Both Agnes and Helen seemed pleased with my presence at their lessons. Agnes spoke to Ma during the afternoon. During dinner Ma and Dad spoke it over. Dad thought it over.
He looked me in the eye and asked. "Is this something that you want to do?"
The spoons stopped for a moment. All eyes turned to me. I did not hesitate before nodding vigorously.
"I'll speak to them tomorrow morning," Ma said.
Right after breakfast, we met Agnes drawing water from the well. After greetings, Ma had warned Agnes about my lax weeding. Agnes glanced over at me as I toed a milkweed plant that grew next to the well. Agnes said that she would show me what to do.
It seemed like I was not only going to join them for lessons, but would help Agnes with some chores as well, meaning that I was going to be somewhat like an apprentice. I tailed after Agnes that morning to her gardens.
While commoners did not have family names like the nobles, our neighbors were called the Archers by the villagers, because the father was an archer. My family was called the Woodbys, because we lived by the woods.
Anyway, the flatter part of the Archers' land was devoted to growing grain like the other villagers. Unlike the other villagers, a fairly large portion was devoted to gardens. Some patches were devoted to the familiar turnips, onions, and vegetables. Others parts were devoted to herbs and various other plants that were used in Agnes's brews.
Agnes pointed out various plants and showed me what to keep and what to weed out. To my satisfaction, she did keep the milkweed plants.
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