Jim Craddock opened the door to his lovely home with a bouquet of daffodils in his hand. “Elizabeth, I’m home!” he called through the house. He was greeted by the smell of cooked meat.

“In the kitchen, love!” his darling Elizabeth sang. He walked into the kitchen and presented her the flowers. “Oh Jim, my favorite!” she exclaimed and hugged him.

Jim and Elizabeth’s lives were perfect. She knew he was a highway man when she married him last spring. Every day, she cleans and cooks for him and he would come home with daffodils. On nights that he would go to do his business, she would have dinner and a cup of tea on the table when he came home, knowing he was hungry and exhausted.

That winter, Jim was sitting at the table reading the paper as Elizabeth worked at the counter. She began to have a coughing fit. She had been coughing for the past couple days but Jim thought she only had a sore throat but now it seemed that she was trying to cough up a lung.

“I’m going to go lay down, dear,” she told him as she passed him, clutching her stomach.

“I’ll come and check on you soon,” he replied as he turned a page. He ran his hand through his sandy blonde hair as he read an article.

“Jim!” Elizabeth suddenly cried from upstairs. He threw the paper down and ran quickly up the stairs to their bedroom.

There he found Elizabeth lying under the covers as she stared at her hand that was covered in blood. She was frightened and Jim’s first action was to comfort and console her, then he rode off to fetch a doctor.

“Mr. Craddock,” the doctor said quietly as he shut the bedroom door behind him. Jim came up to the doctor quickly. “Your wife has consumption and I fear she may not survive Christmas. I’m sorry,” the doctor bowed his head before leaving the distraught Jim in the hallway, frozen in time.

Days passed and Jim was unwilling to tell Elizabeth that she would not see the next spring, but she felt as though it was so. She had asked him to bring her father to her for a visit and then the next Sunday, to bring the local priest. Jim did so and tended to her every whim.

He listened in when Elizabeth’s father was visiting with her. She told him what she feared would happen and that she wanted to make amends with anything she had done during her life. It brought tears to Jim’s eyes. He was angry because they had just gotten married and she was due to die soon. When the priest came, Elizabeth confessed her sins and the priest read inspiring verses from the Bible to her.

“Thank you, father,” Elizabeth told the priest as Jim stepped into the room. When the priest had left, Jim sat down with Elizabeth to have their last words.

“Elizabeth, I… I…” he began to cry and she took his hand.

“Jim, I am afraid to die,” she told him, “I wish to live longer and spend the rest of it with you but it seems that it can not be so. But, here is what I will do.” She struggled to sit up in bed and finally, Jim laid her back down in bed. “I will pass on to the other side and I will find a beautiful home like this one with a stable for the horse and a garden. I will wait for you there and clean it constantly so it will be sparkling clean when you come home.”

Jim wiped a tear from his eye, “I shall love no woman but you, my love,” he told her.

“And I will love no other man but you,” she smiled at him, “You come straight home to your palace with a bouquet of daffodils, you hear? I will have dinner and some tea ready when you do.”

“As always, my flower,” he forced a smile through his tears.

“I love you, Jim,” Elizabeth began to close her eyes.

“I love you too, Elizabeth,” he replied as he smoothed down her hair. Her breathing slowed down and she appeared almost lifeless. “Oh please don’t leave me! I have nothing! They’ll find me one day and seize everything I own and hang me!” he wept as her heart stopped.

Shortly after Elizabeth’s death, Jim left the house to live in an abandoned windmill near White Chapel. There he met the demon Astaroth, who promised him immortality if he collected ten souls for him. Jim at first wanted to die so he could be with Elizabeth again but Astaroth talked him into the deal. Jim held up his end of the bargain by collecting ten souls but things aren’t always as they seem. Astaroth made him immortal but when Jim was caught by two demons and brought to authorities, he was hung and found that he became a ghost, never able to pass over to the other side. He would never see Elizabeth again, or so he thought.