Her Father explains

“My name is Jonah Acorn. I am your father.” Jonah explained. He saw the look of recognition on her face. “You remember me? I wasn’t sure. You were so young when your mother took you from me.” He gasped.

“My mother left me here when I was 6. Before that, I vaguely remember her telling me that you never wanted to see me again. I was taken in by Grandmother Oak, or Great Great Great Grandmother Oak, but that is too much of a mouthful.” She explained

“I expected you to be dead.” Jonah replied. “Your mother and I were going through a divorce. She couldn’t accept you as you were. She wanted you to be normal. It will really piss her off to know you're some kind of druid now.” Jonah explained. He explained about autism and your mother’s theories. They sat there chatting as Elsie used her magic to gather some dead wood and make a fire to keep them both warm and soft moss to sit on. He explained that her mother was going to lose custody because of her theories and treatment of Elsie. That, all of a sudden, she found a new home far away, claimed she had changed her views and started building a case that Jonah was abusive. He lost all visitation rights and had to pay alimony. He never saw Elsie again after that.

It was only when the alimony payment ran dry, Elsie having turned 18, that she came after a payment for alleged abuse. Jonah had got a better job and, without having to pay alimony anymore, could afford a better lawyer and a P.I.

They discovered that not only was there no proof of abusive behaviour, but also no one had seen Elsie since her mother had moved. Her friends in the new city thought she was single and childless, that she had all this money from smart investments.

The P.I. discovered the last known location that Elsie had been sighted at was this forest. The one where people had been disappearing if they strayed off the path. It was suspected that a serial killer or dangerous animal lived in the woods, but no one had returned from investigations, and they had stopped trying. He had suspected that Elsie had just been one of these disappeared people, an early one before the pattern had been noticed. He had only come because he was desperate for any proof of his daughter and to use it for his court case.

Elsie admitted that by the laws of man, she probably was a serial killer. Although the majority of her victims still lived as animals of the forest. She told her dad that she had missed him, even before her mother abandoned her here. She told him that he would always be welcome in the forest. That she would welcome him to visit but she could not leave her home. She asked him to tell her mother that he had found her in the woods. Her mother had broken the laws of humans and nature. By Man’s laws she should not have abandoned her here. This did not matter to her as many mother abandon their children in nature. What mattered to her is that she had lied to her. Mothers should not lie to their young. She hoped that her father telling her mother about her that it would tempt her into the forest.

They parted ways as it went dark. Elsie returned her father’s coat. She could keep herself warm with magic, but it was getting cold for him. He promised to visit and would make up for the lost time.