DEEP RUNS

THE RIVER
A Christian Novel

ROBERT HOLLOWAY
Deep Runs the River by Robert Holloway

This book is written to provide information and motivation

to readers. Its purpose is not render any type of psychological,
legal, or professional advice of any kind. The content is the
sole opinion and expression of the author, and not necessarily
that of the publisher.

Copyright © 2018 by Robert Holloway

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,

transmitted, or distributed in any form by any means,
including, but not limited to, recording, photocopying, or
taking screenshots of parts of the book, without prior written
permission from the author or the publisher. Brief quotations
for noncommercial purposes, such as book reviews, permitted
by Fair Use of the U.S. Copyright Law, are allowed without
written permissions, as long as such quotations do not cause
damage to the book’s commercial value. For permissions,
write to the publisher, whose address is stated below.

ISBN 978-1-64271-030-4 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64271-031-1 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America.

Okir Publishing, Inc.

1718 Capitol Avenue
Cheyenne, WY 82001
https://okir-publishing.com
 DEDICATION

I dedicate this work of fiction to my four children – Ralph,

Lori, Ted, Susan – who have always been supportive of my
varied interests and endeavors.

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am extremely grateful to Evelyn, my wife of fifty-nine years,

for her careful “editor’s eye” and computer skills, and her
willingness to be interrupted from her activities to assist me
and make this the work that it is today.
I am also indebted to Okir Publishing for accepting my
manuscript and for the staff ’s professional suggestions and
guidance to bring this novel to publication

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 PREFACE

Having taught composition, technical writing, and

introduction to literature at the University of Louisiana at
Monroe for twenty-three years, I have long wished to be a
writer. While I struggled along to find the right words to
express my thoughts, I admired those for whom writing
seemed to be a special gift. However, aside from some
newspaper articles, pieces for some professional publications,
unpublished poetry and short stories, I am new at the business
of writing. I always found myself waiting for an acceptable
idea and theme to develop. Then an early morning dream
prompted the idea for this novel. Oh, I can’t tell you what the
dream was, for I had forgotten it five minutes after I awoke.
However, as soon as I was awake enough to ponder, I felt that
there was the idea for a novel. Then as I began writing down
my thoughts, they just seemed to grow and grow. Except for
a few uses of the names of actual places, the work is entirely
fictional. It is my hope that, while it is not true, it is truth.
As the theme developed, I confess that it took on a
reflection of my own religious beliefs. I make no apology for
that because I think they are based upon the solid Truth of
the Word of God.

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 CHAPTER 1

A New Beginning

“I’m back! Hey, everyone, I’m back. Rusty Jenson is back!”

he shouted, but no one was there to hear him. Rusty Jenson
is back, back into a world where men set their own alarm
clocks, exercise the dignity of work and are compensated
with sufficient income to buy bread, where neighbor greets
neighbor, and life goes on, aloof from the lowest elements
of society. He’s back, but no one takes notice or cares. He
trudges along the muddy track atop the Mississippi River
levee, as it holds back the turbulent waters of the mighty
stream. His few possessions are held loosely in a half-filled
backpack. Wild flowers bloom along the sloping sides of
the bank of soil, leaves burst forth from spring buds, birds
flit about the trees chirping, and small animals seem happy
as cool mornings replace colder frost. But Rusty lives in a
world of loneliness, where he has never been in his twenty-
four years. After all the years of clanging sounds, belligerent
voices, curses, and shouted orders, he feels the silence, as if
a giant vacuum has sucked out all the noises of civilization.

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 ROBERT HOLLOWAY

In the river a string of barges is being pushed upstream by a

struggling tugboat, leaving a plume of turbulence in its wake.
But no one welcomes him, knows him, notices him, or shakes
his hand. He seeks no destination but a food-laden table and
a soft bed. He has no place to call home, and, worse, no one
to give him a hug, or even to say “Hello, Rusty, welcome
home.”
Rusty wonders if his life is not like the turbulent river,
which is huge and deep, as it flows through South Louisiana,
a long way from where it began as a trickle in Minnesota’s
Itasca State Park, on its 2,340-mile journey. Millions have
walked across its shallow waters at its birthplace. The
Mississippi, one of the major rivers in North America, second
to only the Missouri in length, drains all or parts of thirty-
one U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the
Rocky and Appalachian Mountain Ranges . Along the way
to the Gulf of Mexico hundreds of tributaries merge into it,
contributing to its vastness. It has changed its course dozens
of time, leaving oxbow lakes along the way. Sometimes it
flows leisurely, but at other times it floods and rushes along
creating whirlpools and treacherous currents and taking
with it precious soil from rich farmland and dumping it into
the Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone. Yes, Rusty thought my life
might be compared to that old river. It too began in a small,
insignificant place, but along its path many tributaries deposited
their contributions and exerted their influence. Like the river,
which once flowed backward as a result of an earthquake,
his life had reversed course often and changed, following the
path of least resistance. Or maybe in Rusty Jenson’s case the
wrong direction had led to an upheaval unlike any other he
had ever known. Influences contributed to the changes as
his life moved toward its ultimate destination, filling its void
with turbulence too.

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 CHAPTER 6

Going Home

A week later, Rusty packed his few belongings and a sack

lunch Mrs. Hanson had prepared for him, and Al drove him
to the bus station. Pal had jumped into the truck as they
were leaving the farm, so at the station Rusty sat down on
the ground and put his arm around Pal and tried to tell him
goodbye. The dog looked at him with sad eyes as if he knew
that his friend was leaving him. Rusty told him, “You be a
good dog, obey your new master and work hard. You will a
partner to Al now.” He knew that unless they kept Pal from
it that he would try to follow the bus, so they locked him in
the cab of the truck, and with tears in his eyes Rusty watched
his sad face at the window as Al drove away.
It was a long day’s ride with all the stops along the way,
and as they rode Rusty remembered the story from the Bible
of Jacob going home to be reconciled with his brother Esau
and how afraid Jacob seemed to be. He felt a kinship to Jacob.
He made it home to the North Louisiana town of Winslow
late in the afternoon, retrieved his meager luggage from the

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 CHAPTER 8

Tested and Tried

As Rusty’s job search proved fruitless, he decided that the

Lord was just putting him to the test to see if his faith would
be shaken. But, to be truthful, he was feeling really down,
and wondered if he was going to be able to stay in Winslow.
Yet this was the place that he felt he must stay if he was going
to mend the fences from his broken past. So he continued to
pray and look for a job.
As he walked home one evening feeling sorry for
himself, a loud 4X4 rumbled up beside him and stopped at
the curb. “Hey man,” a familiar voice shouted over the loud
music coming from the truck. “When’d you get out?” the old
friend, Buddy, shouted.
“I’ve been back in town for a couple of weeks,” he
answered. Then Jack rolled out of the passenger side and
grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously. “Say, old friend,
we’re glad to see you. Let’s go down to Mike’s Bar and
celebrate. C’mon, get in. We’ll have us some beer and look
at the girls.”

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