Robert J. Krog-Writer

From the story, "See How Clever We Are" in the collection, Hazards and Harrows.

Frank, the iron alligator, clanked into the arboretum, stopped with his tail still partly outside, and rolled his eyes over to regard Elizabeth at length where she sat on a bench, book in hand. She looked up and smiled at him, and he said nothing.
Finally, she asked, “Frank?”
He opened his jaws, showing off his rows of teeth, and said, “When they are dead, and their hold over us is gone, I will eat you. I will let the dogs eat their corpses, but the fresh meat of you, I reserve for myself.” Then he backed out the door, turned around, and clanked away down the gravel path.
Elizabeth sat on the bench, feeling nerveless. The book slipped from her hands. She had heard correctly—there was no mistaking it—but she had not been expecting it. Twenty-two years of life spent mostly on the island, living peacefully with her parents and their mechano-alchemical constructs had not prepared her for death threats. She sat in stunned silence and stared out the door, listening to the whirring and clanking that Frank made as he walked away down the path.
Donald, the tin monkey, swung down from the tree above her head and landed beside her on the bench. She did not turn to look at him.
“I told you so,” said Donald. “I told you they were plotting against you.”