Charles and his sisters crouched in the cave, trying to keep warm. They had run out of firewood, and the help they had received from the bandits had dried up. Charlie hadn't dared tell Eliza of the deal he had made with the leader of the bandits. Uncle Bill was getting weaker by the hour, and there was no one Charles could talk to. He knew he had done the wrong thing, something his father would have fixed easily, shaking his head at his son's foolishness.

His father wasn't here now. His uncle was unconscious most of the time. Eliza was smart but she was just a girl. She didn't know about the world. What would she know that he didn't, anyway? Even if she was a boy, she was only a year older than him. Being sheltered from the problems of the world, they lacked practical skills. Charles was ashamed to admit that he couldn't even fire a pistol, and the blow with the marble bust had been a mere fluke. He had just caught the man off guard. He hoped he hadn't killed the man, but he had fallen without a sound.

"Where is Clara?"

Eliza glanced up at him with a frown. "It's taken you 24 hours to notice she's missing?"

"You could have told me. Or gone looking yourself."

"This is not my fault, Charlie. You are the man of this family, or so you say. Maggie can't be left alone here with Uncle William. It wouldn't be fair, not with you disappearing all the time. It's not as if we are in our own home."

Charles frowned and struggled to find something to say. His youngest sister was missing, and missing for over 24 hours. Who knew where she went? Wandering off in the snow, she could have frozen to death in the mountains. She could have fallen down a crevice or been covered by an avalanche.

He needed to work out how to break into the Alcalde's office in the pueblo. Maybe he could find his sister on the way, or at least find out what had happened to her. He did love her, and the sense of responsibility spurred a sense of guilt for neglecting her safety. There was nowhere to go for help. If he went to the church they would be put into the orphanage, and that was unacceptable. There didn't seem to be anyone else to go to. Uncle William was the only relative they knew, and he wasn't even a relative.

"I didn't tell you, because you have only just come back. I don't know if I would have either. I would have let you have a turn at minding Maggie and Uncle William for a change. I could have found her by now if I had a chance to look."

Charles looked at Maggie who was trying to sleep or pretend to. She seemed a little upset as well, but unwilling to voice any complaint. She was like that, she would swallow her fear as long as she could. They said a lot of things out loud that their parents would have had issues with, but they were no longer here. Maggie used to have a friendly little maid to help her, and her brother and sisters made themselves busy elsewhere.

"A bit of understanding would be nice, Charlie." Eliza went to Maggie, well aware that she wasn't sleeping. She hugged her and smoothed hair out of her eyes gently. She knew she had spoken about her in a dismissive way, and her sister was blind, not stupid.

"Well, you stay here a little longer, and I will look for Clara," Charles said, realising he could investigate the entire pueblo as well. If he didn't find his sister he could prevent the bandits from stealing his other sisters, by getting their money.

Eliza didn't say anything, instead she lay down with Maggie, trying to keep herself and her sister warm. Losing their fire was a problem that would not end well.

Zzz

He crept down the mountain, keeping to the shadows and the safest path he could find. He didn't want the bandits knowing where he had left his sisters. Not with their threats and crass humour. He would head to town and find the alcalde's office and see what there was to see. He wrapped his scarf tightly around him, shivering with cold.

He didn't see Diego and Victoria in the cart, travelling the rough road. He was trying not to be seen and tracked, so he took the long way around, avoiding the road altogether.

Zzz

Diego had heard a scrabble of rocks, of pebbles tumbling from dislodged from their resting places. A creature native to the landscape or a human, small or otherwise he could not decide. The sounds made him uneasy and on guard, taking his attention from Victoria.

"I have been trying to talk to you for five minutes, Diego."

"What? What's that? You have to excuse me, Victoria. I thought I heard something."

Victoria sighed, although Diego didn't notice. What with the glint of reflected light and now the skittering of stones, he was more certain than ever that they weren't alone.

Victoria startled next to him, and he turned his attention back to her.

"It's starting to rain, and it's freezing. The children will freeze out here."

"We'll freeze if we do nothing," Diego said, thinking quickly. They didn't have much of a choice. They couldn't stay out here in the elements, regardless of the lack of chaperones. They had to take shelter and quickly.

There was a small cave at the foot of the mountain, and it would hold the cart and the horses, as well as them. He hoped the rain would stop soon, or that they would chance upon the children. It would give him something else to think about rather than his obsession with Victoria - and the incessant questions that seemed to spill out of her whenever they were together.

Diego gently took the reins from Victoria and sent the horses swiftly towards where the cave was. It was still there, a little smaller than he remembered, but the cart and the horses fit inside. A bit snug but it wouldn't do for the horses to get too cold either. If they could keep the tinder and firewood he had packed dry they could rely on it to burn for a while.

"It was lucky you remembered the cave here," Victoria said, glancing around. It was dry and warm, and as if on cue, the rain fell harder where they had been moments before.

"Hopefully it will stop before nightfall."

"What can we do about the children?" Victoria said with concern. "They are still out there, somewhere."

"The cave must be well hidden and out of the way," Diego said. He wondered if the glint of light and the falling pebbles had been caused by the children. Maybe, maybe not.

Victoria had found the wood and was setting up a fire just near the cave entrance. The blankets she had packed for the children would be useful for Diego and herself now, especially if they were trapped here overnight. Diego was busy thinking about something again, she could always tell. His eyes would become darker, more serious and slightly chilling. Not the usual kind hearted gaze of her friend.

Zzz

The bandit leader was sitting in his own cave, with his band of cutthroats. He had seen the cart with the pueblo's innkeeper and knew where the pair had taken shelter. He debated whether to seek them out or not, the chilling rain making him hesitate. He wondered how long it would take for the stupid kid to be arrested and hung for trying to steal the alcalde's gold, or if little Charlie even had the guts to try.

There was a demand for young girls, and such fine young ladies would be a prize worth the effort. Women did not always wish to travel into the wilderness, and brides could be scarce. There were always other avenues such as saloons and other establishments. So far his men had yet to find where Charlie had hidden his family, but it was only a matter of time. He was no more than a child himself. What child could outwit him? No child had as yet, and he would wager that Charlie would not be the first.

He resigned himself to waiting for the rain to stop, and then perhaps going after the pair of well-dressed travellers sheltering across from their hideout.

Zzz

A man raised his eyeglass again to scan the landscape. He was aware of the bandits' location, and he had also seen Victoria and Diego shelter in the lower cave. He had a fair idea where the children had hidden themselves but made no move towards them as yet. He was keeping an eye on the bandits while resting and waiting for possible threats to the children.

He was dressed in a creamy white, shirt and trousers, hat and cape, all the better to merge with the snow on the mountains. He was aware of how he had almost assumed the identity of the pueblo's missing hero, but in white, and he had considered the costume in full. He had thrown out the idea due to its theatricality. He was a soldier, not an actor, no matter how strategic the disguise.