Jaycee Dugard Photo: First Public Exposure Since Kidnap Rescue

Held in captivity for 18 years, Jaycee Lee Dugard appears for the first time ever on the cover of People magazine, emerging after a rescue from her kidnappers near the Lake Tahoe home, where she was snatched at just 11-years old.

“I’m so happy to be back with my family,” she tells PEOPLE. Now living in seclusion with her mom, Terry Probyn, 50, and the two daughters – Angel, 15, and Starlit, 11 – fathered by her alleged kidnapper, Phillip Garrido, Dugard, 29, has begun the slow process of recovery.

She rides horses, cooks meals and is thinking of collaborating on a book. “They live a surprisingly normal life, considering the circumstances,” says Terry’s stepmother, Joan Curry.