Richard: A tall, skinny, twelve year old southern farm boy with coal black hair who's always coming up with a “You won't believe how easy this is gonna be.” But of course it never is that easy. “Now listen up, y’all; all that stuff really ain’t my fault. Cross my heart and hope to die!” John Clayton: Richard’s best friend and partner, who always tries to rein him in when they’re about to get into trouble. “Wait a minute, Richard! He’s gonna hear us!” “Yeah, and that John Clayton is always tryin’ to blame me for all that stuff we get into.” Rosalie: “The prettiest girl in the whole, danged entire school.” Dark auburn hair, a very light complexion and, “The bluest eyes you ever did see.” Uncle Hugh: An old black man who lives in a little cabin down in the woods. He’s Richard and John Clayton’s good friend, and he’s having some walking problems, but Richard and John Clayton are taking care of him. “Shoot, Uncle Hugh is one of our bestest friends.” Homer Ray: A big ugly, tough bully in Richard’s class. He’s Richard’s bitter enemy. “That sorry, worthless Homer Ray is as ugly as a fence post, and one of these days he’s gonna get what he deserves.” Richard’s momma, Sue: A thin woman with black hair and dark eyes. “Look out, cause Momma’ll work you to death, but heck, she’s the only thing that keeps our family together.” Richard’s daddy, Jack: A handsome red-head who can’t resist taking a little drink. “Well, maybe more than a little drink. Shoot, watch out for Friday nights ‘cause he’ll be drunk as a skunk by nine o’clock.” Doc: The newsstand owner who’s confined to a wheelchair. He’s old, grumpy, and pinches pennies. Richard is the town paperboy, and he works for Doc. “Heck, Doc ain’t bad a-tall. He’s just grumpy. How would you like to be stuck in a danged wheelchair all day long?” Sniffer: Richard’s big, old, skinny hound who howls and sniffs and sniffs and sniffs. “Yeah, he’s just a sniffer, but he's a real good friend. Uh, huh, and I can talk to Sniffer, and he understands me.” Bubba: The biggest man in town and a cook at the City Café. An oil field injury has given him a wobbly walk and slurred speech, but hasn’t hurt his strength. “Don’t y’all make Bubba mad, but if you do, you'd better run like a scalded dog.” Big Six: A towering, tough oil field worker. “That sorry Big Six is mean as a snake and a worthless crook.” Wing: The one-armed Norphlet marshal, who swings a mean blackjack, and keeps the peace in Norphlet. “Heck, if it weren’t for Wing, Norphlet wouldn’t have no law.” Peg: Wing’s one-legged brother, who runs the pool hall and spouts off some of the most colorful language the boys have ever heard. “That Peg can shor tell you how the cow ate the cabbage.” Ears: A tall, skinny friend of Richard’s; the world champion funny book collector. “Uh, huh, and he’s got ears the size of saucers.” Old man Odom: An old weather-beaten farmer, who’s trigger happy when it comes to his watermelon patch or the perfect Christmas tree that just happens to be in his front yard. “Yeah, I did feel kinda bad about that danged Christmas tree.” Mr. Benton: The fur-buying, pipe-smoking former river rat that works in the refinery and buys furs on the side. “I’ll tell you something right now; if you took away Mr. Benton’s pipe, I don’t think he could talk. He punches out his words with that pipe like nothin’ you’ve ever seen.” Pop Davis: The old, bloodshot-eyed moonshinner who gave Sniffer to Richard. He lives in the river bottoms and rarely comes to town. “After he gave me Sniffer he just took off a-driving all over the road.”