CHAPTER 24

THE BLUFF

The cows peered out from the barn at Roz. The robot was holding the rifle. She carried it to the far side of the pasture and placed it by her feet. Then she began coating herself with mud and grass, and probably a little cow dung. When every inch of her body was concealed, she nestled down into the ground and became part of the landscape. An ordinary clump of grass.

The cows were stunned.

“What’s Roz doing?”

“Is she all right?”

“Where did she go?”

Roz had learned to camouflage herself back on the island, and now she was using that trick once again. She sat motionless for hours, waiting for the wolves to appear. Daylight faded, the stars came out, the moon climbed into the sky. But the wolves didn’t show. So Roz tried something new.

The robot was an excellent mimic, and she began crying out in the sad voice of a wounded calf. “Please help me!” she cried. “I have hurt my leg and I cannot move!”

Crickets chirped.

“Please help me!”

An owl hooted.

“I cannot move!”

The calf’s voice continued crying out. Finally, as the moon dipped behind the trees, seven wolves slunk into the pasture. Shadow led the way, silently stalking through the night. Covered in dark fur, he was practically invisible. Only his long, pale scar gave him away. Noses sniffed, eyes searched, ears listened. Then a clump of grass began rustling.

“There,” whispered Shadow. “The calf is hiding in that tall grass.”

“Something feels wrong to me, Shadow,” said a female wolf. “This is too easy.”

“I make the decisions, Barb,” snapped the wolf leader. “Slash, Lurk, Fang, circle around and wait for my signal.”

Three wolves dashed off. When they were in position, Shadow gave the signal, and his pack closed in on the wounded calf. With each step, the grass rustled more and more, until the ground seemed to be moving. And then the ground really was moving! Grass and dirt crumbled aside and there was the robot, standing tall, pointing the rifle at the wolf leader.

The pack froze.

“Hello, Shadow,” growled the robot. “My name is Roz. I see from your scar that you are familiar with rifles. You have been shot at before. You know what will happen if I pull this trigger.”

Reader, you and I are well aware that our robot was not programmed to be violent. Roz couldn’t have pulled that trigger if she wanted to. But she didn’t want to. She was bluffing. Of course, Shadow didn’t know any of this. As far as the wolf knew, he was defeated. And so he did what wolves do when they’re defeated. He lay down and he cowered before the robot. For the first time anyone could recall, the wolf leader looked weak.

“I do not want to hurt any wolves,” Roz continued. “But if you return to this farm, I will have no choice. Now please leave and never come back.”

Shadow scrambled away with his tail between his legs. Barb was close behind him, followed by the other wolves, and soon the entire pack had disappeared into the night.