Читать книгу A Bandicoot Holiday - Sherman E Hister - Страница 4

When Dalton’s father left him the franchise, Devro Rivers asked his son to keep the teams in the Rivers family. Devro Rivers knew his son loved the Bandicoots and the town of Pickerville but didn’t really show much passion for the Collvine Branders. The Branders were Devro Rivers’s creation. The money he accumulated in ranching cattle over the years reached the amount it would cost to start a professional baseball team. Devro didn’t get to advance in baseball after schooling. He was immediately put on a horse to tend to his father’s beef herd, which, at the time, was the family business. Devro didn’t complain; he went to work, and after his fifth year as lead herder, he was running the largest cattle company for hundreds of miles known for the most quality beef cows the land had to offer.

After hanging up his spurs due to an accident later in Devro’s life, he sold his cattle company and invested in the city of Collvine’s first sons, the Branders. After their third season, the Collvine Branders won the leagues championship series, making them the best team in baseball. After Devro Rivers’s final season as the organization’s owner, he fell sick and spent the rest of his days tending to his teams from bed. Devro started the Bandicoots around the same time he started the Branders to filter in new talent to his competitive squad. Devro built the Bandicoots’ stadium in his hometown of Pickerville, where he played his last game at the age of sixteen.

While Devro focused on his team, he had his son Dalton tend to the smaller club. This was Devro Rivers’s way of making sure the team he brought to life would live on after he passed. By the time Devro was bedridden, his son was already starting a family and had just as much ability running a team as his father had. Devro knew this but also knew it was for the Bandicoots. Dalton didn’t get along with some of the other owners in the league like his father once did so well. He also disagreed with city life and preferred the simple town of Pickerville. Dalton loved and respected his father and promised him that he would keep the Branders in the Rivers family.

Devro passed soon after, and Dalton, from that day on, has honored his father’s wishes. He just does it his own way—from a distance. Dalton has kept the Branders a top team by getting hold of the talents early in their careers and developing them not only as players but as men who respect every aspect of what his father created. This was another reason Dalton and Father Van were so close. Father Van had just been moved back to Pickerville when Dalton Rivers took over ownership of the team. When Dalton needed guidance after the Branders worst season since Devro built their stadium, he consulted with Father Van. They spent countless hours discussing the right way he could manage the team properly without having to spend all his time in Collvine. This is how the board for the team was assembled. It allowed Dalton to run his father’s team from Pickerville. Whatever the board decides has to go through Dalton before it happens. This gave Dalton more time at home and more time in Pickerville. It put the team back on track where the Branders have been ever since.

Father Van tells Quail, “Try not to kill yourself, and if you need any help, let me know.”

Quail nods before saying, “Thanks, Father Van.”

Quail led the way into the church toward the main altar, where he climbed to the top of the scaffolding to finish replacing the light bulbs that illuminate a large cross on the back wall.

Quail asks, “Father Van, did you stack this scaffolding by yourself.”

Father Van replies jokingly, “What do you think? Sure, I did, Quail.”

Father Van is known for his humor, especially by both the Bandicoots and Branders. He’s been the teams chaplain for several years. Some say Father Van was not only one of the most talented but the fiercest player Devro Rivers had ever tried to recruit. Father Van and Quail break down the scaffolding and load each piece into the farm truck.

Wayne is finishing his round of milking when Quail drives past the old milk barn and gives a nod to his older brother. Quail gets to the new barn’s opening and unloads the yellow metal-framed scaffolding from the truck, carrying each piece into the new barn. Wayne times it just right as he says hello to Quail, who happened to be carrying the last piece into the barn.

“You shouldn’t unload so fast next time. Other people might help.” Wayne jokes with a sarcastic grin.

Quail takes his brother to the ground but is quickly subdued by Wayne’s commanding size. Wayne had about a foot and fifty pounds on Quail. He also loved to give his younger brother a hard time. It was always fun and games between them; it’s how they have always been.

“Dad, told me what he got you to do,” Wayne comments as he catches his breath.

Quail seems irritated, and he asks, “What do you mean? He got me to do what?”

Dalton Rivers has always been a great father, and it’s obvious in the relationships he has with his sons. Dalton and Wayne do a lot of conversing, sharing ideas and interests, while Dalton and Quail share a more competitive relationship. Dalton will initiate a challenge, and Quail will try to accomplish whatever the goal may be. This is just how they’ve always gotten along. Wayne gives Quail a hard time about his competitive nature while Quail always tries to unkempt Wayne’s manicured appearance. Wayne always wears nice clothes even when he milks the cows. It’s normal for him to just roll up his sleeves and put on rubber boots. He usually goes to the office early in the morning, and after eating lunch, he makes his way back to the family plot for his chore of milking the cows. When Wayne finishes, he goes back to the office, so he still must appear as a man of business.

Quail, on the other hand, has more of a relaxed appearance. He’s grown accustomed to laboring at the stadium, playing ball, and getting up every morning to milk cows. Because of Quail’s interests, he is usually at the field, the dairy farm, or at the river, practicing. This is the reason for Quail’s simpler attire; he is a combination of different traits. This allows him to accommodate the many aspects of his daily affairs.

Wayne asks, “How is the insulation going?”

Quail responds, “Come take a look.”

The two enter the new barn, and Wayne gasps. “Yowza! You’ve already finished the first row. That stuff is all kinds of itchy, huh?”

“Honestly, it’s not as bad as you think, but it does itch,” Quail mutters as he begins to space apart the pieces of scaffolding.

“Do you need some help?” Wayne asks with a slight sense of concern as he watches Quail struggle with the different attachments.

“I thought you weren’t going to ask,” Quail says with a smile as he shakes the hand he just accidentally smashed.

Quail’s learned quite a bit through trial and error. He also has the scars to prove it. The two brothers work together setting up the first level of scaffolding. This will be all that is needed for Quail to finish the next row of insulation.

After securing the wheel attachments to the scaffolding’s four-leg base, the brothers shake hands, and Wayne starts to leave by putting on his winter coat.

“Are you going to do the milking tonight or do I need too?” Wayne asks.

Since their father was out of town, someone else would need to cover the evening shift. Quail usually does the extra shift because he lives in the farm’s guesthouse. Wayne is aware of this but knows that Quail has been working after dark on the barn’s insulation. Quail has done this the past few nights, and Wayne notices the fatigue in his younger brother’s eyes. Wayne hasn’t been slacking either. The Bandicoots is a prized minor league team, and Wayne has been coordinating all the business aspects leading up to the anticipated season.

“No Wayne, thanks though. I got it,” Quail gratefully says to his brother.

“All right then. Later, alligator,” Wayne says as he heads back to their parents’ house to check in with their mom before making his way back to the office.

Quail gets to work right after Wayne leaves. Trying to work on the scaffolding is much harder than working from the ground. This slows Quail down, and by the time he decides to stop work for the third day, he is nowhere near the same progress he had before. Quail turns out the barn’s lights and goes up to his parents’ house for dinner.