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“We rode into town and talked to the new constable,” Famke says, jerking her head toward the three officers behind her.
“Interrupted my supper,” one of them says, a man with muttonchops and a mustache, whom I assume is the new constable. “But I can see now that this might have been worth it. We’ve been outside those damn gates for the past few hours, we’ve been all along the property trying to find our way in to no avail.”
The police continue to describe their efforts but my attention is stolen by Brom who leans into me.
“So now what?” Brom says in a low voice.
“What do you mean, now what?” And then I realize the price he must have paid to still be here, talking to me. “Don’t you have some bargain to uphold with the horseman?”
He gives me a small smile, shakes his head. “The Hessian is dead now. That’s all he wanted in the end.”
I blink at him. “How can he die if he was already dead?”
“There is more than one death, Crane. You should know that. He’s been used and abused by the coven for decades now. He’s never known peace, only vengeance, usually on behalf of someone else. He’s been made to kill, made to retrieve, a puppet on a string. A soldier with no escape. All he truly wanted was to die a real death on his own terms, and with sacrifice, and never be used for anything ever again.”
“It sounds like you knew him on a personal level,” I comment.
He shrugs. “I do. And by the end, I think he knew me.”
I grin at him, the elated feeling in my chest slowly expanding. “So you’re free now?”
“I’m absolutely free,” he says, leaning his head against my shoulder briefly and I have to fight the strong urge to reach down and kiss him. “But I’ll tell you what, the minute we get out of here, we’re going straight to New York City and we’re getting the biggest fucking bed we’ve ever seen. And you’re not going to care if I get crumbs all over it. Got it?”
“Sir, yes, sir,” I tell him, biting back a smile. “Of course, those things cost money.”
He raises his head and his lips twist into a sly smile.
“What?” I ask.
“Well, you know all those gemstones inside the glasses cases of the cathedral are worth a pretty penny,” he says. “Would be a shame if they were to all disappear with the fire. Never to be seen again.”
For a moment I’m not sure what he’s getting at.
But then I know.
“Brom, you sneaky bastard,” I say to him.
The both of us turn and run back into the building, everyone yelling at us in shock as we go, wondering why we’re running back into the flames.
Luckily the fire hasn’t spread far yet, and the glass cases that display crystals, gemstones ,and other esoteric relics, are untouched. I take my gun from my back pocket, happy that it’s finally useful for something other than shooting Brom, and start smashing the glass.
Then we pocket as much of the stuff as we can before running back outside.
Naturally, everyone is staring at us.
“You fellas alright?” one of the officers ask us.
“Never been better,” we both say in unison, patting our pockets and making sure the gems are hidden.
“Are you sure?” he asks with a squint. “Because you seem to be burned, and I think your shoulder is about to fall off, and you both just ran back into a burning building, so I’m thinking mentally you aren’t very sound, either.”
Brom and I look at each other, quickly remembering we’re dealing with the world outside of witchcraft.
“You’re right, we should go get this all checked out,” I tell him with a firm nod. “Where’s our school nurse? Josephine? Might as well have them check you over too, Kat.”
Kat comes over and I put my good arm around her as Josephine leads us away from the cathedral and around the corner and out of the prying eyes of the police, just as I see Martha running toward us with the healing poultice.
“I’ll tell you what, I’ll be glad to leave this place,” Josephine says under her breath, then looks to us. “Are the three of you going to stick around Sleepy Hollow?”
I laugh. “After we’re healed, we’re going to get on our horses and ride out of here and never ever return.”
“Farewell to Sleepy Hollow,” Kat says. “May you never look back.”
And isn’t that a fact.
Chapter 37
Brom
Last night when I made the bargain with the horseman, I wasn’t sure if he was truly going to go through with it. It is one thing to assume a handshake is binding between two morally upstanding individuals, it’s another when you expect an evil spirit to actually uphold the deal.
But as I found out, the Hessian wasn’t an evil spirit at all. He was just a soldier who had died a long time ago in a horrific manner and had wanted peace ever since. Peace he could never find, roaming the veil in search of something—someone—that would ease his plight, never realizing that acceptance was the only escape.
