Joey in Cornwall

by Jean Rolt

further down the bank than when they arrived. Even when the tide was full he was not sure they could get out without damaging the keel.

  Going back to the men he voiced some of his concerns.

  The men listened with impatience....they had been there almost a week and had found nothing...was it not time to move on?

  Joey spoke very quietly then,

  "We may be land locked" all the men looked at him.

  "When we arrived it was the time of the equinox....the time when day and night are balanced, during spring tides. It could be some time before we have enough water to leave here"

  The men listened in some irritation...."What was he going on about? They had sailed in easily enough, surely they could get out the same way? "

  Uncle Joe held up his hands. " The boy may be right" The men knew this was possible . He invariably knew the state of the tides, and the length of the days without anyone needing to tell him. "We will wait for the next full tide. If we can we will leave. If not then I'm afraid we may have to winter here "

  Six

  The men were not happy but they accepted that if there was not enough water to get out then they had no choice. Traditionally in many places men would pull their boats out of the water at the times of Equinox to winter over until the next one.

  The trouble was that these men were not used to winters. Their homes were far away and the sun a constant factor. Here were no olive trees, no goats, no fruits except for lots of blackberries growing in the undergrowth. If they had to winter here it would be hard for them and how would they ever find the tin ore they had come looking for?

  Joey immediately started to make plans. They could build small boats, coracles to give them access to the sea, where they could fish and explore all the other little inlets.

  Uncle Joe agreed but first he said they must make some charcoal. They had put it off long enough and now was the time. Charcoal was used in the smelting process....and they had very little left.

  The time taken to produce the best charcoal was always irksome to the young men. A fire was lit and then damped down with turf so no wind could stir it into flames. Occasional wood was fed into the pile and then slowed down. It could take several days to produce a good stock but it didn't take all of the men.

  Several of them went deep into the sloped woodland looking for a stout tree or one that had come down in a gale. They were looking for a tree broad enough to chisel out so they had a coracle to get about in.

  Eventually one was found and dragged back to the shore...

  Joey and two young men settled down to chopping out the softer parts of the boat. It would allow no more than two people to sit in it. They would need to make paddles as well.....this was a job which could take them through the winter.

  After a couple of days using stone tools on the boat they were getting tired. Iron axes from the boat were needed. The trouble was that there were not many of them , they were very precious and Uncle Joe tended to guard them with his life.

  There were times when they might be needed in battle but mostly they were used as tools for breaking up the rock containing the ore. Bringing them ashore needed some negotiation.

  Finally the young men settled down with their various jobs. The sound of industry was pleasing and the sight of everyone working at essential tasks gave Uncle Joe a great smile which was quickly wiped off at the sound of pain coming from the group of charcoal burners. One of them a boy of about seventeen called Saul had lifted the turf sod too quickly, a flame had appeared and caught his arm as he tried to replace it.,

  The arm was bright red and very painful. The boy ran into the water and held it there for a little while but when he came out it was obvious that he was in pain.

  The crew were at a loss as to what to do for the boy. One of them ran for the big leaves growing nearby....Dock leaves were used as poultices when an ankle had twisted or an arm scraped. No one knew what the best thing was.

  Joey left the coracle he was working on and went to look at the young man.

  He was sitting rocking backwards and forwards in obvious pain and flinched as Joey went to remove the leaves.

  "It's all right, " Joey was calm and quiet as he looked at his friend's arm, "The pain will go soon" He laid his hand not on the arm but on the boy's hand. Slowly the red livid welt subsided. After a few moments Saul pulled his hand back and waved his arm in the air.

  "It's better" he announced......"Joey made it better! "

  Joey looked anxious and frowned "I only did what any of you could do, told the pain to go away, that's all..."

  The incident was over, soon forgotten by them all except Uncle Joe. He had his own view on what had happened but he told no one and soon the group of young men resumed their activities.

  Seven

  The work around the creek resumed, the weather was getting colder and Uncle Joe realised that if they were to survive the cold they would need some thick outer clothing. They had nothing much like that with them.....it was time to go out exploring.

  Before the first coracle was fit to go out to sea a party of four young men set off to walk up the hill behind the creek.

  The foliage was less jungle like now the weather had turned cold and it didn't take too long to get to the top of a steep hill.

  Fields stretched out before them, some with rudimentary walls and containing sheep!

  The men recognised the sheep with joy. They had grown up with sheep and goats in their own country....they appreciated all the joys of domestication that having sheep brought them.

  They wondered if it might be possible to acquire some skins but realised that although the sheep appeared to be on their own someone somewhere looked after them.

  Joey stamped on any idea of taking one back with them .

  "That would be stealing" he said. "Even lost sheep belong to someone...somewhere there will be a shepherd."

  He quoted a psalm to them " The Lord is my shepherd" There were plenty of sheep in their scriptures....to steal a lost one was not really possible even if they thought they could get away with it.

  They walked towards the animals realising that this might attract the attention of a shepherd. Sure enough a boy appeared before them . With him was a large dog which growled at them showing its teeth in an obvious threat.

  The men stepped back hastily. They had heard of wolves and this looked much like one!

  Joey smiled at the dog and held out his hand. The others shrank back until they realised that the dog , no longer ferocious was wagging its long matted tail as it sniffed at Joeys hand.

  Joey stroked the animal , pulling at its ears as the animal moved its head in ecstasy .

  The boy in charge of the sheep looked on in amazement. The dog had never done that before.

  After a few anxious moments Joey managed to make the boy understand that they came in peace.....wishing harm to no one. The boy relaxed feeling sure that the dog was a better judge of character than he was. He offered to take them to see the elders of the small holding.

  They walked across fields of grass, catching glimpses of the sea beyond. It was a beautiful place and the young sailors felt safe...until they realised that they were surrounded by men, about twenty of them, looking almost as fierce as the dog had!

  Joey spoke to them and they stepped back a pace. Afterwards his shipmates said they had no idea what he'd said or what language he'd used but gradually the frowns turned to smiles as they were escorted to a small stone walled group of huts.

  Fires were lit and a group of dogs came out to greet them.

  The men were given something to drink which was an infusion of some kind of herb whilst they stood and tried to explain what they needed.

  This time it wasn't just Joey, they all got in on the act, miming feeling cold and pulling on a sheepskin . The villagers understood what they wanted but one of them opened his arms in a gesture that was clear, how were they going to pay for them?

  The young men looked at each other....they had brought nothing with
them to barter and it seemed unlikely they would be trusted to take anything on a promise of return.

  Joey turned and said they would have to go back empty handed until they could find things to barter....they could cut trees, make logs, catch fish , shape stone axes or even iron ones. There had to be a way of paying for some skins. A woman came to the door of a hut dressed in a long warm looking gown.

  Joey went to speak to her after asking permission. He came back to say that the cloth she was wearing was locally spun and woven...and not as expensive as the sheep skins....

  They must go away and see what they could find or make in order to get enough clothes to get them through the winter.

  Eight

  As they turned to go the young shepherd approached Joey holding in his arms a puppy.

  Joey gazed at the pup with great delight...it was a pretty thing but could be useful if he could train it.

  The young villager gave him the puppy with a great smile and Joey tucked it under his arm

  "I'll see if I can find an egg for it" he said "It's only just weaned from its mother"

  The others looked at it with amusement and some concern, "You will never rear it " they said, "Its too young. "

  Joey told them that he could and would rear it and it could be trained to chase rabbits and bring them back for the pot.

  That silenced the men and Joey and the puppy, became inseparable.

  Back in their little camp on the shore of the creek they sat and planned their next trip up the hill to the encampment. They had an incentive to find things to barter and