I chose the handkerchief egg. Andrew chose the spider. It was attached to a rubber ball. When you squeezed the ball, the spider jumped. Andrew took it out of the package and made it jump for Elizabeth. She screamed. We all laughed.

Then we started walking down Main Street again. Daddy bought us balloons and ice-cream cones. I could hardly eat my cone, though. I was too excited. That was because when we reached the end of Main Street, the Cinderella Castle stood before us. It was huge, and it looked just like a castle in a fairy tale.

"Oooh," I breathed. "It's beautiful."

"Does Cinderella really live there?" Andrew wondered.

I was about to say, "Of course not, silly,"

when I realized I wasn't sure myself. Andrew and I looked at Daddy.

"Well..." Daddy said slowly. "I'm afraid not. But if s still a pretty nice castle, isn't it?"

"Look at the turrets," said Elizabeth.

"The flags," said Daddy.

"The crenellation," added Elizabeth.

I was too excited to bother to ask about crenellation. Besides, it was time to make a decision. From where we were standing, we could walk right to Tomorrowland, Liberty Square, or Adventureland.

"Daddy?" I said. "Where's the Haunted Mansion? Can we go to the Haunted Mansion?" Kristy had been telling me about all the rides at Disney World, and the one I wanted to go on the most was the Haunted Mansion. s.p.a.ce Mountain sounded like a good roller coaster, Peter Pan's Flight sounded fun, Snow White's Adventures sounded maybe just a little scary, but the Haunted Mansion sounded like the ride for me.

I happen to know a lot about spooky stuff. At Daddy's house in Stoneybrook, there's a ghost on the third floor - old Ben Brewer. And next door lives a witch named Morbidda Destiny.

Daddy took a map out of his pocket. "You're in luck/Karen," he said. "The Haunted Mansion is nearby. It's in Liberty Square. Over this way."

We began walking. Just when I thought I could see the house on a hill not far away, I heard a horrible, moaning scream. "Oooo-weee-ooooo ..."

"What was that?" I shrieked.

I heard the scream again.

Elizabeth laughed. "I think it's coming from the Haunted Mansion, honey. We're in for a scary ride."

"I hope so," I said, but I said it in a very small voice. And I reached out and held tightly to Elizabeth's hand.

Andrew was so scared that Daddy had to carry him.

We walked up a path to a spooky old mansion. We began to pa.s.s tombstones. A line of people had formed at the front door to the house, so while we waited in line, I looked at the little graveyard.

"Dear departed Brother Dave," I read to Elizabeth from one of the tombs.

"He chased a bear into a cave," she finished.

I giggled. Then I read another. "Here lies good old Fred. A great big rock fell on his head. R.I.P." I knew what R.I.P. meant - rest in peace.

The line began to move and we walked slowly into a dim room. The whole crowd of people took a ride down in a weird elevator. When we got off we climbed into little black cars. The cars were heading into darkness. I got into a car with Elizabeth. Andrew and Daddy climbed into the car behind us.

The ride began. It wasn't a wild ride that jerked you around corners or turned you upside down. Instead, the cars took us on a tour through the most haunted house I could imagine. We saw ghosts dancing in a cobwebby ballroom. We saw a face appear in a crystal ball. We saw wallpaper with bats' eyes all over it, and a scary, scary graveyard - much scarier than the one outside.

All the time we were riding, a deep voice was telling us about the spooks in the mansion. Just when I thought the ride was over, the voice said something about hitchhiking ghosts.

"Hitchhiking ghosts?" I whispered to Elizabeth.

She shrugged.

And at that moment we pa.s.sed a wall of mirrors. I looked for our car. "There we are!" I said. "Look, Elizabeth. There - Hey! Aughh!"

I couldn't help screaming. When I looked in the mirror, I could see that Elizabeth and I were not alone. Sitting between us, right in our car, was ... a ghost!

"We've got a ghost! A ghost is next to us!" I shrieked.

We reached the end of the mirrors. The ride was over. But the ghost was still in our car. I was terrified.

"It was just a trick, sweetie," Elizabeth said. "That ghost was a hologram. It wasn't really there."

"I don't care what it's called," I said as we left the Haunted Mansion. "It was real. I saw it. And I know it's still with us. I can feel my ghost. He's making my skin creep." I shivered.

"Lef s go to Fantasyland," said Daddy. "That won't be so scary."

