Chief Lightning Bolt

by Daniel N. Paul

  “My brother, I want you to feel assured that you will be given every opportunity to prove your innocence. During the hearing you will be permitted to examine any witnesses brought before us. And, if there is anything you need to help prove your innocence, it will be made available. Do you have any questions in this regard before we commence?”

  “No, my brother, I haven’t.”

  “Very well, let us begin. My brother, you have been accused of committing the heinous crimes of torture, rape and murder. How say you, guilty or innocent?”

  “My brothers and sisters, as the Great Spirit is my witness, I have no knowledge of these horrible crimes. I could never have done something so loathsome. I loved Morning Mist and her children like my own. I feel the deepest sorrow in the knowledge that they must have suffered beyond endurance at the hands of the contemptible person who did these things to them. My friends, other than the oath I’ve made, I don’t know what else I can say in my defence. The evidence found at the scene seems damning, but all who know me know that I could not perform such horrors as have been done.”

  Lightning Bolt prodded: “My brother, tell us how you spent your time last Sunrise?”

  “After rising, Spotted Fawn helped me prepare for a walk I planned through the forest for a Sunrise of reflection and meditation. She, as she always did when I wanted to be by myself for a time, joked about me becoming weary of her company and preferring the companionship of the birds and other beasts instead. After I ate breakfast, I started walking through the village, stopping to say a few words to Broken Canoe when I passed his wigwam.

  “He cracked a joke about me needing someone to save me if Spotted Fawn kept dumping me in the river as she had a few Sunrises ago. During that frolic, which he had witnessed, I swallowed a great deal of water and needed some fairly strong slaps on the back to get my choking and coughing under control.

  “He then asked if I was going off on one of my walks to meditate. I replied yes and told him the general direction I was taking. He related that Morning Mist and their two girls were heading off shortly in the same direction to pick berries at the old burn. After we exchanged a few more pleasantries, I set off in an easterly direction into the wilderness. When I came to the old burn, I picked and ate a handful of berries and continued on my way.

  “Brothers and sisters, how do I explain the rest? I can tell you what I did, and thought about, during my walk through the forest. I savoured the wonders of Mother Earth. I smelled the fresh scents of trees, grasses and flowers while thinking about my wonderful family, friends and country, and how the Great Spirit has blessed me with a bountiful life. I walked and rested at times, meditated and thanked the Creator for His love and benevolence. Other than repeating that I had absolutely nothing to do with committing the sick crimes I find myself accused of, my brothers and sisters, I have at this time nothing more to say.”

  Lightning Bolt responded, “Thank you, Flaming Hair. Broken Canoe, please come forward. My beloved son, it saddens me to be forced to intrude into your time of grief for the loss of your precious family. However, in order to get to the bottom of these horrific crimes, I must ask you to bear with me and answer a few questions. Are you ready?”

  “Yes my father; however, if I occasionally weep, please bear with me because my sorrow is so overwhelming.”

  Gently, feeling great pity for the young father, Lightning Bolt requested, “My son, tell us briefly about what happened early last Sunrise.”

  “My beloved father, first I’ll tell you why Morning Mist and our babies were at the old burn. At supper, two Sunrises ago, the girls told us that they had a craving for some of their favourite desserts made from blueberries. Morning Mist, with a twinkle in her eye, responded that a craving for something as essential to the joy of a person as a delicious dessert should not go unfilled. Then she suggested that we all get up early the next Sunrise and go to the old burn and pick berries. The girls, in their excitement, went off to tell their friends.

  “To my everlasting sorrow, in the absence of the girls, I declined. The reason I did was that several friends and I were working on a new Big Pond Canoe and wanted to finish it before the next fish harvest. Later, after telling the girls I wouldn’t be going, as a way to ease their disappointment, I told them that I would get up early the next dawn and help them prepare for their trip.

