Trail of Lightning

On their way out of town, Kai and Maggie run into some coyotes, an omen of bad luck. They take a break on the road and have a few sips of whiskey, but Maggie takes the rest of it for fuel. Although Dinétah is supposedly rich in gasoline, the tribe sells it elsewhere, and Maggie’s truck runs on other forms of alcohol. The two discuss resource hoarding, which was also a problem before the Big Water, the great flood that wiped out most of civilization. Kai says, “greed is universal […] seems anywhere there’s a natural resource, there’s someone willing to hoard it for themselves to make more money than they can spend” (54). On the road again, Maggie explains to Kai that her clan powers are not always a good thing. She thinks to herself, “Tah may think them a blessing, and Kai, too. But I know better” (59). While on break again, Maggie has a terrible dream of the Big Water and another of Neizghání turned dark. When Kai and Maggie get closer to Crownpoint, the place where they want to further investigate the tsé naayéé’, Kai explains that his father was a professor of Navajo studies and that’s why he recognized this monster. He also gives Maggie a nickname, Mags. Crownpoint, however, turns out to be burned down.

Kai and Maggie enter Crownpoint only to realize that the town is also riddled with ch’į́įdii, the ghostly residue of dead people who can infect those living nearby. Maggie herself had the ghost sickness once. That was how she met Grandpa Tah, when Neizghání took her to him for treatment. Luckily Crownpoint’s library has not been destroyed, so the two go in and begin researching. The disaster also reminds Maggie of her time with Neizghání, who must have noticed what happened in Crownpoint. On their last day together, near an abandoned coal mine, Maggie remembers her former mentor insisting that they call invaders Bad Men, their legal designation, rather than monsters. To him, bad humans “are still five-fingereds. To call them monsters is to misname them” (75). What haunts Maggie more, however, is Neizghání’s repulsion towards her after she killed the Bad Men. Despite this, she still yearns for Neizghání.

Kai plays an old CD recording of a Navajo oral history. It is the story of Coyote and the Black God Haashch’ééshzhiní, two trickster friends who created the stars. Before the CD finishes, the player runs out of battery. Maggie suggests they return to her trailer with the CD, but ghosts block their path back to her truck. Maggie does not know how to fight these fleshless and bloodless creatures, but the two manage to push through. Kai found the adventure fun, but Maggie disagrees. In the truck, Maggie also sees a glint of silver in Kai’s eyes, which he denies. On their way out of Crownpoint, they see lightning strike in the direction of Maggie’s trailer.