The Secret of Sleepy Hollow

by Andi Marquette

  Katie stopped stirring her coffee and caught Abby’s gaze, a little smile at the corners of her mouth. “Really. Anyone I know?”

  She was teasing, Abby knew, but she gave Katie a pointed look anyway. “The one who knows that pancakes are a sure way to a geek’s heart.”

  The server dropped the check off before Katie could respond, and Abby picked it up. Katie appeared to be reaching for her pocket, but Abby shook her head.

  “I’ve got this one.”

  “You sure?”

  “You’ve been driving me around and you served as a tour guide. So yes. I’m sure.” Abby handed the check and cash to the server when she came back then looked over at Katie. “What makes you picky about people you date?” she asked.

  Katie sat back, amusement in her eyes, as if she knew Abby didn’t want to discuss certain details of the dream further. “I like women of substance.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Smart, funny, and comfortable owning both. I’m not interested in women who try to cover those up because they think that’s what I’d like. Or what anyone would like. Basically, I’m not into pretenders. But geeks—that’s another matter.” She smiled, and Abby really wanted to pick up where they’d left off the night before.

  “So what makes you old fashioned, then?”

  Katie leaned forward, intent. “Stick around and find out,” she said in a way that stoked a slow burn at Abby’s core, the kind that made her not care about the impending geographic distance between them.

  “Tempting.”

  “I hope so.”

  “I’m a sucker for temptation.”

  Katie grinned. “Lucky me. So would it be too forward of me to ask you out again?”

  “No.”

  “Good. Because I’d really like to see you again.”

  “When?”

  “Right now.”

  The slow burn spread down Abby’s thighs. “Yes.”

  “How about a local history tour?”

  “Oh, definitely.”

  Katie’s grin widened and she slid out of the booth.

  STORIES

  “This is the closest I’ve been to camping in a long time,” Abby said as she stared into the flames of the fire Katie had built in a spot that, by the look of the soot-blackened stones, got used a lot. They were sitting on the ground, wrapped in a blanket.

  “Hope it measures up to previous experiences.” Katie’s voice was low in Abby’s ear, her breath warm against her skin.

  Delightful chills raced up and down Abby’s arms and legs. Katie sat on the ground with her back against a log, and Abby sat between Katie’s legs, leaning against Katie. She stared at the fire. “It’s so much better.” And then she closed her eyes at the sensation of Katie’s lips on her neck, and Katie’s arms wrapped around her. It was like they were the only two people in the world, protected in the dark, and this clearing in the forest was all the world they needed.

  “This has been the best date ever,” Katie said.

  “And to think it started just this morning with pancakes.” She could feel the warmth of Katie’s palms on her hips. One of the logs collapsed into a pile of glowing embers. She thought she heard the soft hoot of an owl in the still air. The night couldn’t be any better.

  “I saw you Wednesday before you went to the pub with Lu and Eleanor,” Katie said after a while, nuzzling Abby’s neck. “Outside the historical society.”

  “I know. I realized that was you waving from the SUV when we went to the glen the first night.” Abby covered Katie’s hands with her own. “Same SUV. Using my vast analytical skills, I figured it out.”

  Katie laughed softly. “But it caught me off guard, running into you again that same night.”

  “Almost literally.”

  “Mmm. And I remember thinking that there was something familiar about you, but it wasn’t that I’d seen you earlier. I still don’t know what that’s about, but I’ve been feeling it since that night. And that must sound bizarre.”

  Abby squeezed Katie’s hands. “No. Because I have that feeling, too. Since that night.”

  “Do you think it’s strange that a Crane hooked up with a Van Tassel two hundred years after the fact?”

  “And that both sets were women?”

  “True,” Katie said. “But it feels…right, in a way.”

  Abby felt Katie’s smile against her neck. “I like to think that I know—at least a little—what Elizabeth felt when she met Katrina. Here she is, all dressed as a man, and she comes to this village as a school teacher. She had to have met Katrina soon after she arrived, since it wasn’t that big a place and the Van Tassels were a big deal in town. I can see them having a dinner to welcome the new guy, and she walks in and there’s Katrina.”