  “The next morning I had just come out of our wigwam to go to the stream to wash when I saw Flaming Hair coming. We stopped for a short time and passed a few pleasantries. He told me about his plans for the Sunrise and I told him that Morning Mist and the girls were soon heading in the same direction to pick blueberries around the old burn. He replied that if he came back that way early he would look for them. After a few more words, he set off and I continued to the stream for a wash.

  “Returning to the wigwam I roused Morning Mist and the girls. After they dressed and washed, we ate and they got under way. They were laughing and waving goodbye to me as they walked into the forest. That is how I saw my darling wife and precious babies for the last time. Oh, my father, why oh why wasn’t I there to protect them. How can I ever forgive myself for not going?”

  “My dear son, the Great Spirit sometimes works in strange ways. Perhaps He didn’t want you to go along because He wanted to take Morning Mist and the girls home with Him. I know, my son, that you will continue to blame yourself for a while, but eventually you will overcome your grief and come to accept the will of the Creator. Please take some comfort from knowing that we all love you and want to help you through this terrible ordeal.”

  Reluctantly, because of Broken Canoe’s heartbreaking grief, after a few more words of solace Lightning Bolt continued, “I have just a few more quick questions to ask, my son, and then you can go. Did you see anyone else up and around besides Flaming Hair when you got up? And, can you recall what he was wearing, and did you find his conduct unusual in any way?”

  “My father, Flaming Hair was the only person I saw. The best I can recall about his dress was that he was wearing an old outfit. He was acting his normal good-natured self, nothing out of the way; there wasn’t anything unusual about him or his conduct. That is all that I can say about it, but, before taking my leave, my father, I want to say emphatically. I’ve known Flaming Hair since I was very young, as a matter of fact I was one of the children who discovered him washed ashore that time so long ago. Since then, he has treated me and everyone else around our village with the utmost kindness, generosity and love. I continue to view him as a respected and beloved uncle. I know the evidence indicates that he tortured and murdered my precious family, but I can’t bring myself to believe that he, such a gentle and compassionate man, could ever have done such a horrible deed.”

  “Thank you my son; may the Great Spirit be with you in your time of sorrow.

  “Little Red, please come forward and tell us how you and Running Elk discovered the bodies.”

  “My uncle, last Sunrise Running Elk came and asked me if I wished to accompany him on a hike through the woods. As I wasn’t doing anything of any great importance, I agreed. He suggested that we go in the direction that my father had taken when he left the encampment earlier that morning. Not being present at the time my father departed, I had no notion of which direction he had taken and I told Running Elk so. However, he said he had seen him leave that dawn and knew the direction we should take.

  “We then set off in the direction of the rising sun and walked for some time before coming to the old burn. Upon seeing it, pleasant memories of the wonderful taste of blueberries came rushing back, and I sought out a place to pick a few. I had just started picking when Running Elk, in a horrified voice, yelled for me to come. He had discovered the mutilated bodies of poor Morning Mist and her girls.”

  “Please describe, my son, what you saw and found at the scene in detail.”

  Although his father’s fate was on the line, Little Red spoke as honestly as
he could. “The naked remains were badly mutilated. Oh, my uncle, the sight of those poor souls so badly mutilated still horrifies me. Please bear with me and I will try to keep control, and be objective about it. But, when I think of the monstrous things that were done to them it makes me want to weep. The crime scene indicated quite clearly that Morning Mist and the girls had struggled hard to escape before being tied and tortured beyond endurance by their attacker. By their appearances he had literally butchered them alive. I will relive the pain of discovering and seeing the horrific crime until the Season I die.”

  With compassion in his voice for the nightmare that his beloved nephew was reliving over and over, Lightning Bolt continued, “Tell us my son, did you see, hear, or find anything unusual at the scene?”

  “The only thing we found, my uncle, that didn’t belong there was a medicine pouch, which Running Elk identified as belonging to my father. We didn’t find anything else.”

  “Did you recognize the medicine pouch as your father’s?”

