Sleepy Hollow Sleepover (2 page)

Licking their ice cream cones, the kids walked to the edge of town. They took a footpath that led into a forest. The tall trees blocked out the October sun.

“How’s the new flavor?” Ruth Rose asked Josh. She had chosen strawberry, her favorite. Dink’s cone was maple walnut.

“My brain thinks it’s okay,” Josh said. “But my tongue keeps expecting to taste pistachio.”

Dink poked Josh. “What brain?”

Josh poked him back. “The brain that’s going to whip you in Monopoly tonight,” he said.

“We won’t have time to finish a whole game,” Ruth Rose said. She glanced at her watch. “It’s almost five o’clock, and the hayride is at seven.”

Josh pushed out his chest. “The way I play, I’ll be rich by six-thirty!” he boasted.

They were staying with Dink’s father in a small cabin in the forest. A few other families had rented cabins, too. Each cabin was named after something creepy. Dink’s dad had chosen one called Haunted House. The name was painted on a sign on the front porch railing.

When they reached the cabin, Dink’s father was sitting in a rocking chair on the porch. An open book was in his lap.

“Hey, kids,” he said as they approached. “How was town?”

“A lot of other kids are here for the hayride,” Ruth Rose told him.

“And we saw a headless horseman, only it was fake,” Josh said.

“What’re you reading, Dad?” Dink asked.

His father held up the book. “It’s a history of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow,” he said.

“Is there really a headless horseman who rides around looking for his head?” Josh asked Mr. Duncan.

“Why, I believe there is,” Dink’s father answered. He pointed to a map in his book. “This is the area we’re in right now. According to legend, this is where the original headless horseman scared Ichabod Crane out of town.”

“Aw, Mr. Duncan, you’re messing with me, right?” Josh asked.

Dink’s father grinned. “Would I tease you, Josh?” he asked.

“Come on,” Dink said. “If we’re going to play Monopoly, we should get started.”

“You kids hungry?” Dink’s father asked. “Oh, never mind. I see ice cream on your lips.”

“Yeah, Josh whined until we bought him some,” Dink said.

Inside the cabin, Dink went toward a small chest under a window. Painted on its side was the word
GAMES
. He opened the chest, and a skeleton popped up.

“Oh my gosh!” Dink yelled, jumping back.

Josh and Ruth Rose laughed. They ran around the cabin pulling open drawers and peeking inside cupboards and closets. They found a witch in a closet, a bunch of fake bats in a drawer, and a goblin in the bathroom.

“Dad, who did all this?” Dink asked his father.

“Maybe the headless horseman got in here,” his dad said in a creepy voice. “I wonder what he put inside your sleeping bags!” He crumpled some paper and started a fire in the fireplace.

“Ha!” Josh said. He glanced at their three sleeping bags stacked in a corner.

The kids finally found the Monopoly game. They set it up on the floor in front of the crackling fire.

A half hour later, Dink looked up. “Did you hear something?” he asked the others.

“Don’t try to change the subject,” Josh said. “You’re losing big-time!”

“I’m not changing the subject,” Dink said. “I heard something, like running feet.”

Dink got up and walked over to the window. It had grown dark outside. He saw his reflection in the glass and the flickering flames of the fire behind him.

He heard it again, a thudding noise. Then he saw a light among the dark trees. “Guys, come here!” he said.

Dink’s father, Josh, and Ruth Rose joined him at the window.

“What is it, son?” Dink’s father asked.

“I saw a light,” Dink whispered. “It was moving through the trees.”

“If you’re messing around, I …,” Josh started to say. Then he gasped.

A horse raced out of the trees, past the cabin window. A rider carrying a jack-o’-lantern sat on the horse’s back.

The horse stopped, and the rider held the jack-o’-lantern high in the air.

“What on earth is anyone doing riding around in the dark?” Dink’s father asked.

Dink noticed the flowing cloak, just like on the rider he’d seen in the bank window. Only this one wasn’t fake. This was a real man and a real horse.

Then Dink looked above the man’s shoulders. There was nothing there.

“I think he’s looking for his head,” Dink whispered.

“IT’S THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN!” Ruth Rose screamed in Josh’s ear.

“Lock the door!” Josh wailed.

“No way!” Ruth Rose said. She grabbed her cell phone. “I’m getting a picture of this!”

