43 THE BEACH

CHAPTER 43 THE BEACH A layer of fog hung over the ocean. Icebergs drifted silently through the mist. The calm water rippled, and Roz's head rose up. Our robot needed to find the Ancient Shark. But how would she track down the shark in the vast northern ocean? Roz began to hear a chorus of deep grunts. Hidden somewhere within the fog was a gathering of beasts. She followed the grunting noises, and a coastline emerged, but the noisy creatures were nowhere to be seen. The robot marched out of the water and over the rocks and up a hill. The noises grew louder, and the fog lifted, and when Roz reached the hilltop, she looked down the other side at a beach that was packed with giant creatures. Brown bodies, pink faces, white tusks. Walruses. Tons of them. So many walruses had hauled themselves out of the water that the beach couldn't fit them all. They crowded onto the surrounding hillsides and onto slabs of ice floating offshore. The air was thick with pungent smells and with steam rising up from the herd.

Surely one of the walruses would know where to find the Ancient Shark. Roz marched downhill toward them, but when she started climbing over a boulder, she knew she'd made a mistake. The boulder was soft and warm. Somehow it rolled onto its side, and two long tusks swung into view. "Get off me!" shouted a walrus. "I was napping!" Roz crashed to the ground and the walrus raised his tusks, ready to strike. "I am very sorry!" Roz shouted. "I mistook you for a boulder!" The walrus looked down at his body. "Now that you mention it," he said, "I do look a little like a boulder." He seemed to forget all about the robot as he admired his own boulder-like body. He flexed his muscles and puffed out his chest. Then he clambered atop an actual boulder for comparison. The likeness was remarkable. Roz hated to interrupt the walrus, but she had a burning question. "Do you know where I can find the Ancient Shark?"

Without taking his eyes off himself, the walrus replied, "Ask Big Shot, the beach master." Big Shot wasn't hard to spot. He was the biggest, toughest, loudest walrus in the herd. Roz headed in his direction, down the hill and onto the pebble beach, politely stepping through the crowd. "Excuse me! Sorry to bother you! Pardon me!" The lounging walruses groaned as she passed by, but they were too comfortable to move. Before Roz could call out to Big Shot, a white shape appeared at the other end of the beach. A polar bear was hunting for his next meal. But the bear didn't attack the walruses, not yet. He just lumbered along as panic swept through the herd. The walruses grunted nervously and erupted into a stampede, with Roz caught in the middle. Heavy bodies knocked her around. Long tusks clanked against her

sides. Strong flippers shoved her down, and a walrus crawled over, crunching her into the pebbles. Roz struggled to her feet and then leaped up and away to safety. The herd was vanishing into the sea. So the polar bear moved faster, trotting back and forth, searching the crowd for an easy target. Finally, he found what he was looking for. A young walrus had been separated from her family. The polar bear sprinted across the beach and pounced on the youngster's back. The walrus might have been young, but she was as big as the bear. She slashed her tusks and kicked her hind flippers and dragged the bear with her. If she could get to the water, she could escape into the depths. But the bear was strong and hungry and wouldn't let go. It looked like the polar bear would get his meal, until Big Shot came charging to the rescue. Well, charging might not be the right word. The bull walrus moved as fast as he could, in a slow, wriggling sort of way. Then he lifted up to his full height and roared, "If you want her, you'll have to kill me first!" The polar bear was a fierce hunter, but he knew better than to fight the mighty beach master. He trotted off, and Big Shot escorted the young walrus into the waves. Minutes earlier, the beach had been overcrowded. Now only the robot and the polar bear were left.