The world Roz had known was now covered in a thick layer of snow. Tree limbs bent to the ground under heavy sleeves. The dark pond was now pure white. The only sounds were Roz’s own crunching footsteps.
Faint wisps of steam curled up from the robot’s body as she trudged through the forest. Roz plunged a hand into a lump of snow and pulled up a long stick. She snapped it in half and flung both pieces back to the Nest. She took a few more steps and picked up a fallen tree. She hacked it into smaller pieces and flung them back as well.
Then she reached down to another snowy shape. But what she pulled up was not a piece of wood. It was Dart the weasel. He was frozen solid. Roz stared at his stiff body for a moment, then decided it was best to leave the poor thing where he was.
As the robot continued gathering wood, she found more victims of the cold. A frozen mouse. A frozen bird. A frozen deer. Had all the island animals frozen to death? No, not all. There were a few fresh tracks in the snow.
As we know, the wilderness is filled with beauty, but it’s also filled with ugliness. And that winter was ugly. A devastating cold front had swept down from the north and brought dangerous temperatures and huge amounts of snow. The animals had prepared for winter. But nothing could have prepared the weaker ones for those long nights, when the temperature plummeted and the wind whipped over the island.
Roz returned to the Nest, where the fire had melted the interior snow to a muddy soup. She took a minute to warm her body by the flames, and then she began the repairs. She patched up the hole in the dome with a latticework of branches before adding a layer of mud and leaves, and soon the repairs were complete. But another snowfall might cave in the Nest all over again. So Roz decided to keep a fire going day and night to prevent snow from building up on the roof.
The robot brought in load after load of firewood. And each time she went outside, she was reminded of the frozen weasel and mouse and bird and deer. How many other frozen animals were hidden beneath the snow?
Before going in for the night, she called out to whoever was listening.
“Animals of the island! You do not have to freeze! Join me in my lodge, where it is safe and warm!”
CHAPTER 55 THE LODGERS
Firelight spilled out from the Nest and into the cold, blustery night. Roz sat inside and listened to the wind and to the soft pops and crackles of burning wood. And then the robot’s keen hearing picked up another sound: tiny footsteps crunching through snow.
“Roz I’m freezing can I join you by the fire please?” said a weak voice.
Into the light crawled Chitchat. The squirrel was shivering, and clumps of ice stuck to her fur. When she finally felt the heat of the fire, she collapsed. Roz picked her up off the floor, gently placed her on a warm stone, and let her sleep.
An hour later, there were more footsteps, and a family of hares shuffled into the Nest. They huddled together in a corner without saying a word. Pinktail the opossum was the next to arrive. “Good evening,” she mumbled, trying to act cheerful. “It certainly has been ch-ch-chilly.” Swooper the owl hobbled in, followed by some chickadees and a magpie. Fink knew a good thing when he saw it, and the fox lay down right by the fire. Then came Digdown the groundhog. The Fuzzy Bandits carried in an old turtle named Crag, who was in the worst shape of all. Creatures who should have been hibernating deep underground had been roused by that vicious weather. Only the healthiest animals with the warmest homes were safe. More and more weary animals appeared, and slowly the lodge filled up.
This was the first time many of the lodgers had seen fire, and they gazed at it with a mixture of fear and hope. They could feel the fire’s destructive power, but they could also feel its healing power as it warmed their bones. The lodgers seemed to push forward, eager to feel more warmth, and then pull back, afraid of feeling too much.
It was important that the lodgers understood fire. So Roz showed them how to build one. She showed the smaller animals how to arrange the kindling, and she showed the bigger animals how to arrange the logs. Bumpkin, Lumpkin, and Rumpkin struck the firestones together, and everyone cheered when they finally managed a spark.
As Roz looked around, she saw moles curling up beside an owl. A mouse snuggling between two weasels. Hares nestling against a badger. Never before had the robot seen prey and predators so close and peaceful. But how long could the peace possibly last?
“I propose a truce,” said Roz, “like the Dawn Truce. Everyone must agree not to hunt or harm one another while in my lodge.”
“Very well,” said Swooper, after consulting his carnivorous friends. “We hunters will control ourselves.”
“Then it is settled,” said Roz. “My home is a safe place for all.”
One by one, the lodgers each fell into a deep sleep. Even the nocturnal creatures, usually wide awake at that hour, gave in to the coziness of the Nest. The robot stood out of the way and quietly tended to the fire as her guests slept through the night. Only when daylight was streaming in through the door did the lodgers finally begin to stir.
“You are all welcome to stay here as long as you like,” said the robot as the animals rubbed sleep from their eyes. “My home is your home.”
“Thanks a lot, Roz.” Fink carefully stepped over a hare and a woodpecker on his way to the door. “I don’t think I would have survived another night on my own. It’s just too bad we can’t cram a few more creatures in here.” And the fox slipped outside.
The robot looked down at the fur and feathers that now carpeted the floor. The Nest had been completely full that night. If any more animals showed up, they’d be left out in the cold. But Roz was not about to let that happen.
CHAPTER 56 THE NEW LODGES
The second lodge would have to be bigger than the first if it was going to fit Broadfoot the bull moose. He was a towering hulk of an animal and had a thick coat of fur, but even he was struggling with the frigid temperatures.
Broadfoot lived on the other side of the pond, in a dense section of forest that was home to many animals, most of whom were in desperate need of a good thaw. The winter days were short, so there was no time to waste, and rather than walking all the way around the pond, Roz tested its frozen surface to see if it was safe to cross. She threw a heavy rock high in the air and watched it bounce off the hard ice. Then she carefully walked over the ice and into the forest on the other side, where she found Broadfoot waiting for her. The moose quietly led the robot to the clearing in the trees where the new lodge would go. Then Roz made a fire and watched as cold creatures began crawling out from the shadows.
“Do not worry,” the robot said to the growing crowd, steam puffing from their noses. “You will all be warm soon. But I need your help.”
Roz asked the animals to collect anything useful they could find: large stones, strong branches, chunks of frozen mud. With the robot’s building expertise, and the small army of helpers, construction of the second lodge didn’t take long. The animals happily agreed to the robot’s truce, and then they shuffled into the warm wooden dome. “If you keep the fire alive, it will keep you alive,” explained Roz as she dropped another log onto the flames. “But be careful. Fire can turn deadly in an instant.”
At dawn, heavy snow was falling again, and there was Roz, setting out from the Nest to build a third lodge. She trudged into the Great Meadow, where fierce winds had created enormous, sweeping snowdrifts. But she powered through and finished the job, and was soon beginning work on a fourth lodge. And then a fifth.
The island became dotted with lodges that all glowed warmly through those long winter nights. And inside each one, animals laughed and shared stories and cheered their good friend Roz.