The Wild Robot

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.