Chapter 13

We don't any of these characters except ones we create.

Sally Pickett found herself sitting on Bailey's old bed. George had gotten very angry after the phone call with Kurt and had stormed out of the house. Sally just sighed. She loved her husband, but she knew his anger was blinding him from seeing what he was going to do to the family. Sally knew if George drug Bailey off of that ship, they would never see her again once she turned 18. She certainly didn't want that but had no idea what to do to stop it.

Sally stood up and began to straighten things up in the room. She just wanted to do something to keep her mind on the family situation. As she picked up a book on Bailey's bedside table, a slip of paper fell out. Sally picked it up and looked at it.

Cody's cell phone #

617-555-2639

Sally continued looking at the slip of paper. Maybe there was something she could do.

Back on the skydeck, Cody looked at his cell phone display and sighed. "That's probably Dad calling to yell at me..."

Bailey wrapped her arm around him. "Its okay. I'll be right here beside you."

Cody nodded and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Cody?"

Cody was taken aback. "Mom?"

"Look, I don't have long. Your father found out about you being on the boat with Bailey Pickett. And he's not happy..."

"Mom, I know it sounds bad, but..."

"Cody, your father is planning on us being in Hong Kong when you dock there to pull you and Zack off of the boat!"

Cody sighed. "I was afraid of that..."

"Cody, what were you thinking with this plan of yours?"

"Mom, I had to. You have no idea how much I missed Bailey..." Cody looked at Bailey. "When we were apart, it felt like half of me was missing. I have that back now. I won't give it up!"

Carey sighed. "Cody, you don't have much of a choice...You're father doesn't care."

"He will if he ever wants to see me again once I turn 18..."

Carey gasped. "Cody, you don't mean that!"

"I sure do. He wants to rip someone I love away from me. I'll do the same thing to him..."

"You love her?"

"Yeah, Mom. I do. I love her. All we want is to be together..."

"Cody, I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do, but I can't..."

"I know, Mom. I appreciate the heads up though..."

"Cody, don't do anything foolish..."

"The only one being foolish is Dad. I'll do what I have to do...Goodbye, Mom."

And with that, Cody hung up.

Bailey just slowly rubbed his back. "I take it that's already too late in Boston?"

Cody nodded. "Yeah. Mom says Dad is planning on being in Hong Kong when we dock there to pull Zack and I off the boat. But don't worry, Bails. I'll think of something..."

"I believe you, Cody. And no matter what happens, I love you and always will..."

"I feel the same way..."

Just then, Cody's phone began to ring again. He looked down at it and saw a number he didn't recognize.

"620-555-3276...I've never heard of that number before..."

Bailey was shocked. "That's our home number on the farm!"

Cody was confused. "But you are the only one there who had my number..."

"Answer it!"

Cody nodded and answered. "Hello?"

"Yes, is this Cody Martin?"

Cody nodded. "Yes it is..."

"This is Sally Pickett, Bailey's mother. Is my daughter close by?"

"Yeah, she's right here..."

Cody handed his cell phone to Bailey and mouthed. "Its your Mom."

Bailey answered it. "Mom?"

Sally sighed. "Bailey..."

Bailey sighed. "I assume Daddy has seen the newsletter sent home..."

"Oh yeah. And he's livid. In fact, he's coming to Hong Kong to personally pull you and Jen off of the boat when you dock..."

Bailey shook her head. "Doesn't Daddy realize what I will do if he does?"

"I tried to explain to him, but he's being so stubborn. He still hates the Martin family."

"But Mom, I don't. I never did. In fact..." She looked at Cody. "I'm in love with one of them..."

Sally sighed again. "Bailey, truly, I'm happy for you. But are you sure?"

"Never been more sure of anything in my life. That's why I had to see Cody again. To quote someone wise, it was like half of me was missing without him..."

"I wish there was something I could do, but your father is dead set on this..."

"Does he remember what I said I would do when I turned 18? Because I mean that. I'm going to be with Cody and there is nothing he can do to stop me!"

"Bailey...Be reasonable, please..."

"I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't ask for this. But don't think I will go about this quietly. Goodbye." And with that, Bailey hung up.

Cody have her a sad smile. "I see yours went as well as mine did..."

Bailey nodded. "Cody, what are we going to do?"

Cody pulled her into his arms. "I don't know, Bails, I don't know. But, we'll think of something. We have to..."

The next few days, everyone tried to go on as normal, but they couldn't. Cody and Bailey weren't their normal selves in class. The didn't volunteer any more, and Miss Tutweiler was worried. Their homework was still fine, but that's because it had been done two weeks ago. But that's as far as they were. Since they found out about their fathers' plans, neither one of them had the heart to do anymore. The days passed, and neither was getting any closer to thinking of a plan.

Even Miss Tutweiler's presentation about the Titanic wasn't holding their interest, and it was a subject both Cody and Bailey loved. But for some reason, something about the presentation was sticking in Cody's mind, and he had no idea why. After class, he decided to take a walk along the deck trying to clear his mind so he could come up with something.

Halfway around the deck, Cody stopped dead in his tracks and turned to his right. Finally, what had been sticking in his mind made perfect sense. For the first time in days, a smile crossed Cody's face. He had a plan!

Quickly, he ran to Bailey's cabin. He knocked and heard a faint 'Come in'. Cody opened the door and found Bailey laying back on her bed staring off in space.

"Bails!"

Bailey sat up and noticed Cody was smiling. "What is it, Cody?"

"I have an idea!"

Bailey was beginning to get excited. "What? Tell me!"

"We do what we were going to do ten years ago...We run away!"

Bailey sat back and paused. "Ummm...Cody, we're on a ship. And our fathers will probably be on the dock waiting for us when we get there. There's no place for us to run..."

Cody kept smiling. "Yes, there is..."

"Where?"

"Bails, we dock in Hong Kong tomorrow afternoon, right?"

Bailey nodded. "Yeah..."

"So, we are relatively close to land right now. And we'll be even closer at midnight..."

"Wait...Midnight?"

"Bailey. We take one of the lifeboats at midnight. We leave the ship and head to land ourselves somewhere besides Hong Kong. We blend in and make a life for ourselves. When we're 18, we can reappear when there is nothing our fathers can do about it..."

Bailey just looked at Cody. While the plan wasn't ideal, she did have to agree that is was better than anything she had thought of so far.

"Do you think we'll be able to make it on our own?"

Cody smiled again. "Bails, with the two of us together, there's nothing we can't do...Look, I know it won't be easy. But I can promise you this. I will do whatever it takes to stay with you. I love you. I don't want to lose you again..."

Bailey smiled too. "I don't want to lose you either..." She paused. "So, we leave at midnight, huh?"

Cody grinned and nodded. "Yeah. We'll sneak out of our cabins and meet up..."

"What about Jen and Zack?"

"We'll leave them notes and promise to contact them when we can..."

Bailey nodded. "Alright, I'll pack a small bag then..."

"I will too..."

Cody was about to leave, when he stopped, turned around and kissed Bailey.

"I promise you. You won't regret doing this..."

"Cody, as long as with you, I won't regret anything...I love you."

"I love you too." Cody paused and chuckled. "After ten years, we're finally running away..."

"Yeah, we are..."

To be Continued...