Amnesia and Star Child

Brad mused over his computer screen, tapping the keyboard lightly as he nibbled his lower lip.
At last he made up his mind, clicking on Google and typing ‘Gracie Ingrid Ann McArley’ into the search box.
He tapped enter and immediately lists appeared underneath.
“Whoa.” Brad muttered.
A whine broke the silence, so in response Brad reached down without looking away from the screen, and his golden retriever, Banjo, licked his hand, the dopey mutt’s tail thumping on the floor happily.
“Whatcha think boy? We gonna be able to trace this girl? Huh?” The guitarist stroked the mongrel’s head.
Banjo’s tail thump thumped in response.
The list had nothing containing the full name, so Brad clicked on the ‘next’ button.
He looked through that list, clicking on the links that seemed promising, only to find something totally useless.
The next page was the same, and so was the next.
Half an hour on he was getting annoyed - how many Gracie’s in the world were there?!
“You know, this is stupid.” Brad sighed and clicked back on the first page.
He was about to disconnect when -
“Well I’ll be the dork. I missed it.” Brad smiled.
The link didn’t have ‘McArley’ in it, but the rest of the name was there.
Brad clicked on the link and waited for the site to load - he blinked in surprise at the web page.
It was an adoption page.

Successful Adoptions

Gracie Ingrid Ann, a six year old girl who came into the Wakefield Adoption Centre in August 9th 1984, was a shy child from the beginning. She was fond of piano and the composer Chopin, and had quite an enthusiasm for anything blue. She was always sweet and placid, a pretty little girl who never failed to welcome a new child into the Wakefield’s home.
Gracie soon was noticed by a young couple, who took an instant liking to her and it wasn’t long before Gracie was whisked away to a new life in the state of Virginia; one which she said was like a fairytale.
With such a lovable face, irresistible charm and imagination, it’s not hard to see how the family fell so deeply for this special little girl.

Brad sat back in his chair.
He added the website to his favorites and then explored, finding a number to ring.
It was in Washington. Not too far from NYC - but still a fair distance.
Brad reached for the phone next to the keyboard, lifted the receiver off the hook and dialed in the number.
“Wakefield Adoption Centre this is Mary how may I help you?” The woman on the other end said politely.
“Um yeah hi, this is Brad... I’m looking at your website and I want to know a little bit more about one of your success stories.” Brad tapped his fingers on the keyboard again.
“Okay, what is it you wish to know?”
“This August ninth, nineteen eighty four story, about a six year old girl named Gracie Ingrid Ann.”
“Okay. We have records on file, but we require legitimate information on your behalf. ”
“Like what?”
“Well, you will be required to present proof that you are familiar with the child in one form or another.”
“I can’t do that. My friend asked me to find her for him.”
“I’m sorry sir, but we can’t help you then.”
“Can’t you at least tell me the last name of her adopted family?”
“Sorry, but that’s classified information.”
“Well...” Brad racked his brains for a solution. “McArley. Her last name’s McArley. Gracie Ingrid Ann McArley.”
“Sir, if you wish to trace the child in question then we would like to have more confirmation. Would you like to book an appointment with one of our social workers?”
“Yeah, sure... Sure...” Brad slumped in his chair.