Chapter I

The masts stood tall and proud like the men who sailed them, the fine sails flew proudly in the wind and as the little girl watched sadly as her father and brothers sailed away, she could not help but admire them and the adventures they would have. Standing side by side with her mother she watched on, it was tradition to see her father’s ship sail out of the harbor and into the vast ocean. She looked up at her mother and realized this year would be so much different than all of the others; the last of her bothers had sailed off with her father leaving twelve year old Willamina Kingsley at the mercy of her mother alone in their empty estate. She sighed and turned towards the carriage before the ship had weighed anchor, she didn’t want to say her goodbyes, and she longed to be on that ship. Her younger brother Thomas had begun his seamanship this year and she was happy for him yet she could not help the feelings of jealousy that coursed through her.

She had asked her father to take her with him so many times the night before being the last, it was pointless, the same thing would happen every time and he did not disappoint, she knew the speech off by heart, she closed her eyes remembering. “Mina my darling,” he began his eyes softening a little like they always did, “I know you love the ocean but a ship is not a place for a lady, especially for one of your status. You are needed here at home with your mother where she can teach you how to run a house hold, someday you will have one of your own to run and you need to learn how to do it properly.”

Crestfallen she would always ask, “Why is it not my place on a ship?”

Her father’s eyes would always get sad at seeing the sorrow in his daughters face and he would pull her close to his chest, “one day you will understand my darling, I wish it could be different, I wish that you could find your happiness on the sea just as I have, but it is just not possible.”

Willamina knew she would never understand but what choice did she have, she had to grow up to be a perfect lady. No matter how badly she wanted to feel the sea around her.

Her father would then set her on the ground and look her square in the eye, “If it were up to me,” he would lower his voice so that on one could hear his words and his eyes sparkled with mischief, “I would have you as my second in command, I know that the ocean is your bliss as much as it is mine but darling I promise you that the way things are now no one would understand, and so many terrible things would be said about you.”

“But papa,” the tears shone in her eyes, “I don’t care what anyone thinks, I never will. I want to be on a ship, I want to feel what its like to glide over the water. I want to see what its like to have nothing but open water around me, just like you say in your stories. I want nothing more than to be out there with you, and Sam and Charlie and Eric, all of them!” The tears fell freely down her cheeks, “Papa, that’s what freedom is right? Out there I mean, on the water,” she tried to swallow her tears furiously wiping them from her face, “I will never know then, what its like to be free?”

He reached for her, to comfort her and set things right. Willamina pushed his hand away anger than filling her amber eyes, “Will I always be imprisoned then? If not in my father’s home, but you are grooming me to be a prisoner in the home of my husband!” Her voice was raising dangerously Leopold Kingsley knew from experience that this child was much like her mother even though she was naught to admit it, and if her voice was beginning to raise that there soon would be hell to pay. He made to interrupt her but like her mother was one to do she started before he could break a word in.

“Would you have that of me?” her mouth set into a firm line, “Would you rather have me miserable, than have people think ill of me. I would rather be happy.” The tears erupted from angry eyes, “I would give up the life I have, and all of the money in the world would not be enough payment to change my mind.” She looked now at her father as if she had seen him for the first time; he was one of those people, one of the people who would think ill of her if she was on a ship, if she was in the one place in the world that would make her happy. Willamina looked away from him in disgust wiping furiously at her tears.

“Mina, my darling,” her father began, “Please, I’m telling you this for your own good it is best if you give up these foolish fantasies.”

Sometime during all of this her brothers had appeared in the doorway, shock on their faces, they knew she had the passion for what they had chosen for their carriers but they did not know that it had run this deep. Willamina’s oldest brother Samuel stepped into the room and put his arm around her and led her from the room a word not leaving her lips, as she stepped between her brothers to leave the room it was Eric that spoke he was her elder by three years, “He’s right you know, women don’t belong on a ship.”

Sam had nudged passed him harder than was entirely necessary as he left the room with his sister, Willamina looked over her shoulder at her father as she was about to turn into the corridor, he had a terrible look of pain on his face as he watched her leave, and somewhere deep inside of her she wanted to run back into his arms and forgive him, yet she could not bring herself to do it.

She looked up at Sam who had a mournful expression on his face, “You know Mina,” he said his voice matter of fact, “I won’t disagree with you that its not fair that you can’t sail, but it is not father’s decision. He has to answer to people higher than you know. Someday you’ll see, it might be a long time from now, or who knows maybe you never will but father would never do anything to hurt you, Mina you have to see that.”

She looked up at her brother the tears slowing, “I know Sam, but you will never understand either. You’ll have no idea what its like to be denied your hearts passions because that’s just the way things are.”

He gave her a pained expression as he stopped in front of her door and smiled lightly at her, he reached forward and wiped the tears off her cheek, “Like I said Mina, one day you understand, until then, find something else, find something to take your mind off of what you can’t have and put your everything into it.”

She entered her room and cried herself to sleep, yet now here she stood with one foot poised to enter the carriage, her mother’s scolding words falling upon her ears, but it was the distant voice of he brother Samuel that made her turn back, there he was, leaning over the railing his hands cupped around his mouth yelling at her, when he saw her turn to him he dropped his hands and gave her a cheeky smile and waved goodbye. She chuckled at him and waved goodbye loving him at that moment more than she ever had.