Flowers for a Lady

 is a Stranger side-mission in Red Dead Redemption.

Story
John Marston comes across an elderly man named Billy West, picking flowers on the side of the road. The man wants to give his wife, Annabel, a bouquet for their 50th anniversary. He asks for Marston's help in gathering the flowers.

Mission Prerequisites
Before this Stranger will appear on the world map, the player must complete:
 * Bonnie MacFarlane mission: "New Friends, Old Problems".

Mission Objectives
After speaking with Billy West, the player must:
 * Collect 3 Wild Feverfew that grow in and around Hennigan's Stead
 * Collect 3 Red Sage that grow in and around Río Bravo
 * Collect 3 Desert Sage that grow in and around Gaptooth Ridge
 * Return to Billy.

Mission Details
Start the mission by speaking to Billy. He can be found just east of MacFarlane's Ranch and just west of Stillwater Creek. Billy will be marked with a "? " when you can start this mission.

He needs 3 units of Wild Feverfew, Red Sage, and Desert Sage. Wild Feverfew grow around Hennigan's Stead, Red Sage near Rio Bravo, and Desert Sage grow out west near Gaptooth Ridge. Collect three of each to make a bouquet for Billy, and bring them to his cabin later.

After giving the flowers to Billy, he invites you into his cabin and insists you try his wife's tea. Upon entering, you discover that Annabel is a long-dead dessicated corpse, left to rot in a chair. It is quite possible Billy is in extreme denial that his wife is even dead at all. When Billy asks John again to stay for the tea, John says "Sorry, but I have an appointment with planet Earth" and walks away.

Tips and Tricks

 * In MacFarlane's Ranch, Armadillo, Thieves' Landing and Blackwater's General Stores you can buy a Survivalist Map which lets you see all herbs on your mini-map for 20 Minutes. Buy one of these as it will decrease the time it takes you to complete the task dramatically.

Trivia
"And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling- my darling- my life and my bride, In the sepulchre there by the sea, In her tomb by the sounding sea."
 * If you re-enter the cabin and run against the corpse, its head will fall off. If the old man is standing next to it he will be shocked and say something about it.
 * If you return after a day or two, Billy will be outside talking either about the tea or another general invite into the house. However, Annabel is nowhere to be seen. Her rocking chair can also be seen outside the house with no corpse, as if Billy has finally buried her.
 * The corpse is somewhat reminiscent of the 1960 film Psycho in which a delusional son believes his mother to be alive after her death and keeps her hidden from the world, leaving her corpse in a rocking chair. The hair of Annabel is similar to the mother's.
 * After the mission, you can shoot Billy, but you will lose honor.
 * The name Annabel is a reference to Edgar Allan Poe's poem, "Annabel Lee", which tells the story of a man who lies with his deceased wife in her tomb:
 * The story is hauntingly similar to William Faulkner's 1930 short story "A Rose for Emily"