Ichabod

“Brom Bones.” Ichabod spoke wetly, the moisture seeking anywhere but within his mouth. Perhaps it wasn’t moisture but spite.

                    It was Katrina’s turn to reach over and grasp onto Ichabod’s hands with a gentle squeeze, “We’ve all grown and obviously so has your childhood best friend, Ichabod. There’s that phrase, time heals all wounds.”

                    “That is entirely untrue. With time, wounds fester and rot and are often fatal.” Ichabod pulled the curtain quickly shut to take three deep breaths. Thankfully something of what he said must have settled within the Crane siblings as they all sat quietly and stared back at him for instructions. “We are to exit one at a time and head straight in. Should the sitting room still be in one piece, gather there. Do NOT run about the place…”

                    Ichabod leaned to the left to catch Rowan and Pepper’s wandering attention. “I mean it. We gather, take stock of the condition of everything before running wildly around it.”

                    Pepper leaned to whisper in Rowan’s ear and as if there was a direct line from her mouth to his ear and said, “So we can run wildly around it.”

                    “It is your home so of course, but let’s make sure no one is able to see the feral Cranes about for at least a couple of weeks?” Ichabod brought his hand out and extended a pinky in which Pepper and Rowan quickly hooked their around. Followed, begrudgingly, by Katrina and Cassius.

                    Ichabod could not pretend that Brom was not outside their door. His parents had always said one grew into being patient. But not Brom. They had grown up together, nearly inseparable. If it’s one characteristic that Brom sported since the womb, or tomb as it was still a mystery to Ichabod, it was patience. Better to put words into action and be an example to the rest. A flower could still be sweet with the rest and yet also sport its thorns even if Ichabod wished with every beat of his heart that the headless caller would simply vanish.

                    He knocked twice on the roof of the carriage and he could hear the ghast driver climb from its seat and descend around to the side. The door opened and Ichabod recoiled at the bright light glaring into his face. Recovering quickly, he managed a quick smile and nodded over his shoulders to his siblings who he could no longer see due to all the sunspots in his vision and climbed down the carriage.

                    Proud of himself for his composure, Ichabod managed a quick nod to Brom which was returned with a dip of the man’s shoulders. A gentleman’s duty first out with no valet was to assist the others and assist he did.

                    Each one of the Cranes descended with sure footing and managed to not make any embarrassing missteps. That in itself was a light in the darkness. If they could get through those three minutes, then surely, they could get through the next three and the next three and so forth.

                    Leading the family like a mother duck, Ichabod stepped swiftly to the front doors and made sure to place himself between the others and Brom. “Ah, Mr. Bones, is there something I could assist you with or perhaps your presence indicates other intentions?” Ichabod thought he was speaking with a polite tone but a small nudge from Katrina in his lower back indicated it was anything else.

“Lord Crane a pleasure to see you too.” His voice only lightly booming came from the area that lacked his head which confused Ichabod when he was younger but as his mother pointed out, it was no different than Hudson Hollow’s fellow ethereal residents who also lacked physical form.  “I am merely here to welcome you all back to Hudson Hollow and yes, I did have another intension as well.” Brom bowed to the Crane family and as he did so, Ichabod had to stomp, lightly, on Cassius’ foot to keep them from trying to angle themselves to see down Brom’s neckline.

“I knew it.” Ichabod’s vision grew clearer but not from the shade but rather from the narrowing of his eyes. He didn’t like to gossip and the thought he would be wrong about other intentions soured his stomach but now with it confirmed, he felt lighter. Fiction turned fact.

“…to collect my steeds whenever you are ready of course.” Brom gestured towards the helhests with a black gloved hand, the edges were stitched with gold. Foolishly expensive, Ichabod thought.

“…these are Necropolis helhests…” His stomach bottomed out. Of course they were.

“Were you not aware?” There was a hitch of amusement in his deep voice.

“It was a task I had delegated, not one I took much notice of. We shall unload with haste so we can have your helhests returned and thus end any business with you promptly.” Ichabod said with lips on the verge of cracking like a mirror of his resolve in the face of Brom’s delight.

“Of course, take as long as you need. And it’s Lord Bones now.” Brom turned to the others to give them a curt drop of his shoulders again as if needing to reintroduce himself. Katrina curtsied a little too low for Ichabod’s taste. What was she playing at?

                    If it wasn’t for that slight distraction, Ichabod would have to spend time in the area where he locked away pangs of sadness. Brom’s parents were always kind to him. They had even routinely set out a place at each table setting just for him. Heavens, they even had a spare dresser so that Ichabod could keep his things at their home so he wouldn’t have to run across the square so many times.

“Lord Bones? Do you even have any bones?” Pepper’s head appeared from behind Cassius’s skirts.

“Miss Crane, I do in fact lack the bones of my head and neck, but I assure you those are the only ones I am without, see for yourself.” As he crouched low to the ground, Ichabod expected the Lord’s tall, black riding boots to squeak but instead it was silent and upon a closer inspection, doing his best to not be noticed, Ichabod did notice the worn creases. Ha, not so well off then. This, upon quick reflection, did not make him feel any better.

Brom extended his arm out to her and Pepper, with newfound courage based entirely on the spark of curiosity, edged forward and gripped his arm pressing and squeezing like to guess the contents of an All Hallow’s Day present. “Ah yes, he’s right!”

She released his arm and Brom stood back to his full height. There was a rumbling of Brom’s chuckle and lark in his voice, “Perhaps one day you could be a doctor with such skills.”

Pepper perked up and stood a bit taller, “Oh, do you really think so, Lord Bones?”

“If you wish it then surely it will be.” He responded with warmth.

Entirely over the conversation but not opposed to such ideas for the youngest Crane, Ichabod took this as a chance to breach the front doors. They were thirteen feet tall and made of solid oak. They were unpainted but stained dark. However, the plainness ended there. Both sides of each door were heavily engraved with only a few spots here and there. When each Crane grew of age, they were allowed to carve their way into the doors. It should come to no surprise the Cranes that arrived today had yet to do so. Usually this was an elaborate celebration with family as one heir welcomed the next. Although Ichabod wished that Brom was far from his front stoop, it worked as a distraction, one to keep himself from noticing the thickness in his throat, from the cracking of his voice if he spoke in this moment. This was supposed to be a joyous time. And although extended family was a clear lack of attendance, they had their mortal excuse, but the rest of the ‘ton didn’t. Was Brom Bones really the only one to welcome the Crane family? So, it was true. They were completely unequivocally, undeniably unwelcome.

Ichabod twirled the signet ring around his finger, but that action was not part of this ceremony, just a nervous tic. He allowed himself one more quick spin before flexing his index finger and pressing upon the teal gemstone center to let the feather-light spur-like needle catch his skin and puncture just enough to draw the right amount of blood to enter the manor. This would not be needed every time, just this first one. With the doors creaking open and dust in the area from their disturbance, Ichabod doubted this would be the last time he would have to shed blood for the Crane family.