62 THE SHOWDOWN

CHAPTER 62 THE SHOWDOWN Daybreak in the foothills, and thick gray fog was everywhere. With such poor visibility, the travelers relied on their other senses. They smelled salty air. They felt sandy soil. They heard seagulls screeching and waves breaking. And then they heard the long, low note of a ship's horn. Hmmmmmmm. Somewhere in the distance, hidden by the fog, was the ocean. As if to answer the ship, there came another long, low note. But it wasn't a horn, it was a howl. A wolf was following our friends. Brightbill beat his wings and squawked, "Mama, run!" Roz ran downhill, deeper into the gloom. Her feet stomped the sandy soil, leaving behind a trail of footprints. There was no time to hide her tracks, so she just kept running. Blurry shapes faded in and out of the fog, and her eyes darted around to see if they were rocks or bushes or wolves. But the robot should

have watched where she was going. She slipped and thumped into the sand, and before she could get up, Shadow was on top of her. The wolf was heavy and strong. He pinned Roz to the ground and locked his teeth onto her tool belt. At last, he had caught his prey! Violently, wildly, he thrashed the robot from side to side. Roz tried to squirm free, but Shadow's grip was tight. There was only one thing to do. She reached down beside the wolf's snarling jaws and fumbled with the buckle, and suddenly she was loose. Shadow staggered backward, the belt dangling from his mouth, as Roz stomped away. Brightbill had been circling overhead this whole time and now he squawked desperate warnings to his mother. "Look out for those rocks!" "Shadow is gaining on you!" "There are buildings ahead!" Roz burst through a row of hedges and onto the main street of a seaside village. It was still early, and it was still foggy, and Roz was halfway through the

village before anyone saw her. A man had just left for his morning walk when the robot and the wolf came galloping down the street. The man decided his walk could wait, and he hurried back inside. Shadow swiped at Roz's heels, but the robot leaped away. She soared over a house and landed on the other side. The wolf dashed around the yard, only to see her leaping away once more. This time Roz landed in shallow water. Waves gently sloshed against her ankles. The robot backed into the ocean, up to her waist, and then automatically stopped. Her Survival Instincts wouldn't let her go any farther. "There's nowhere left to run," Shadow growled as he prowled onto the beach. "Either fight or swim." Roz was trapped. Her body lurched forward and backward as her computer brain struggled to find an escape. And then Brightbill came to her rescue. "This way, Mama!" Roz didn't hesitate. She launched herself up from the shallows, toward her son's voice. Salt water streamed off her body as she soared through the air. Then her feet pounded into the sand beside Brightbill, who was perched atop an old rowboat.

By the time Shadow arrived, our friends were rowing away from shore. The wolf's face twisted with rage, and he howled from the water's edge. "You made a fool of me, Roz! My pack and my mate have left me! Now I'm just a worthless lone wolf! All because of you!" Roz felt sorry for Shadow. She never meant for any of this to happen. But she had her own troubles. The robot's greatest fear was deep water, and now she was paddling through the waves and out to sea.