Somewhere in the sea, 1720<br/><br/><div style="text-align: justify;">That wasn't a merchant vessel. And it could by no means be mistaken for one. It was not clean, or tidy. It didn't carry the flag of any nation. It carried its own flag, and it had its own crew. A crew made of hardened men, dirty men with just one thing in mind - profit. They did have a product to sell, though. A small product that would probably make for a good source of profit some day.<br/><br/>The little product was alive and breathing. It was tiny, with a fair skin, auburn hair and big blue eyes. And it seemed too scared to move from the corner where 'it' had been placed.<br/><br/>The little 'thing' was a girl, around seven or eight years of age. She didn't know why she was there, or what those strange and stinky men would do to her. Or where father was, why he wasn't with her. She had woken up in that ship, unaware of how and why. And now, she was at the mercy of those men.<br/><br/>They didn't seem very interested in her, even though they had obviously taken her. They walked around, doing their own thing, while she sat there, on a very welcome corner away from the mess of men pacing back and forth. Every now and then one of the men looked at her. One had offered her water, but the little girl doubted her ability to stomach anything at the moment.<br/><br/>One of them said something about land being near. Land? Which land? Would they let her go? Probably not, but hanging on to hope is normal for children. As soon as she felt the jerk the ship made when it stopped, all hope vanished, as only two men moved to get out. It seemed like she was stuck in there...</div>