Several days passed before Hanson got a chance to begin his plan. However, they were able, with Holzy’s cooperation, to put the time to good use. The tasks he assigned them actually involved the use of magic. True, it was only minor hedge-wizard level magic, though that seemed a huge step forward. Among other work, they caused and removed warts on each other, made a broom sweep by itself and conjured great kettles of disgusting porridge. Even these simple tricks would amaze the folks back in Wolmerk and certainly banish the demeaning titles of Hanson the Pigs and Graber the Firewood from the village vocabulary. And their sojourn was not over yet.
When Holzy continued to retire early, the two friends grew bolder in their explorations. They began to make nightly forays into the wizard’s wor
