Chapter 4
The Council
The council that
decided disciplinary matters, jokingly called the Fur Trap by many residents of
Little Left, consisted of six members, each serving a term of two cold times. Every
half cold time, a new member of the colony came onto the council to replace the
member whose term had just concluded.
No one remembered where the system came from, but it made for
continuity and change. Over any period of three cold times, the council
underwent a complete turnover. Most adults in the colony served their term
willingly and with a sense of grave responsibility. From the time the pups were
very young, their parents impressed upon them a simple lesson: cooperate or
perish.
The council that would determine Esmerelda’s punishment consisted
of four females, Vashti, Antigone, Salome and Annapurna and two males, Pericles
and Solomon. Members sat in a semicircle in the burrow’s largest chamber. The
space occupied a central spot in the town and could hold up to twenty adult
colony members if they crowded together. Striations along two of the walls
testified to different geological periods. The floor was unpadded except for
what hairs the group lost by brushing against each other. Any gathering that
required the presence of all residents of nearby burrows used this chamber as a
meeting place.
Esmerelda didn’t think she would have much trouble from the two
males. Pericles seemed honest and fair, and Solomon was always sensitive to his
popularity with sows. But she was concerned with the females, and she turned
her eyes to them first as she entered the chamber.
Salome acknowledged her without smiling or touching noses. She was
a “salty old sow,” as Solomon called her, with a wiry reddish coat and a long
scar on her side where a raccoon had clawed her. “You should have seen what I
did to him,” she liked to joke. Still, she had always been kind to Esmerelda,
as if she understood and respected the fact that Esmerelda had to look out for
herself. She was also the longest serving member of the group, stepping down in
only four suns time. She opened the meeting without formality. “Do you know why
you’re here, Esmerelda?”
Esmerelda
sat up on her haunches and looked Salome straight in the eye. “Yes.”
“Is
there anything you’d like to tell us about what prompted your theft or your
thoughts since then?” Salome looked around to make sure all were paying
attention.
Esmerelda
looked briefly at each member of the council. Solomon winked at her. She stood
and walked gracefully forward. “Hunger prompted my actions.” The council
members glanced at each other. “As well as impatience,” she continued hastily.
“And neither excuses what I did. If every prairie dog in the colony took from
the emergency food stash every time he or she was hungry, we’d have nothing
left for a time of need. Those of us who are impatient by nature still bear
responsibility for what we do. We can choose to succumb to our hunger or
disregard it.”
Salome blinked in surprise and looked at
Antigone, who shrugged.
Solomon
brushed the white tips of his whiskers, leaned forward, and smiled at
Esmerelda. “Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?”
Esmerelda pursed her lips, scratched her
chin, and then shook her head.
“Nothing?”
Annapurna’s mismatched eyes, one brown, one blue, urged something that
Esmerelda couldn’t read. She shook her head again.
“Does anyone else wish to speak?” Salome
asked, looking toward Solomon. He hesitated and then gave a curt shake of his
head. “Very well. Esmerelda, please leave now so we can discuss what your
punishment will be.”
Esmerelda turned and strode out of the chamber as fast as she
could without breaking into a run.
The
council members repositioned themselves into a circle. “That was a good speech
she gave,” said Pericles. “I’ve never heard the case for personal
responsibility put so succinctly.”
Vashti
frowned and thrust her unusually pointed grey chin forward. She had an acute
sensitivity to both words and body language. “Excellent speech . . . except for
one thing. It lacked affect and sounded rehearsed. I’ve never heard Esmerelda
talk that way before, so softly and in a monotone.”
“Neither
have I,” added Antigone, “but that’s not what bothered me the most. She never
said she was sorry, not even when Solomon all but invited her to.”
Everyone
nodded except Solomon. “You’re right. I hoped she’d apologize. But I think
we’re here to judge actions, not attitudes. In a way, it shouldn’t matter what
one of us says. How are we to know if it’s sincere or not, anyway?”
“That’s
true, Solomon,” Annapurna chimed in, her eyes flashing. “But apologies still
have a purpose, if only to make both the wronged and the wrong-doer feel
better.”
Vashti
crossed her forelegs. “Are you telling us that if another sow pokes you in the
eye, you’ll hurt less if she apologizes?”
“It
won’t hurt less,” Annapurna replied, pausing as if in thought for a moment. “But
I might accept the hurt more easily.”
“And
be less likely to retaliate,” Solomon grinned and looked at the others for
praise of his observation.
They
lapsed into silence. At last Antigone spoke up. “It sounds like what Annapurna
is saying is that an apology helps restore social order. An offense is
destructive to the social order, so an offender should help rebuild the order.
The sincerity of the apology isn’t the real issue, which is good because we can
never read what’s in another’s heart. The important thing is a willingness to
engage in a social ritual that restores the kind of spirit essential to
communal well-being.”
Salome
nodded. “We’ve sure got some interesting ideas dancing around the chamber, but
we need to come to a decision. Vashti, what do you think the punishment should
be?”
“I
say we insist Esmerelda replace what she took twofold and make a promise that
if she ever takes from the emergency food supply again, she will voluntarily
leave the colony.”
“Is
that enforceable?” Annapurna asked.
“Maybe
not, but it does send a strong message. And what prairie dog would want to stay
here as a pariah, a promise breaker?”
Salome
looked at Annapurna. “What do you think?”
“I
like the idea, but would tack on an extra shift in the puppery.”
“That’s
a fine solution!” Solomon said. Everyone nodded.
“Done,” Salome declared. “Annapurna, will you announce our
decision to any colony members who inquire? And Solomon, please go tell
Esmerelda what we decided.
“I’ll be happy to,” Solomon said with a smile and trotted off.
As he meandered toward Esmerelda’s burrow, Solomon considered
what would be the least confrontational way to break the news. While he did not
know Esmerelda well, he knew her well enough to anticipate a rash of antipathy
no matter how he worded the message. “What a pity that sow isn’t more
personable. She’d be so much happier,” he muttered to himself.
He
decided on a brief, low-key delivery. After rousing her from her burrow with a
jaunty whistle, he delivered the news succinctly and without emotion.
Esmerelda
glowered at him with unabashed disdain. “Look,
Solomon, what you’re claiming was a theft, I thought of as a loan and planned
to repay it pronto. You’d think I absconded with half the stash and used it to
throw a party. Anything more than a
warning is unjust.
This just isn’t fair.”
Solomon
touched her shoulder and recited what he remembered about the council meeting.
“Rules are never perfect, just the best thing we have to protect us from
chaos,” he proclaimed with a calm air. “Think of rules as the price we pay to
live in a community. Our friendships are the basis of community, and the rules
help preserve the friendships. At least we’re consistent and have the same
rules for everybody.”
Esmerelda rolled her eyes.
“Hey, don’t look like that. Your punishment is far less severe
than it might have been. And . . .” He caught himself.
“Go
ahead, finish your sermon. I can’t wait to hear how you bring your pure and
holy thoughts to a climax,” Esmerelda hissed.
Solomon
didn’t take the bait. “You know, I’ve always admired your independent nature,
your rebelliousness. It scares me, but in a good way,” he said with a twinkle
in his eye.
Solomon turned and walked away.
Esmerelda stared after him, her mouth agape.
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