Thomas Shelburne 2

"Wool," he finally said somewhat sheepishly, placing himself right in front of the ship. There was a flurry of activity. People were carrying barrel after barrel of supply. There were dozens of people around, some of whom at least looked important.

"Out of me waye," came the voice of an irritated sailor carrying a box of something or other on his shoulder. But most paid him no mind. A thirteen year old boy was all but non-existent in the minds of these men.

And they were all men, as far as he could see. Over the space of about an hour, he only saw men board the ship. Only once that day did he see a woman, two women actually. A lady and her maide finally boarded the ship. He couldn't decide if it would be enjoyable or horrible to be the only women on a ship with dozens of men. He would later decide horrible.

"Wool for sale," he said repeatedly, to no avail. "Wool for trade," he sometimes would add. After an hour of timidity, he started walking up to people who looked to have some money. But he was simply brushed aside.

Finally, after about two hours with no results, he heard the familiar sound of Welsh coming from somewhere on the dock. Perhaps a kindred spirit would take an interest.

"Gwlân ar werth," he said to the man, "wool for sale." The Welsh caught the man's attention just as it had Thomas. He paused from a moment and looked down at Thomas, sizing him up.

"So where have you come from, Welsh lad?" he asked in their mother tongue.

"I'm selling wool," Thomas said. "I'll sell it to you at a good price and you can sell it higher wherever you are going."

Captain Peter Winne smiled. "How much are you asking?" he said.

"Six pence a pound," Thomas responded. It was a ridiculously low asking price, but he had no idea that the going rate in London that year was double that amount.

Winne smiled even bigger. "I'll take it all," he finally said, and Thomas' eyes grew big indeed with surprise. "Say, boy, where do you live? Where are your parents?"

Thomas somehow felt sheepish about giving a straightforward answer. "They sent me here from Wales to sell our wool."

The answer didn't convince Winne. The boy was clearly lying.

"You like adventures, don't you boy?" Winne finally said. "See this big ship? It's going on one of the greatest adventures you could go on. Why don't you carry your bag of wool to my cabin? I'll give you the money there."

Thomas Shelburne had no idea what Captain Winne was thinking. But Winne had guessed that Thomas was a runaway or an orphan. Either way, he had likely stolen the wool from somewhere. Winne had no page or cabin boy, still less anyone else on the ship who spoke Welsh. Perhaps the situation could work out to both of their advantage.

"This is the second supply journey of the new colony at Jamestown in the New World," Winne said as they boarded the ship. "It's said to be a magnificent land, beyond your greatest imagination. The captain of this ship, Christopher Newport, has already been to the colony twice and says there is gold and wealth to be had there beyond belief."

Of course Newport was both a fool and a liar. On his first trip back from Jamestown, he filled his ship with useless fool's gold. Even worse, only one in five of the original settlers had survived by the time he had returned on his first resupply mission. Two-thirds of all who had come would be dead by the time this second resupply mission arrived.

But Thomas barely had any idea what Winne was talking about. "What is the New World again?" Thomas asked.

Again, Winne chuckled. "Why it is the future," he responded. "All these men are going to be rich and important in the new lands across the ocean."