But the rancher made no assumptions.
He did not tell her she had misunderstood the loan.
He did not dismiss her questions.
And whenever the records were unclear, he asked what she remembered rather than inventing an answer.
Eventually, she began helping him organize the figures.
They compared the original mortgage with the banker's latest notice.
Her father had borrowed three hundred and ten dollars to repair the smokehouse after the storm.
Several years of payments had reduced the principal substantially.
After his death, she had continued paying whenever business allowed.
The bank now claimed more than six hundred dollars remained due.
The rancher frowned.
He added the figures again.
Then once more.
Finally, he set down the charcoal.
“Something's wrong.”
The woman felt her stomach tighten.
“What?”
He pointed toward the latest notice.
“The amount doesn't match the payments you've made.”
She leaned forward.
“I thought so.”
He examined another receipt.
“Look here.”
She followed his finger.
A payment of twenty-four dollars had been recorded in the receipt book.
But the banker's later statement credited only fourteen.
She stared.
Then looked at him.
“That's ten dollars missing.”
He nodded.
“And there's another difference here.”
He pointed to a second receipt.
A payment made early in the previous autumn had been assigned to a category that didn't appear in the original mortgage agreement.
She frowned.
“Property management.”
The rancher nodded.
“Ever agree to pay someone to manage the property?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Then why are they charging you for it?”
She stared at the paper.
For months, she had feared she was failing to keep up with the debt.
Now she was beginning to wonder whether someone had deliberately made the debt impossible to repay.
The rancher leaned back.
He looked toward her.
“Would you be willing to ask the county clerk to compare these with the original recorded note?”
She hesitated.
“The banker said the clerk wouldn't understand the account.”
The rancher's expression hardened.
“That's a strange thing for a banker to say.”
She looked down.
He continued more gently.
“The clerk doesn't have to understand every entry to verify what documents were filed.”
She nodded slowly.
He gathered the papers.
Then stopped.
“Would you like me to make copies of these figures?”
She considered the offer.
Then smiled faintly.
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“Good.”
She looked toward him.
“Why are you helping me?”