Hatchet Harry's

​

Relation to the Camp:

​

After passing Lucy's on the Lee-Huntington Road, you could continue to the intersection with the Becket Road.  A short while later, on the right was Hatchet Harry's.  I am not aware of any actual trips to this site, but I remember driving by it on the dirt road a number of times.

​

The story: 

​

The inn was located along the Becket Road, not too far from the camp, maybe two miles away, just down the road.  It was operated by a man named Harry and served the many coaches and carriages that passed by on the road west.

​

One night after the sun had set, they saw a dust cloud rising into the air in the east in the early twilight. There was another dust cloud rising along the road in the west.  As darkness settled on the inn, a large black carriage arrived at the inn.  It was pulled by two jet black horses and the driver was formally dressed in a black uniform.  Immediately after the arrival of the black carriage came the arrival of a large white carriage.  It was pulled by two pure white horses and the driver was formally dressed in a pristine white uniform. 

They both climbed down from the carriages and asked about space at the inn.  Although there was a large coach whose passengers were also spending the night, there were rooms available, so they began to bring luggage down from atop the carriages. On the black carriage, the luggage was all black, and there was a very large black trunk, 3 feet wide, 3 feet high, and about 6 feet long.  On the white carriage, the luggage was very similar except it was all white.  They asked if the large trunks could be placed in the basement and were told yes.  The other luggage was taken up to their rooms.  All during this process Harry did not see the passenger from either carriage.

​

Harry went inside the inn to sign them in, to collect payment, and to show them the rooms and the basement.

​

During the night there were some strange noises, but nothing that alarmed Harry.

​

In the morning, when Harry awoke, the black and white carriages were gone.  At breakfast, four of the guests from the coach were missing.  The coach driver and Harry went to the guest rooms to search for the passengers.  What they found was horrible.  In the beds of the passengers were their lifeless bodies.  There was a little blood dripping down their necks from wounds and staining the sheets.  The local sheriff was called to investigate.  There appeared to be nothing missing, only the murdered passengers.  A local doctor was called in to determine the cause of death.  It was decided that it was the wounds on their necks and that they had bled to death.  In fact there seemed to be no blood left in their bodies at all.  The sheriff's investigation ground to a halt since there were no leads to follow.

​

About a month later, as the sun set, dust clouds appeared again in the distance. Just as dark was settling in at the inn, two carriages arrived.  They appeared to be the same ones from a month earlier.  One in all black and one in all white.  Harry signed them in to the inn.

​

In the morning there was a repeat of what had happened a month before.  4 passengers from a coach had been murdered in their beds, and the black and white carriages were gone.

​

Once again the sheriff and the doctor were called, the results were the same: nothing was missing, the passengers had bled to death from the wounds on their necks, and there were no leads, except for the mysterious carriages.

​

Another month passed and once again dust clouds were rising in the distance. As darkness fell, the two carriages arrives, one black, and one white.  Harry was now getting suspicious.  After he checked them in, he headed off to bed.  But rather than sleep he laid awake and waited.  Soon he heard the strange noises again.  This time he had brought a hatchet to bed with him for protection.  He picked up the hatchet and went down the stairs.  He found nothing wrong so he continued to the basement stairs.  He went down, holing a candle high with one hand and his hatchet at the ready in his other hand.

​

Their, on the floor of the basement, were the two large trunks, one black and one white.  He went to the white trunk and carefully opened the lid.  Inside, amid white satin cloth was a beautiful woman dressed all in white.  As he opened the lid, her eyes opened.  She saw Harry and reached to grab him.  Harry could see she had sharp fangs in her mouth and obviously meant him harm.  Before she could grab him, Harry brought down the hatchet into her chest.  She fell back into the trunk, dead.  Harry then went to the black trunk and carefully opened the lid.  Inside, amid black satin cloth was a handsome man dressed in all black. As he opened the lid, his eyes open and he saw Harry.  He reached upward, and much faster than the woman had.  He grabbed Harry by the throat and bean choking him.  Harry, unable to breath, raised his hatchet and struck the man a number of times in the chest.  The man fell back into the trunk, dead.  

​

In the morning the other guests at the inn noticed the innkeeper was missing, they searched and searched and finally found him in the basement, dead, with bruises on his neck.  He had a bloody hatchet in his hand, but the trunks and the carriages were gone.  The murders were never found and the incidents did not recur.

​

​