She looked at the original letters from the math problems: G, N, D, R, O, Y, T. Add the hidden ones from the dirt: R, O, U, W.

And the answer to the worksheet, which Mira later carved into the schoolhouse door, was:

Then she clapped her hands. ? No. She crossed out the extra T.

The first problem said: 1. Solve for x: 3x + 7 = 22 (Letter: G) Mira solved it:

All together: G, N, D, R, O, Y, T, R, O, U, W.

She spelled it out: → G R O U N D W O R T → Then she saw it.

Desperate, she looked at the bottom of the worksheet again. In tiny, faded handwriting, someone had scribbled: “Hint: The answer is not the letters. It’s what the letters become when you mix them with dirt.”