The Sleepy Hollow Mystery Read Free

said.
    Henry shone the flashlight at the person
on the horse.
    “The rider doesn’t have a head!” Benny
cried. They all jumped back in surprise.
    As the horse passed by the fence, the rider
took something from inside the cape and held
it up.
    It resembled a head with glowing teeth
and eyes. The rider heaved the head toward
the group.
    They all dodged away, bumping into one
another. It landed with a thud in front of
them. It split open, spraying them all with
thick red liquid.
    All three of the children from the tour
group begin to sob.
    “Don’t cry,” Jessie said. “It was just a
pumpkin…”
    One of the mothers held out her hands,
which were speckled with red. “It looks like
blood!”
    Violet held out one of the pieces of the
pumpkin. It was coated on the inside with
the red liquid. “That’s not blood. It’s paint. I
can smell it.” She turned it over. “And look at
this on the outside that looks like an eye. It’s
glow-in-the-dark paint.”

    The woman said to Annika, “Young lady,
that was a terrible trick. You advertise this as
a ghost tour for families, but look at all the
children crying. This was far too frightening.
They’ll have nightmares tonight.”
    “I’m so sorry,” Annika said. “That
horseman was not part of the tour. I don’t
know who it was, or why he would do
something like that.”
    The woman took hold of her children’s
hands. “I don’t believe some headless
horseman from a story just happened to show
up to throw a pumpkin at us. I will not be
recommending this tour to any of our friends.
In fact, I’m going to post a review online.
People should know this is not for families.
Let’s go, everyone.”
    After the group left, Annika looked like
she was going to cry. Mrs. Vanderhoff put her
arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “I’m
sorry about the awful trick.”
    Henry picked up another piece of the
pumpkin. “This is another one of those
strange pumpkins. It’s white, just like the
ones in front.”
    “I use white pumpkins for the logo of my
ghost-tour business,” Annika said. “Whoever
played this trick must have used a white
pumpkin on purpose. They aren’t easy to
find.”
    “I wonder if the same person put the cookie
crumbs and worm candy in the cookie jar,”
Jessie said.
    “Who would have been able to do that?”
Henry asked.
    “I don’t know,” Annika brushed her hair
off her face. More of it had fallen out of the
bun. “We always have treats out here after
the tours. I set everything up early so I don’t
have to rush around when we get back. I
don’t know who would have come into the
backyard.”
    “Sometimes people play tricks around
Halloween,” Violet said. “Maybe that’s all
it is.”
    “I don’t know,” Henry said. “This kind of
trick would take a lot of effort. It’s a really
mean, scary trick. Why would anyone do
that to Annika?”
    A ghostly voice came from the path. “I’m
coming to haunt you!”
    Benny grabbed Jessie’s hand. “Who…who
said that?”

CHAPTER 3
A Pin for Good Luck
    “I siah, stop with the voices,” Annika called.
She sounded angry.
    A very tall and skinny young man came
around the side of the house. He wore a black
suit with a ruffled shirt and a tall black hat.
When he saw the Aldens and Mrs.
McGregor, he swept his hat off his head and
bowed. “Isiah Sanders at your service.”
    Violet whispered to Benny. “He looks like
a character from a book.”
    “Where have you been?” Annika asked.
    “You were supposed to drive the wagon!”
    “You’re mad at me, aren’t you?” Isiah dropped
down to his knees in front of her and clasped
his hands in front of him. “Please forgive me,”
he begged. “I can’t go on unless you do.” He
looked over at the Aldens and winked.
    The children laughed at the performance.
    “Oh, get up, Isiah,” Annika said. “Now is
not the time for acting.”
    He did, brushing the dirt off his knees.
“I’m sorry I missed the tour. The harness on
the wagon broke, and I