  “And?”

  “And she can’t take her eyes off her,” Abby said, imagining the scene. “I’m betting Katrina was a lot like her letters. Charming, vivacious, smart. It’s no wonder every guy in town was after her. Except for the smart part. Some of the guys in town probably didn’t appreciate that. But then there’s this new guy and Katrina finds out he really likes that she’s smart, and that he talks to her like she’s a person. He doesn’t patronize her. He doesn’t belittle her. He listens to her, and he enjoys talking to her. And maybe he sees in her a kindred spirit.”

  Katie laughed. “Go on.” She interlaced her fingers with Abby’s.

  “Katrina senses it, too. She thought he was handsome, and I’ll bet she thought that the first time she saw him. But she knows the ways of men, and she’s had to put up with her share of assholes among them, so maybe she’s a little cautious about this guy. And then he starts talking to her, and maybe she stares into his eyes because she likes how they reflect his smile, and she realizes that this guy is different. He’s not an asshole. And he’s warm and funny, and he laughs at her humor and appreciates what she has to say.” Abby stopped, seeing the scene in her mind’s eye. The dapper Ichabod Crane, dashing and handsome, delicate of feature, completely taken aback at a woman like Katrina, but totally into her. She knew what that felt like, because it had just happened to her.

  “This is a really great story. Keep going.” Katie wrapped her arms around Abby and pulled her even closer.

  “It was that first meeting,” Abby said, enjoying the warmth of Katie’s embrace. “That’s where Elizabeth knew that Katrina was someone special, and I’ll bet as amazing as it was for her to meet Katrina, it sucked too, because she probably thought that Katrina was into guys and here Elizabeth is, not a guy, but presenting as one. But she couldn’t stop coming around. She couldn’t stop talking to Katrina, getting to know her. And Katrina welcomed it, though she knew her father wouldn’t approve. She didn’t care. And when Elizabeth revealed who she really was, I think in some ways Katrina already knew.”

  “Do you think Elizabeth kissed her before she revealed herself?”

  “No. Maybe this is weird family loyalty, but I think Elizabeth was crazy about Katrina, but she didn’t want to kiss her as a man, because that was dishonest and Katrina described Ichabod as honorable that summer she met him. I think Elizabeth revealed her secret after she was sure that Katrina could handle it. So she tells her, and I think there was this amazing moment where Katrina stares at her and then kisses her because she’s so relieved. And Elizabeth makes her hot anyway and has since Katrina first saw her at that dinner.” She paused. “That’s where it started. The first time they met.”

  “How do you suppose Elizabeth became Ichabod?”

  “I don’t know. That’s something else I have to try to figure out. But historically, women assumed male identities all the time. After all, there weren’t the ID restrictions like today, so you could pretty much say you were so-and-so and nobody would question it. At least not at first. Maybe she wanted to escape a crappy marriage. Or just have more options. I have this image of her
telling the family that she’s going to do some mission work in Sleepy Hollow, which was perfectly acceptable for women to do, especially since there were Native peoples in the area to convert. But for whatever reason, she decided to become a school teacher.”

  “So she manufactures Ichabod.”

  “Yeah. And then when she met Katrina, she had to figure out how to make him ‘real,’ in a way, to preserve her own secret and deflect attention from her actual identity.”

  “Do you think your family knew?” Katie pressed her lips against Abby’s neck and Abby sighed and pushed back into her warmth.

  “They had to. At least, some of the family knew. Throughout history, there were family members of people who lived as the other gender and they kept it secret, too. Sometimes out of respect for their relative, sometimes because they considered it shameful.

  “Maybe after Elizabeth and Katrina concocted this plot to get rid of Ichabod—who never really existed in the first place—the whole thing took on a life of its own. Something they couldn’t have predicted. And here comes old Washington Irving and he hears about this story and all he knows is some guy named Ichabod Crane was there for a while and disappeared one night.

