Robey Childs

Robey Childs, the principle protagonist of "Coal Black Horse", is a fourteen-year-old young man, born 1849. His mother is named Hettie and his father is not named; the three of them form a traditional family. Robey grows up in an unnamed area of what is probably today known as West Virginia; possibly in Greenbrier County. Robey's family farm is located on the top of an isolated hill or mountain, and consists of several crop fields and various typical farm animals. Robey is a hard-working young man who speaks very little and has little to no formal education. He is respected in the area, however. When his father joins the Union army and goes away to war Robey remains to maintain and run the farm with his mother. When Hettie has a type of precognitive vision she sends Robey across the country to find his father and bring him...