The Headless Horseman

Many moons ago in a small town of El Salvador, two noblemen fought for the love of a beautiful and distinguished lady, who was the envy of her entire town.

In that town, these two noblemen were in love with the lovely lady as no one had ever seen. They constantly tried to impress her with their fantastic duels with their machetes, thousands of gifts, flowers, gold, all that you could imagine! But she couldn’t decide because she wasn’t fascinated by any of them.

Many months passed from their last duel when the lovely lady met a young man from a neighboring farm. An extraordinary horseman who toured her farm, in his bright jet-black steed, this was love at first sight. From that day, the two lovers met in an abandoned ranch between the two farms.

One night during the full moon, the young rider took his beloved one to the ranch of their intimate encounters. However, that night some eyes followed the lovers below the moonlight; and this person to win favor from his employer gossiped to the father’s lady about what he had seen.

Upon her return, the father’s lady was waiting for her furiously, and after a tremendous argument, he strictly forbade her to see that mysterious horseman again! He forced her to choose one of the two noblemen. However, she refused to do it because she belonged in the body and soul of the rider, and her heart could not love another man.

The father was enraged and met with the two noblemen in the following days. Their pride was wounded and swore to gain an act of terrible revenge on the horseman, and among the three created a plan of how to get rid of the horseman, once and for all!

Many months had passed from the last visit of the horseman when he decided to visit her again. However, that night, which was darker and colder than usual, the dew seemed to mourn the fate of the lovers. When the horseman dismounted in the quest to meet his beloved, she was sleeping in her room. He walked slowly, silently, and carefully as if he could feel his cruel fate. Suddenly, he heard a noise that immediately stopped. In these moments, a masked man ambushed him.

That night two masked men, formerly enemies, now were allies for the love of a woman. They fought together as one to assassinate the horseman, who had stolen their beloved one’s heart. The young horseman took a machete from his sheath, curled his trousers, and prepared to fight, not only for his life but for the heart of his beloved one. Without a word, they engaged in a tremendous fight, the machetes began to scream, taking out sparks that looked like lightning on that black night, the dawn was singing in the distance.

In the middle of the battle, the young lady woke up. She only observed the terrible spectacle and got completely paralyzed. His beloved was fighting like a wounded lion, who fought a hood of hooded men. Suddenly, a shadow approached behind the rider, and the mackerel’s shadowed blade emitted its glow in the dark, cutting off his head. The screams of terror of the young lady and seeing how the body of her beloved lay convulsing in a pool of blood. The noblemen fled as quickly as possible; they took refuge in the father’s house to announce the news.

No one in the neighboring towns could assure the identity of the cowardly murderers. The people in the town were shocked because of the sudden change in the young lady, who used to shine with her smile and beauty. However, now she was consumed in lament every day in the solitude of her room. The two noblemen set their alliance aside and returned to their small war to conquer her heart.

A couple of years later, one night in the silence of darkness of the town, the dogs began to bark frenetically. The nervous cows snorted tirelessly when the eyes of the neighbors saw a magnificent black horse escorted by a huge dog, with fiery eyes like two fathoms of hell, —the Cadejo looked more like it— the steed set fire on the stones at every step he took in his gallop to the lady’s farm. To everyone surprise, the gigantic horseman who was riding possessed no head! (Figure 1) And blood gushed from his neck and ran down his body! All the people were shocked because it seemed unreal! How a Headless Horseman could be riding a horse!

Figure 1. The Headless Horseman. ¹

Hours later, the decapitated bodies of the two noblemen were found nearby the lady’s farm. Inside her farm, they found the lifeless body of the lady’s father, without any sign of violence but with an expression that denoted he had seen the devil himself. Some people ran inside the farm to try to recognize the lady, but they couldn’t find her, she had vanished as if she had never lived there. There was no trace of her or her belongings. There was only a little note written in blood that said: “Ultimately, I got my revenge! I’m free!”

Until today, many Salvadorans still wonder, who executed the noblemen? What happened to the lovely lady? Who was the mysterious Horseman? Who composed that letter? Many of these questions would never be acknowledged.

One thing is for sure, the night when the Headless Horseman appeared, he took revenge on these cowardly murderers. These cowards stubbornly tried to conquer a love that didn’t belong to them.

In these times, the devil takes care of the souls of these two noblemen, and the father’s one in hell forever! In hell, the devil rejoices dancing in front of them and evokes how silly their actions were! And there is no coming back! They are going to spend the rest of their lives there forever!

Some Salvadorans believe that the horseman took the soul of his beloved one on that night. They spend every summer on that ranch between the two farms because every Christmas Eve, many people assure themselves they have seen some lights and heard laughs there. However, no one is brave enough to confirm it.

One night during the summer, a woman walking in the town screamed in town: “Not even the dead could take the horseman away!” After that scream, she vanished. Who knows, maybe there is some truth behind it! Haha haha!

Inspired by Eduardo Reyes’ version.

 Credits:
Location: El Salvador

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