A/N: Thank you, co-writer, GiuC. 'Cause that's what it amounts to! xoxo

Chapter 3

Christopher came to such an abrupt halt on the threshold of their front door that Sam, head down as she followed him with their smaller bags, bumped squarely into his back. Shaking her head clear like a cartoon character, she peered around his shoulder at whatever had frozen him in his tracks.

That something was a woman in an ornate sari, evidently attempting to soothe a grizzling Iain, by walking up and down the hallway with him in her arms. Now she turned to face them, still cradling their son.

She was stunningly attractive, her deeply caramel colour skin contrasting with the bold blue and gold of the gracefully draping garment she wore. Her glossy black hair was swept back in a modern version of a center-parted single braid coiffure, and between her eyebrows was a dusty-red bindi, a perfect match with her touch of lipstick. Instantly she broke into a wide smile, though the doe-like eyes above it showed concern. She seemed to glide towards them.

"Mr and Mrs Foyle! I am Madhirakshi, a friend of Andrew's from Oxford. I must tell you—and now, please do not panic—but Andrew is out searching for Ellie. We were chattering and only realised, after we hadn't seen her for a few minutes, that she wasn't in the house—and so he is wondering if she has gone for a little walk."

Sam didn't know whether to laugh or cry. On the one hand, her husband was clearly dazzled by the exotic beauty with the cut-glass accent (it bore the merest trace of Hindi), and Sam thought she might just have to step forward and tip his chin up to close his mouth. But her other immediate response was a flurry of fear; where was their daughter? Ellie had never set foot out of the house without adult company, and they had it drilled into her that she wasn't nearly old enough to do so yet.

Holding onto that knowledge granted Ellie's parents some comfort, but in addition, something about Madhirakshi's low, modulated voice was quite calming; still slightly dazed, they let her shepherd them to the settee and sat obediently while she handed Iain to Sam, with the assurance, "I've just changed him."

"I'm going out to look for her," Foyle said gruffly, coming back to earth. He stood and made purposefully for the door, but just as he reached it, it opened slowly to reveal his son. One look at his face told Andrew that his father knew; Foyle in turn felt a disturbing hitch in his chest at the weary, defeated look in his son's eyes.

"Dad… Sam…" he muttered, as in a trance. "Everywhere… looked everywhere—up and down the street, around the church. Where in God's name could she have got to? Please for—oh, I'll never forgive myself…" Andrew cast a despairing look across the room at a wide-eyed Madhirakshi, whose hand had crept across her mouth.

Foyle chewed his lip and shut his eyes a moment. This was no time to abandon reason to despair. "We can get help from Milner and Brooke, but for the time being, let's think this out if we can. If she left the house, she must have had some purpose. It's not all that near, but I wonder if she returned to Bowerman's to see the golden horse in the window."

Sam offered faintly, "They finally altered the display last week, but perhaps she went to see whether the horse had come back. Ellie… makes her own little world… " The smallest quaver entered her voice, and she touched her forehead to Iain's. The infant had fallen quiet in his mother's arms, wide, bright eyes alighting on each adult who came near.

"She disappeared so quickly. If only I had some clue where she might go," Andrew fretted. Through all of their minds went the dreadful, unshareable thought that she might have been abducted. Foyle could remember one case in which a distraught mother, whose child had been killed in the attack on Hastings four years before, had coaxed away another family's child. Only after a month's time had they managed to locate a witness whose description led them to the pair in Bristol. And that was a relatively benign outcome… He looked worriedly at Sam, but she was staring at Ellie's rocking horse in the corner.

Madhirakshi spoke thoughtfully. "Think, Andrew: when you spoke to Ellie this morning, did you talk about anywhere you like to visit? Tell her about something extraordinary that happened in a particular place?"

The young man sat and sank his head into his hands. Sam watched as he ran trembling fingers through his hair and found herself thinking (of all things) that his was wavy where his father's curled, and his mother's had been straight. Ellie's curls filled her mind, and her stomach roiled. She took a deep breath and let her fingers ghost over Iain's downy pate.

All at once Andrew's head jerked up. He stared right into the Indian girl's startled eyes, then without a word, he bolted for the hall and raced up the stairs. A moment later the bewildered assembly heard a relieved, "OH, thank God!"

All three (Iain still in Sam's arms) hurried upstairs after him, and when a glance into Christopher and Sam's room yielded nothing, they hastened down the corridor to Ellie's room. No sign of Ellie—only of Andrew, staring out of the window as he vigorously rubbed the back of his neck. Halting beside him, the party followed the direction of his eyes, and there the little girl was, all curled up in the crotch formed by three thick outgrowths of the tree. She was sound asleep.

He turned to his father, horrified. "I was telling her about the time you climbed down the tree to give that constable the slip. And how I used to sneak down it to get out of homework. I didn't know she had a clue how to even open this window, let alone climb through it. But she must have decided to follow our example."

Brushing tears from his eyes, he made to climb through the window, but Foyle gently placed a hand on his arm.

"I'll do it, Andrew."

"Dad—"

"I'll DO it." There was a hard edge to the voice that brooked no argument.

Andrew and Sam exchanged a glance that teetered between excitement and alarm as Foyle shrugged off his jacket and swung one leg after another through the open window and sat on the sill facing out. We missed this, the last time.

