Cameron, though, went through them, every stall, the grooms helping with the search. The little girl wasn't in the haylofts, or hidden in one of the carriages, or behind saddle trees in a tack room.

Cameron strode back into the yard, sucking cold air into his lungs. He could barely find breath, and it was so cold. Gavina couldn't have been wrapped up warmly; she might freeze to death before they found her.

God, no. Please. No.

What had he said only yesterday morning, walking home from the bleak churchyard? Too many bloody funerals in this family already.

Cameron had stood at a graveside on another cold winter day to bury his first wife after she'd taken her own life. He'd watched his mother go, his father, Hart's wife and little boy.

Not Gavina. Not her. If she died, it would break Ainsley. Ainsley would dissolve into grief, and Cameron wouldn't be able to help her.

Damn it, I can't lose them.

He found himself bent double, hands on knees, his lungs not working. A warm hand gripped his shoulder.

"Dad. Ye all right?"

Daniel. Daniel was his constant, the one person who'd made Cameron's life bearable all these years.

Air poured back into him, and Cameron slowly stood up. Daniel's eyes, as golden as Cameron's, held fear.

"I'm all right, son. Just scared out of my mind."

"We'll find her. We will."

Cameron shook his head. "It's too bloody cold. There won't be time. She's so tiny."

The world was spinning around, but Daniel was there, his hand on Cameron's shoulder. Cameron would have to go into the house and tell Ainsley, have to watch the light go out of her eyes.

He couldn't do it. "We have to find her."

"Aye." Daniel's grip tightened. "We will."

Ruby, the hound who'd taken up residence with Ian and Beth, galloped by, followed by Ian himself, holding a lantern high.

"Where is Achilles?" Ian called to them.

Achilles was a setter, or at least, a partial one. He had jet black fur except for one white hind foot, which gave him his name. Cameron realized that he'd seen only four of the five dogs--Ruby, Fergus, and McNab running about, Ben waiting near the terrace--but he hadn't paid much attention.

"I don't know," Cameron snapped. "I'm more interested in finding my daughter."

Ian came to a halt and looked straight at Cameron--he'd become better at meeting his brothers' eyes in the last few years, even though he sometimes still found it difficult. At the moment, his gaze held Cameron's.

"We need to look for Achilles."

"Damn it, Ian . . ."

"No, wait," Daniel said. "I think Uncle Ian's got it. I haven't seen Achilles since we arrived home, and Gavina likes him. What's more, he likes her." Daniel's eyes sparkled with excitement, the lantern making his face sharp.

Cameron's breath came faster as he raised his lantern and flashed it around the stable yard. Achilles did follow Gavina with devotion, and the little girl might have felt safe going outside with him. Gavina might not be able to answer their calls, but Achilles would.

"Sorry, Ian," Cameron said. He found himself saying that to Ian quite a bit. "I didn't understand."

Ian gave him a faint nod but didn't answer. His look told Cameron that he knew his older brother was an idiot, but he'd learned to put up with it.

"Hart!" Cameron moved to catch up with the bulk of the duke and explain.

Soon men were bellowing into the night, Achilles! Where are you, lad? The other dogs, recognizing the name, started barking in earnest.

The trouble was, they now were making so damn much noise that Cameron couldn't hear a blasted thing. He broke away from the main group, Daniel close behind him.

Cameron went out into the dark, away from the teeming stable yard. The musty scent of horses came to him on the wind, the cold of the night stealing his breath.

The wind cut out on the leeward side of the stables, the relative warmth a waft of relief. Faint and faraway, Cameron heard the loud arf arf of the one dog that wasn't there.

He stopped, and Daniel almost ran into him, lantern swinging. They both froze, listening.

It came again, the frantic barking of a dog trying with all its might to get their attention.

Cameron walked swiftly toward the sound, down the length of the back of the stables, its long stone wall rising high beside him.

"There!" Daniel said, pointing.

At the end of the wall, boards had been nailed over a hole to protect the crumbling foundation. From behind it was the unmistakable barking of Achilles--starting low and ending high, in almost a squeak. The more excited Achilles became, the squeakier he sounded.

