Survivor

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"The king and his men

stole the queen from her bed,

and bound her in her bones.

The seas be ours, and by the powers;

where we will, we'll roam.

Yo ho, all hands,

hoist the colors high.

Heave ho, thieves and beggars;

never shall we die."

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The sea air was blisteringly cold that night bringing in a cloud of fog from the distance. It blew softly, allowing the sails to flutter gently, pushing the ship across the open sea towards our final destination. 13 year old me enjoyed this part of the night though. I always felt that I was always born into the wrong life, the sea was where I wanted be, I wanted to explore and see the world. But I was restricted to life at home, surrounded by important high class people, the rich and the famous. Sounds  like the dream life to you, but its extremely boring and ridiculously dull.

The journey from London to Montego Bay had taken just under a month and that night was the last before I would arrive at the new place we would call home. My name is Rosella Langley. My father is Governor Samuel Langley, well he is now. Before my father was promoted to Governor, he worked in London for the King. But since his promotion and the loss of Montego Bay's previous Governor, we had to move so that he could carry out the required duties for the port and control the outbreak of Pirate attacks and black market dealings. I had no choice in the matter of whether I wanted to stay in London or not. Why would I? I was only 13 after all and had no authority whatsoever.

A sharp breeze brushed past my face, I shivered, pulling my shawl tighter around my shoulders. I loved the sea, I'd always been interested in things to do with it, my main interest, and the one reason I was actually quite excited about moving to Montego bay..... Pirates.

Pirates were the greatest fear of everyone I'd ever mentioned them to. The maids, the butler, even the gardener. I would read stories about them and books, written by those who have met one and lived to tell the tale, but I was never phased by them, I never feared them, at least I thought I wouldn't.

I felt a sudden hand on my shoulder, making me jump in shock. I had been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed Jimmy, the regular occupier of my beloved crows nest, climbing the rigging. Spotted again.

"What you doing up here again Miss?" He asked with a whisper as I regained steady breathing, I had a pretty good relationship with Jimmy so I knew he wouldn't tell my father about my little trips up the rigging to the crow's nest.

"There are only so many times I can cover for you being up here" he whispered. "Plus.. this part of the waters are dangerous... there be pirates" he added and gave me a little smile.

"Oh I'm sure I'll be fine Jimmy... I can look after myself" I responded with a smirk.

"Not empty handed against a sword madam!" He laughed and poked my shoulder. "Now get down and go to bed, it's late and if your father wakes and realises you're our here again." He added while I let out a sigh.

"Fine... but I want longer next time" I bargained, but I knew I was pushing my luck. He simply laughed and shook his head. "I presume that's a no then"

I climbed down the rigging slowly, only stopping to enjoy the salty wind blowing through my dark curls. I sighed and headed down to the deck once again, walking over to the edge of the ship and looking out over moonlit water, following the stars down to the horizon, hoping one day I could travel the world, and see all the places I'd read about in my books.

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