I never called them by their names, of course-Brom wouldn’t have minded, but Katrina would have been very annoyed had I referred to her as anything except “Oma.” I always thought of my grandparents as Katrina and Brom though they were my grandmother and grandfather, because the legend of the Horseman and the crane and Katrina and Brom were part of the fabric of the Hollow, something woven into our hearts and minds. Then Sander told me all about the schoolmaster who looked like a crane and how he tried to court Katrina and how one night the Horseman took the schoolmaster away, never to be seen again. I already knew the part about the Horseman looking for a head because he didn’t have one.

It was practically nothing to ask Sander to tell me about it. Besides, the story of the Headless Horseman was a favorite in Sleepy Hollow, one that had been told and retold almost since the village was established. I found out everything I wanted to know about the Horseman anyway, because children always hear and see more than adults think they do. If ever anyone brought up the subject within my hearing, Katrina would shush that person immediately, her eyes slanting in my direction as if to say, “Don’t speak of it in front of the child.” Of course I knew about the Horseman, no matter how much Katrina tried to keep it from me. I hope you join me in Sleepy Hollow on September 28th! I’ve got a sneak peek at the first chapter for you below, followed by the U.S. September has arrived, and that means that my latest book HORSEMAN: A TALE OF SLEEPY HOLLOW is nearly here! It will be out on September 28th, 2021, just in time for your spooky season reading.

Horseman by Christina Henry