N I G H T B R I N G E R . S E
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REACHING OUT FROM A WATERY GRAVE
Since earliest times, spirits have often been associated with water, whether a ock-fanged coast, a tumultuous river, or an idyllic pool. Some of them are said to be the ghosts of people who have drowned, and these spirits allegedly entice other hapless victims to join them in their watery bowers. In Devon, England, at Lydford Gorge, there exists a dark pool of water fed by a twenty-foot cascade; known as Kitty's Steps, this cataract is said to contain such a seductive spirit.
The story holds that an old woman named Kitty was returning home from market one day many years ago. Rather than follow the main road, Kitty led her horse down a shortcut through a ravine. The narrow pathway took the woman close by the waterfall, where she had played as a child. Recent heavy rain may have made the path slippery, or, as some believe, a spirit may have beckoned to Kitty from the pool. In any event, Kitty never reached home and was presumed drowned. her horse was found quietly grazing on the riverbank; a red kerchief that she had worn around her head was discovered near the pool. Since then, Kitty's apparition has been reported standing near the waterfall, her kerchiefed head bowed, staring into the water.
In 1968, the pool - or, some say, the water spirit, claimed another victim. A young soldier who was hurrying back to his camp also used the shortcut through the ravine; he was missing for several weeks before his body was found floating on the water's surface below Kitty's Steps.
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