  “No, my uncle, I’m sorry to say that I can’t describe the size or the shape, or for that matter anything else about my father’s medicine pouch. I’ve seen such personal items around our wigwam and around the wigwams of our brothers and sisters in the village thousands of times, but I can’t, except for a few revered personal relics that I’ve seen, identify any specific personal item as belonging to an identifiable person other than to me.”

  “Thank you, my son, for your help. The information provided is most helpful.

  “Now, Running Elk, please come forward. My son, tell us your version of the discovery.”

  “My father, I can’t help but weep while I talk to you about last Sunrise. It seems almost as if whoever committed the crimes has no conscience. The pain he inflicted upon Morning Mist and her children before slaying them was evident by the ghastly scene of brutal torture we saw. The horrible sight of their tortured bodies shall always live in my memory, always!

  “I won’t go into a detailed description of the horrors that we discovered because most of you viewed the scene firsthand. I will, however, verify that my uncle Flaming Hair’s medicine pouch was found at the scene.”

  “My son, Little Red stated that you told him you saw Flaming Hair leave the camp last Sunrise. Can you tell us if this is true, and if so, describe what he was wearing?”

  “Yes, my father, I had slipped out of our wigwam for a drink of water and saw Uncle Flaming Hair talking to Broken Canoe, then walking eastward through the village. I recall clearly that he was wearing his favourite hunting outfit and had, attached to his waist, his medicine pouch. After he started walking away, I saw Broken Canoe start toward the stream, as he stated.”

  With a touch of incredulity in his voice, Lightning Bolt responded, “My son, your powers of observation truly amaze me. For you to recognize the medicine pouch of Flaming Hair, and to know what he regards as his favourite hunting outfit, is almost unbelievable. Just to be sure that I heard you right, I will ask again. Can you state positively that he was wearing his medicine pouch when he left camp last Sunrise?”

  “Yes, father, I am as sure of it as I am sure the sun will rise again tomorrow. I can close my eyes and see him walking through the village dressed in his favourite outfit, with his medicine pouch attached to his waist, as easily as I can see you before me now.”

  With a feeling of disbelieving horror, Lightning Bolt commented, “My son, I have known you all your life, and can say that your devotion to the community has been impressive. I long ago concluded, by seeing you volunteering for community duties and taking a lead role in promoting positive activities around the community, that you were an excellent role model for the younger children to follow. Your truthfulness has never been disputed; you’ve always appeared to be a humble and honourable young person. Therefore, it pains me to no end to call you a spreader of lies before this assembly.”

  Those assembled were shocked by Lightning Bolt’s words. In feigned injured innocence, Running Elk retorted, “Fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, I swear before the Great Spirit, and on the graves of my ancestors, that what I’ve revealed to you this Sunrise is the truth.”

  Lightning Bolt, thoroughly repulsed, replied, “My son, you now add to your other crimes by defiling the name of the Great Spirit and of the dead. I must tell you that I have solid information that does not support your story.”

  Acting out his part as the aggrieved innocent to the end Running Elk, in tears now, answered, “Oh Great Chief, my father, I swear again, I’ve told the truth.”

  Lightning Bolt then ended it by revealing the truth. “Then explain to me, a simple man who does not believe in the unexplainable, how you could have seen Flaming Hair wearing his medicine pouch when he had misplaced it, and I gave him an extra one I had?”

  Before anybody could recover sufficiently from the shock of Lightning Bolt’s revelation, Running Elk had the Chief by the hair, and had a war club raised high in a position to deliver a death blow to his skull. The hate and spitefulness his face revealed was unbelievable to those who thought they knew him. Suddenly the gentle considerate young warrior’s facade was replaced by that of a villain.

  He addressed the crowd, “Before I kill this scum to whom most of you seem so devoted, I want to give you a list of my noble accomplishments in life. I have rid this world of many of the most miserable and useless souls who belonged to this village.” He listed with pride the horrible crimes he had committed since early childhood.

