The next morning at sunrise, Gabriel awoke and looked over to see Anna, but no Laura. He shook Anna who quickly awoke. "What is it, Gabriel?"
"Where's Laura?" He asked worriedly.
Anna looked down and realized she was gone. She looked back up at Gabriel panicked. "Oh my, God! Where's our baby?!"
Gabriel kissed her forehead. "I'll go out of the tent and see if there are any signs of where she could be. Stay here."
Anna nodded and Gabriel got up walking outside the tent. Looking around, he found footprints in a line coming and going to and from the tent. Looking closely at them and quickly examining them, he realized they were only there for an hour. He looked towards the footprints leading away from the tent and realized whoever was here, left a trail to mark their path unnoticed. He went back inside the tent and Anna looked at him scared. "Well?"
"She was stolen. Right from under our noses an hour ago. If we pack up and leave quickly, we could probably catch them. The kidnapper left a trail unnoticed."
She nodded and quickly helped him to pack up.
For the next five years, they never stopped searching for their lost daughter. The morning they found out, they never caught them. Even though they searched futilely for the next five years, they were never going to give up. They were determined to find her.
Today is now Laura's sixth birthday and the couple are now in a forest in Mangalia, Romania. They get to a small opening and Gabriel looks at his wife. "You go North and East. I'll go South and West. We'll meet back here in two hours unless one of us finds her."
Nodding, Anna went North. Gabriel headed South.
Walking through the South part of the forest a few minutes later, Gabriel heard screaming. He ran towards the screaming and the next thing he knew, he was being run into. He stopped and looked down to see a girl with long curly brown hair. Helping her up, he spoke. "I'm sorry. What's your name?"
"Laura." She responded softly.
"Who or what are you running from?"
"Bad people." She said in the same tone. "I'm looking for my parents."
Looking at the girl closely, he recognized her. "Laura?"
She looked at him confused. "What?"
He didn't say anything. He just picked her up and hugged her tight. Pulling away after thirty seconds, he caressed her cheek. "I'm your father, Laura."
She started to tear up. "Papa?"
Gabriel nodded. "Yeah, Sweetheart. I'm your papa. Your mother and I have been looking for you the last six years. Today's your birthday. Did you know that?"
She nodded. "I wanna see Mama."
Picking her up, he took off towards North where Anna went.
25 minutes later, he spotted her. "Anna!"
Anna turned around. "Did you find her?"
Gabriel moved to the side to reveal Laura. Laura looked up. "Mama?"
"Laura?"
She nodded and ran to give her mother a hug. "I love you, Mama."
Anna picked her up, hugging her like a lifeline. "My baby girl. Your father and I never stopped looking for you. We love you so much."
"I've been looking for you too." She replied pulling away. "Why'd you give me up?"
"We didn't, Baby. You were stolen. In the middle of the night and when we woke up, we panicked. We searched for you everywhere and weren't gonna give up until we found you."
"Take me home, Mama. I don't like those people."
"What did they do to you?"
"They make me work and if I don't, they beat me." She said rolling her sleeves up to reveal some overlapping bruises.
Anna gasped. "My poor baby. Don't worry, you're safe now. Mama and Papa will take care of you."
Laura nodded and layed her head on her shoulder. Gabriel took them to the horse and they all headed to Vaseria.