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drifted off there for a minute or two. I wondered how the four of us ever landed here at the same time and then found each other.”
    For two years now the Care Less Group as they called themselves met regularly and organized the Martin City and Hungry Horse citizens to provide assistance to families in need, sponsor youth organizations, schedule social activities, and raise funds to advance the growing community needs. Mabel tapped Hannah on the forearm as she spoke, “Hannah, the Lord works in mysterious ways. We found each other so the men around here wouldn’t screw everything up.”
    Coffee erupted from Hannah’s mouth in mid-drink and she coughed violently and struggled to catch her breath. Not quite finished coughing she answered, “You know a lot about men screwing up Mabel. In fact, you probably know a lot about men screwing down too.”
    The group erupted into loud, uncontrollable laughter. Normally very reserved, well-dressed, and made up perfectly, Betty Hansen seemed out of character as she joined in the free-fall activity, “In fact, I bet Mabel knows every direction men screw. Up, down, sideways, on their heads.”
    Mabel wiped the tears from her cheeks and attempted to talk, but she laughed again so hard that she passed gas. The laughing then reached high notes of squealing and gasping for breath. “Oh dear God in heaven, make them stop. I can’t believe you, Betty, saying that. Wouldn’t your husband have a cow if he heard you.” Lila reached for another table napkin to dry her eyes one more time. The other three ladies drew breaths and rubbed their fatigued cheek muscles.
    The waitress poured fresh coffee into their cups. Hannah thanked her and then asked, “What’ll we do if ticket sales come up short of the $563 needed for the resuscitator? God knows, if we keep laughing this hard, we’ll be the first ones to need that damn machine.”
    The three ladies subtly looked at Mabel as she stirred the two sugar cubes into her coffee. Her eyes burrowed deep into the steaming cup as she responded, “I believe I can part with some of my hard-earned cash if we need a few bucks.”
    More than once Mabel made up the difference of what was needed for the various fundraisers. The fire truck, Boy Scout uniforms, the children’s Christmas party, and the money for the Little League team equipment and new uniforms all were made possible by Mabel’s generosity. The community didn’t seem to mind that the money came from the dam workers playtime with Mabel’s girls on Sugar Hill. Her girls were welcomed anywhere in town as long as they minded their manners and didn’t solicit on their own. Mabel had escorted several girls to the bus depot in Columbia Falls for not following her strict rules of public behavior.
     

CHAPTER FIVE
     
     
    R ain streaked his office window that faced the front of the dam construction site. David Sednick stared out at the massive concrete project partly shrouded by the dense clouds and pelting rain. He finished signing the time cards for the two-week period for the day shift and rested before tabulating the individual hours for each of the two-hundred and fifty men on his shift. The image of the one-hundred and twenty-five acres on the North Fork of the Flathead River that he bought burst into his mind. Five more payments of eight hundred dollars each remained before he owned the title. Only the realtor and the previous owner knew of his special purchase.
    David looked away from the window and down to the stack of timecards in front of him. Six more months he thought. Six more months. I’m done in October. Then I’ll build my log home up the North Fork. Kat won’t like it up there. Too bad. It’ll be great for weekends with some woman and for hunting season. The phone rang and interrupted his daydreaming. “Hey David, it’s Tommy.”
    “Hi, Tom. What’s up?”
    “I got the long change to day shift startin’ Saturday, and I was wonderin’ if you wanted to do