My Past Shadows of Fear

Where is Lucy Pocklington? That was the question in the hearts and on the lips of those closest to her. For over 20 years, Lucy was missing and presumed dead, having vanished without a trace after being kicked out of her home by her father at the tender age of fifteen. Like so many people in our world, Lucy has a story - hers is simply different from what one would expect. Walking through the hell of starvation and homelessness, she bypassed it all to arrive in a world of encountering celebrities, meeting royalty, and traveling to exotic locations. Feeling unwanted and desperate, Lucy escaped a life of misery and hardship from an institutional home after her father announced that he did not want her to return home. For years, Lucy devised clever tricks to keep those searching for her off of her trail by being rebellious, independent, and resourceful; she successfully evaded authorities for many years and lived an adventure - in the truest sense of the word. Through turmoil, hunger, and freezing nights, Lucy eventually found herself working in a world of celebrities and champagne, where anything seemed possible after the Hell she'd lived through as a runaway teen. And maybe it was? Having encountered such celebrities like Jimi Hendrix, Princess Margaret, Mohammad Ali, Peter Sellers etc. it seemed that anything was possible. In the early 70's, Lucy met and fell in love with a real handsome Prince called Bob. She shares with joy and amazement the first time she met his family who welcomed her with open arms into his loving family. It was only after their marriage that Lucy discovered Bob was, in fact, a member of the Algerian royal family being a direct descendant of Emir Abd-el-Kader, once a ruler of Algeria and dubbed the 'Desert Hawk' by the British writer, W. Blunt. The Emir was admired by President Abraham Lincoln, Queen Victoria, Pope Pius IX, Ferdinand de Lesseps etc. in 1883, The New York Times eulogized, ..".The nobility of his character won him the admiration of the world... He was one of the few great men of the century." Meanwhile, ever the detective and refusing to give up hope, Lucy's brother was scouring the earth for her. Through sheer determination and maybe a little luck, he finally succeeded where everyone else had failed. After 20 years, Lucy was finally reunited with her surviving family members, and focuses a great deal on writing about her mother, who welcomed her back home with open arms and tears in her eyes. Her emotional, Internationally and Nationally-reported story touched and inspired many, as well as bringing to light a valuable lesson in regards to how runaways are treated within the system. Using her own experiences to give a message of hope to young runaways and their anxious families, she calls for a more responsible and enlightened approach on the part of authorities and police, who have it within their power to show greater sympathy and concern for young people who find themselves in desperate situations. She went through hell and triumphed in the face of adversity, narrowly missing death and surviving to tell an utterly true yet 'Stranger-than-Fiction' story. Join Lucy as she tells her amazing story of heartbreak, adventure, loss, and life, and reaches out to those in need as well as those in power through this true account.