Writester.net

Major Robert Marsh stood leaning on the side rail of the ship all morning, wondering when his friends would arrive. This wasn’t a good time for him to be traveling to Virginia, since he had so many other things at hand that needed his attention, but after his meeting with King James two nights earlier there was only one option-to except his secret assignment. He was glad he was able to talk his two friends Sir Henry Hilliard and Sir Edward Brantley into going along.

He had watched from a distance all morning as the women said their farewells to their families before being carried by the smaller boats to the ships they were boarding. Most of the women he noticed had arrived in farm carts, probably a good sign they came from middle class families, probably looking to find a better life. Can’t fault them for that.

He thought the women while not ugly, seemed rather plain in their looks and clothing. They were dressed in bland colored simple shifts with ankle length skirts over them, and a few wore a full-length ruffled apron on top of that. He knew that no matter how plain they looked, they were sure to be welcomed by the women-starved men in Jamestown. Most of the men had not been with a woman since leaving England in 1606, and any woman would be a welcome sight.

Soon after he watched his friends arrive at the docks in their carriage, he saw another gentleman’s carriage drive up. A woman dressed in a dark green gown stepped out of the carriage as he watched. She wore what looked to be a dark green hat with something on top, maybe some feathers he thought. He wondered if she was one of his friend’s lady friends, but it didn’t look like either were going to greet her.

(Check tomorrow for part 7 of Chapter 2…)