The high-pitched barking escalated, accompanied by the noise of paws scrabbling on wood. Cameron and Daniel dropped to their knees, lanterns clanking on the ground, both men reaching at the same time for the gray pieces of board. Two pairs of gloved hands, one huge, the other thinner and more wiry, yanked wood away from the hole.

Achilles' snuffling nose came into view, his body squirming as his tail wagged deep inside the hole.

Daniel got his hands around the dog and started pulling him out. Cameron didn't let himself think about the fact that Achilles might have become stuck down here by himself, nothing to do with Gavina.

Daniel fell back, his arms full of the dark-furred Achilles. Achilles, panting in happiness, licked Daniel's face, then went right back into the hole.


* * * * *

Chapter Five

"Damn you, dog!" Daniel shouted and grabbed for him again.

Achilles filled the hole for a brief instant, then he squeezed on inside, his hindquarters writhing with his wagging tail.

Cameron's lantern fell on a confusion of objects behind the dog, some small and squirming, little peeping noises issuing from the dark. Cameron saw the wide reflective eyes of a cat, and beyond that, a flash of pink.

Somewhere in the back of his whirling thoughts, Cameron remembered Angelo, his groom, friend, and valet, telling him that cats always instinctively sought the warmest places to sleep. If you seek warmth, find a cat.

Cameron yanked loose another board and started to put his head inside the hole. Daniel seized him by the shoulder.

"Let me, Dad. You'll get stuck."

Cameron, the largest Mackenzie, had to concede. He moved out of the way but stayed on his hands and knees while Daniel got himself on his stomach and slithered inside.

Cam heard a low miaow then Daniel's voice as he spoke to dog and cat. Daniel inched his way back, his kilt catching on the icy stones and exposing his thighs, but he didn't release the bundle he carried with him.

In a new pink dress her Aunt Eleanor had given her, topped with the tiniest rabbit fur coat Cameron had ever seen, Gavina was just opening her gray eyes, her face flushed with sleep. Achilles scrambled out behind her and ran to greet the other dogs coming up with the rest of the men, led by Ian and Hart.

Daniel sat back, lifted Gavina to his lap, and blew out his breath. "She's lovely warm. Probably stayed warmer than any of us tonight."

Gavina blinked sleepy eyes at her stepbrother and father, then lifted her arms. "Dabby," she said.

"I'm here, sweetie." Cameron scooped up Gavina with his giant hands and cradled her against his chest, brushing the top of her head with his shaking lips. Her body was indeed warm, her breath milk sweet as turned her face up to kiss his cheek.

"She was talking to me," Daniel said beside him. "She said Danny."

Cameron shook his head. "No, she said Daddy. "

Father and son shared a stubborn look. Gavina pulled away from Cameron and reached for Daniel, her little hands opening and closing. Cameron relinquished her, and Daniel swung her up over his head, making her laugh.

"Who's the sweetest little sister a lad ever had, eh?" Daniel said. "What were you doing out here, worrying us all to death?"

"Kitties." Gavina pointed back under the stables. The mother cat and kittens, perfectly happy where they were, looked out at the sudden influx of Scottish men and dogs with mild curiosity.

Cameron heaved himself to his feet, taking Gavina from Daniel and holding her close. His heart wouldn't stop hammering.

Daniel leaned the boards back over the hole, and Achilles danced in tight circles around first Cameron then Daniel. He ran to the other dogs, paused to touch noses with Ruby, and leapt back to Cameron again.

Hart lifted his lantern, the relief on his face undisguised. "You've got her, then."

"She's all right," Cameron said, barely able to form the words. "She's all right."

Ian was next to Hart, looking over Cameron, Gavina, Daniel, and the now-covered hole. Achilles ran to Ian, circling his legs.

Ian bent down and stroked the black fur. "Good dog," he said.

*** *** *** "You've found her?" Isabella leaned over the stair railings, Beth beside her, as the men and dogs swarmed back into the front hall.

Cameron held up a bundle of pink and fur, and Gavina squealed with laughter. Isabella clutched the railing, relief making her knees weak. Beth let out a shaky breath. "Thank God," she whispered.

Ainsley came out of the opposite wing, lifting her skirts as she flew down the stairs toward her husband and child. She was weeping as Cameron caught her up, crushing Gavina and Ainsley into a hug.