So we headed for Fantasyland. The first thing that happened there was that Andrew's shoelace came untied. He stooped down to fix it. When he straightened up, Snow White was standing next to him. She was just walking around Disney World like Minnie Mouse had been. But I guess Andrew wasn't expecting to see her.

"Wahh!" he cried, bursting into tears.

Snow White felt terrible. You could tell.

It was a long time before Andrew calmed down. Then we went on lots of rides in Fan-tasyland. But you know what?

My ghost wouldn't leave me alone. He came along with me on every one. n.o.body could see him except me. I could feel my skin creeping all afternoon.

Dawn.

Guess what? Last night I ran into Parker in the hotel after dinner, and he asked if I wanted to spend our first day at the Magic Kingdom together. Why did he even bother asking? Of course I did!

I got permission from Kristy's mom, and Parker and I met in the lobby at 10:00 the next morning.

I felt so grown-up I absolutely cannot describe it.

Claudia had helped me get dressed. She was in a great mood because her Secret Admirer had left her a stuffed animal at the door to our room during the night. Since she had brought along nearly every article of clothing that she owns, and I'd only brought along about one thirty-second of my wardrobe, I borrowed a few of her things. In fact, I borrowed the entire outfit. (We're just about the same size.) Parker would never know. I mean, he'd never know the outfit was borrowed, not that Claudia and I are the same size.

This is the outfit Claudia helped me to choose: a white tank top under lavender overalls, lavender push-down socks, lavender high-top sneakers, and a beaded Indian belt, which we looped droopily twice around my middle. In my hair we put lavender-and-white clips that looked like birds. I thought they were just any kind of bird, but Claudia swore up and down that they were birds of paradise. Who knows? (I think she was making that up.) Anyway, if I do say so myself (and I do), I looked pretty nice when I met Parker.

Parker wasn't looking bad, either. He was wearing this blue-and-white polo shirt, white tennis shorts, and loafers with no socks.

"I hope your shoes are comfortable," I said to him. "We're going to be walking around all day. They won't wear blisters on your heels or anything, will they?"

"Nope," he replied. "Not these old things. They're ready to fall apart any second."

"Well, as long as they can hold together one more day."

"No problem. You got your ticket?"

I held it up. "Yup," I replied. Everybody on the trip had a three-day pa.s.s to Disney World and Epcot Center.

"Great," said Parker. "Lefs go."

There was free bus service from our hotel to the Magic Kingdom, so we waited in front of the hotel for a bus. The bus took us to the parking lot at Disney World, which was the biggest lot I have ever seen - except for the one at Disneyland in California. I'd already been to Disneyland ten or twelve times because I used to live not far from it. I had a feeling Disney World wasn't going to be all that different - but going to it with a boy would be.

The parking lot is so far away from the entrance to the Magic Kingdom that after you get off the bus, you have to get on a monorail that takes you to the gates. It seemed like forever before we were walking down Main Street in the Magic Kingdom, but we had left the hotel less than an hour earlier.

"Wow," said Parker, looking around in awe. "This is a whole town right in the park. And it's really only a little piece of Disney World."

"Yeah," I agreed. Main Street in Disney World looked pretty much like Main Street in Disneyland.

"You don't seem too excited," said Parker vaguely.

I tried to be more enthusiastic. "Well!" I said. "What should we do first? There's a magic store! And there's a movie house!"

"Uh, let's get to the rides," said Parker quickly. "Main Street looks like fun, but we can go to stores or the movies any time. Come on. Let's find s.p.a.ce Mountain. Ifs supposed to be really cool."

"Okay," I said, but since I'd been on s.p.a.ce Mountain at Disneyland nine times, I couldn't work up to Parker's level of excitement.

We walked away from Main Street, turned right by Cinderella Castle, and entered To-morrowland. It was a sea of smooth, white, futuristic-looking buildings. And ahead of us loomed s.p.a.ce Mountain. Since it was still pretty early in the day, the line for the ride wasn't too long. But we did have to wait about twenty minutes.

At last, though, Parker and I were climbing into the cars. Were they called s.p.a.cejets or something? I wasn't sure. Parker sat in front and I sat in back. An attendant strapped us in.

The car moved forward toward darkness. We could hear people above us - those who were already on the ride - screaming and shrieking.