  “And he writes the legend as he hears it. And it catches on even more.” Abby stared into the flames, imagining the night Katrina masqueraded as the horseman and Elizabeth, dressed as Ichabod, disappearing and then reappearing as her actual female self. “Which means my family buried Elizabeth’s other identity, too.”

  “Well, think about it. The story about this guy disappearing because of a ghost starts to spread, and as we both know, it changes from community to community over time. Maybe your family at the time really liked the attention, and maybe Elizabeth stirred it up.” Katie’s breath was warm against Abby’s skin.

  “Or my family just decided—especially after Irving wrote the story—that the best way to bury Ichabod was to tell people, ‘yeah, we had a family member named Ichabod and he disappeared one day. We presume he’s dead.’ That way, nobody goes digging too much and nobody tracks it to Elizabeth. They can all say he was kind of the weird one and didn’t leave any kids.”

  Katie hugged her a little closer. “How much do you know about your family?”

  “Records are spotty in some regards, not so much in others. We can trace back to England, though. And there are several Elizabeths in the family, including in the years contemporary to Ichabod because that’s not an uncommon name.” She thought for a few moments. “It didn’t really occur to me that the Elizabeth in Katrina’s letters might be Ichabod or even remotely related to us.”

  “Why would it, without all the awesome circumstantial evidence we’ve put together?”

  Abby laughed. “I’ve seen two specific mentions of Ichabod in some archives in Crane papers. Both said he disappeared and left no heirs. Guess I should go back and look for the name Elizabeth instead.”

  “That would be a really cool project.”

  “If we’re right, and there really wasn’t an Ichabod, Katrina and Elizabeth created the seeds of the legend to hide Elizabeth’s secret. And they continued to see each other over the years, until Katrina died.” Where did Elizabeth go, then? Definitely another mystery to track down.

  Katie nuzzled her neck again. “That’s sad but actually romantic.”

  Abby giggled. “And quite possibly not true. But I like to think that’s what happened.”

  “So how is it that you might know what Elizabeth felt when she met Katrina?” Katie’s lips moved to a spot just behind Abby’s ear, which set Abby’s heart to pounding much faster.

  “Maybe I don’t. But I do know what it feels like to meet someone special.”

  “I do, too.”

  Another log collapsed into a loose pile of embers, and Katie extricated herself from Abby and checked on the fire.

  Still wrapped in the blanket, Abby joined her. “Too bad we don’t have marshmallows.”

  Katie brushed Abby’s hair out of her eyes. “I’ve got something else in mind,” she said, running her fingertips along Abby’s jawline.

  Stomach flip-flopping and heart pounding, Abby leaned into her touch. Katie kissed her, and the feel of those lips sent fireworks and flares down Abby’s thighs and back up again to her arms. Katie pulled her close. Their kisses deepened until Abby wasn’t sure she was still standing. All she felt was Katie—her mouth, her tongue, and the solid warmth of her arms.

  When Katie finally pulled away, the embers no longer glowed, and the blanket was in a heap at their feet. They were surrounded by the darkness of the forest and the distant light of a thousand stars.

  “I could do that all night,” Katie said, stroking Abby’s cheek. “But somewhere maybe a little warmer.”

  Abby laughed and picked the blanket up, knowing this was a good place to stop. The chill in the air made her long for a bed and Katie wrapped around her.

  Katie poured water out of a gallon jug onto the embers and then dug around in the pit with a stick. She repeated her actions, and Abby smiled, realizing Katie had brought the two jugs of water for that purpose.

  “Girl Scout,” Abby said.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “It is.”

  Katie finished with the fire pit and kissed Abby again. A few minutes later, she stopped. “Damn,” she said. “You make me really crazy, in all kinds of ways.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” Abby teased.

  “It is. Come on. It’s pretty cold out here.” She tossed the empty jugs into the back seat.

