The trip back took slightly less time than the one over, mostly owing to the fact that they weren’t really doing much searching this time around. However, as they came back up the driveway, Harriet spotted Jaeger sticking his head out over the stable door, snorting inquisitively at their return. Though the horse was a formidable animal, the girl hardly had any fear of him, stepping closer and letting him nose at her head.

            “Hi, Jaeger. I’m eleven today.” She said, reaching up and patting the horse’s nose in a returning gesture of affection. “Sorry about the door being left open, I was already in bed when you and Uncle H got home. Though I don’t think you’ve got much to be scared of, you’re the Headless Horseman’s horse.” 

            It was hard to say if Jaeger was really all that much smarter than the average horse, though Harriet had the feeling that he likely was. He seemed to be so when he gave a disparaging snort at the eleven-year-old’s more flippant words, tossing his head a little. Harriet though merely watched him, staring through brown bangs like the gesture served as an equal answer in the one-sided conversation. To be fair though, the same could be said of having a talk with the black equine’s rider.

            “Well, yeah, guess I wouldn’t like someone leaving my door open either…” Harriet murmured, though something occurred to her and she looked back up at the horse with a new question in her eyes. “D’you know what happened to Uncle H? He seems like he’s still, y’know, not great.”

            Jaeger quietly stared down at her for a moment, Harriet briefly wondering if that might’ve counted as a no, before the horse slowly leaned his head over the stable door. Harriet let the big animal nose at her shoulder, though she was somewhat surprised, and confused, to feel him pick at the sleeve of her jacket with his teeth. He wasn’t trying to hurt her, but it felt like some kind of a message.

            “Huh? What about my arm?” Though the girl’s question went ultimately unanswered, at least not in a concrete way. Jaeger withdrew, snorting again and looking down at her as if he was saying I’ve told you as best I can, figure it out.

            Not that it made the apparent message all that clearer, Harriet tilting her head as she looked up at him.

            “I don’t get it, what’re you trying to say?” Jaeger gave another, stubborn snort, though Harriet knew the horse well enough to know that it was hardly a sign of aggression, more like slight annoyance, not that she felt any more able to discern whatever the message earlier meant. However, the whole thing was starting to feel more comical than anything, Harriet giving a snort as she spoke up. “Sorry, I don’t speak horse.”

            The warmer tone did seem to soothe Jaeger’s more ruffled feathers, the horse’s snorting giving way to a more brusque sort of affection as he lowered his head and let the girl pet his nose again.

            “I’ll see you later, okay?” Harriet hummed, fingers kneading into Jaeger’s fur. “When you go riding, keep an eye on Uncle H. Someone has to make sure he stays outta trouble.”

            Jaeger’s only reply was to give a snort, his head lifting up and out of Harriet’s reach though she couldn’t help thinking of it as more of an off with you sort of thing. Uncle H would do the same thing when he got tired of signing during long conversations and needed a break. And, well, fair enough. The others had already headed for the door, though H paused long enough for Jaeger to see him, the horse giving an answering whinny as the Horseman waved.

            Brian, upon seeing his sister returning from the stable, called out with a wry question: “Talkin’ to the horse again?”

            “He’s good company.” Harriet said with a sniff, following her brother and uncles back inside.

            ***

            “So, no luck?” Big asked as the four settled in with him, Frez, and Crow in the living room. Frez had already ensconced himself in the biggest, fuzziest blanket they had to offer, huddled in like a caterpillar in a cocoon next to Big on the couch. H couldn’t help briefly wondering if the armless nightcrawler had asked the bigfoot for help on that one, though he had seen Frez manage himself quite well without arms a lot of the time. It was actually somewhat intriguing to watch, though he stowed the old topic and decided to focus more on the matter at hand.

            That being, that, well, they hadn’t found anything. At his negatory sign, Big’s expression became tinged with a conciliatory sort of sympathy. He’d had similar problems with the phones, though admittedly he’d cried quits on carrying one long before destroying four of them.

            “Well, hopefully the cell phone store won’t charge us extra.”

