Hey, thank you for all the comments about my lost dog. I got a call today from someone who saw her. I went out there with them and came less than 10 feet from her but she got scared and ran away. She ran under a barbwire fence so I couldn't get to her. I then spent another 3 hours and in the 115 degree heat looking for her. It sucked! Anyway, that is the update on my dog, now you can read the update on my story.

Chapter 10

New Orleans Square

Woody grabbed her hand and led her up the path way to the large house. They were ushered into a large, dimly lit room with all of the other guests. They looked up at the paintings on the wall as the room continued to fill up.

The whole place was freezing cold, to add to the creepy ambiance they were trying to achieve, which made Jordan colder then she already was due to the fact that she was all wet. She began to rub her hands up and down her arms, desperately trying to warm herself up. It wasn't working.

Then she thought, 'Well, Woody did say he would keep me warm. I'm not going to turn down an opportunity to be close to him.'

So she went for it. She walked in front of him and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning her head on his chest. He didn't say anything. He just put his arms around her shoulders and started to rub circles across her back.

Jordan had never been so comfortable in her life. She was probably just transferring the wetness of her shirt to his, but at this point she really didn't care. She didn't want to move. She just closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth that his strong body radiated.

Woody figured that she would get really cold on this ride. He remembered going on it as a kid. He was freezing and scared to death. He wasn't lying when he told her that he would keep her warm, especially when keeping her warm required holding her. He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling that Jordan scent that he always loved.

Since she had closed her eyes, Jordan didn't notice the doors closing signaling that the ride was about to begin. In fact, she was so relaxed due to Woody's touch that she didn't realize anything was happening until a loud recording with a man's booming voice began to play. It startled her so much that she jumped in his embrace.

He looked down at her, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just wasn't expecting it to start like that."

She turned in his embrace so that she could better see her surroundings and the pictures above their heads. She leaned back against his chest as his arms remained around her waist.

The recording continued to play, the deep bass voice telling them that they had no way of getting out because the room had no windows and no doors. The room suddenly went dark, a flash of lightning could be seen from the skylight above their heads, and a loud clap of thunder was heard. Many of the people in the room let our shrieks of terror.

One teenage boy continued to scream long after the lights returned to their normal dim setting. Woody and Jordan just heard someone else in his party yell, "Shut up David!" and then skin on skin contact. All Woody could think was, 'Man that slap is bound to leave a mark.'

A few moments later, one of the walls opened up to reveal a long, dark hallway. They passed pictures that changed faces and setting, and statues with eyes that followed them wherever they went, before they reached the moving sidewalk so they could step into their Doom Buggy.

Woody helped Jordan hop into the moving car and then jumped in behind her. When they were both settled he put his arm around her shoulders and she snuggled into his side. It was almost as if that position was totally natural for them and that they did it everyday. They were both trying to figure out how they could make it an everyday thing.

He was about the pull on the bar to lower it when a voice from the speakers behind them said, "Let me take care of that for you," and the bar lowered by itself.

Woody pulled his hand away quickly and heard Jordan snicker, "That's a nice touch." "Yeah it is."

The Buggy wound around the track through the dark halls of the Mansion. They went through hallways with door knockers and handles that were moving all by themselves and dinner halls with dancing ghosts. They traveled through an old grave yard where the ghosts sang the famous, "Grim-Grinning-Ghosts."

As the approached the end of the ride they heard the same group of teens that had been screaming in the room with them earlier begin to chant, "David is gonna get the fat ghost! David is gonna get the fat ghost!" David's only reply was, "If I get that freaking fat ghost I am going to scream!" A few seconds later they heard it. Woody laughed and said,

"I guess David got the fat ghost."

"What are they talking about anyway?"

"You'll see."

They entered a room with 3 mirrors. As their Buggy turned to face the mirrors, a tall thin ghost appeared to be sitting between them in the reflection. They could see the reflection of the Buggy next to them as well, the other people had gotten David's fat ghost.

Woody jumped out of the Doom Buggy and onto the moving sidewalk first. He offered Jordan his hand and helped her step out behind him.

Both of the squinted against the sunlight as the came out of the dark Mansion, they turned the corner to continue through New Orleans Square when they heard a squeal that was becoming all too familiar. It was there that they got their first look at the kid that had been so loud throughout the entire ride. He was fighting with a girl, who they guessed was his sister, about a black cowboy hat.

"CARA! GIVE ME BACK MY HAT! DANG IT CARA! GIVE IT BACK!"

Jordan felt bad for the mother and older sister who had to stand in the middle of everything. Cara was using them as a shield to get away from David.

Woody and Jordan didn't stay to see who won the fight. As they walked away, they heard David yell, "I SPENT THIRTY DOLLARS ON THAT HAT CARA! YOU BETTER NOT DO ANYTHING TO IT!"

