“Does it hurt?” Brightbill touched the smooth surface where his mother’s foot used to be.
“No, it does not hurt,” said Roz. “But it will be difficult for me to walk.”
The bears huddled behind the gosling and stared at the robot’s stump of a leg. Nobody understood how a foot could pop off like that, or how Roz could remain calm.
“Roz, I’m sorry my cubs attacked you,” said Mother Bear. “Sometimes they’re completely out of control.”
“It is okay. You know how they are at this age.”
“I can’t thank you enough for saving Thorn. I promise my cubs will never bother you again. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, Mother,” said Nettle and Thorn, together.
The robot tried to walk. She bobbed up and down on her uneven legs, which worked well enough on the flat surface of the clifftop, but once she entered the forest, her problem became clear. The smooth stump had no grip, and it slipped around on the forest floor. So Roz tried hopping on her one good foot. She took a few crunching hops and then clanged into a tree trunk. A few more hops and she crashed into the undergrowth.
“I’m really sorry I broke off your foot,” said Thorn as he helped the robot up from the weeds.
“I forgive you,” said Roz. Whether she was capable of true forgiveness is anybody’s guess. But they were nice words, and Thorn felt better when he heard them.
“It looks like I will have to crawl home,” said Roz.
“Nonsense!” said Mother Bear. “I have a better idea.”
Mother Bear lay flat on the ground while her cubs boosted Roz onto her back. Then Brightbill fluttered onto the bear’s broad shoulders. And when they were both safely aboard, the group set off through the forest.
The robot was heavy, but she was no trouble for the giant animal. Mother Bear strolled along as if it were perfectly normal for a robot to be riding on her back. They made quite a grand procession, all walking together like that. And the procession became even grander as deer and raccoons and birds and all kinds of other animals joined in. Everyone wanted to see the mother robot riding the mother bear. The group wound its way past ancient trees, and over rolling meadows, and through babbling streams, collecting more and more curious animals as they went. It was the grandest parade of wildlife anyone had ever seen, and leading the way was our robot, Roz.
But the parade couldn’t last forever. As the sun went down, the other animals began drifting away, one by one, and when the parade finally arrived at the Nest, only the original members remained.
“Here we are,” said Mother Bear, helping Roz down into the garden. “Now, wasn’t that better than crawling all the way home?”
“Oh, yes, that was wonderful!” said the robot. “I cannot imagine a better ending to this day. Thank you very much.”
“Yeah, that was amazing!” squeaked the gosling. “My friends won’t believe me when I tell them I rode across the island on the back of a bear!”
“I’m glad you enjoyed yourselves!” Mother Bear smiled. “It’s the least I could do after all the trouble these two caused.” Her smile became a frown, and she glared at her cubs, who suddenly took great interest in a pebble on the ground.
It was late, and it had been a long, difficult day for everyone, so the bears said good-bye and headed back to their cave. Brightbill and Roz stood in the garden and watched their new friends lumber away. And then the gosling said, “Mama, do you think you’ll ever walk again?”
“I am not sure,” said the robot, “but I know who to ask for help. Now go get ready for bed.”