Elisabet Josephine Crowley was born into a large family on December 4, 1843. She spent her childhood on a ranch until, at the age of 17, she was married to a wealthier man of 32. She had begged and pleaded with her parents to break the arrangement contract but she was pretty and the ranch needed money. On her wedding night, she was instructed to lie on her back and it would all be over soon. It wasn't the consummation that caused her pain but the way her husband intentionally wanted her to suffer. She would learn that was the kind of man he was behind the sweet gentlemanly smile he was known for. She came to think of him as the monster in her bed. Nine months after the wedding she gave birth to a handsome baby boy, William Eldemir Ballentine.
The Civil War has begun and Elisa's husband is off to war. She's left in their home alone with little William. Luckily, she grew up on the ranch with several other siblings, mostly older rambunctious brothers. Times were hard and even harder as the years went by. They were low on food and supplies and she had a baby to feed. Even though that was true, it didn't stop her from helping the needy who happened upon her doorstep.
One night, in particular, there was a sickly malnourished and anemic looking man who knocked on her door. She took pity on the poor soul, inviting him in. Elisa served him a soup she had made which consisted of mostly broth and potatoes and kept the fire stoked during the better part of the evening. She made sure he was well-fed and comfortable before putting the baby to sleep and went to bed.
During the night, Elisa woke up to weight on her legs and body. It was the man she took pity on that was sitting atop her. She saw his face for a brief moment in the candlelight before he lunged in and bit her, causing her to pass out. When she awoke, she had the taste of iron in her mouth and her bedding was covered in blood with the man nowhere to be found. She rushed to check on William, but he was missing as well. She started breaking down and searched every corner of the house and still there was no sign of him. Elisa, determined to find her son, pulled out her clothing she had saved from the ranch and put it on in a hurry before running out to saddle one of the horses and disappear into the night.
By the time the war was over, she had spent years following the mystery man's paper trail. Each one a letter that he would leave for her, telling her that little William was alive. He trailed her along for years but she could never seem to catch up, always being a step behind. With the war over, her older brother Griffin would come back home and on his way back he would stop to see Elisa. Unfortunately, he would find an abandoned home with a bloodstained bed and horrifying visions running through his head. Elisa had grown up calling him her Knight in shining armor. He always looked out for her and had one of the strongest bonds among their siblings, despite the age gap.
Elisa finally catches up to the mystery man. He confesses that he took William, but insists that the child was taken from him. Elisa knew he was lying and demanded the truth, he tells her that he ate the child and discarded the body to coyotes. But she felt he still wasn't being truthful. In the end, the man escaped and she never found out what happened to her baby boy. Sometimes she suspects that he got to live a long happy life and have a family of his own. Sometimes she wonders if he was kept alive and once reaching adulthood he was met with the same fate she was. And sometimes, she knows he's dead.
All those things are in the past now and she's 176 years old. She's been tracking her brother for a while since their last meeting. With the help of the internet and his business, it's all lead her to Wailing Rock, WA where she is eager to rejoin with family once again.
