The Mare of Market

“She was dead. I could tell from the way she was layin’. I thought someone must’ve up and lost their horse the night before and I’d better drag ‘er out, so I tried to get her by the ankles and pull ‘er with my eldest. Just to get ‘er out of the water. Her stomach—see, I thought she were pregnant; her teets were swollen. I s’pose it was the water. Anyways—her belly rips open and somethin’ falls out, so I tell my eldest to go see if we can save the baby. So he walks around—the smell is godawful—and he tells me it ain’t no baby. He says it’s a grown-ass man, and I didn’t know what the hell to say to that.”

— Art Guther

Summary

The Mare of Market is a recent and well-known oddity that occurred along the riverbank outside of Market. One humid morning in August, Art Guther came across the body of a dead mare beside the river, assuming the horse had slipped in and drowned. With the help of his son, the farmer attempted to drag the horse out of the river only for the body to split in half, producing a man from her stomach. Shocked by their discovery, Art and his son reported the body to acting sheriff Ruth Brawler, who ruled the disturbance as a "uniquely perverse act of violence".
Ruth and his men spent weeks scouring the town for clues as to how the man ended up inside the horse, but it soon became apparent that the likelihood of uncovering a method of infusion was too minute to spare energy on. The murder was ultimately handed over to the local hunters, who continue to ponder the event with little hope of reaching a conclusion. Some still dedicate time to the mystery, though they're few and far in-between.
Instead, the story has become a popular folktale for Market and its neighbors, an everlasting thread spun continuously among curious citizens.

The Investigation

Despite the exaggerated tales swapped between watery liquors, the scene discovered by Art Guther and his son that morning was more baffling than horrific.

"See, I thought she was pregnant, you know. I guess the water had gotten all soaked up overnight, but I didn't think nothin' about it. She looked 'bout ready to pop before we got her front legs tied, so when she did I weren't too shocked. Damn, though. Didn't expect to find a man in there."

The body inside the horse was Henry Williams, an avid churchgoer and quiet bartender who'd been missing since a month prior. Henry's sister, Missy, had reported his disappearance and received no further help on the matter. Instead, Missy moved up north to work in Mother's Place a week later and never returned.
Henry had been a solemn man who held his beliefs close to his chest. Those who knew him mostly saw Henry on Sundays or working after dark at Sissy's. They told Ruth that Henry had been a good man and that no one had wanted to do him harm. It was a bleak beginning for uncovering a suspect, but Art Guther was the first choice.
Disappointingly, Ruth ultimately concluded that Art had never met Henry before discovering his body, living out beyond the river and having never stepped foot inside a church. He was released after two days with little fuss from either side. With Art cleared of responsibility, Ruth and his men were left with barely a trail to follow.
The case was opened to local hunters two months after the horse's discovery, making room for those daring persons to look over the event themselves with the hope that someone would come forward with new evidence.

The Threads

Missy's Note

A note left by Henry's sister discovered on his kitchen table and collected as evidence. The note explains Missy's disappointment in Henry, her unhappiness in the south, and why Henry should move with her up north. The note seemed to have been left alone for a time, as it was covered in dust when found.

Henry's Letters

A collection of scattered, unsent letters that detail Henry's desperation to escape debt. They have no recipient and possess Henry's signature scratched at the top. Most of the letters were described as "the gibberish of a troubled man". Their content betrays Henry's delusion that the Devil had struck a deal with his horse.

Pastor's Input

Pastor Martin Shepfield was questioned by Ruth during the beginning stages of the investigation. Martin expressed that he had felt anxious over the wellbeing of Mr. Williams for the former year and that his peculiar habits had increased over the past winter. Martin confessed that Henry had imparted his burgeoning interest in black magic not long before his disappearance.

Sherry's Gossip

Sherry Hopkins, a usual at the bar Henry worked at, told her side to Ruth the day after Henry's identity was made known to the public. Sherry made it clear that Henry had been dealing with the Devil, and that whatever had happened to him was because of it. Alongside Sherry, a few other townspeople that frequented Sissy's agreed that Henry had discussed black magic with them, alongside the belief that his horse was trying to kill him.

The Suspects

Mary Mason

An older widow living just beyond the river where Henry's body was found. Mary is a well-liked resident of Market, known for her innate cooking expertise and cherished singing on Sunday mornings. After the case was sanctioned to the public, hunters worked to scour the area for suggestions of black magic. Mary's house fell just beyond the river, and a group of hunters was able to uncover foul play in the form of an unfinished pentagram in the attic of her abandoned lean-to. The pentagram had a tuft of horsehair by one point, though nothing else connected her to Henry's demise. Mary claims she knew nothing about the ritual, even going so far as to move in with her son across town to escape being nearby "cursed land".

Eli Broncho

A man known to have hounded Henry for money before his disappearance. Despite no evidence connecting him to Henry's death, it was debated if Eli should be made guilty for pushing Henry into a desperate position of financial strain. Eli, being the fellow he is, is verbose concerning his innocence and claims he never wished harm on Henry, pointing to the fact that he wanted Henry to pay him back. Alongside wanting Henry alive, Eli was generally seen in another bar further east during the month Henry went missing, providing eyewitness accounts of his inability to have been harming Henry during that time.

Cultural Reception

Left without a culprit for a heinous, disturbing crime, Market and her citizens struggled to cope with their newfound fear. Broodmares were sold at street corners to anyone willing to take them; horses were quickly exchanged for mules and donkeys, which were said to be "less likely to attract the Devil". The month following, a herd of horses could be seen flocking the river for water after so many owners abandoning them. Ultimately, this caused more people to panic, assuming the sight to be an omen of sorts.

Mares and Foals in a River Landscape by George Stubbs

Rampant fears of black magic took hold of the southeastern town, more and more people turning on those suspected of speaking with the Devil. Ruth and his men still struggle to create new laws for the upcoming year concerning this new trend, though Henry and his horse will be remembered much longer than anyone would have hoped.

A Wooded River Landscape with Figures Crossing a Bridge (c. 1660-1664) by Jacob van Ruisdael

I can't handle having it here no more. You have to take him now. I can hear him talking to the devil at night about me. He says he wants me dead.

— Henry's Letter

"You ain't seen Henry like I seen Henry. He told me all about his little horse problem and all about how he wasn't gonna let anythin' bad happen to him no more. I told the fool he was crazy, and you know what he said? He told me he can do that black magic, so I shut the hell on up."

— Sherry Hopkins

"Mr. WIlliams was a good-hearted man, he was just confused most the time. I don't know what it was about him, but Miss Williams informed me of her brother long before any of this all happened. He only started becoming a nuisance last winter. I remember him standing up while I was preaching, raising his arms up like a crossroads, and screaming about how the devil was inside his barn. I don't know who could've hurt such a harmless man; everyone knew Mr. Williams needed special care."

— Martin Shepfield

"I ain't killed no man and I never will. Says in the ten commandments, right in the bible, smack dab in black and white. Henry was a lazy good-for-nothin' but I wanted that man alive more than any son of a bitch in this town. You hear me? How am I supposed to feed my wife with no money?"

— Eli Broncho

Related Locations

• Maddson Graveyard
• The Garden of Eden

Related People

• Mabel Sweet
• The Devil