The day was like any other, the family members getting things ready. Someone had to cook, another had to clean, one had to chop wood, and the noble steads of their guests needed to be fed. There was getting eggs from the chicken coop, milking their cow, chasing their troublesome mule away from the goats it liked to terrorize. Beans had to be soaked, the fruits and vegetables needed to be washed.
They were so busy that no one noticed a man and his young protege. Well, the children noticed, at least, but their mother shushed them and told them not to gawk at the man's very long and white beard and the long and pointy bright blue hat sitting onto his head. He wore small round spectacles and a robe that matched his hat, but funny enough, he wore flimsy sandals so his toes were all dirty. The young boy at his side was dressed in a similar fashion but instead of blue, his garments were red. His pointy hat wasn't as tall as the old man's and his robe was much smaller, as if it had shrunk, fluttering about his waist. The boy had boots but wore shorts so his knees were dirty instead of his toes. He had large, red mosquito bites on his legs that he spent too much time scratching at night.
The two of them ended up taking a break near the edge of the river, cleaning the dirty toes and knees, but soon felt bad for doing so when looking down at where the water flowed, towards the inn, and saw that laundry was being done. They walked barefoot on the grass, holding their shoes in one hand. They both had comically large wooden backpacks strapped to their slumped shoulders.
"Excuse me," the old wizard croaked. He may have known how to incite the heavens the rain and persuade the earth to crack and rumble, but traveling with a boy could not be easily fixed by magic. They were both hungry and tried of hard crackers and raisins, the chew of salted meat that made their jaws sore for days. One of the older girls looked at the two of them, drying her hands on her apron as she stood up. "Might you have a room available?" She nodded her head. They had added on to the tavern generation after generation, making it multistoried and wider than when it first began. Sometimes the guests complained about the hammering and sawing.
The girl gestured for the man to follow her inside, she took him towards the backdoor, the wizard told the boy to wait for him outside, to go say hi to the children running around, pretending to do their chores. His apprentice nodded his head, looked at the other kids, and then back at the door shutting in front of him. He went to the small well nearby, sitting on the cold stone wall, his pointy hat nearly touching the small wooden roof. He kicked his feet back and forth, they no longer felt wet.
He had shoved one sock each into the pockets on his shorts and had to lean back to pull them out of the tight pockets.
"Hey, leave Gilbert alone Myrtle!" Someone shouted. The wizard's apprentice looked up, hearing braying and hollering, but didn't think to pay any attention to the crying goat hopping his way. It wasn't a particularly large goat, but all goats had strong legs, so when it jumped onto his chest, it kicked the boy just well enough so he fell back into the well. There was a large splash, large enough to not go unnoticed. The goat kept crying, the mule kept braying, and the children started screaming until an adult came to see what all the commotion was about. Many eyes peered down at the apprentice and his soggy hat, no longer pointy but flat.
Rope was thrown down, the apprentice was pulled up. Just as he climbed over the lip of the well, his master came out, looking rather proud of the deal he had made with the innkeeper. Sometimes magic did help in a travel, as long as there was an interested party who needed chimneys cleaned, windows wiped, and the vegetable garden to be sprinkled with a gift of the shroud
"My star-bright pupil, what happened!" The old wizard exclaimed, helping the boy up on his feet. Everyone made way for the wizard an his wobbly legs. The apprentice was blushing, embarrassed. He had always been quite shy, his master knew this. "Nevermind that, you're alright, aren't you?" The boy nodded. It was then that the wizard could smell salt and bitter herbs in the air, he saw that the wooden box was slipping off his pupil's shoulders, the lid no longer tight. There was a sizzle and a pop from the well. "I SEE!" The wizard shouted loudly, drawing all attention to him, beckoning everyone with his hands. "We must be off to our room, maybe a hot bath for the boy, toodaloo!" He was quick to usher them both inside, racing through the kitchens and heading up the stairs.
The family carried on like usual, all throughout the day, grabbing water from the well, using it to wash plates and silverware, using it in the soup for the day, in the pasta they prepped for dinner, in the tea and coffee for guests, all drinking it amongst themselves. The water tasted and looked fine. No one knew that sitting at the bottom of the well were dozens of bottles and vials, serums and potions. Most of them harmless, after all, the boy was only a apprentice. He wasn't allowed to create anything deadly, a truth serum or a love potion were fine, even a brew of endless smiles or tincture of babbles, although there did happen to be that one tonic that was passed it's consumable date...