A restless and guilt-haunted young man wandering the back roads of Appalachia, searching for work and fleeing from the consequences of his past.

A grinning, slavering member of a sinister trio of wanderers who carries out the will of their bearded leader with gleeful obedience.

A murdered townsman whose death sparks a lynch mob in the town of Cheatham.

A gentle and unworldly young woman who sets out alone across the countryside in search of her lost child, relying on the kindness of strangers along the way.

A stern and self-righteous landowner who lectures Culla Holme about the value of hard work while extracting labour from him on harsh terms.

A small, grizzled travelling peddler who hauls his cart of wares through the rural countryside, selling household goods and crude pamphlets from door to door.

Vernon's younger brother and a first-time hog drover who blames Culla Holme for spooking the herd that killed his brother.

An enormous man in a dirty white suit who serves as both store owner and local law in a small town, wielding authority with blunt pragmatism.

A man who captures Culla Holme at gunpoint for trespassing in his deceased father's abandoned cabin and marches him to the local squire.

A hospitable rural family man who takes Rinthy Holme in for the night and gives her a ride to town.

A nursing mother who is sought out by the tinker to help feed the abandoned newborn he found in the woods.

A casual and slightly menacing road companion who shares whiskey with Culla Holme and warns him about the town of Cheatham.

A serene and philosophical blind wanderer who offers to pray for Culla Holme's needs and speaks of grace without preaching.

A short, heavy physician with moustaches who examines Rinthy Holme and recognises that her continued milk production means her child must still be alive.

A talkative operator of a current-powered river ferry who is swept overboard when the cable snaps during a night crossing.

A courteous professional who takes pity on Rinthy Holme and lets her wait in his office to see the town doctor.

A half-blind itinerant preacher who alternately urges the drovers not to hang Culla Holme while seeming to egg them on, delivering sermons about grace and affliction.

A shrewd rural justice of the peace who sentences Culla Holme to ten days' labour for trespass while deflecting John's claims for the prisoner's work.

A garrulous old man who lives alone in the deep woods, hunting rattlesnakes for a living and keeping company with two hounds and a massive punt gun.

A wry German shopkeeper who runs the crossroads store near the Holme cabin on the Chicken River.