‘Hello,’ Jack said. ‘How are you?’

‘Fine. How are you?’ She was giggling so hard she could hardly get a word out.

Jack nodded at the donkey. ‘Is that yours?’

‘Yes. His name is Olly.’

Not bad, Jack thought. The girl said something to Ninni.

‘Her little brother got to name the donkey. She’s a bit mad about that.’

Anja tugged at Ninni’s arm again. ‘Kom nå,’ she said.

‘She wants us to come now. There’s work to be done.’

She held onto the little girl’s hand and chatted with her as they walked across the courtyard and around the barn.

The field was ploughed, or at any rate it looked ploughed to his eyes. At least five or six people were using shovels to turn the dirt. Ninni was right; it looked like hard work.

The field was also mucky and soft underfoot, as he discovered when he walked into it.

A woman holding a heavy metal bucket, filled to the rim with what looked like old potatoes full of sprouts, came towards them. ‘Hi, I’m Sigrid. Pleased to meet you,’ she said, sounding exactly like the little girl. ‘Are you ready to work?’

‘I guess so.’ Jack couldn’t help admiring her bright blue eyes and the long blonde braid over her shoulder.

‘Ninni said you haven’t done this before. Are you sure you’re up for it?’

‘I’ve been looking forward to this since yesterday,’ he assured her.

‘Good. Follow me.’ Sigrid put the bucket down next to a furrow. She picked up a potato and held it in front of him. ‘You put them down with the sprouts facing up, then fold dirt over them, making it look like a narrow ridge. About twenty centimetres between them. If there’s anything you need, let me know.’

Sigrid left and he looked around. Ninni was in the next furrow, with her bottom in the air and the same kind of bucket next to her. He admired her bottom, and smiled when she turned to look at him.

‘Why don’t they use plastic buckets?’ he asked.

She laughed. ‘They don’t believe in plastic. Sorry about that. Is it too heavy for you?’

She was teasing him again. ‘I can manage.’

He tried to keep up with her, only to realise it was better if he kept a few paces behind. He was enjoying the view too much.

Chapter 11

Finishing the potato field took almost three hours, despite all the people working. Jack was knackered halfway through, but would be damned if he was going to show it. His back, arms and even shins ached. But he kept up with the mad mud people.

Ninni came over to him, rubbing her hands against the dungarees she was wearing on top of her clothes. ‘You did well,’ she said with a wide smile. ‘How are you feeling?’

He looked at the furrows he had finished. They didn’t look as straight as the others. ‘It’s not really precision work, is it?’ he said.