  The People were paralyzed by revulsion and shock at the revelations.

  Running Elk added, “To continue with my practice of ridding Mother Earth of its human lice, I will soon rid the world of a man who, by his very existence, is an affront to my sense of dignity. Lightning Bolt, you thoroughly evil man, do you wish to speak before I send you on your way to the Land of Souls?”

  With the utmost sorrow, but no fear in his voice, Lightning Bolt replied, “My son, may the Great Spirit forgive you for your unspeakable crimes against humanity. What horrors you have done to your own.”

  Preparing to deliver the mortal blow, Running Elk screamed, “My father, may the Great Spirit speed your soul on its way to its final rest.”

  However, before he could bring down the war club he fell to the ground dead with a spear through his chest. Little Red, who at first had recoiled in horror at the revelations of his friend, had quickly recovered his wits and managed to grab a spear. Knowing before he threw the arrow that this was the only chance Lightning Bolt, his great-uncle, his father and his hero had for survival, Little Red threw this arrow with the strength of the desperate, which saved Lightning Bolt’s life at the very last moment.

  But the trauma of finding the bodies of the innocents, then learning the truth about his friend and then delivering the blow that ended his miserable life, nearly undid him. He fell to his knees and wept enormous sobs that echoed through the whole village. Lightning Bolt himself fell to his knees, weeping and with the face of horror, dismay and shock. He looked at the body of Running Elk with the strangest expression anyone had ever seen. His eyes were hollow, as if he had seen a dreadful ghost who had managed by some feat of evil to steal away his very soul. His hands lay limp on his knees and the tears dried up in his eyes, and would not fall. These events would haunt Little Red and Lightning Bolt for many Moons afterwards. But, the Creator, with the passages of the Sunrises, helped each man slowly but surely recover the joy in life once again.

  The following Sunrise, Lightning Bolt delivered an oration at the Feast of the Dead for Morning Mist and her children. “My brothers and sisters, the horrors that we learned about last Sunrise have caused our community so much pain that it defies description. The hurt from Running Elk’s deeds runs so deep that its presence can be physically felt. But, beloved friends, we must begin to deal with it and begin the process of reinforcing the love and trust we have for one another.

  �
�To begin the healing process, we must put the horrors into perspective. They are, as far as I can determine, almost without precedent in our country. Thus, knowing that they are such leaves us with the comfort of knowing that such horrible things will probably never happen again.

  “Now, my brothers and sisters, to help heal the hurt in our hearts, we must ask ourselves many questions; some are unanswerable. For instance, how can a person’s mind be so twisted with madness that he can actually believe he did his community a favour by killing and maiming its loved ones? As the question is unanswerable, we have to accept it for what it is, an evil thing that happens out of nowhere, and for no reason.”

  Lightning Bolt continued with his reassuring words for some time, then concluded, “My beloved friends, we must in our prayers also remember with kindness and love in our hearts, that Running Elk was the son of our beloved brother and sister Rolling Thunder and Misty Moon. They have also suffered greatly from this tragedy and must be comforted. Their grief for the devoted son who disappeared so quickly last Sunrise is as genuine as any grief we may have for the loss of a loved one. They cannot be condemned for the acts of a son who, until his confession, was a beloved and respected member of our community.

  “And my friends we must, when passing moral judgment on him, keep in mind that the enormity of the crimes he committed signifies that Running Elk was possessed by a spirit so evil that only his death could deliver him from its clutches. He is now delivered, and may the Great Spirit in His mercy welcome him into the Land of Souls with an open heart.”

  After Lightning Bolt finished his oration and the funeral was over, the community came together and, led by Flaming Hair and Spotted Fawn, comforted Rolling Thunder and Misty Moon as well as the family of the victims. With time, the wounds healed, but the enormity of the crime would never be forgotten.

  CHAPTER SEVEN