saying, “At least a month.”
Mr. Rivers laughed and told the crew to be back in two weeks. The insulators asked why, but all Dalton could do was laugh, and say, “You’ll see, two weeks.” Quail picked up on what his father was talking about. When the men were gone, Dalton turns to Quail to say, “Son, I know you can, and I know you want to insulate this barn. Do you think you can do it in two weeks?”
Quail looks at his dad with a big toothless grin as he grabs the first bag of insulation, splitting it open with a box knife the insulation crew had left. There was not a doubt in Dalton’s mind that his son would be done in two weeks, probably before that. Quail was built one way. If he had his mind set on a task, he wasn’t going to stop until he was finished. Mr. Rivers was leaving town that day for business with the pro team. As
Mr. Rivers starts to leave his youngest son to the barn, he turns and says, “Quail, remember, son, Quality.”
Quail works simply but specifically. First, he learns the fundamentals of the task at hand. Then, he practices the fundamentals. Once he masters the fundamentals of whatever he is doing, Quail figures a strategy to accomplish large amounts of work in the most efficient way in the least amount of time. This is how Quail creates his work system. Quail tore into the new barn like there was no tomorrow. He was practically throwing the strips into the cavities as he moved along the walls of the new barn.
The shape of the barn is a giant rectangle that had walls standing four rows high. The lengthy sides of the rectangle could be measured at half the distance of a football field while the rectangles width was half of the new barn’s length. The new barn’s large garage-type doors covered the two openings on either end of the rectangle. A normal-size access door was included next to the large opening on the front side of the barn.
After Quail’s first day, he had completed the first row or lowest row of insulation on two of the four total walls. The second day, Quail completed the other two walls’ first row, not including the barn doors. This put Quail almost a quarter of the way done by the end of his second day. He used the third day on the job to locate scaffolding to complete the upper parts of each interior wall. Quail remembered seeing scaffolding at the Bandicoots’ stadium, so he leaves in the farm’s truck to locate the needed support. Quail heads down the road to town. When he arrives at the stadium, he goes inside through the east tunnel where he remembered seeing the scaffolding leaning against a partition under the grandstand.
When Quail reaches this spot, the scaffolding was nowhere to be found. Someone must have borrowed the set or moved it somewhere else in the stadium. Quail was not surprised because all the necessary maintenance was taken care of during the off-season. Quail decides to go to the stadium’s office to either call his dad or ask someone about the scaffolding. When he gets to the park office, he can’t find anyone. So he goes into his father’s office, where, on the large family heirloom desk, Quail notices a note to Mr. Dalton. The note was from the town’s priest, Father Sullivan, thanking Dalton Rivers for the use of the scaffolding while the Church did some needed maintenance after the recent holiday. Before the letter lands back on Mr. Rivers desk, Quail is out the door through the tunnel and back in the farm truck.
After firing the truck back up, he adjusts the rearview mirror and slaps his seat belt on. Quail dislodges the gear shifter into reverse for a few feet then back into drive, heading down Strum Avenue. The Rivers dairy truck makes a few stops along Strum before making a left turn on Overhead Lane. After a couple of more blocks, Quail parks in front of Saint Apostles Church. Quail walks around the side of the church toward Father Henry P. Sullivan’s living quarters.
Before Quail can reach the entrance, he hears his name called from over his left shoulder.
“Quail, hey, Quail, is that you? What are you doing these days, young man? Getting ready for the season, I’m sure.”
Quail new the voice well and spun around to greet Father Sullivan or Father Van, which Quail has grown to call him. Father Van has known Quail from the time he was born. The Rivers and Father Van are very close and always have been. Father Van and Quail are particularly close because Father kept Quail from quitting baseball. This is very important to Quail because before Father Van, Quail couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn. Father Van saw Quail’s raw talent when no one else could. Even Mr. Rivers had almost written Quail off after junior league ball. Father helped him realize his own potential when he talked Quail into hitting practice following the off-season after junior league ball. They practiced after every Sunday service while the rest of the town went to breakfast. By the following season, Quail was the best hitter on the team. He eventually led Pickerville High School in all of its batting percentages. Father Van was definitely a student of the game on top of being a great player. Quail has heard people in town talk of Father Van as a ball player, and they all say he could have been one of the best ever to live, but his love for the faith was his first passion.
Quail asks Father Van about the scaffolding, and he replies, “Yes, did your dad get my note?”
Quail acknowledges the letter by saying, “No, but I happened to see it on his desk.”
Father Van asks if that is why he is at the church, and Quail explains his project in the new barn. Father Van tells Quail, “Well, if you don’t mind me replacing the last couple of lightbulbs, I’ll help you load the scaffolding in your truck.”
“I don’t want to rush you, Father,” Quail explains, “but I’m in a hurry.”
Father is surprised by Quail’s tone and asks, “What’s the rush?”
Quail tells him how the insulating crew quit the job because of the barn’s size and the fact that they will get behind schedule with their other customers. The crew was from the same city an hour north of town where the Bandicoots pro team was located. Quail then tells Father Van, “My dad asked the crew how long the barn would take them, and they told him a month. Then dad asked them to leave equipment for one man and to be back in two weeks.”
Father Van knew what Dalton Rivers was up too. Father Van asks Quail, “Why did he tell the crew to come back in two weeks?”
Quail laughed and said, “Because he wants me to finish in two weeks. I watched the men work and figured out what they do. When the crew quit, Dad gave the job to me. What he doesn’t know is that I’m going to try to finish in a week.”
Quail couldn’t keep from laughing as Father Van commented, “You and your father are both crazy, but I don’t know who’s worse.”
Father Van then asked Quail how far he had gotten. Quail told him the entire first row with the small amount of work the crew was responsible for.
Father asks why Dalton wasn’t helping, and Quail explains, “Dad had to go up to Collvine for business about the team.”
Father Van also knew what this meant. Dalton Rivers will be in a room for the next hand and a half full of days, discussing every aspect of the Branders organization. This was Dalton’s least favorite thing to do, but he did it out of respect for his own father.
Devro Rivers
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
