A motorcyclist stopped to help a young girl whose tire had gone flat, but he hit something in the trunk of his car that terrified him.

She wiped her face with her sleeve. "So I waited until everyone was asleep. I packed my suitcase. I took the children. I took Mom's car. I drove. I just drove. I didn't know where to go. I just knew we had to leave."

“I have seventy-three dollars,” she said, her voice breaking. “I was trying to get to my grandmother’s in Tennessee. She doesn’t speak to Mom anymore because of him, but I thought maybe she could help us. But the tire blew out about thirty kilometers ago, and I kept driving because I was too scared to stop, and now I don’t know what to do.”

I watched this fifteen-year-old girl who had stolen a car and kidnapped her siblings to save their lives. This child was so terrified of the system that she preferred to risk everything in a desperate escape down the highway rather than call for help.

"Okay," I said. "Okay, Madison. Let's start at the beginning. Let's get these kids out of the trunk. They need some air."

"But someone could see us..."

"It's midnight on a country road. Nobody can see anything. Go."

She opened the trunk with a trembling hand. Three small children were huddled inside: two boys and a little girl, all embracing. They were wearing pajamas. The oldest boy clutched a stuffed dinosaur. The little girl was crying silently.

"Everything is fine," Madison told them. "This man is going to help us. He's safe."

I helped them get out of the trunk. They were terrified of me.