“I’ll go with you,” Dink said. “Coming, Josh?”

“Not for a million dollars!” Josh said.

CHAPTER 3

Dink and Ruth Rose ran outside. They were just in time to see the headless horseman gallop past. Ruth Rose held up her phone and snapped a picture.

The horse and rider disappeared into the trees.

“Did you get the picture?” Dink asked.

“I don’t know,” Ruth Rose said. She hit a few buttons on her phone. “Look, I just got a blur. He was going too fast.”

They headed back to the cabin. Josh opened the door and peeked out. He looked scared.

“Don’t worry, he’s gone,” Ruth Rose said.

“So am I!” Josh said. “Where’s the phone? I’m calling a taxi!”

Dink laughed. “Josh, we’re in the middle of the woods,” he said. “A taxi would charge a ton of money to come out here. And you don’t have any money. Remember, I had to pay for your ice cream today.”

“Then I’ll walk home,” Josh said. “I’m not staying where guys with no heads hang out. Mr. Duncan, how far is it back to Green Lawn?”

“Over a hundred miles, Josh,” Dink’s father said. “It would take you until tomorrow night to make it home.”

Ruth Rose grinned. “If some bear didn’t eat you first!” she said. “I heard there are lots of bears in these woods.”

“Then I’ll hitchhike,” Josh said.

“Maybe a certain guy on a certain
horse will pick you up,” Dink said wickedly.

“You guys aren’t scaring me,” Josh said.

Dink, his father, and Ruth Rose just looked at Josh.

Josh grinned. “Okay, you
are
scaring me!”

“Josh, do you really think that guy had no head?” Dink asked.

“I saw him, Dinkus,” Josh said. “There was nothing above his collar!”

“It must have been a trick,” Ruth Rose said. “His head was probably tucked down inside his cape, where we couldn’t see it.”

“The hayride wagon should be here soon,” Dink’s father said. He poked the fire and picked up his book. The kids went back to the Monopoly board.

“You landed on one of my hotels!” Josh cried a few minutes later. He
grinned at Dink. “You owe me two thousand dollars!”

Dink groaned and counted his money. “I only have about four hundred,” he said.

“You’ll have to finish the game later,” Dink’s father said. He stood and glanced out the window. “The wagon is here.”

“Yay!” Dink yelled.

Ruth Rose grabbed three masks from a table next to the sofa. She, Dink, and Josh had decided to get Three Stooges masks. She was Larry, Dink was Curly, and Josh had chosen the Moe mask.

“Take your sweaters,” Dink’s father said. “It’ll get colder tonight.”

The kids pulled on their sweaters and their masks and ran to open the door. A wagon stood in the clearing in front of the cabin steps. The wagon was piled with hay, and a few kids were lying in it.

A big, long-legged workhorse was hitched to the wagon. It had a droopy mane and huge feet. A driver wearing a big coat and floppy hat sat up front, holding the reins.

A girl popped out of the hay and smiled down at Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose. She was dressed as a cowgirl. “I like your masks,” she said. “Come on up! There’s a ladder in the back.”

“Call me when you get to the party,”
Dink’s father said. “Driver, what time will you bring them back?”

“Ten o’clock,” the driver said. His voice was deep, like it came from a hollow place.

Dink shivered. Something about this driver was strange. Was it just his deep voice? And why wouldn’t he look at them?

Dink walked to the back of the wagon. Josh and Ruth Rose had already climbed up and were half buried in the hay pile.

Dink found the ladder and joined the other kids in the hay. He flopped on his back and took off his mask. He looked up at the moon shining through the trees and took a deep breath. The hay smelled sweet, like a kitten’s breath.

“I’m Candy,” the girl said. “And these are my brothers, Adam and Andy. We’re from New York City.”

One of the boys wore a black mask that covered his eyes, ears, forehead, and hair. The top part of the mask had small, pointy ears. The other brother’s mask covered just his eyes.

“I’m Batman,” said the first boy. He pointed at his brother. “That’s Andy. He’s supposed to be Robin, my trusty sidekick!”

Andy grinned. Above his mask, he had pieces of hay stuck in his curly blond hair.

Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose introduced themselves. “We’re from Green Lawn, Connecticut,” Dink said.

“We were here last year, too,” Adam said. He was tall and lanky, with a wide grin.