I had taken inventory since I got settled on everything I had. I guess to assess just how screwed I was. I had no weapons, outside of the sword I got of the Knight. I was pretty useless with it as I have since been told. Well more like the laughter as I practiced with it told me.
I had no real way to defend myself in what was obviously a dangerous world.
What I wouldn’t give for just some of gramps’ arsenal. He had over a dozen pistols, an AR-15, 4 hunting rifles, a few shotguns, a reloading bench and enough lead to sink an aircraft carrier back home.
Even just my .273 bolt action hunting rifle and few boxes of ammo would be nice.
I did have the books I had borrowed from the library. A lighter and some fire starters. A ultralight hammock. A flashlight. A couple of granola bars (which have since been eaten). A bottle of water. 2 ballpoint pens. A couple of old mags. A bag of weed (that was mostly seeds and stems unfortunately), and this Journal I’m writing in.
I also had my Smartphone and even a small cheap chinese solar batterbank but obviously it was damn near useless but I guess the calculator would come in handy. As far as money, I had what I had gotten off the Knight, as well as some US Currency. Though since the United States of America didn’t even exist it might as well be Monopoly money.
I decided to keep the coins as some of the alloys didn’t even exist yet. Pennies for instance had been mostly Zinc since the 80’s. In metal shop we used to take them and heat them with a torch and then throw them on the ground. The Zinc would pop out and leave the copper shell.
Ah rednecks and their free time, good times.
I sold the paper money, believe it or not, to some of the people in town. It actually brought quite a bit surprisingly, 4 pence (pennies made of silver) a piece out of 10 bills, 2 shillings in total in other words. Which, I found strange.
Here I thought paper money had no intrinsic value.
To these people, pictures that detailed were unheard of. Same thing with the mags. After I saw how much I got for the Cash I started selling individual pictures and made a killing.
It had taken a week of the Priest’s patience before I could communicate even at this basic level. I was still in the process of learning the language but could now communicate enough to get me by. I had since learned that his name was Father Clarence and thank God he is a real saint.
Not officially of course but I do believe he would have given someone the shirt (although I wouldn’t call it a shirt) off his back. Then he would praise God for giving him the opportunity to help someone. He hadn’t asked me for a single thing from me and he helps me with pretty much all his free time.
When he asked about where I had come from (because he had never heard tongue such as mine) I told him that I had been shipwrecked after a storm and that I came from far to the west. I also told him my people were descendants of Englishmen. They had fled from the Romans to the land across the Atlantic.
He seemed to believe it and it was close to the truth. Which made it at least a little easier lying to such a good man.
He was even teaching me how to read and write Latin. There’s one language I never in a million years saw me picking up. The only people who still use Latin in the 21st are snotty people, biologists, and Catholic priests (I might be missing a few).
I decided to repay him with the sweat off my brow as gramps would say. I helped the Church by fixing the poorly constructed building. It needed work everywhere but the roof was in the worst shape. I don’t even know how old it was but untreated wood singles don’t last long.
The building really needed a new roof altogether. I did what best I could replacing some shingles that I bought out of my own pocket. Well mostly the idiot Knights pocket. Don’t get me started on the quality or lack thereof of the tools here. I’ve never seen such a lousy hammer and nails, good grief are they expensive.
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Even though it ended up being a larger project then anticipated repairing the roof was probably the best decision I ever made. It ended up being the best advertising possible. A few days after I fixed the roof other people in town started asking me to do some handyman odds and ends.
After a month of this I was approached by a local carpenter by the name of James Bolt.
He had dark brown hair that bordered on black that he kept cut short and was in his early 20’s if I would guess. A few years my junior but by the look of those calloused hands he probably had nailed a few more nails than me that's for sure. As I shook his hand it felt like he was wearing gloves.
“You're a big one aren’t you?” He said chuckling.
He was on the short side even for this time period. At best a little over 5’ but he had a powerful build. His clothes had rips and tears on them from heavy use and he reeked from many days without a bath.
“Had to be. Used to play Football.”
“Football?” He asked in puzzlement.
“It's… never mind it would take some time to explain. Can I help you with something Mr. Bolt?”
“Just James and yes actually. I wished to inquire if you would like to work for me.”
The idea of working for him didn’t really interest me but I did smell a business opportunity.
“I appreciate the offer but I will have to decline.”
“That's too bad. I was really impressed by the work you did on the church roof.”
“You were? Well you know I was thinking of opening a construction business would you be interested in a partnership?”
“Construction?”
“Another word for carpentry but I’m thinking of larger projects as well as traditional houses and the like.”
“What do you mean by larger?”
“Well take for instance a Castle. When one is traditionally built you hire someone to oversee the project. Then you have to hire someone else to find all the materials to build it. Someone else lays out how to build it and then still someone else to find labor.
Or instead you could just hire us for an agreed on amount and we do all that for the Lord. In order to cut costs we have experienced, well trained, well fed and paid work force.
We could also cut costs by coming up with cheaper ways of getting materials. Better saws for faster timber harvest and lumber production. Better ways of transporting stone. Better tools for faster building and to save labor time.”
At first he just listened nodding his head occasionally but after a few minutes I had him convinced. Arthur and Bolt Construction was born. A&B had a logo and a small location nearby the church that I rented. The place also had a loft that I turned into a bedroom to save some money on my lodging.
Bolt brought tools and experience and I brought experience and startup capital. In order to raise more capital I had to pitch the idea of a corporation to him.
“Corporation, I have never heard of such a thing.” He said in confusion.
“A corporation has many shares that people can buy and sell. Those shares give a share of the company. The more shares you own the larger percentage of the company you own and the more power you have over the company. You also get a dividend which is a proportion of the profit of the company.”
“Uhh…”
I could tell this would take some time and was proven right. Eventually I got him to understand the concept and why I thought it was a good idea.
See there is a problem in the middle ages, it’s hard for you to get a loan. First of all there are no banks at all. Second, the church will literally excommunicate you if you charge Usury (interest) on a loan so it's damn near impossible to find anyone willing to loan to someone they just met.
We need money, silver in this case, to get my new tools made as well as hire some new men. I also wanted to start an ad campaign and would need to hire an artist to paint up some posters. Our only options were to sell shares or I would have to invest everything I own into the venture.
That’s never a good idea especially when you're in the dark ages and the difference of having silver and not is a matter of life and death.
“So how many shares do I get? I have no silver with which to buy any.”
“You will have shares equitable to the tools you bring as well as your experience. We will come up with something. I will buy my shares to ensure we have some silver to use in the immediate future but we should begin looking for work. I will secure a place to set up shop if you can go out and network.”
“Network?”
“Talk to people. See if anyone needs work done on there house or knows someone that does need some done. Even if they don’t tell them that A&B construction is the quickest and best carpentry service in London and to stop by and see us if they ever need any. Remember right now is the word of mouth phase. Any job where we can make a good name for ourselves will work, even a small one.”
He looked bewildered but nodded his head and left.