            “If anything, they oughta like us more, we’re givin’ ‘em business. Even if H is bad with electronics.” Frez remarked from his blanket huddle, the Horseman briefly growing ready to sign out something else before throwing up his hands and giving the whole matter a tired, frustrated sigh. Trudging over to the other side of the couch, the Hessian slumped into the armrest. His demeanor was somewhat brightened when Harriet followed him up, the girl perching herself on the cushion next to her uncle and leaning into his side.

            “You wanna go to Schmidt’s now?”

            Though it would’ve been nice to get a proper head again, the Horseman couldn’t help giving the whole thing a tired hum, tousling Harriet’s hair before signing out his reply.

I want to take a moment to relax, but perhaps this afternoon. Want to help me pick one out?

            “Okay.” Harriet replied with a calmer smile, though as the Horseman gave an echoey chuckle Moth looked up from where he’d settled in on the floor with worried red eyes.

            “You feelin’ better?”

            It’s not hurting anymore. If anything I just feel tired. Would rather take it easy today.

            “Yeah, figure running around after the festival would take it outta you a bit. Glad to hear you’re feeling better otherwise, though. And, hey, you did say you wanted a chance to get a pumpkin with a better set of eyes.” Big pointed out, gently nudging against the Horseman’s arm and making the Hessian give a somewhat exasperated sigh. It was echoed in a brief spate of hilarity from the others; hearing Uncle H talk about proper pumpkin carving techniques was a pastime for the ages.  

            I was in a hurry! And, fair. The Hessian replied, letting his hands fall and settling into the couch with an echoey mumble of noise from his neck. The calmer silence carried on for a few moments, before the sound of someone thumping their way down the stairs caught the group’s attention, everyone collectively looking to see Susie heading for the front door.

            “Goin’ somewhere?” Big asked, the nineteen-year-old giving the group a wry grin as she waved.

            “Work, and, well, don’t have a long shift today, I’ll probably be home before dinner. I’ll be seeing you!”

            “Have a good day, Susan.” Missus Edith called as she came from the kitchen into the living room, the young woman waving even as she opened the door to leave. However, as she was about to head out Susie stopped short, expression dropping into confused surprise.

            “Uh, hello—” She said, the rest of the family able to hear a man’s voice speaking from out on the front porch before Susie turned and addressed the group. “Uh, guys, the police chief’s at the door…”

            “Hartford’s here?” Big spoke up, the rest of the children and myths looking between each other in askance at that bit of news. However, Missus Edith quickly took charge of the situation, speaking up with a calm authority.

“Well, invite the man in, dear. You go on to work, we’ll handle things here.”

            “Alright, if you say so…” Susie murmured, though she put her confusion aside to give a polite, customer-service ready smile to the waiting chief of police, gesturing that he come in.

            Police Chief Hartford was hardly an unknown figure to the family, though it wasn’t exactly normal for him to come visit. As such, the group sat a little straighter as he came into the front hall that led into the living room. Harriet had maybe talked to him all of once, though she definitely remembered the taller, more serious-faced man in blues. He did sort of remind her a bit of her dad, who was similarly even-keeled, though Hartford was less rough around the edges and his manner was dipped in that strange sort of polite poise that she often remembered from her mom’s side of the family.

            Which wasn’t always a good thing when remembering that they hadn’t really talked to mom’s side of the family, outside of holidays, even though they all lived in the same town.

            “It’s good to see you, Mr. Hartford. Is there anything I can get you?” Missus Edith was saying, Harriet looking over to Hartford as he replied.

            “Perhaps a water would be nice, Mrs. Edith, though I am here to talk to the, the Headless Horseman here.”

            That was not something that anyone had really expected to hear, everyone in the living room sitting a little straighter, and looking at said Headless Horseman with surprise and askance alike. H, for his part, straightened but hardly seemed any more aware as to why he was being singled out than anyone else present.

            “I see.” Missus Edith replied, also glancing towards said Horseman, but if she had any thoughts as to what she was hearing, she kept them very much to herself for now. “I assume you’ll want some privacy? Would the kitchen be alright?”