Jordan spoke up as they walked away, "I bet you and Cal were like that, huh?"

"Yeah, sometimes. We would fight over toys when we were little and then when we got older we would fight over clothes, girls, and most importantly…what channel we got to watch. It was kind of a stupid thing to fight over because we only had like 4 channels and they were all crappy."

"There were times that I wished that I had a brother or sister to share stuff with or fight with. James doesn't count since I didn't find out about him until a few years ago. Then I think that it is probably a good thing that I didn't have any siblings so then there isn't another messed up case like me in the world, plus I always enjoyed being a Daddy's girl."

"Don't say that Jordan."

"What that I am a Daddy's girl? Why not? It's true."

"Not that! The thing that you said about being messed up. Don't say that because it is not true. You are perfect just the way you are."

He wanted to continue on and say, "I love you just the way you are. You are the woman that I have been in love with for years, and the only woman that I can picture myself being with." He wanted to say it…but he didn't.

Jordan almost thought that tears were going to begin to form in her eyes. No one had ever said anything so sweet to her before. He always knew what to say to make her melt inside.

If she had had the courage, she would have grabbed him right then and there and kissed him like he had never been kissed before. She was still afraid though. She knew that Woody had feelings for her; he had made that clear many times before. After what he had just said there was no doubt in her mind that she loved him, but she just couldn't find the nerve to do it.

Today, she had conquered her fear of roller coasters but could not find the courage to face her worse fear of all…confessing her love for Woody. She was bound and determined to conquer that fear. Somehow, someway…by the end of the trip Woody would officially be hers.

She finally realized that she had not said anything; the only thing was she didn't really know what to say. The only thing she could come up with was, "Thank you Woody. You have no idea how much that means to me, coming from you."

He didn't say anything more. He simply pulled her closely to his side and placed a kiss on her forehead as they continued to walk to their next ride destination.

Their next ride was Pirates of the Caribbean. "I loved this ride as a kid. I always wanted to buy a pirate gun as a kid but my dad would never let me. He said I was too young to start playing with guns."

"Well, now you're a cop and can play with one whenever you want."

They got into the boat and were quickly on their way. They passed the Blue Bayou where many happy couples were eating a late lunch or an early dinner. Jordan looked at everything around her. If she didn't know any better she would've sworn that they were actually outside in a swamp.

They sailed by an old ran sitting on his porch in a rocking chair. "We used to always joke that he was Old Great Grandpa Hoyt. We don't have swamp places like this in Wisconsin though."

The boat continued on and they passed a talking skull with crossbones warning them of where they were about to embark. They then plunged down a small drop making a few waves at the bottom. Jordan was just happy that she didn't get wet since she was just starting to get dry.

They saw an old beach with an old skeleton of a pirate leaning again the rocks with a knife through his chest. Woody stared joking with her, "Care of give me a cause of death Doctor?" "Well, I think you can really figure that one out for yourself, Detective."

As the journey continued, they passed a bar with a sign that said, "Stow Yer Weapons," inside there where skeletons with bottles of alcohol. Further down on the left there was a room with yet another skeleton. This one was sitting on a bed in a room full of antiquities looking at a map with a magnifying glass.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Woody began rummaging around in his right pocket. He pulled out his hand to reveal 2 pennies. "Here." He placed one of the pennies in her hand.

"And what am I supposed to do with this?"

"We are going to throw them in the next room as we pass it. It's just another one of these weird things that my family used to do."

The next room was filled with gold and all kinds of treasures and just as Jordan suspected there was a skeleton sitting in the middle of all of it.

"Ok, you ready?"

"Yep."

"Go."

They threw their pennies into the room and heard that clang against the other metal pieces in the room.

Next they found themselves in the middle of a gun battle. The pirate captain was standing on the deck of his ship yelling insults to the people he and his men were fighting. As the rounded the corner, it was revealed that the Captain and his men had won the battle. They were dunking a man in the town well, while his wife yelled out of the second story window for him not to be a chicken.

Women were being chased by the pirates on the crew and were eventually caught and sold for auction. One of the women was trying to work it for all she was worth. Jordan started joking around, "There you go Woody, there is a hot redhead for ya."

"I don't go for redheads Jordan. I prefer brunettes."

Jordan had turned to look at him just as he said that. The look in his eyes made her insides melt all over again. Her mouth got really dry and she found that she couldn't talk. Thankfully he dropped it at that and just started looking around at all of the things in the ride.

They passed looters and pirates in jail trying to get the keys to their cell away from the guard dog. As they continued on, they passed through a place that had been totally destroyed by the pirates and were then put in the middle of their drunken gun battle. The ride finally came to an end as the boat was pulled up the chain lift and back to the dock.

They exited the building and made their way back to the Square, figuring out where to go next.

"Well, Jo, you ready for a little Adventure?"

"The real question is Woods, when am I not up for an Adventure?"