"
There was lots of talk about the strange accident. There are those who
say that Elliott went to hell that very moment, taken there by the
stranger on the black stallion. But stranger still were the hoofprints
left by Elliott's mare.
There were four deep prints in the ground that, oddly enough, never
changed. Wind and rain left them undisturbed, and no leaves or sticks
ever covered them. They remain unchanged even today, a reminder of
not-so-sleepy times.
Adapted from a story in A Student Guide to North Carolina Ghosts and Legends by Beth Cradock Smith