51 THE AIRSHIP

CHAPTER 51 THE AIRSHIP The sun was up and our friends were on the move. They were traveling quickly and quietly along a narrow strip of forest that cut between vast crop fields. If not for that nagging fear of being spotted, it would have been a very pleasant hike. Wind whispered through the leaves. Insects hummed and chirped. Farm machines rumbled in the distance. And then there came a new sound. A buzzing sound. Our friends hid in the underbrush as an airship rose up from the horizon, ahead of them. It was a sleek white triangle, flying low and fast. Roz adjusted her vision and saw familiar robots gazing out the front window. RECO 1, RECO 2, and RECO 3 had been destroyed back on the island. Perhaps these robots were RECOs 4, 5, and 6? "They're flying toward Hilltop Farm," said Brightbill.

"We need to keep moving," said Roz. The airship disappeared to the south and the travelers continued north at a faster pace. They hurried through more strips of forest, passing squirrels and birds and groundhogs and other friendly creatures. But the robot and the goose had no time to chat. Later that day, the trees came to an abrupt end. Roz and Brightbill stood at the forest edge and faced an ocean of wheat. The wheat was still young and green. It gently waved in the wind, and spread out as far as they could see. "What should we do?" asked Brightbill. "We need to keep moving," said Roz, staring across the plains. "But I am not safe in the open. There must be more trees out there somewhere." "I'll take a look," said Brightbill, and the goose launched himself skyward. Up, up, up he went, high into the air, until he finally stopped and floated, just a tiny winged shape against the blue, and then he dove back to his mother. "There are trees in that direction," said Brightbill, pointing. "It's far, about thirty minutes at top speed." "Then we had better get started," said Roz.

Our friends burst out from the underbrush, the robot sprinting through the field, the goose flying by her side. Roz had to concentrate to keep from slipping in the soft, muddy soil. But she stomped on, and far ahead, another line of trees slowly climbed into view. Brightbill suddenly swooped up and out of sight as his mother kept running. Then he lowered back down beside her and squawked, "The airship is returning!" Behind them, a tiny white triangle rose up from the horizon. It was growing larger and louder by the second. If Roz was seen, her newfound freedom, and her life, would be over. She couldn't take any chances. "Go on without me!" hollered the robot, and she dropped to the ground. Brightbill hoped his mother knew what she was doing, and he flew on without her. Once he reached the trees he perched himself on a branch and looked back. His mother had vanished. The airship, however, seemed to fill the sky. Its shadow flitted across the ground where Roz had just been. But the ship didn't see her, and it detected no electronic signal, so it kept going, racing above the trees and over the next field.

Its engine noise gradually faded, and it disappeared to the north. "You can come out, Ma!" squawked Brightbill from his branch. A column of wheat stood up in the field. The robot had rushed her camouflage, and it crumbled off her body when she started to march. As she approached the trees, Roz looked at Brightbill in the branches and said, "We need to keep moving."