Black Robe

Laforgue watches from a hiding place as a man kills a lynx. He stays hidden as lynx is dragged away. Hours later, he sees Chomina and his family arriving on a canoe, accompanied by Daniel. Arrows fly, catching Chomina in the shoulder and his wife in the neck. Daniel shoots one man dead but soon the strangers have fallen on the group and captured everyone. They beat Chomina, Daniel, and Annuka; the leader stabs Daniel through the palm. They force Chomina’s young son to watch. Laforgue knows that they will all die if he does not act. He breaks from his hiding place and walks toward the people. The leader knocks Laforgue unconscious. Within minutes, he is bound and placed next to the others, “awaiting his fate” (108). They are placed in the strangers’ canoes. Conversation reveals that these strangers are Iroquois. This is as good as “a sentence of death” (109). Laforgue hears Daniel’s confession.

 The canoes land and the prisoners are marched through the forest to an Iroquois village. People shout wildly, drums are beaten, and the prisoners are led to a large communal house and placed before “the paramount leader” (110), a man named Kiotsaeton who is cloaked in ceremonial beaver skin. The prisoners are stripped naked, branded with burning metal, and made to sing. Annuka collapses. The leaders talk and then slit the throat of Chomina’s son. Chomina continues to sing his war chant, staring at the roof “as though he had seen nothing” (111). The boy is hacked to pieces and his flesh cooked. The Iroquois announce that the French have killed many of their men, so the prisoners “will die, but not today” (111). They will die slowly. Kiotsaeton cuts off Laforgue’s index finger and holds it up to the cheering crowd, who begin to eat the boy’s flesh. Then, the prisoners are dressed and led to a tent. Once inside, guarded by a single man, children mock and torture them. Later, Chomina discusses why the Iroquois torture; Laforgue offers to baptize Chomina and Annuka. They sleep and, in the darkness, Annuka lays beside Daniel and kisses him on the cheek.

Kiotsaeton calls a council meeting. They agree that Annuka must be killed “by burning at the stake” (116) as a religious offering. Chomina will be tortured “until he screams like a hare” (116). They plan to exchange the two priests with the Commandant, using the Dutch as an intermediary. In exchange, they demand 20 muskets and other items, though fear a trap. Annuka seduces the solitary guard, smashing his head with a club when he unfastens her bindings. Chomina wants her to leave the priests but she begins to untie Daniel first. When they are all free, they steal snowshoes and sneak through the sleeping village to the canoes. Annuka wants to ride in Daniel’s canoe, which displeases her father, who “plans to leave” (121) the priests behind. Chomina holds a knife to Daniel’s throat. Laforgue surprises Chomina and all three wrestle. They agree to travel up the rapids, where the Iroquois do not travel. They paddle north for an hour and reach the rapids. Chomina finds a Huron food cache and they eat. When they lay down for the night, Laforgue realizes that he does not have his breviary “for the first time in his life as a priest” (124). He falls asleep, thinking about God’s mercy. 

They travel three days along a familiar path. Laforgue is already dreading what will happen when he arrives at his destination with nothing to trade or support him. He no longer allows himself “the luxury of hope” (125). Three days later, they pause their journey and a purple-faced Chomina runs into the woods. He and Laforgue sit together and talk about dreams. When they discuss the difficulty ahead, Laforgue says that God will provide for them. Knowing that he will die, Chomina asks to speak to his daughter.

Annuka sits beside her dying father. He tells her that her only chance is to return to the Algonkin with Daniel; Laforgue must continue alone. Before she can launch the canoes, Laforgue returns to Chomina and offers to baptize him. She slaps Laforgue; Daniel tries to pull the priest away; but Laforgue insists on saying a prayer over the body. Finally, they set out across the water and Annuka looks back to see “the spirit of her dead father [walking] toward the trees, his hand in the She Manitou’s hand” (129). On the water, Annuka reveals to Daniel her plan to leave Laforgue to continue alone, but Daniel cannot leave his fellow priest. Angrily, Annuka demands that they switch canoes. They fight and eventually Annuka agrees to travel with the priests to the Huron’s lands, where she will live as Daniel’s wife.

Fur traders named Casson and Vallier return from Huron country with canoes laden with goods. They spot a canoe carrying three people, “its occupants paddling in a desultory fashion” (132). They land together and share food. Daniel confesses that they have been eight days without food. Casson threatens Annuka, warning her not to mention the Iroquois as he is scared of losing his guides. Daniel pulls a knife on Casson. Annuka and the guides talk; she tells them the truth. As Casson rages, Vallier offers food and trading goods, for which Laforgue offers him a receipt to be redeemed in Québec. Vallier also reveals that Father Brabant is alive; the priest Laforgue is meant to replace has been killed and Vallier advises against traveling to Ihonatiria. Vallier asks Laforgue to hear his confession and Laforgue obliges. The fur traders depart, arguing with their guides about the dangers of the Iroquois.

After the traders depart, Daniel looks forward to living with Annuka, but he is worried about the fever. Asking Laforgue whether they should “go first to Ossossane” (136), Laforgue says that he has been ordered to Ihonatiria and must obey, regardless of any fever. Annuka spots Allumette canoes from the shore and says that “they will guide us” (137). They are led by the Allumette to La Vase and then Lake Nipissing. They then travel alone, following Father Brabant’s instructions. They find an abandoned Huron camp. As they plan to enter Ihonatiria, Annuka says that Laforgue must travel ahead on foot, so as to enter the town alone and fulfill Neehatin’s dream. The next day, Daniel and Annuka watch Laforgue paddle away, alone in a canoe. When he is gone, Annuka warns Daniel that “they are all around us now […] the dead. There are many here. There has been a sickness” (139).