After lunch, Arthur took the hoe from where it leaned against the wall.
The wooden handle had a few rough spots on it, so Helena cut a strip from an old piece of clothing and wrapped it around the part he would be gripping most.
Arthur tested it in his hands.
It felt comfortable enough.
Then the whole family headed behind the house.
The two sticks Arthur had pushed into the ground that morning were still there, marking the section he planned to clear.
He stopped at the edge of the plot and looked from the overgrown patch to the hoe in his hands.
“I’ll start with this section today.”
Clara followed the direction he was pointing.
“From this stick to that one?”
“Right.”
“You’re sure?”
“I didn’t know how to cook oatmeal yesterday, and that didn’t stop you from teaching us,” Arthur said.
“I don’t know how to farm either, so I might as well learn.”
“I taught you how to cook it,” Clara reminded him.
“The people actually doing the cooking nearly boiled it over.”
“So I’ll be more careful today.”
Arthur was about to step into the plot when Lucas stopped him.
“Dad, wait.”
He crouched beside the path and pushed aside a few leaves.
The plants nearest the path had broad leaves and grew in messy clumps.
A little farther in, however, there was a small patch of narrow-leaved plants growing in a noticeably neater pattern.
“Something was planted here before.” Lucas pointed them out.
“Those might be wheat.
Don’t touch them yet.”
Arthur crouched beside him and studied the plants for a while.
“You’re sure?”
“Not completely.
But leaving them alone for now is safer.”
“All right.”
Arthur stood again.
“I’ll start from the edge by the path.”
Helena led the three children to the other side of the path, giving him plenty of room.
Instead of using the hoe right away, Arthur bent down and grabbed a clump of broad-leaved weeds.
He pulled hard.
The leaves tore off in his hand.
The roots stayed firmly in the ground.
He changed his grip, grabbed the next clump closer to the base, and pulled again.
This time the whole plant came free so suddenly that he stumbled backward.
“Careful,” Helena said.
“I’m fine.” Arthur shook the dirt from the roots.
“I just didn’t expect it to come out that fast.”
Clara watched him from the side.
“You almost sat down.”
“Almost doesn’t count.”
Arthur tossed the weed beside the path and pulled out a few more.
Once he got the hang of it, he became much faster.
He worked his way forward, pulling weeds as he went.
Before long, a small patch of bare soil had appeared beside the path.
Arthur straightened and looked back at his family.
“See?
It’s not that difficult.”
Lucas, however, was staring at the plants in Arthur’s hand.
He didn’t answer.
“Dad.”
He walked a little closer.
“Where did you pull those from?”
“Right here.”
Arthur pointed casually.
There was now a gap in the patch of narrow leaves.
Lucas looked at the gap.
Then at the plants in Arthur’s hand.
“Dad, those aren’t weeds.”
Arthur looked down.
“Not just that one.” Lucas pointed toward the pile beside his feet.
“There are more in there.”
Arthur immediately crouched down and began sorting through everything he had pulled.
Sure enough, mixed among the broad-leaved weeds were several of the narrow-leaved plants.
Clara came over for a look.
“Didn’t you promise not to touch the wheat?”
“I started at the edge,” Arthur said, looking back at the plot.
“I must’ve worked my way over here without noticing.”
“You moved pretty fast,” Helena said.
Arthur looked up at her.
He could hear the laughter in her voice.
Helena immediately turned away and pretended to straighten Theo’s collar.
Arthur looked back at Lucas.
“What do I do now?
Can I put them back?”
“The roots still have some soil on them.
We can try.”
So Arthur carried the narrow-leaved plants back to where they had come from.
He opened several small holes in the soil, carefully put the roots back in, and pressed the dirt around them with his hands.
The last plant had been squeezed a little too tightly while he was holding it.
Its leaves drooped to one side.
Arthur reached out and tried to straighten it.
The moment he let go, it leaned over again.
Theo watched from nearby.
“Stop touching it.”
“I’m just trying to make it stand up.”
“I think it wants you to stay away from it now.”
Clara burst out laughing.
Arthur withdrew his hand, picked up the hoe, and moved to the other side.
“This time, I’m only clearing the broad-leaved ones.”
Lucas followed him and pointed toward the ground.
“This clump is fine.
Leave those narrow ones beside it.”
