Duncan McKaskel was a realist. When he decided to move his family west, he knew he would face dangers, and he was prepared for them. He knew about the exhausting terrain, he was expecting the punishing elements, he had planned on avoiding starvation with a rifle and a steady hand. What he hadn't planned on was having to use the rifle against other men--men as hardened and hungry as he was, and twice as cold. But bandits were only part of his worries. For a mysterious stranger, Con Vallian, had appeared on the trail one night and saved his life. But was the man's kindness just part of a plan to steal something much more valuable? Was his true interest Duncan's wife, Susanna? And more important, how did Susanna feel about Vallian? Now Duncan must discover who is the greater threat--the thieves outside his camp, or the enigmatic stranger within?