Death is an Albatross.

How does a happy, naive 14 year old girl become an agent for Death and Justice?

“It’s said that bad memories prepare you for life. If so, we’re ready. If I hadn't met Silas, I wouldn't have any memories any different than any ordinary girl. If I hadn't met Silas, there’s a good chance I’d be dead. Funny how things work out.” ---
Beth Portman

"Girl At Sea is a beautiful, dark, but ultimately triumphant book about recognizing evil that exists within some people, but also accepting the goodness that can be found through genuine friendship, lovers, and family. Only then can the albatross fall from our necks and we can truly be free." Julie Sara Porter: Bookworm Reviews.

Two people, vastly different, but with a common thread binding them together, set off on a voyage of discovery and adventure.

After 14-year-old Beth Portman’s parents are killed in a suspicious fire, she finds herself cast adrift in more ways than one. For Beth, there was no use in looking back. There were no family or friends to wave goodbye to. Teaming up with her old sailing mentor and ex-Navy Seal, Silas Tuft, who is also grieving for a family lost to violence, they sail the seas of the South Pacific, seeking a way to endure their respective grief. But Death, in the form of a black Albatross, hasn’t finished with either her or Silas and they are set on a journey they are unable to refuse.

In Australia they encounter Beth's best friend Judy, who is escaping from her vile and abusive father. Only then do Beth and Silas finally understand what Death wants from them as the parallel tracks of their lives are guided towards one small act of revenge, atonement, justice or murder, depending on how one looks at it, that will set them free of their guilt and grief.

“I, too, lost my family by going to sea. They say time heals all wounds. But survivor guilt can fester like a dead Albatross, making you hard inside and careless outside. We survived several potential disasters. Silas thought, though he didn't say it, he survived because he had not suffered enough.
I began to believe Death was not ready for us, that there was purpose, or a curse, to our survival. At first, I thought we were spared for the events fourteen days after my sixteenth birthday. When I killed my first man.” ---
Beth Portman