I have never moved houses in my entire life. So the fact that I have to move all the way from London to America by ship is ridiculous. I like my friends, my house, my school; and I don’t want to have to sit on a crummy, miserable ship for the better part of a week. I was starting to pack my things for the long trip when my mom came in to my room.

“Cassie! Didn’t I tell you to start packing up a week ago?” she said as she picked up some dirty laundry off the floor.

“I don’t remember,” I said trying to hide the fact that I definitely did remember that she told me to start packing two weeks ago, and I was too engaged in my favorite show to care.

“You are 13 years old. You need to be more responsible” she said crossing her arms.

“I will. I will,” I said rolling my eyes. My parents thought that it would be a great idea if we went to America by ship instead of plane. They thought it would be “an adventure” and “good for me,” but I thought the opposite. After I had finished packing, I ran down the stairs to get a quick drink. I found my dad sitting down at the table on the phone with an annoyed look on his face.

“Alright. Yes. I know. Bye,” he said. He set the phone down and put his face in his hands.

“Who was that dad?” I asked grabbing a soda from the fridge.

“Oh just my brother. He’s still mad about the land he never got from me,” he said. “Are you ready to go? The boat is waiting on the docks”.

“Yeah I am,” I said after taking a big drink.

We made our way to the docks and boarded the surprisingly small boat for what we were using it for. I took my bags to my room and then went onto the deck as I watched my home fade away into nothing but ocean. Later that night I was standing on the deck, leaned up against the dock railing after dinner. I noticed that it was becoming very misty as we neared a small island that no one lived on. As I watched it pass, I noticed a black figure standing on the rocks watching the boat closely as the boat passed. I squinted and realized that it was a man in a black trenchcoat and hat standing with his hands in his pockets, staring up at me. All of a sudden, a cloud of mist blocked my vision and once it cleared up, the man was gone. I blew it off thinking that it was just my mind playing tricks on me, and went to bed.

Another day had passed and it was now the third day of our dreadful voyage across the sea. After breakfast, I was walking back to my room when I saw something black swoop around the corner of the cabins, and I ran after it. I turned the corner, and it was gone. Could it have been the mysterious man? I walked away skeptical about what I had seen.

That night, I barely touched my food. I glanced behind me every once in a while to make sure that no one was about to attack me from behind. I decided to do some exploring of the ship after my parents went to bed.

A while later I came across a small trap door in the vacant captain’s bridge. I opened it and climbed down the ladder that was underneath the door and followed the small narrow hallway that lead to a tiny room. There was a small hint of light coming from the room and I slowly tiptoed towards it.

Creeeeeeaaaaak!

The door began to open and I stepped back. I turned my head from side to side trying to find a place to hide, when I finally found a small janitors closet and hid behind some mops. I peeked through the door and saw the man that had been on the rocks the other night run out of the door and head up the ladder. I ran into the room and was astounded to find the captain of the ship tied to a chair with duct tape over his mouth. I untied him and ripped the tape off his mouth. He let out a yelp of pain.

“Sorry” I said.

“No time apologize. Your parents are in danger and you must stop that man,” he said in an urgent manner. I didn’t need to be told twice. I ran up the stairs and to my parents bedroom and burst into the room. The door slammed loudly against the wall. The man who was holding a knife about to stab my parents turned suddenly at the sound and came darting after me. He grabbed hold of me and I fought to get away as hard as I could. I ripped off the black cloth that was covering his face and gasped. It was my dad’s brother. My face got red hot. My nostrils flared. I pushed him as hard as I could towards the ship railing and flung him off the side. He landed with a splash in the water below, and I let out a relieving breath. I turned around to find my parents standing behind me. At first they looked confused. Then they ran up and hugged me so tight that I could barely breathe. I knew then that we were safe.

Later that week we arrived in America and went straight to the police about what had happened. We told them how my dad’s brother attempted to kill my parents because he was angry about not getting the land that he didn’t even deserve from my father. Once it was all straightened out, we settled down at our new home; and we began our new life as Americans.