Chapter 4

“YES. WE HAVE a rolling equipment cage out at the baseball diamond. I didn’t think about that. The football team is using the locker room. We’re requiring a shower after every practice. Otherwise, you’d smell the team from across town. We’re starting them with shoulder pads today and you know how that just builds up the smell,” Jim said. The boys were getting ready for the morning practice in the locker room and the coaches walked out to the field together.

“Look at that!” Torvalds said. “Somebody mowed our field. We need to get some striping done.”

“Probably our chief team manager,” Jim said. Andy nodded.

“He did it right after your afternoon practice yesterday,” Andy said.

“Have you noticed how the guys have picked up the level of their workouts?” Torvalds asked. “Putting the challenge of beating the team manager in a race for a guaranteed spot to play in the first game really lit a fire under them. Of course, now I’ll have to figure out how to get them all in the first game.”

“Oh, you won’t need to worry about that,” Andy said. “You might have one or two who can run faster than Dennis, but not for three miles.”

“You’re kidding. If the kid was that athletic, he’d be playing sports instead of managing the teams.”

“Money on it?” Andy said casually.

“You’ve got to be kidding. Fifty says at least ten of our backfield and ends beat the manager and all the cross country runners.”

“Hmm. Okay. I’ve got another fifty that says we’ve got a girl who’ll beat all but your fastest five,” Andy said.

“You’re on. You want in on this, Jim?”

“No. I’ll hold the money. I’ll be back in a few minutes after I show Andy where the baseball equipment cage is.” Jim and Andy walked on to the baseball field as Torvalds inspected the mowing job on the football field.

“He has no idea, has he?” Andy asked.

“None whatsoever. He promotes the idea that footballers are the best, the fastest, the strongest, the toughest in a school. He’ll figure it out. I think it’s just his enthusiasm for getting a new team up and running. And who knows? The team has buckled into their workouts more since he issued the challenge. Do you really think Dennis is up to it?” Jim asked. He opened the shed next to the diamond and they rolled the cage out. It took a few minutes to empty it of the remaining equipment and then relock the shed.

“Yes. The only thing Dennis lacks is confidence in himself. He’s doing everything he asks the rest of the team to do in conditioning, including running multiple sessions in a day. He’s running with the team and is a natural leader. I’ll tell you, Jim, he may be a fifteen-minute cross country runner when he’s fully trained. Maybe not at the start of the season, but he’ll be among the fastest in the state by the State Tournament in Fort Dodge,” Andy said. They rolled the portable cage with them to the bleachers in the stadium and left it there as Jim went to join Torvalds in getting football practice started.

By that time, of course, Dennis and all his girlfriends were at the Abernathy farm and had the hay baler moving. There was less lifting of the bales than there had been at the Browns’ farm, but there, all hay was loaded straight onto flatbed semi trailers for transport. As soon as they had the first wagonload, they pulled it over to the stacking area and hitched an empty wagon to return to the field. The crews split and half unloaded and stacked the bales so the trailer would be ready for the next transfer.

They were nearly halfway done when the volleyball crew had to leave to get ready for practice at four. Two hours later, Dennis and the remaining six girlfriends had to quit and eat before Cross Country. It would take a second full day.

“Okay, Lady Wolverines. We’re beginning to see a team come together. We’ll keep pushing through the next week and by the end of the week we should know who will dress for our first match on the 24th,” Pat said to her team.

“Um ... Excuse me, Coach,” Amy said. “We’re the Angelines.”

Pat shook her head. “What? The school site says Wolverines.”

“That’s the boys’ team. A female wolverine is an Angeline. We’re just as fierce but we have angel in our name,” Daniella said.

“I ... Hmm. I’ll check that out with the department chair. Did you hear about that, Renée?” she asked her assistant.

“Yes. I wasn’t sure if it only applied to the basketball team,” the other woman said. “The cheerleaders have been practicing both.” Renée was working with Janet Mills on cheer choreography as well as assisting Pat.

“Okay. I guess. I’m still going to check with the athletic director.” She looked at the team for a second. “So, how is working out with the cross country team working for you?”

“It’s great, Coach,” Natalie said. “Dennis works us hard, but he does every exercise with us. So do the other coaches. The cheerleaders have joined as well as boys who want to play basketball this winter.”

“I don’t want you injured. Don’t do ridiculous exercises designed for boys.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the girls responded. They headed outside to hang out until the CC team had gathered. Daphne approached her mother.

“I want to go work out with the team as well,” she said. “Can you pick me up after?”

“No. Not tonight. Grace and Zeke have a Little League game tonight. We need to get home. You can shower at home.”

“I can get a ride. It’s no problem,” Daphne persisted.

