Written permission must be secured from the publisher to use or reproduce any part of this book, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles. The characters in this novel are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Davis Studio Publishing P.O. Box 4714 Louisville, KY 40204 Cover photograph by Marlene Mitchell To my niece, Diane Gibbear and my nephew, Richard Borders. Two special people that I would love even if we weren’t related. A Little Bit of History In the heart of Appalachia, just a few miles before you cross the Tennessee border, there used to be a small town called Bent Creek, Kentucky. Bent Creek was nestled in the shadow of Big Black Mountain where the tall pines and cascading streams meandered through the foothills and hollows. It was a coal-mining town that started way back in the eighteen hundreds in a rugged swathe of America.