The young man's mind flashed back to Sam that day, how beautiful she'd looked as they walked along the shore and laughed about his father's "escape." She'd been wearing a red jacket, hadn't she? And her hair, an equally warm hue with the sun shining upon it. His eyes drifted to the woman who enchanted him now; gold and sapphire and glossy black hair. No, this time it was more than an enchantment…

Samantha did not miss the look he bestowed upon the young woman, and despite her nerves, she inwardly smiled.

Astride the branch now, Foyle softly called his daughter's name, afraid to startle her. After a few tries it became evident that he'd have to move closer and touch her foot to wake her; moreover, he decided, he didn't want her making the return trip without him.

The two women stood at the sill, watching as he moved along the large limb, his legs dangling. He began a less-than-dignified inching of his backside along it towards the sleeping child, and Sam and Madhirakshi watched with bated breath, till finally Sam could contain herself no longer, and let out an explosive snort of laughter which set Madhirakshi off into a waterfall of giggles. Foyle shot them a faintly annoyed roll of the eyes, but they caught the upward quirk of the lips that signified he was aware of how absurd he must look.

Andrew joined them at the window, his hand stealing around Madhirakshi's waist and pulling her possessively against him. Sam, meanwhile, leant out of the window, knuckles pressed against her teeth.

Presently Foyle found himself beside his little girl. It struck him then, as he observed her small features in repose, how remarkably deep was the sleep of the very young. He reached forward and, in the same moment that he sought to wake her with the contact of his hand, he found himself protectively bracing the small shoulder.

"Ellie? Sweetheart, time to wake up." He spoke so softly that the others heard only his tone. Ellie slept on, her little chest rising and falling peacefully. Well, it is an exceptional day, he reflected: clearest of blue skies above the tree canopy, the garden as quiet as ever, and a soft breeze that meant no errant gulls; they'd all be out at sea riding the currents.

He moved his hand enough to give his daughter's arm the slightest shake. "Elllll-ee," he crooned.

The child opened her eyes slowly, squinting in the sun that shafted through the leaves. After a puzzled blink round, she focused on her father.

"Daddy! What are you doing in a tree?"

"Do y'know, by sheerest coincidence, I was just about to ask you precisely that question?"

Ellie giggled. Daddy said such funny long words sometimes.

Foyle's large hands closed around her fragile ribcage. "What are you doing in a tree?"

"Uhhmm…"

"Got you!" Foyle lifted her against his chest, and with a high-pitched trill of delight, she wrapped her little arms and legs round him so that she was clinging like a monkey.

Samantha, Andrew, and Madhirakshi leant further out the window, trying to catch the ensuing conversation, which lasted for a good while. But it was difficult to make out words: Foyle's lips were pressed against his daughter's ear, and her small hands had wound themselves into his curls.

"Daddy, you've got lambie wool behind your ears!" Ellie informed him gravely.

"Wull, p'raps it's time for a haircut, hmm? Your mommy ought to send me to the barber's?"

"No!" she squealed another giggle, fingers clinging tight enough to make his eyes sting. "Lambie wool is nice."

The final phase of the rescue operation, once it began, went awkwardly but safely forward, with Foyle pushing himself back painstakingly astride the branch. Sam asked in a split-second's eye contact if their visitor would take Iain from her, and with her young son safely in the arms of Madhirakshi, she reached forward as Foyle twisted round and tendered her their daughter over the last foot or so of branch. Ellie soon was followed by her father, widening his eyes at his wife in acknowledgement of the mental strain the escapade had put them under, and wincing slightly as he stood, legs apart, on solid ground.

"Poor dear," Sam whispered in his ear as she deposited Ellie gently on the bedroom carpet. "I'll put some ointment on the sore spot later."

Iain, who had been quite a comfortably ensconced little chap, hadn't enjoyed being shifted one bit, and lifted his voice in strident, wordless protest.

"Oh, I fear he isn't too fond of me!" joshed Madhirakshi as she stroked the baby's wet red cheek.

"Well, he'd better get used to you. Some chaps don't know their luck!" declared Andrew vehemently, and Sam and Christopher each raised an amused eyebrow.

Andrew strode across to Ellie and scooped her up, holding her so tightly that she protested.

"Andoo! Put me down! I'm not a baby!"

"No," he pulled a face at her. "More like a squirrel, miss!"

"Well, she doesn't get it from my side of the family," remarked Sam, wryly.

Andrew set Ellie down, and as she scampered to her father, clinging to his trouser leg and looking shyly up at Madhirakshi, he lowered himself onto the edge of the bed and dropped his head in his hands once again, his brush with despair and the release of tension mixing with certain other recurring emotions…

In that instant, Madhirakshi saw that he was holding back tears. His concerned girl moved to stand before him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It's all right," she soothed both Iain and Andrew. "Ellie's perfectly all right."

Sam leant into her husband and he kissed her cheek. "Wwwull, quite the welcome home, I must say." His eyes crinkled with sheer gratitude towards Madhirakshi. "Wonder if you'd like a detective's job. You ponder things through in just the right way."

She nodded once with a modest smile. "Just an adventurous little girl once, myself," she replied prettily.

Andrew, recovered enough to muster a watery smile, looked up at her with worship in his eyes. Sam, limp with relief in her own right, wondered seriously for a moment whether he'd drop to his knees at the hem of the brocaded sari.

"So, here we all are, safe and sound, with tales to tell!" she grinned mischievously.

TBC…