“Are you saying you would rather go do another hour of exercises than watch your brother and sister play ball?”

“Um ... Yes, ma’am. They never notice if I’m there or not anyway,” Daphne said.

“I don’t like this. I don’t like a boy taking over conditioning my athletes and I don’t like my daughter missing family events in order to participate in it.” Pat glared at her daughter. Daphne stood solidly staring her down. “Fine. I expect a call when you are leaving to tell me who you are riding with. No boys!”

“Everything is no boys,” Daphne grumbled. “Yes, ma’am.” Daphne turned to go join the other teammates who were working out with Dennis. There were only five volleyballers who weren’t joining his workouts now.

Pat watched her daughter go and wondered if she’d made a good decision leaving a girls’ school to move to this little town in the middle of Iowa. Well, this moved her one step closer to the college position she really wanted. She just needed to turn out a winning team.

Tomorrow, I’ll go observe this workout for myself. An extra workout just can’t be good for my team.

“Okay, people, we’re getting hot and sweaty, but you don’t look like you’re having fun!” Dennis yelled at nearly sixty kids and coaches who were in his workout that evening.

“How can we have fun when you’re working us this hard?” Dave called out. “I can barely stand up.”

“You can do it. Cheerleaders, what’s the first rule that a cheerleader must obey?”

“Um ... No means no?” Sara suggested. Dennis was happy the cheerleaders had that driven home.

“That’s a good one, but I mean while you are cheering,” he laughed.

“Oh, I know,” Fred said. “Smile!”

“Right! Let’s see if we can all help you wear that smile. Let’s get some rhythm on this next one. We’ll do a four-count lunge. Watch once and then we’ll practice. Lunge, clap, pivot, close! Lunge, clap, pivot, close!” He demonstrated the lunge step that began to look almost like a dance routine. “Ready? Right foot. Lunge, clap, pivot, close. Other direction. Lunge, clap, pivot, close.” The first few were a little ragged, but the cheerleaders took over the count and encouraged their people to follow along and smile. A few thought smiling was more work than the exercise.

“Everybody grab your water bottles and walk a lap to cool down. Harriers and those who just want a little extra, stow your gear in the cage. We’re going to do a full five-k run today. It’s a slow one, but we’re going to run all the way. Cool down and get ready,” Andy called to everyone.

“Dennis, you have point tonight,” Ardith said. “We want a nice easy lope. Andy will take the middle of the pack and call out to you if it’s too slow or too fast. I run drag on this one. We’ll shoot for about a five-minute kilometer pace. I think everyone can keep up with that. Check your time with your stopwatch.”

When they’d finished their cool-down lap and had another drink of water, they locked their personal gear in the cage and followed Dennis out on their first full run of the course. Dennis was pleased with the condition of the course as it was his first time on it since he’d mown and swept it the day before.

Andy checked his cadence with a stopwatch and was pleased with the pace. They finished the course in just over twenty-five minutes. It took a few more minutes before the last stragglers came in, encouraged by Ardith. As Andy watched the runners, he was pleased to see three of the cheerleaders and five of the volleyball players took the full run with them.

He was pretty sure that even at the easy pace Dennis set for this jog, he’d beat most of the football players. Running steady five-minute kilometers was nothing to sneeze at. He was still sure Dennis could cut nearly a minute and a half or two minutes a kilometer off that.

Amy linked arms with Dennis to walk home and Brenda joined them in the parking lot.

“Are you as tired tonight as you were last night?” Brenda asked.

“Not quite. I had this fantastic massage last night and slept like a baby,” Dennis said.

“And woke up like a baby, sucking on my tit,” Brenda laughed. “Well, Numbers Two and Four would like a piece of you tonight, but we promise not to keep you up too late. We worked hard today, too.”

“No kidding,” Amy said. “It was hard to go from working in the field to volleyball practice to conditioning, to a three-mile run! I might not be able to do the run every day if Coach Pat decides to work us harder. I think she might be upset that we told her we needed more conditioning so we wouldn’t be out of shape when basketball comes around. But really, volleyball just isn’t as taxing as basketball. We don’t run more than a couple of steps and then jump. We’re all feeling it will improve our jumping, though.”

“Every sport uses different muscles,” Dennis said. “I’m trying to condition players for four different sports at once. If the basketball guys stick it out, they’ll be in a lot better shape in November than they were last year.”

When they arrived at Dennis’s house, it was nearly time for reading with Peg. She loved having her sisters Brenda and Amy there. Once she had happily skipped down the hall to bed, the three teens fixed a snack and a cup of tea. Dot joined them at the kitchen table.

“Are you all getting enough to eat with the calories you’re burning?” she asked. She set a plateful of celery sticks stuffed with peanut butter on the table.