Saylor D. Smith

Whistling on the Stair Saylor D. Smith

Ambition, deceit, and revenge, driven by feelings first of love and then of hate, motivate the major characters in Whistling on the Stair. It begins in 1981, when D. C. O'Neill, a minor league baseball player, finds himself pulled in several directions by conflicting forces in his life. Leaving his wife Jane and daughter Bobbi behind in Lincoln, Nebraska, he heads off for his third year of spring practice with the California Angels in their Arizona training facility. There he meets the mysterious Kovacek brothers; are they friendly, disinterested baseball fans, as they claim? he wonders, or dangerous characters intent, for reasons only they understand, on disrupting his life? Back home, Jane attempts to help a neighbor and friend deal with the abuse she is suffering at the hands of her husband; Bobbi begins her acting career at the age of four; and Jane faces mounting frustration brought on by the complexities of a life that doesn't challenge her long-stifled creative self. Then, D. C's professional baseball career reaches a critical juncture. Matters come to a head when one of the Kovacek brothers decides to take drastic action on what seems to be a revenge motive. Finally, D. C. sees the possibility of advancing to the major leagues, while Bobbi experiences notable success as an actress. Then, a bright future for both of them takes a dramatic turn when a family tragedy puts their dreams on hold. D. C. has to unravel the mystery of the Kovacek brothers as he attempts to establish himself as a professional baseball player and, at the same time, hold his family together.