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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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