• The Legend of Barton Hollow

    One cold winter night, early in the New Year, a certain Gaian left the Train Station in Barton and started walking to his home in the hollow nearby. His path led next to the old Barton Hollow cemetery where a headless Barton Guard was buried. At midnight, the Gaian came within site of the graveyard. The weather had warmed up during the week, and the snow was almost gone from the pathways. It was a dark night with no moon, and the only light came from his lantern.
    The Gaian was nervous about passing the graveyard, remembering the rumors of a galloping ghost that he had heard at the Train Station. He stumbled along, humming to himself to keep up his courage. Suddenly, his eye was caught by a light rising from the ground in the cemetery. He stopped, his heart pounding in fear. Before his startled eyes, a white mist burst forth from an unmarked grave and formed into a large horse carrying a headless rider.
    The Gaian let out a terrible scream as the horse leapt toward him at a full gallop. He took to his heels, running as fast as he could, making for the bridge since he knew that ghosts and evil spirits did not care to cross running water. He stumbled suddenly and fell, rolling off the path into a melting patch of snow. The headless rider thundered past him, and the Gaian got a second look at the headless ghost. It was wearing a Barton Guard uniform.
    The Gaian waited a good hour after the ghost disappeared before crawling out of the bushes and making his way home. After fortifying himself with schnapps, the Gaian told his wife about the ghost. By noon of the next day, the story was all over Barton. The good Gaian folk were divided in their opinions. Some thought that the ghost must be roaming the paths at night in search of its head. Others claimed that the Barton Guard rose from the grave to lead the Barton Guards in a charge up nearby Durem Hill, not knowing that the hill had already been taken by the Barton Gaians.
    Whatever the reason, the Headless Gaian continues to roam the paths near Barton Hollow on dark nights from that day on.