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"As he is my witness, there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus!"
―Hattie denouncing both Nicolae Carpathia and Leon Fortunato[src]


Harriet "Hattie" Durham is a supporting character in the Left Behind series. Before the Rapture, she works as the senior flight attendant for Captain Rayford Steele. Hattie became upset about Rayford's newfound faith in Jesus, so she ran to the only man who had all the answers: Nicolae Carpathia. She becomes the personal assistant and lover of Carpathia. Later, she becomes a believer and faces Carpathia and his henchman, Leon Fortunato.

Biography

Before the Rapture

Hattie first appears at the end of the book as a newbie flight attendant in the Pan-Continental fleet. She is described as a teenager, and she takes her first working flight with Captain Rayford Steele. Captain Steele finds her attractive at first glance, although his lead flight attendant tells him that Hattie is "ditzy" but "ambitious".

This book tells of how Rayford now finds Hattie interesting and exciting. He arranges to drive her to and from work so that he can spend time with her.

Hattie pursues Rayford throughout the book and falls in love with him. It is revealed, from her point of view, that Hattie loves Rayford and does not want an affair with him; she wants to marry him.

After the Rapture

Flying to London, Hattie and Rayford Steele are about to enjoy an affair in London when the Rapture occurs. Rayford, finding his wife and son vanished, brushes Hattie off by explaining his theory about the Event and telling her that he never loved her. She goes off in tears and resents him and their past relationship.

Hattie begins working for Secretary-General Nicolae Carpathia as Head of Security, and later as personal assistant. She becomes his lover for two years and relocates to New Babylon. During this time, Hattie enjoys her life in New Babylon and has a hand in planning the city, she conceives an idea for a restaurant called Global Bistro. Soon after, Nicolae proudly announces to Rayford and Amanda Steele that Hattie is pregnant with his child and they are engaged. Hattie soon reveals to Rayford that Nicolae is pressuring her to get an abortion and she is angry with their souring relationship. She bares her soul to him on a flight to the United North American States, where she journeys to meet her family.

After a series of shootouts and chases, the Trib Force manages to rescue Hattie from a reproductive clinic where she is detained by the Global Community. By a failed poisoning attempt, Hattie loses her baby in a stillbirth about seven or eight months into her pregnancy. Doctor Floyd Charles delivers the dead child and somehow contracts the poison from Hattie after caring for her for months before the miscarriage and weeks after.

Hattie confessed to Rayford that she assisted in framing Amanda White as being an agent of the Global Community by helping plant incriminating communications on her laptop. This confession vindicated Amanda in Rayford mind as Rayford was unable to find the seal of God on Amanda's corpse when he went SCUBA diving at the site of the wreckage of the plane crash that killed Amanda. Hattie does express remorse and told Rayford that Amanda was devoted to him, and that Amanda loved Hattie even though they disagreed about everything important in life.

Hattie said that she even though she told Rayford what she had done, there were even worse things that she is withholding from him. Rayford responded that God would forgive her for those sins, but Hattie retorted that she does not believe that in her heart. Rayford confirms that God should not forgive her because no one deserves forgiveness. Hattie replies that Rayford did accept forgiveness from God, but Hattie could not do that because she and God knows that she is not worthy of it. Hattie says that she cannot live God's grace because she has decided that she is unworthy of it. Hattie does speak of a gap "between what may be true and what should be true" and Rayford uses the term "inequity" to identify the term. She says that it is too much of an inequity for God to save her when she and God knows who she is and what she has done.

Hattie gets stung by a demonic locust. While she is suffering from the torment, she get into contact with her sister, Nancy Durham, whom she urges to accept Christ. Hattie herself is not yet a believer, and states that she is not interested in her own salvation but that she wants to live long enough to kill Nicolae Carpathia. Perhaps Hattie believes that if she can get someone close to her to believe in the Gospel it would be easier for her to believe for herself.

Hattie rashly attempts to run off to Europe in hopes to kill Nicolae, after escaping from the safehouse, faking her death in a plane crash, being released from "Buffer" (Belgian Facility for Female Rehabilitation), and supposedly managing to get into New Babylon. However, she goes to the United North American States to see if any of her family survived and ends up being held in a Colorado detention center by Pinkerton Stephens, who was secretly Steve Plank working undercover as a believer in Christ.

Hattie accepts Christ after years of rejecting Him, and another rescue by Rayford, followed by Albie giving her his testimony about how he became a believer.

During a mission where she is sent to Israel, Hattie is killed by fire that Leon Fortunato calls down from heaven when she openly opposes Nicolae and Leon in public, declaring them respectively as the Antichrist and the False Prophet.

Hattie appears at the resurrection of the Tribulation saints and receives a crystalline tiara for her service to the Lord.

Appearances

Left Behind series

Left Behind: The Kids

In other media

Gallery

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