SEVERED (A Tale of Sleepy Hollow) by Dax Varley Read Free Book Online Page B

head. One…two…three… With my eyes
closed, the stale air reeked stronger. It clung to my skin and I could taste it
on my tongue. But I wouldn’t lose count. …thirty-five…thirty-six…thirty-seven… Then something brushed past my ankle! I jerked aside, shaking my skirts. What
in the name of…? The ground moved! It spiraled and churned like the inner
workings of a clock. How was that possible?
    My heart pounded
as I knelt for a closer look. Oh God! I leapt back, clapping my hands to
my mouth. Snakes! Masses of them – brown and speckled like the barren
soil. They moved chaotically, weaving about with no sense of direction. Their
tongues flickered. Their bodies coiled. Two fought over a field mouse, still
squirming for its life. Another had swallowed its own tail.
    With my hands
still pressed to my mouth – I will not cry out – I treaded gingerly
through them. Then finding my footing, I crept around to Garritt’s window.
    He had not
exaggerated The Horseman’s mark. It ran diagonally through the center of the
pane, raven black with eyelash thin cracks branching from it.
    My need to see
Garritt pushed me forward. I rapped once, then quickly jerked my hand away. It
was like tapping the surface of a frozen pond, burning my knuckles. I wrapped
my hand in my shawl and knocked again. “Garritt,” I called through the glass.
“Come to the window.”
    I waited, my heart
ticking the seconds. “Garritt.”
    I saw movement
behind the curtains. Slight, but there nonetheless. I tapped again. This drew
him over. He lifted the curtain just enough to peer out. His eyes drew to The
Horseman’s mark and he pulled back. “Meet me at the other window,” he said.
    I rounded the
corner to the one facing the back of the property. Garritt was already there,
his pallor practically transparent and his eyes baggy and red. The talisman
hung from his neck. He lifted the window just enough that we might speak
without strain. His gaze shifted beyond me, looking left and right.
    “Go, Katrina. It’s
not safe here.”
    “Why have you not
told your father of The Horseman?”
    He winced, drawing
back. “This is not your concern. Please, leave. I couldn’t bear it if you came
to harm.”
    Why must he be
so stubborn?
    “Garritt, simply
confess your encounter. Measures will be taken to keep you safe.”
    “I can’t. And
besides, I’ve already made my own plans.”
    “What plans?”
    He hesitated, eyes
shifting again. “I’m refusing the blood-lettings to gain strength, then I’ll
sneak out and ride away. The Horseman only keeps to this vicinity. He won’t
pursue me outside the Hollow.”
    “Garritt, I’ve an
even better idea. Speak with Marten. He’s purchased a ship. He and I are going
to sail away. You can come with us.”
    His weary eyes
grew wide. “Marten bought a ship?”
    “Yes,” I said, now
smiling. “It will be here in a few weeks and –”
    “ Weeks ?”
His shoulders sank and he ranked his fingers through his matted hair. “Katrina,
I won’t last that long.”
    I feared he was
right. “Please, Garritt, there has to be something I can do to help you.”
    “You can help me
by staying quiet.”
    “But –”
    “No one must know.
Now leave.”
    After all I’d
risked, it’d been a fruitless attempt. There was no reason to continue pressing
him. “Very well. But I do hope you’ll change your mind.”
    “I won’t.” He
reached for the talisman. “You should have this back. You’ll need it more than
me.”
    “No,” I said,
shaking my head. “You keep it. To protect you until you’re safely away.”
    He clutched it in
his hand. “Thank you.”
    Our eyes held for
a moment, then he said, “Go, before you’re discovered.”
    I stepped away,
tightening my shawl.
    “Katrina.”
    I turned.
    “Be careful.” With
those words, he closed the window.
    * *
*
    Garritt’s deathly face haunted me
all the way home. I told myself there was nothing more I could do. And I kept
repeating it as I counted down