The Headless Huntsman (2 page)

“I will find him for you,” said Mr Blood.

“You must destroy him!” the Sheriff cried.

*   *   *

Just before sunset, Mr Blood, Edgar and Mary left the town hall. The Sheriff had given them horses.

 

 

The people on the streets looked very angry.

“It seems to me,” said Mr Blood, “that the people of Goreditch have no love for the town council!”

Edgar followed a map that the Sheriff had given them. They rode out of town and up a steep hill. Soon they were on the open moor.

 

 

They lit lanterns when it began to get dark. At last they reached the place that was marked “Graveyard” on the map. They left their horses by the roadside and walked around. It was a grim place but it didn't look much like a graveyard.

“Look,” said Edgar, pointing at a hangman's noose hanging from a tree.

“But where are the gravestones?” Mary asked.

“There are none,” said Mr Blood. “But this
is
a graveyard. Look!”

At his feet was a long pile of freshly dug earth.

“An unmarked grave,” said Edgar.

 

 

Chapter 3

A Red Axe

Mary and Edgar followed Mr Blood as he walked around. There were lots of unmarked graves. But none of the others looked disturbed. They came back to the first grave they had seen.

“This must be where the Headless Huntsman is coming from,” said Mary.

“So what are we going to do?” Edgar asked.

“We will wait,” Mr Blood replied. “I can't kill a ghost. The only way to free the town from the ghost is to free the ghost. We must find out why he can't rest in peace.”

“So we're going to talk to him!” Mary cried. She sounded excited.

“Do we have to?” asked Edgar.

They put their lanterns on the ground and sat around the tree waiting for the Headless Huntsman to appear. A strong wind was blowing across the moors and soon they were all feeling very cold.

“I'll get some wood for a fire,” said Edgar. He went back to the road. He was stroking his horse's nose when something caught his eye.

He picked up his lantern to look more closely and then gave a cry of fear. Someone had painted a red axe on the horse's neck.

Edgar turned to go back but, as he did so, he saw a mob of men marching up the road towards him. Some of them carried torches. The rest had weapons – clubs, spears and farm tools. One of them pointed at Edgar. The mob began running towards him, shouting.

Edgar rushed back to Mary and Mr Blood. In the moonlight he could just see Mary hiding behind the tree. Mr Blood stood at one end of the grave. At the other end of the grave stood a big man holding an axe. The man had no head!

 

 

“Mr Blood!” shouted Edgar, “Men with weapons. I think they're coming for us!”

Mr Blood swore. The moon went behind a cloud. When it shone through again, a second later, the Huntsman had vanished.

“Run!” Mr Blood shouted. The three of them raced back to the horses. Edgar's horse had gone. He scrambled up on Mary's horse, sitting behind her. The mob yelled as Mary and Mr Blood rode away as fast as they could.

Behind them they heard a cheer and then the mob began to chant:

“
Hail to the Huntsman! Hail to the Huntsman!
”