  Twenty minutes later, Katie pulled up to the curb at the bed and breakfast and walked Abby to the front door again, but Abby didn’t go in.

  “I had the best day.” Abby wished there wasn’t a porch light so they could have some privacy.

  “So did I. So will you have dinner with me tomorrow?”

  “Absolutely.” Their last night in town. Abby didn’t want to think about it yet.

  Katie kissed her again. “I really want to—” she stopped and held Abby’s gaze. “Um. That is, I really want to get to know you better in a lot of ways. But—”

  “It’s not the right time or place,” Abby finished. “I agree. So hold that thought.” She squeezed Katie’s hand.

  “You’re amazing.” Katie brought Abby’s fingertips to her lips and kissed them.

  “So are you.” Abby gently pulled her hand away. “Good night. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She went inside and Katie waved at her and blew her a kiss. Like the night before—had it only been just a day?—Abby watched her walk to her car and drive away.

  She should feel totally freaked out. She should be questioning her judgment, hooking up with someone she barely knew who lived a good four hours away. But she didn’t care. It felt good, it felt right, and that’s what mattered. She went up to bed.

  “Elizabeth.”

  Abby turned, relieved to hear the voice in the gloom. She felt the press of the forest around her, and the chill of the air on her face.

  “We must go, love,” Katrina said as she approached, her cloak drawn around her, puffs of her breath visible in the cold. She smiled and brushed Abby’s hair out of her face.

  And then Katrina was Katie, who grinned at her and leaned in to kiss her. “Best date ever,” she said, as a big, dark horse burst into the clearing. Katie disappeared and Abby stared, unable to run or say anything.

  “Elizabeth. Time to go,” Katrina said from the horse’s huge back. She patted the horse’s rump. “He can carry us both.” She reached down and Abby moved toward her and took her hand and suddenly Katrina was Katie again and Abby was on the back of the horse, her arms wrapped around Katie’s waist, the horse picking up speed as Katie steered him to a path. “Hold on,” Katie said, and the horse sped into a gallop, hooves pounding beneath them, the dark greens and browns of the forest flashing past. Abby
held tight, Katie’s back solid against her, and they burst free from the trees, into the warmth of sunlight. Abby raised one hand in the air and whooped while Katie laughed as the hoofbeats beneath kept time with an insistent beeping that soon overrode the pounding.

  Abby groaned and opened her eyes. “All right,” she muttered as she rolled over and shut off the alarm. Now that was a dream she could deal with. She went to get ready for another day of research, buoyed by the thought of dinner later with Katie and tingling from the memories of the night before.

  She got to the historical society in time for coffee and donuts.

  “Did you have a nice day yesterday?” Lu asked. Robert wasn’t in yet, and Eleanor was sweeping out the exhibit area.

  “I had a great day.” Abby poured herself a cup of coffee and drank some, but the heat in her chest and down her thighs had nothing to do with the beverage.

  “I hope you were able to get some sightseeing in.”

  Abby debated how much to say as she picked a glazed donut out of the box. “Katie actually took me on a local history tour.”

  “Marvelous,” she said, and it sounded almost mischievous.

  Abby looked at her, but Lu was reaching for a donut.

  “There’s quite a lot to see and do around here. I hope you had a good time.”

  “Oh, I did. Katie’s a great tour guide.” She took a bite of donut so she wouldn’t say anything else.

  “She is indeed. I’m glad you were both in town at the same time.” Lu picked up her coffee cup. “I also made some calls to find out if anyone else had the experience you did Saturday in the glen and if anyone knows about a second horseman. I’ll let you know when I find something.”

  “Okay. Thanks for doing that. But if it was somebody goofing off, I don’t think anybody will own it. And it was a pretty good scare, so if that was the purpose, it worked.”

  Lu made a noncommittal noise. “Are you planning on returning for more research?”

  “Definitely. Today I want to work on getting through more of Katrina’s correspondence and maybe some of Baltus’s. Do you know if there are other mentions of the horseman in either?”