She's part of their world, again

COEUR d’ALENE - When Karren Williams and Lenny Hess found an Ariel doll floating in the water at Springy Point, they knew someone, somewhere, was missing her.

“She’s got to be somebody’s,” Williams said.

They set out to find that somebody.

And they did.

Turns out, Ariel belonged to four sisters — Caroline, 5, Cayden 4, Camila, 3, and Charlotte, 1.

The girls smiled and cried out with delight Monday when the couple were greeted at their Coeur d’Alene home, the red-headed doll with a fin in hand.

“They’ve got something for you,” said their dad, Cody Clark. “Something you guys left last week.”

“What did you lose last week?" asked their mom, Cortney Clark.

“Ariel,” came the answer.

Williams stepped forward.

“Would this be her?” she asked, adding, “she swam a long way.”

Yes. That was her.

First, Charlotte hugged Ariel and held her tight.

Then it was Camila’s turn.

Smiles and laughter filled the family’s living room as the reunion went on.

“Their puppy found Ariel in the water,” Cortney told her daughters. “You got her back: You missed her.”

She then turned to Williams and Hess.

“Thank you guys, so much,” Cortney said. “This is like old school Idaho, what it used to be, nice gestures people do for each other."

The Clarks had gone camping at Springy Point in Sagle, looking out on the Pend Oreille River on Mother’s Day weekend. Camila carried the doll around, singing “Part of Your World,” from the hit movie, “The Little Mermaid.”

They had the doll nearly a year and were quite attached. The girls combed her hair, bathed her and slept with her. Of all their dolls, she was the most-cherished.

“It could be any toy they left behind, but Ariel is like a safety blanket,” Cortney said. “Ariel is like queen bee to these guys. That’s their baby.”

Headed to Silverwood Theme Park from camping, the family didn’t immediately notice Ariel's absence. But, once home, her disappearance was discovered.

“She was just gone,” Cortney said.

Williams and Hess, meantime, were traversing the shoreline across the bay from Springy Point last Wednesday when their dog, Timber, spotted something tangled in rope and debris a few feet from shore. Timber charged in, but they beat him to it.

They picked her up and brushed her off.

Williams could tell this doll was special.

“She was loved. I don’t know why, I just knew,” Williams said. “You could tell it was loved.”

They quickly deduced the doll was probably lost during a camping trip and it must be a valued family member, as it made the trip with them.

Williams washed the doll and posted a notice on the North Idaho Life group's Facebook page: “If anyone/anyone’s child is missing Ariel, we found her at Springy Point on Lake Pend Oreille! Would love to get her back home. PM me if yours.”

It was a social media sensation and comments, more than 100, flooded in:

“She just wanted to be part of this world.”

“She wanted to be free of her controlling daddy so she could find her prince!”

“Most likely she started out from “unda da sea!”

“Someone get her a thingamabob STAT.”

“Release her back into the wild where she will be reanimated and rule her underwater kingdom.”

Cortney’s sister-in-law saw the posts and alerted her.

“This is my daughters',” Cortney posted. “We just went camping over there. They’re going to be so happy."

Monday, Williams and Hess, loyal Timber in tow, drove from Sandpoint for the special delivery.

“It’s like the sweetest thing anyone has ever done,” Cortney said.

The Clark sisters — maybe not Cayden, as she's more of a tomboy — were out-of-this-world happy that fair Ariel was restored, lovingly, to their world.

As they walked outside, Camila held her close.

Later, and best of all, perhaps, was Charlotte, sleeping soundly once again.

"She passed out with her last night and would not let her go," Cortney said.