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.
Samantha Rivers
Samantha Rivers loves to cook for her boys more than anything else in the world. So there is always plenty to eat at the Rivers farm. Mrs. Rivers has always been this way through thick and thin. She is a woman that would give you the shirt off her back. Before Mr. and Mrs. Rivers met, Samantha was a nurse at Walter D. Huffhines Hospital. This was after growing up on her father’s struggling farm. Eugene Jones was a crop farmer who could never catch a break. If his equipment wasn’t breaking down, then his fields were not producing. Mr. Jones did always seem to keep a handful of world-class dairy cows. There were times these cows kept the Jones farm out of foreclosure. When Samantha Jones was old enough for nurse’s training, Mr. Jones sold one of his dairy cows to Devro Rivers. This allowed Samantha to pay for her nurse’s training. Eugene and Devro had known each other through the town’s farm bureau. After Samantha Jones completed her nurse’s training, she went to work at Pickerville’s only hospital, Walter D. Huffhines. Early in her career, she tended to an older cattleman who had been brought in by his son. The older cattleman happened to be Devro Rivers, and the son who brought him in was Dalton Rivers.
Devro’s horse had been startled in a group of cattle he was trying to drive in to a large pen. When the horse spooked, Devro fell off and caught the tip of a horn in his right eye. The eye was permanently damaged but really didn’t cast a shadow over the old cattle baron. While being tended to by Samantha, Devro talked to his son about what it would be like to start a baseball team. Dalton did his best to accommodate what his father was saying, but could not hide the fact that he was more interested in the nurse bandaging his father’s eye. Not only was Dalton