Irene stared at Sam as he brought up a very good question.  If the property had been a land grant...  "Sam, I have to admit absolute ignorance.  What I know, I know from information gathered after the fact.  Of course, I witnessed the Anthrax.  But, the financial part---  Well, that wasn't for a woman to worry about, now was it?" Her tone was slightly bitter.  She was mad at a dead man, again.  Irene just couldn't seem to keep a good opinion of the man she'd married because the more she learned, the more secrets he seemed to have.<br/><br/>"The loan could have been for anything, Sam.  The cattle idea is logical.  And, there were bad years for rain and we had to buy and import hay.  That wasn't easy or cheap.  He sank a well, too, when ours went dry.  There were more expenses with that property than revenue, so being in debt just seems natural."<br/><br/>She closed the ledger.  "I think Carter is still around.  I don't know about Mr. Sullivan, the tax man.  I think the current man is different."  She sighed and shifted to sit on the edge of her chair, her knee rubbing Sam's.  "Let's go back to my room, Sam.  I need to wash this all right out of my head..." she whispered.