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One
night, there was a party at a farmer's house in Trinity, to celebrate
the engagement of Raulin (the farmer's son) and Jeanne.
Towards
the end of the evening, a French gang arrived. There was an argument
between Raulin and the leader of the gang, and as the Frenchmen
left, they warned Raulin that he would be punished in the morning.
Later
that night, Raulin walked Jeanne home, and she was so worried that
she begged him to stay. But he wouldn't, so she sent her dog with
him to keep him safe.
As
Raulin walked home, he heard voices coming towards him, but he didn't
have time to hide. It was the same French gang that had come to
his father's house earlier. They seized Raulin, and although Jeanne's
dog tried to defend Raulin, it was stabbed, and the gang rode off
with Raulin.
Back
at her house, Jeanne had been tossing and turning, unable to get
to sleep. Suddenly she heard what sounded like scratching and whimpering
at her front door - when she opened it, her dog rushed in. Seeing
the blood on her dog, Jeanne knew something had happened to Raulin
and ran out into the night.
She
followed her dog to where the gang had ambushed Raulin, but there
was no trace of them. But her dog picked up their trail, and set
off towards the cliffs.
Eventually
they reached a cave. Inside she could see the gang having a banquet,
whilst Raulin stood with a noose around his neck. The leader of
the gang stood up and gave a toast, then gave the signal for Raulin
to be hanged.
But
Jeanne ran into the cave, and stood between the gang and Raulin.
She begged the gang to kill her too, but they laughed, and the leader
said he would keep Jeanne as his wife.
As
the gang moved towards the couple, Jeanne seized a dagger, and cut
Raulin free. But the leader plunged his dagger into Raulin's heart,
killing him. As Raulin fell to the floor, Jeanne's dog leapt at
the leader and sank his teeth into his neck, killing him. Jeanne's
dog was so wounded that he died too.
The
gang ran towards Jeanne in a fury, and she fled the cave and ran
along the beach. She climbed up L'Islet rock, and as the waves swept
over her, she was dragged out to sea and drowned.
A week
later, Jeanne's body was washed ashore, and as some fishermen carried
her body along the beach, they saw ravens circling around a cave.
Curious, they went in and found the bodies of Raulin and the gang's
leader.
They
took the body of Raulin and buried him and Jeanne together - but
they left the gang leader's body for the ravens. Today it is said
that Jeanne's screams can still be heard - the Cry of the Tombelenes.
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