"Hold on to your hat!" yelled Parker, and we were immediately jerked around a corner.

For the next three minutes, we got the ride of our lives. I swear, s.p.a.ce Mountain at Disney World is nothing like s.p.a.ce Mountain at Dis-neyland. I felt much more like I was on a roller coaster hurtling through outer s.p.a.ce. A lot of the ride took place in pitch blackness. I couldn't even see if the track ahead went up or down. A few times, we were traveling so fast I thought my face was going to be permanently mashed in. Then we went down one hill that was so steep I was positive my stomach had fallen right out of my body.

I almost threw up.

We whizzed through a bright red tunnel. Parker couldn't turn around to look at me, but he waved over his shoulder.

Parker was waving, and I was having a hard time just keeping my breakfast down. We zoomed around some more, and several times I was sure our car was going to fly off the track and crash somewhere. But of course it didn't.

Still, by the time the ride was over, my knees were shaking, and Parker had to help me out of the s.p.a.cejet.

"You okay?" he asked, looking worried.

I tried to come up with an answer that wasn't too disgusting. As we left the ride, traveling along a moving walkway, I decided not to say, "No, I'm about to puke all over you," or, "I'm fine, but how'd you like to see what I had for breakfast this morning?"

Instead, I replied, "Well, um, could we get me a wheelchair?"

Parker laughed. But he was concerned. When we left s.p.a.ce Mountain, we found a spot to sit down and Parker bought us each a soda. He made me wait until mine was sort of flat before I began sipping it. By the time I was finished, I felt lots better - but not good enough to try another ride.

We settled on strolling from store to store, even though Parker had been right: we could shop anywhere.

"But not for the perfect Disney World souvenir," I pointed out.

"That's true. Is that what we're doing?" "Don't you think we should? Who knows when we'll be back here again."

So we started looking. The only problem was that I had just $8.60 left, and I didn't want some little pennant or sticker. I wanted something nice. I finally found the perfect thing in the gift shop in Cinderella Castle. It was a gla.s.s unicorn charm, and it cost only six dollars. After I'd paid for it, Parker helped me fasten it to this gold bracelet I was wearing. The bracelet used to belong to my great-aunt. It's an antique, and when Mom gave it to me, she said that whatever I did, I was to keep it in the family. I'm not sure how much money if s worth, but it has a lot of sentimental value. The charm looked great on it.

Anyway, then Parker bought a T-shirt for himself. (I guess boys don't care so much about souvenirs.) By that time, I was feeling fine again. In fact, I was hungry. As we walked through Frontierland looking for a place to eat, Parker suddenly stopped in his tracks and said, "Uh-oh."

"What-oh?"

"If s my family," Parker told me. "My dad, the stepmother, and the brats."

I looked where Parker was pointing and saw a very nice-looking man and woman and two cute little boys.

"Parker!" called the man.

Parker groaned and led me over to his father. There were introductions all around. And then Mr. Harris said the last thing I'd expected to hear: "Patsy and I are exhausted. We'd love a little break. Would you mind watching the boys for an hour or so, Parker?"

What could Parker say? We agreed to take the boys and meet Mr. and Mrs. Harris in an hour and a half at Cinderella Castle.

The Harrises left. Parker and I looked at the boys - Roddy, who was eight and Ricky, who was five. They didn't seem like brats to me.

Since Parker was acting like children were aliens from another planet, I said to the boys, "So what do you guys want to do?"

"Could we go on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad?" asked Roddy. "Please?"

"Sure," replied Parker.

"But it looks scary," said Ricky nervously.

Parker relaxed a little. "It won't be too bad," he said.

"Will you sit with me?" asked Ricky. He held his hand out to Parker.

I gave Parker a look that said, "These are the brats you've been complaining about?"

Parker shrugged.

We got on line for the railroad, which I knew was another roller coaster, but not nearly as wild as s.p.a.ce Mountain. Since I hadn't eaten lunch yet, my stomach could handle it.

Ricky and Roddy screamed from the beginning of the ride until the end. They clutched our hands. They loved every second of it.

"Can we go again?" asked Roddy before we'd even gotten out of the mining car we'd been riding in.

"We could," Parker told him, "but don't you want to do something new? Have you been to Tom Sawyer Island yet?" (Parker looked like he was actually having fun with his stepbrothers.) "No," said Ricky.

"Well, let's go!" said Parker.