            “That would be fine, thank you.” Hartford agreed, following the elderly woman through the living room and into the back of the house where the kitchen was located. Before she stepped over the threshold, Missus Edith called back to the group in the living room, this time addressing her grandchildren specifically.

            “Brian, Harriet, if you could wait here? Or perhaps upstairs would be better.” 

            “Yeah, c’mon you two. Police stuff’s no place for tiny folks.” Big cut in, easily leaning over and scooping up the pair before they could protest. Though the most Harriet managed was an affronted squeak, her attention was a bit more wrapped up in looking around at everyone, trying to work out what she could about what was happening. Moth looked worried with a capital W, ear tufts low and red eyes wide as he glanced from H to Hartford, Big’s face didn’t give away much though there was a slight edge of wary curiosity in his eyes as he glanced back to the Horseman. Crow, who was perched on the back of the couch, didn’t say anything. Maybe he glanced in H’s direction, but it was hard to tell. Frez, though he had looked a little taken aback at first, couldn’t help throwing out something a little more jibing as he twisted around in his blanket cocoon to look the Hessian’s way.

            “Ohh, you really got into some trouble last night…”

            Uncle H was signing something back, though whatever it was was taken from Harriet’s sight as she and Brian were carried upstairs and away from the drama. They weren’t set down until they’d made it to Brian’s room, Harriet wondering if she ought to protest at being delivered to the wrong bedroom but now didn’t seem like a good time.

            Especially when Brian, who had been silent for the whole ride upstairs, abruptly looked at Big and spoke up.

            “Uncle B?”

            “Yeah, Brian?” Big asked, not quite pulling away yet but clearly wanting to head back downstairs.

 “They’re not gonna take Uncle H away, are they?”

            Where Brian got that idea, Harriet wasn’t sure, but she’d be happy never thinking about such things again. Sure, she might’ve been upset with her uncle, but that definitely didn’t mean she wanted him gone. Big seemed taken aback at it too, the cryptid’s face falling in a brief, nearly blank expression if it weren’t for his widened eyes.

            The idea that even the easy-going Big was somewhat worried by the idea of Uncle H getting taken away was not relieving, though thankfully for Harriet he seemed to snap out of his surprise quickly enough, sitting down on the floor of the hallway so he could comfortably pick up the two kids in a hug.

            “…No, no they’re not, kiddo. Nobody’s gonna let that happen. You both just hang tight and wait here for a bit.”

            It was a relieving gesture, but ultimately a quick one; Big let go, got to his feet, and went back down the stairs before either could offer anything more complicated than a brief goodbye. Harriet and Brian were left standing there, the girl staring after her uncle as she tried to process what was going on.

            However, Brian seemed to take a moment to think before he headed down the hall towards Uncle H and Uncle Moth’s room, going to the laundry chute on the wall and pushing it open, sticking his head inside as he seemingly listened to something.

            “What’re you doing?” Harriet asked as she crept closer, belatedly realizing she could hear voices coming from down below.

            “Figuring out what’s going on. Thought that was obvious.” Brian’s reply came with an affronted look, the boy turning to his sister as he went on. “Now be quiet, I don’t want them to hear us!”

            “Okay, okay…” Harriet mumbled, though she still perched herself next to the chute, listening along with Brian as the talking went on. Already she was able to hear Big’s voice as he rejoined the group.

“Think we’d be good for it, but I’m gonna have to play interpreter, if you don’t mind.” 

            The reason being that Uncle H was still very much without his head and therefore wouldn’t be able to verbally answer the questions being directed at him. There was a brief thought in Harriet’s mind, where was her Gramma? But if she was present she might’ve been busy doing something else, Mr. Hartford’s answer cutting off the thought.

“…I see. We’ll try to keep the questions as simple as possible, then.”

            “He says thank you.” Big replied, waiting a moment before continuing. “So, what brings you here?”

            “We’ve had a missing person’s report, and unfortunately the only clue we have implicates the Headless Horseman.”

            “…Uh. Alright then.” Big replied, a little stilted before he threw out another question that only sounded slightly more casual. “Any chance we could learn what that’s about?”