Rebecca Winters: Daddy's Christmas Miracle

The girl opened her eyes. They were velvety brown. Lovely eyes. Anxious.

“Don’t let the mask scare you. It’s a protective measure because you’re fighting the H1N1 virus, but judging by the progress you’re already making, it’s not such a serious case. Unless I made a lucky guess, I know your name isn’t Anna. I gave you my old name. The one I was given after I was kidnapped. It’s as good as any.”

Anna blinked. If Kathryn didn’t miss her guess, she’d gained the girl’s attention.

“I brought a brochure with me. My family had it printed when I was taken from them.” She pulled it out of her purse. “Let me show you the picture of me at the top.” Kathryn held it up so she could see it. With her other hand, she pulled down the mask so the girl could see they were one in the same person. Then she put it back in place.

“It was taken four years ago. You’ll notice what it says beneath the picture. ‘Kathryn McFarland, lost for twenty-six years, has been FOUND!’ You’re probably feeling too tired to read it, Anna, so I’ll read it to you.” Kathryn continued to read.

May 3 marks the twenty-sixth anniversary of the abduction of our fourth child, Kathryn McFarland, from the McFarland home in Salt Lake City, Utah. Born April 2, she was only a month old at the time she was taken.

Soon after the kidnapping and community search, the Kathryn McFarland Foundation was founded and now honors Kathryn’s memory by finding missing children, and preventing them from going missing in the first place.

When Kathryn was kidnapped, our community and many others joined together to help us find her because there was an immediate recognition that she was everyone’s child and that we are all in this together.

Child abductions across our nation since its beginning have highlighted the need for legislation to enhance our ability to protect our children from predators of all types. When a child is kidnapped, time is of the essence.

All too often it is only a matter of hours before a kidnapper commits an act of violence against the child. That is why we’re pleased that the U.S. Senate has acted to pass legislation creating a national AMBER Alert system, which galvanizes entire communities to assist law enforcement in the timely search and safe return of child victims.

Since its inception, the foundation has assisted approximately seventeen thousand families and law enforcement agencies in their searches. We have seen over eight-five percent of those children returned home safely. This is what continues to give us hope.

Kathryn put the brochure down on the bedside table. “Someone out there— somewhere —is dying inside because you’re missing, Anna. I don’t know how long you’ve been missing, or why. I don’t know if you were kidnapped and let go, or if you left home of your own free will.

“What I do know is that a beautiful young woman like you is very lucky not to have been exposed to serious danger. I also know that anyone who loves you is in agony right now, fearing the worst.”

The girl’s eyelids fluttered closed, but they couldn’t hold back the trickle of tears.

“My family went through so much agony, they would have died if they hadn’t decided to do something positive with their pain. Did you hear those statistics? Seventeen thousand families assisted. That figure has changed since four years ago. It’s now twenty-three thousand, with an eighty-five percent rate of success.

“I have parents, two brothers and a sister who’ve dedicated their lives to helping children unite with their loved ones. Now that I’ve been found, I’ve devoted my life to helping someone like you get the help you need.

“Consider me a friend who’s going to make certain you get well and are safe. My brother runs Renaissance House, a shelter for homeless women to assist them in getting reestablished. It’s only a mile from here. After you’re released from the hospital, I’ll take you there. You’ll like it. The big, beautiful mansion was my home before I was kidnapped. After that, my family moved. They couldn’t bear the pain of living in a place where I had been stolen right out of the nursery during the night. Since that time, my brother turned it into a halfway house. He did it because he hoped that one day I might walk in.”

Suddenly the girl broke down crying. Kathryn stood up to lean over her and smooth the hair from her temples. “I didn’t tell you all this to make you cry. I just wanted you to know that you’re not alone. Sleep now, Anna. I’ll stay right here and take care of you. I’m a nurse who did my training in this hospital. You’re among friends here.”

After a long silence, “My name’s Allie.”

Joy.

“I like that name much better.” She handed her some tissues. “Go ahead and blow your nose, Allie. You must have been congested for a few days now.”

The teen nodded and blew hard. Kathryn handed her a receptacle. “I’m going to get you a cold drink. Fruit punch, Sprite, root beer, Coke, you name it.”

“Fruit punch, please.”

She had manners, too. “Coming right up.”

Kathryn hurried down the hall to the desk. She pulled her mask down again. “Her name’s Allie. She wants some fruit punch.”

A beaming Nancy lifted her head. “I knew it! You have the magic touch. Be back in a tick.”

In another minute, she returned with two cans. Kathryn thanked her and joined Allie, who’d reached for the brochure on the side table and was reading it.

“I’ll raise your head so you can drink without choking. Say when.”

Before long Allie had drained her drink. Kathryn took the empty can from her. “Better?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Shall I lower your head now?”

“Not yet. Where did that kidnapper take you?”

Kathryn sat down on the stool once more. “New York, then Wisconsin.”

Allie’s red-rimmed eyes studied her in fascination. “How did you find your parents?”

“I didn’t. My sister and the man she’s married to now found me. When my family came into my hospital room to see me for the first time, we all looked so much alike there was no question I belonged to them.”

She blew her nose again. “You were in a hospital, too?”

“Yes. I’d been in a car accident and had broken my leg. Because of my cast, everyone had to be very careful when they hugged me, especially my dad. To this day, I don’t know which one of us squeezed harder.”

“My dad can squeeze hard.”

“That’s one of the great things about having a father. It still makes me cry to think how many years I lived without my parents.” Kathryn’s throat swelled with emotion. “I love mine so much, you can’t imagine. My dad’s incredible.”

“So’s mine. That’s why—” She suddenly stopped talking and tears gushed from her eyes.

Unable to stay seated after realizing how upset the teen was, Kathryn stood up and clasped Allie’s free hand. “The longer I live, the more I realize that none of us is exempt from pain.” She handed her more tissue. “How long have you been sick, Allie?”

“I’ve had a cold all week. After I left the bus station I started to look for a taxi, but then this man on a bike grabbed my purse and rode away. It had all my money in it. That’s when I got dizzy and fell down. Then another man walked by. He saw me and called the police. I begged him not to because then Dad would find out.”

She grabbed hold of Kathryn’s arm, staring at her with imploring eyes. “Dad doesn’t know I came here. He thought I was at a sleepover. I planned to be back home by tomorrow so he would never find out. He can’t find out!”

“Why not?”

“If he knew the reason, it would hurt him too much.”