Faraway Train - a novel
First draft started September 2006
Final draft completed April 2014.
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overview:
In an America dark with despair and homelessness, Roy McCandless, single father of a disabled but delightful nine-year old son, finds himself thrust suddenly into the uncertain world of the homeless with his son in tow. Finding respite for a time at a friend's home in rural East Tennessee, then at his estranged brother's place in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Roy must protect himself and his son from countless wraithlike wanderers, while trying to put themselves in a position from where they can once again attain a life of some stability. Encounters on the road teach him much about the other side of life, as well as heighten his own appreciation for his wondrous son. Faraway Train is a love story, especially between father and son, but also between friends, and among distant and extended family members, all amid the cascading turmoil of the not too distant future, in a world struggling with madness, long after the death of the American Dream.
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synopsis:
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When Roy McCandless and his special needs son, Jason, are forced from their home in Knoxville, they must rely on resourcefulness and ingenuity to survive homelessness. They find refuge with old friend Snuffy Sanders on her farm in rural East Tennessee. Though the pastoral lifestyle enthralls and sustains young Jason, Roy's life unravels further with the loss of his part-time job and they are soon forced to move on.
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Arriving in Western North Carolina, Roy and Jason are taken in and sheltered by Roy's estranged brother, Mike McCandless, and his wife, Ruth. Roy begins working with Mike as a carpenter's assistant. But soon a run-in occurs with Earl Blalock, the man whose job Roy has taken. Though their fight concludes with no serious injury, Earl vows to return. Threats continue, and Roy decides they must leave Brevard.
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Roy and Jason make for Athens, Georgia, to visit friends John and Angie Marx. But on the road Jason has a seizure. Roy nearly wrecks their car in his panicked attempt to find help. Jason's seizure abates without medical intervention and they arrive in Athens and are welcomed warmly.
Just as things start to look up, Roy's ex-wife, Dana, thrusts herself back into his life, showing up at Mike and Ruth's home in search of Jason and Roy. While in North Carolina, however, Dana is hospitalized with cancer. She demands to see Jason, but Roy travels to Asheville alone. Two furious fights follow.
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On his way back to Athens, Roy is followed by Earl Blalock and brother-in-law, Gerald Ownby, who chase Roy and cause him to run off the road. Roy is forced into the woods in an attempt to get away, where he is captured by Stephen Dupree, leader of a homeless camp. Dupree's armed compadres force Roy, along with Earl and Gerald, back to the camp, where all three are put on trial for trespassing. The kangaroo court find Roy's pursuers guilty not only of trespass, but of murder in an unrelated offense discovered during the trial. Sentenced to do battle with each other, they engage and both are mortally wounded. Roy is greatly relieved when Dupree releases him.
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Roy reunites joyfully with Jason. But soon news arrives that Dana has committed suicide. Reluctantly Roy travels to Minnesota for the funeral. While there he is beset by demons from his own past, as he relives in a terrifying dream much of his tumultuous life with Dana. Though excruciating, the dream is also cathartic, and Roy embarks on the long trip back to Georgia hoping to bring with him a newfound sense of closure.
But en route to the airport, the shuttle van is hijacked. Roy escapes on foot and is pursued through miles of snowy wasteland. He reaches a rail line and hops a southbound freight, nearly freezing to death in the process. Forced to seek shelter in a small Midwestern town, Roy is again confronted by unexpected violence. It is only a combination of luck and determination that allows him to emerge victorious in a deadly fight with a homeless assailant. He makes his way back to the railroad and finally returns to Jason's side in Georgia.
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Roy and Jason move forward with their lives. With the help of their extended family, Roy battles to protect his son from a future fraught with uncertainty, searching for hope that they can once again attain a life of stability and happiness.
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an excerpt:
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Another intersection fast approached. Instinctively Roy kicked the brake pedal and clutch at the same time, jammed the gearshift into second, and yanked hard on the wheel. The Vibe car went up on two wheels for a horrifying second as it hurtled around the corner, then righted itself as he popped the clutch and floored the accelerator out of the turn.
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Roy threw a quick glance at the mirror. The pursuing truck shot through the intersection, wheels locked and tires smoking, unable to stop or negotiate the sudden turn.
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Good! He had a chance now. With the pedal on the floor Roy shot straight ahead. He didn't know how if this road even led to U.S. 25, but was heartened to know he'd outmaneuvered Earl and the other creep and now had a bit of distance with which to work.
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Ahead was a fork in the road. Reluctantly he slowed, trying to gain a lay of the land. The road he was on veered left, but a big red "DO NOT ENTER" sign displayed prominently at the intersection forced him to go right. He whipped the car onto the curving one-way road, still unable to determine whether the highway was up ahead. As he skidded through the turn, he looked in the mirror again, hoping this second, sudden turn might throw the pursuers off his trail.
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In taking his eyes off the road, however, he didn't detect until far too late what amounted to a huge crevasse running lengthwise across the pavement. Maybe not as deep as the worst of the potholes, it was deep and lethal enough, rough and jagged at the bottom, ravenously awaiting a meal of steel-belted radial. By the time Roy's eyes returned to the road ahead it there was no wayaround it. Though he nearly stood up on the brakes, both front wheels skidded into the rut.
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In slow motion, Roy experienced the destruction of his car. He was distantly aware of a loud 'pop' as one tire blew. The crunching of solid steel announced something truly bad happening to the undercarriage. Roy's hands were torn from the steering wheel. The doomed vehicle, now totally out of his control, somehow emerged from this mother of all potholes still doing thirty, one tire shredded, steam swirling from under the hood, and began skidding in a slow, counterclockwise circle toward the left edge of the tree-lined pavement.
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Roy had a split-second to wonder why his airbag did not deploy as the vehicle skidded inexorably toward the dropoff beyond the narrow shoulder of the road. He realized the car was going to slide off the road and braced himself. He had no idea how far it would fall.