"I'm telling you Heath, we could use another man on the roundup," Nick Barkley insisted as he walked into the dining room followed by his fair haired half brother. He moved to the head of the table to kiss Victoria's cheek. "We should send a telegram to Liam and get him down here. This is where he should be anyway."

Laughing, Audra placed her napkin in her lap. "What happened to letting Liam have his space until he decided to come back?" she asked. "That is what you told him when he was here to meet Gene, isn't it?"

Nick scowled at her. "Heath agrees with me, don't you, Heath?" he responded. "We need another hand. I don't see why it shouldn't be Liam"

"We will not be sending any notes to Liam," Victoria said firmly, hiding a smile by looking down at her plate. "He has his own job and life up north. If you and Heath need more help, you're going to have to hire it." Nick opened his mouth to protest but she continued, "I will not change my mind about this, Nicholas."

Closing his mouth, Nick reached for the bowl of scrambled eggs that Silas had set on the table. "We don't need the help that badly," he reluctantly admitted. He sent a glance at the empty seat. "Where's Jarrod?"

"He'll be along."

Heath cleared his throat. "The Williams are looking to thin down some of their pigs," he announced, changing the subject. "Mr. Williams was wondering if we would like one for our smokehouse."

"How kind of them," Victoria replied with a smile. "Yes, I think we could use a pig for our larder. Let them know when you see them again. No, I'll ride over to see them myself and thank them for the offer." Her attention went to her oldest son who had walked in. "There you are, Jarrod. We were wondering where you-."

Her voice faded away as she took in her son's rather perplexed expression. "What's wrong, Jarrod?" Audra asked at the same time, concern filling her voice.

Without saying a word, Jarrod walked to Heath and handed him a telegram. "This just arrived for you," he said as his half brother opened the envelope. He took his seat by Heath as the fair haired man scanned the brief message. The others at the table watched warily as as Heath brought his hand up to his head and closed his eyes.

"Heath, what's wrong?" Audra demanded, her tone fearful. "Who is it from?"

"It's from Liam," Heath answered, finally looking up. "Lucy is missing."

Exclamations of "Lucy?" "What?" and "No!"rang out simultaneously. Heath allowed Jarrod to take the telegram as he said, "She went missing yesterday, sometime in the afternoon. Liam is asking for my help."

"Are you telling me that there is no one helping him search up there?" Nick demanded, his temper flaring at the slight he imagined directed towards his brother.

"He doesn't say what's happening up there," the lawyer answered, scanning the brief message. "All he says is that Lucy went missing and he needs any help Heath can give, if it's convenient for him to come."

"'If it's convenient?'" Nick echoed. He growled something indecipherable under his breath. "When I see him-. Is he only asking for Heath?"

Taking a deep breath, Victoria took charge. "Whether or not he asked only for Heath is not the important question, Nick. As Liam is not one who would ask for help unless he was desperate, I suggest we get our affairs in order to go to him as soon as possible," she said. "Jarrod, how soon can we catch a train to the town closest to the Double Square?"

"I will have the arrangements made by noon," Jarrod answered immediately. "Pardon me, Mother, but I have no appetite. I'm going to pack my bag and ride into town. I will send a response to Liam that will will be there as soon as possible. I will meet you at the train station."

Audra pushed her plate away as her oldest brother hurried out. "I will go pack as well," she said, getting to her feet. "Who knows what I will need!"

She rushed out of the room. "McCall will need to know he will be in charge for a short time," Nick said as he too rose from his seat. "I'm sure he and the men will be able to handle the round up if it takes longer than we expect to find Lucy."

Heath almost smiled at that. "I guess we really didn't need that extra man," he commented. Nick sent a scowl at him and stormed out. Heath made an effort to eat some of the food on his plate, after all, who wanted to waste good food? But in the end, he too stopped eating and pushed the plate away.

"We'll be there by tonight, Heath," Victoria told him gently.

Not surprised that his adopted mother knew his state of mind, Heath glanced over. "If there's one thing I know about Liam is that he would tear the Double Square apart to get to Lucy," he answered. "So that begs the question of what's happened that he believes he needs my help. I wouldn't know the area."

Victoria nodded. "I wondered the same thing," she admitted. "You don't think McCauwin would have taken Lucy?"

"I don't think he would be so stupid," Heath responded. "Jarrod warned him off before."

"That's true," Victoria acknowledged. "I suppose we'll just have to wait until we are there to even begin guessing at what's happened."

With a nod, Heath stood up. He hesitated for a moment before he said, "I have a very bad feeling about this."

Surprised, Victoria watched him leave. "I do too, Heath," she whispered. She picked up her coffee and sipped it without really tasting it.

Slowly, the little girl's blue eyes opened and she blinked at a blank wall. With a frown, Lucy pushed herself up from where she'd been laying on her side and rubbed at her eyes. Her shoes were still on her feet and she was dressed in the same outfit she had been wearing before, a fact which was confusing to her. She slid off the unfamiliar feather mattress and tried to keep her balance as the room seemed to spin around her.

She wasn't sure why she was so unsteady and it did nothing to quell the growing terror that was filling her. Dolls and toys stood in the corners of the room as if they were waiting to be played with. Nothing in the room was familiar. Shaking her head, Lucy tottered to the door and tried to turn the knob with one hand.

It didn't budge.

Gasping, Lucy wrapped both hands around the knob and twisted as hard as she could. When, again, nothing happened, she hit the door with her right hand. "Let me out!" she cried. "I want my daddy. I want to go home. Let me out of here."

No one answered her.