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When Amelia was
cast as Mrs. Van Tassel in Cary Youth Theatre's production of "The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow," we decided to do some research on the
legend. That is how we came to learn of North Carolina's own Sleepy
Hollow, a place in the vicinity of what is now Jordan Lake. Before
the Revolutionary War, rebels known as "Regulators" fought against
King George, and a Hessian mercenary was sent to stop them.
Instead, the Regulators stopped him, leaving his headless
corpse in the woods. Afterward, so they say, his headless body rode
these woods on horseback, seeking either his own head returned, or
another head, instead. He took many other heads, according to
legend, but none that appeased his restless
spirit.
The three of us
came out this way to investigate the legend. We found evidence of
past habitation, including a few gravestones, but nothing that shed
any further light on this dark story. Then, as were heading back
out of the forest, we heard the sound of thundering hooves. We
turned and froze in our tracks, confronted by the apparition of the
Headless Horseman. He quickly drew his sword and made as if to take
all our heads with a single blow, but then stopped just as
suddenly, mere inches from our necks. He raised a hand to the space
where his head should have been, then reached out to us, pleading.
A moment later, he turned and disappeared into the
woods.
That should have
been the end of it. But over the next several days, the three of us
were haunted by the same dream. In our shared nightmare, the
Horseman spoke to us, demanding a head. But a head was not enough.
He demanded as well that his story be known. We had to tell others
of his tale, and provide him with proof that we had done
so.
So we created
this cache. As you will see, we have given him a head. And by
sending you out to find it, we will prove to him that we have let
his story be known. We hope, in the end, this appeases his spirit,
but just in case it does not, we urge you to be careful out there
in these woods at night.
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