Arthur brought the hoe down where Lucas had indicated, turning over a clump of dirt and tangled roots.
The hoe was certainly faster than pulling everything by hand, but once the soil was turned over, the roots were all twisted together.
He still had to crouch down and separate them carefully.
He had barely finished one patch when Lucas stopped him again and pointed out another narrow-leaved plant hidden among the weeds.
Arthur paused.
“Can’t you just point all of them out at once?”
“I can’t see them clearly from over there,” Lucas said.
“I have to get closer.”
“Then why don’t you do the digging?”
Lucas looked down at his short arms.
Then he looked at the hoe, which was almost as tall as he was.
“I’ll look.
You dig.”
“You divided the work pretty neatly.”
“I can’t help it,” Lucas said.
“I can’t even hold that thing properly right now.”
Arthur sighed.
He waited until Lucas had moved back to a safe distance before continuing.
Clara watched them for a while.
Arthur had to stop every few swings of the hoe, while Lucas kept walking along the edge of the plot, telling him what he could touch and what he needed to leave alone.
“At this rate, are you two going to finish before dark?”
“No,” Lucas said immediately.
Arthur turned to look at him.
“Could you at least let me finish this little section before saying that?”
“You asked.”
“I didn’t.”
“But I answered.”
Helena finally laughed.
Arthur glanced at her, and she quickly pointed toward the pile of weeds beside the path.
“I’ll move those out of the way before you step into them again.”
Theo followed his mother and helped pick up a few small stones.
He placed them beside the path, then turned around when Arthur tossed another handful of weeds onto the pile.
Theo crouched and poked through them.
“Dad, there’s another narrow one in here.”
“Another one?”
“Yeah.”
Clara took a look.
“You pulled that one just now.
I saw you.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”
“I was looking at the ones you replanted.” Clara pointed toward the plot.
“One of them is about to fall over.”
Arthur followed her finger.
The wilted little plant he had replanted earlier had indeed leaned even farther to one side.
He set down the hoe and started toward it.
“Don’t touch it,” Theo said immediately.
“I’m only going to look.”
“That’s what you said last time.”
Arthur stopped where he was.
He settled for looking from a distance.
Their progress became even slower for the rest of the afternoon.
Lucas had to inspect each patch before Arthur could start working.
Whenever two kinds of plants were growing too close together, Arthur gave up on the hoe altogether and crouched down to pull them one by one.
Clara kept track of which areas Lucas had already checked, while Theo inspected the weed pile from time to time to make sure none of the narrow-leaved plants had been thrown in again.
By the time the sun began to sink, Arthur finally straightened.
His back ached, and even with the cloth wrapped around the handle, his palms were sore.
Between the two sticks, they had managed to clear only a small section beside the path.
“That’s enough for today,” he said.
Clara walked over to inspect their work.
“It’s a lot cleaner than it was this afternoon.”
Arthur was just about to nod when she added,
“And the ones you replanted are still there.”
“Do you really have to bring those up?”
“We need to see if they’re still alive tomorrow.”
Lucas crouched beside the narrow-leaved plants and looked them over carefully.
“Let’s leave this section alone tomorrow.
We should figure out whether this really is wheat before clearing the weeds around it.”
Arthur nodded and lifted the hoe onto his shoulder.
“Tomorrow, I’ll ask you before I touch anything.”
The family headed back inside.
Helena took the three children to wash their hands while Arthur returned the hoe to its place by the wall.
Only then did he notice that the cloth wrapped around the handle was already dark with dirt and sweat.
Clara took out their list and wrote on the back:
Plot behind the house: cleared a small section.
Leave the narrow-leaved plants alone for now.
She paused, then added another line.
The ones Dad pulled out have been replanted.
Check them again tomorrow.
Arthur stood behind her and read what she had written.
“You really have to write that part down too?”
“Of course.
If they survive, I’ll cross it out.”
“And if they don’t?”
Clara turned to look at him.
She didn’t answer right away.
Arthur sighed.
“All right.
Don’t say it.”
She put the pencil away, trying not to laugh.
“You did learn quite a lot today.”
“Like what?”
“Before pulling out a weed, make sure it’s actually a weed.”
Arthur looked down at his mud-covered shoes.
After a moment, he said,
“Don’t write that down either.”
“Don’t worry.”
Clara folded the paper neatly.
“I’ll remember that one.”