Froggy Lesueur: A British military demolitions expert who occasionally conducts field operations in rural Georgia, Froggy is Charlie’s caring friend and devises the scheme that protects Charlie from having to interact with the other guests at the lodge.
Charlie Baker: A science-fiction copy editor for a book publishing house, Charlie is a pathologically shy little man who has a very unfaithful wife, no personality that he can think of, and a need for peace and quiet. He has accompanied his friend, Froggy to a Georgia fishing lodge much against his own better judgment.
Betty Meeks: The proprietor of a Georgia fishing lodge, Betty is past seventy, a widow, and a long-time friend of Froggy. She is pleasant, wise in some ways, naïve in others. She is a good-hearted, generous, “down-home” Southerner who speaks the hardy local dialect.
Reverend David Marshall Lee: Neither the stereotypical pallid young divinity student nor the hearty backslapping evangelist, he appears to be a regular guy, one that you would like to have on your side. He is not what he seems, however, and he is clearly the brains behind the plot he engages in with Owen Musser to get control of Betty Meeks’s fishing lodge and Catherine Simms’s fortune.
Catherine Simms: The very pregnant and potentially rich fiancée of the Reverend Lee, she can be a formidable force and occasionally almost too much for the good reverend to handle. She has a ready wit and a sharp tongue. She badly needs someone to talk to, and, since Charlie doesn’t bother giving advice, he suits her needs perfectly. Catherine is Ellard’s sister.
Owen Musser: The Tilghman County property inspector, Owen is a two-tattoo man: one of them, he may have gotten while drunk or on a dare; two of them means he went back for more. Beware of a two-tattoo man. Owen and the Reverend Lee are cooking up a plot to condemn Betty’s lodge so that it can be bought for their own nefarious purposes. Owen, we find, is the absolute stereotype of an ill-bred southern Klansman.
**Ellard Simms:**Catherine’s brother, Ellard is an agreeable young man who is a bit slow-witted. He works as a sort of handyman for Betty and needs a considerable bit of instruction in his tasks, but may not be as dull as he seems. He is due to inherit a share of the Simms family fortune, unless the Reverend Lee can convince Catherine that Ellard is too stupid to manage money, or anything else, on his own. Ellard befriends Charlie and even decides to teach him to speak English.
**Various Townspeople:**Edith Eliot, Amy Fassberg, Leah Hocking, Bryan Johnson, Andy Mellon, Steve Peck, Theresa Plikaitis, Robert Wells.
