Marissa
Marissa Beecham gazed out onto the clear blue waters of the Caribbean ocean. Her long, dark brown hair fluttered gently in the warm breeze that helped the Fidelity, the ship she was aboard, to sail. Anyone who knew fourteen- year- old Marissa could see in her emerald green eyes her innocence, purity, passion and fierce loyalty. Such a person was her father, Captain Terence Beecham of the Royal Navy.
Marissa had always known the world of gold braid and navy blue jackets, for she had grown up in it. When she was just seven years of age, her father took her on her first voyage, to America. She had enjoyed the long journey, but wasn't particularly enthralled by it. She had of course, preferred the warmth and sunshine of the place to the dreary rain of Portsmouth, England. But one thing that she certainly learned about, and cherished from her voyages, was pirates.
She was fascinated by them of course, but she never wanted to meet one. Marissa could just imagine herself fainting at the sight of one, never mind having to arrest and hang them, which her father did on a regular basis. She had never approved of public hangings, even as a small girl. She had refused to let her father take her. She knew that execution of any kind was cruel, unnecessary and above all, immoral. But besides that, she was afraid of them.
Little did Marissa know that she, in time, would be subjected to both of her above fears.