: G

Warning: Character Death, Violence - Mild

Status: Complete

Length: 10-20k words

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Outside his room, Naboo, Vince and Victoria knocked and waited for Howard to allow them in. Since they found him out cold in the fields and bought him back to the mansion, he never allowed them in for fear “Has he come out at all?” Victoria asked.

Vince and Naboo both shook their heads, so they all went in without permission. Howard was cowering up against the corner of his bed, blanket raised up to his eyes “It was the headless horseman, I saw it. You must believe me, it was a dead headless horseman” He yelled out, panic striken.

“I know, I know” Victoria tried calming him down.

“No, you don’t know because you weren’t there. It’s just all true” Howard yelled out again, fear deep in his eyes.

“We know it’s true, I told you, I mean everyone told you” Victoria said once more. Howard stared at the three for a minute before admmiting “I saw him…” Then promptly fainted again. As he slept, he dreamt of his past again.

His mother was stood in the large clearing, flowers and trees surrounding her. She blew on a puffy flower, making the seeds fly everywhere. Young Howard walked between the trees until he caught sight of her, spinning around happily as he walked nearer. She caught hold of his hands and spun him round with her, both enjoy the game until Howard fell backwards onto the ground. He watched as his mother still spun around on her own, faster and faster until she was floating.

That night, he caught his parents in the large room with the fireplace. His father, an emotionless priest grabbed his mother by her hairand dragged her to the fireplace, pointing at the starnge markings she made in the ash two nights ago. Howard watched as his father yanked her back up by her arms and marched her down an hallway towards the small white churchroom he made, a mencing red door at the other end…

Howard woke with a start, gasping out loud as he tried to collect his thoughts. Downstairs, everyone was waiting for him to make a desicion, which only took five minutes until he walked down the stairs with Naboo “Gentlemen, I need as many able men to go with me into the western woods. I am now determinded to find the horseman’s grave. Who’s with me?”

No-one spoke except a lispy voice of the small shaman behind him said “Me”
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They both rode through the western woods, the trees bare and mist crawling across the ground “The Van Garrets, the widow Windsor, your familiar Bollo and now Lance Doir. What’s the connection between them? Did Bollo have deals with the Van Garrets?”

“He worked for them as well as me, whenever I didn’t need him to stir the caludron and that. But a week before the murder, I heard an arugument between mr Van Garret and his son, then Bollo was asked for later by the father” Naboo admitted.

“An arugument between father and son, hey? Then asks for their part-time servent Bollo…” Howard thought, trying to piece everything together.

“Listen, there’s no birds calling, no crickets. It’s completely silent” Naboo said, a chill going down both their backs.

“I suggest we quicken our pace then” Howard answered, snapping his horse reins to make him go quicker, Naboo following suit. On they rode deeper into the woods until they came to a cave set deep in some rocks. They both got off their horse and tied the reins to sturdy trees, before walking to the cave on foot. Howard pulled a pistol from inside his coat as they got nearer to the doorway.

Walking inside, they saw someone crouched near a fire, not noticing them. Candles were lit everywhere, showing bottles and jars of ingridents and potions in their light “Excuse us, but we need some help. We need infomation on the headless horseman” Howard said. The figure placed down with his green arm a dead cardinal, which made Howard gulp in fear.

The figure got up to show a torn pink tutu, ripped silver bodysuit and dirty white boots. The face was hidden with lanky, dirty green seaweed for hair, as he placed a scaly hand on Howard’s shoulder “You will come with Gregg, fuzzy man peach. You shaman will wait outside and not come in, no matter how much screaming there is”

As Naboo left the cave, Gregg took Howard over to an old table, covered with more ingredients and bowls. On Gregg’s side of the table were some shackles and chains attached to the table, which he latched onto his own wrists. He then starts making a spell, using some powder from one jar and taking a bat from a cage, lopping its head off and pouring the blood into the same bowl, smoke pouring out over the bowl “What are you doing?” Howard asks, a bit afraid and a bit curious.

“Don’t move and don’t speak. When the other comes, I will hold him as best as Gregg can. He comes now, so silence is needed” The mer-witch answered, sniffing in the smoke deeply before letting his head drop down, not moving. Howard moves forwards to tap Gregg on the head, but the head moves up itself, showing a deep green face with empty black eyes and blood red lips.

Gregg leaps forwards, the chains usless as he grabs Howard by the shoulders and knocking him onto his back, straddling him “You seek the horseman. Follow the Indian trail to where the sun dies, to the tree of the dead. The horseman’s final resting place” Then stops talking and collapses on top of Howard, nearly making him faint again.

He gets from under Gregg and quickly walks out of the cave, Naboo sitting and waiting for him with a small, portable hooka on “So, what happened…?” He question went unanswered as Howard walked quickly past him towards their horse, so he followed. They rode down the start of the Indian trail, before Howard stopped them as he saw someone riding a white horse in the distnace through the trees “Wait here” He told Naboo as he got off his horse once more, towards the lone rider.

He got his pistol out once more as he searched around him, the silence of the forest getting to him. He spies the horse and hooded rider from behind a large tree, so goes over behind the rider, pistol still raised “Show yourself, or I’ll shoot!”

The rider took off the hood to reveal black hair, turning their face round to show it was Vince Van Tassel, a shy grin on his face “God Vince, I could have killed you. I mean, why are you here?” Howard asked, getting closer to him.

“You said you needed help, so I’ve come to help with my white magic” Vince said, smiling as Howard held his hand gently. They both looked into each other’s eyes and bent down low for a kiss, until they were disturbed bby Naboo.

“Hey, Casanova. You might wanna see this” The shaman said, pointing down a leafy road. All three set off down it in silence, until they saw a ginat knotted tree. Its large branches were ded and its roots dug deep underground, some grew over the top of the ground, curling into each other in a large gap in the tree trunk “The tree of the dead” Naboo whispered.

Howard strolled over to the gap of the tree where the roots curled, surprised when a drop of blood drips in front of him “Stay where you are” He tells the others as he then grabs a small axe off the back of his horse and starts chopping the curled roots. Wherever he chopped, blood poured out of the ‘wound’, some spraying him in the face. When he chopped enough, he pulled the usless and bloody roots out the way, until he pulled a large bit of bark out the way to reveal many severed heads gazing at his with their blank, empty eyes.

He jumped back in fright as the heads nearly fell out, Vince was nearly gagging while Naboo looked on with a disgusted look “This tree…this tree is a gateway between two worlds…” Howard then spots a sword sticking out of a rather large root, so he climbs up the tree to have a better look. Next to the sword was a large mound of disturbed soil, which he asks for a shovel and starts digging up again.

Howard uncovers a smalish grave, a headless skeleton resting inside, its bones dirty and rotton “The skull is missing…taken…that’s why the horseman returns from the grave, to take heads until his is restored to him…”

The lightening flashes dangerously above them, thunder echoing in the sky. The roots under the tree open up as a large balck horse shoots out, the headless horseman at the reins as they gallop of throguh the trees towards the village. Howard quickly jumps off the root and onto his own horse, galloping off after the horsemand and leaving Vince and Naboo behind.