What does 1,555 have to do with “Bluebell”? It’s the number of times the Top Ten characters are mentioned, by name, in the novel, and in this issue of ‘First Acquaintance‘, you’ll briefly meet the first half of the group, listed in order of references.
290 – Carl Schenfield: I’ve written about Carl, the newspaper reporter, already in a ‘Character Confessions‘ article, but when he first appears on page 322, we learn that the scenes he was viewing on the road into Drewsport, “were not that different from those of his childhood in rural Montana. The comparison brought recollections of the fanciful dreams and aspirations those days had known…As he had matured, Carl‘s imaginings begot curiosity about the world outside, and the first seeds of a career in journalism were sown.”
234 – Stacey Norton: It’s on page 44 we meet Deputy Sheriff Norton exercising “greater than normal care guiding his old Dodge along Main Street. Beyond that, however, there was nothing to denote the tension building within him…When Mary Lou had called, she was extremely distraught, and it had taken several minutes for Stacey to unravel the story. His first reaction had been to call up a posse, but a second, less dramatic, thought persisted. His quiet, personal reconnaissance had been the result.”
175 – Struther Tanksley: Struther enters the story on page 8 as, of all things, a mechanical magician, and a whole lot more. Struther is able to get an old, old tractor running, completing the task as members of the town are rushing to the aid of a fellow citizen. “At best, Struther had difficulty speaking; and, when excited, could experience a complete block.” Yet when he heard about the injured townswoman, “He shook his head. “That’s a mighty shame!” The last words, as a pure extension of his instinctive feelings for others, came easily in his rich, rumbling baritone, but no question followed.”
174 – Tog Ericson: We meet Tog driving his two godchildren home from a fun outing on page 7, but within two pages, as they approach the home, life begins to dramatically change for him. “As they came in sight of the house, Tog was surprised to see a man emerging from the field, a short distance ahead. Scrambling through the fence, he hurried along the shoulder for a few hundred feet, before crossing, and disappeared into the woods…There was a drifter, he’d seen occasionally in town, but he was blond. This man had dark bushy hair; but, even though his face had been obscured, in the short time he had been visible, Tog had sensed a familiarity about the man.”
166 – TJ McCretchen: 190 pages into Bluebell, TJ is introduced and within a short number of words, we learn quite a lot about his background. “Even though TJ felt no great love for his black brothers, his association with the Klan had little to do with its manifesto. What he found in the brotherhood was a manly image. His mother had been very prejudicial, but her biases were not those involving skin color; so, lacking an inherited color prejudice, TJ’s biases were more or less benign.”
Coming in another ‘First Aquaintance’, we’ll meet Pastor Andrew Lindsey; Judd Connelly; Heta Rawlins; Dr. Bill Ferguson; and Jeremy Claymore; the rest of Bluebell’s Top Ten Characters.
Love to hear what you think…
- Which of the first five most intrigues you?
- Who do you want to learn more about?
- Can you relate to one of the characters and why?