by Jean Rolt
Joey in Cornwall
Jean Rolt
Copyright 2013 Jean Rolt
Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com
Table of Contents
Preface
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Epilogue
Preface
This is not of course a true story. It is a work of imagination....a "what if "version of history.
In the gospels there is a large gap between the childhood of Jesus and his reappearance as he starts His ministry. We have no knowledge of this period apart from speculation.
Here in Cornwall we have a legend that Jesus arrived here with his uncle who was a metal merchant. We enjoy this legend a lot and similar stories exist all over these southern shores. This story is just one possibility.....it could have happened this way....it is possible.
One
The boy jumped off the boat holding a rope which he swiftly carried to a tree and tied securely. The men in the boat waved to him. It was a good spot. A fringe of vegetation came almost to the waters edge...on an oval beach just beyond a long sand bar. They had crossed at high tide but the water was dropping now . They would be safe moored there for the night.
One by one the crew came ashore. About twenty of them, they were brown skinned, lean and athletic, well used to fending for themselves in strange places.
Their first job was to find fresh water.
Amongst the stones at the very head of the creek water gurgled up in tiny bubbles from somewhere below. The boy tasted it from his hand. It was clean and sweet.....they would be able to fill their leather water containers.
Food was not hard to find....the sea teemed with life. There were days when fish almost jumped into the boat...they never went hungry.
The boy turned as he heard his name being called. "Joey. Where are you?"
He turned and grinned, Joey was not his real name but it was what the crew called him. His uncle was the only Joe on board. He was happy with the diminutive.
He splashed into the water and climbed on board. The boat was about 40 feet long and there were 19 men on board and him. His uncle Joseph was in charge and they had been traveling for months.
They had set sail from their own land where the wind was warm, often hot, and sailed into a large sea, calling in at small villages as they went every few days to get food and water.
It was not Joeys first trip with his uncle. He was then almost 20 and skilled in the ways of the sea. He enjoyed going out to meet people from other countries, speaking in strange tongues and worshipping strange Gods.
He was delighted to find that often he could understand people when no one else on the boat could....he was an asset to have on board and all the men liked and trusted him.
He knew that if he wished it he could remain a sailor for the rest of his life but then he remembered that this would not be possible. Other things lay ahead of him, important things, there were new ways to learn, new people to meet....
But for now he had his trips away with his uncle Joe. They were not just exploring. They were searching all the time and this place they had arrived at looked very good.
In the ground could be found rocks that could be put onto a fire and melt down. The metal they found could be made into all sorts of things, pots and pans, weapons or ornaments. The metal they expected to find here was tin. It was very plentiful in these parts and one of the men was skilled in knowing just where to dig. Joey liked its colour and it's softness. Even without making it hot he could hold it and shape it with his strong hands...he could fashion it into little cups and plates, especially if he could find a smooth stone to hit it with.
He had taken some things home for his mother from a previous trip and he had loved a bangle he had made her shaped like a snake. He had got the shape by curling it around a tree branch and pulling it off when it cooled. His mother had loved it even when it had gone dark and lost its shine. Uncle Joe had explained that if they mixed two metals together they could stop the tin from tarnishing. It was another metal with a reddish colour that Joey had been looking for and they had found some in a land along the big sea coast that bordered a long sea, which contained islands. Some big, some small but all filled with vegetation and flowers.
Joey was looking forward to trying to mix the copper with the tin.
Before they could do that however they had to make sure they could survive in the little enclosed creek for a few days.
The next day was the Sabbath and they always observed it. No work was done on that day. Prayers were said. All of the men knew the importance of not breaking the rules laid down for this day. They knew that to please God was a vital part of their customs and to make sure that Joey did not fall behind in his studies they had brought several well wrapped scrolls with them. Joey never forgot to read them though in truth he knew most of them by heart now.
After he had done a quick circuit of the creek Joey was able to report some large birds in the trees. He would shin up and look for their eggs soon even though he was aware that the egg laying season was probably over. Another sailor set off to look for edible plants, whilst some fished. They had to get their provisions in before night fall.
The Sabbath was spent in quietness, a relief for most of them. They had had a hard sail to get there...and as yet they had not found any sign of the tin ore they were searching for.
The ballast in their boat contained rocks from other places they had visited but so far in this far flung country they had failed.
Uncle Joe knew the waters here, he had been here before and told the men that soon they would turn a corner and go up a more rugged bit of coat on the north side of the isthmus. He knew tin could be found there. But first he wanted to explore the southern side .
A crashing in the undergrowth cheered up the whole crew on their quiet day.
There were not many large animals native to these shores but that sound was usually wild boar. Forbidden food ..but they could occasionally break the rule when nothing else was available.
Two
On the day after the Sabbath they were ready for some exploring.
The small creek had filled with water as the tide slowly rose and the boat was then left in the opposite process on the muddy bottom. As they climbed over the side they had to go through knee deep mulch and it was this that decided them to make a shelter on dry land. The boat occasionally settled badly, leaning to the side most men slept on..so that for half a tide it was only possible to swing or jump from one place to another.
There was plenty of dead wood. It was possible to make a lean-to onshore using one of the native trees as the base.
They worked for half a day , choosing straight branches and chopping off smaller ones to make rough poles.
Over these they draped a spare sail....to give shade by day and comfort by night. Their little hut was not much but they would spend a few days here, looking for metal so it was worth putting in the effort.
They made a fire that night, cooked a large plump bird they'd caught unawares in the undergrowth and settled down with plenty of soft leaves around them. Beyond the sand bank they could hear the restless
tide, the wind and the call of the birds. They hadn't seen another boat since arriving on this land and they hadn't seen any people either....they felt safe. They slept well!
Over the next day they foraged for food and looked for the sort of rock which contained metal. They broke the rock collected in other places and put the ore containing copper to act as ballast in the bottom of the boat.
Joey enjoyed his trips with his uncle. They had seen so much of the world. Crossing the big sea after leaving home they had seen cities with wonderful buildings, stone arches and towers reaching high into the sky. Landing in some of them Uncle Joe had explained that a great empire existed away from their homeland. They were part of it but the Romans ruled the world. Great cities with amphitheatres had been built by them, columns lined the streets , in some places. There were even synagogues in some of them....the tribes of Israel were as far flung as the Romans....though not so well tolerated by many.
Gradually they had left civilisation behind to come back to this place. They had been here before and found tin in great abundance inland. Uncle Joe was always on the lookout. If they could find the right places to dig they didn't have to pay the natives who