As they waved goodbye to the couple in the canoe, Ginger felt choked up. Even though she was dying to be rescued, it was still hard to let her best friend go. And she had a soft spot for Gilligan, too. The island wouldn't be the same without them, and life after the island would be so different!

She glanced over at the Skipper, who was also being parted from a best friend. The big man blew his nose but was pretending not to cry.

"Come, Lovey, I need to tune in to the financial news on the radio and see how the stock market is doing, since it looks like I'll be playing it again soon."

"And I've got to plan an ensemble for the rescue."

Ginger couldn't help thinking of how many times Mrs. Howell, all of them really, had chosen outfits fit for the Coast Guard or whoever their hoped for rescuers du jour were. After the Howells left, Ginger asked the two men on either side of her, "Do you really think we'll be rescued?"

"Well, I wouldn't have chosen them to pilot the canoe if I didn't," the Professor said huffily.

"And I've taught them both all they know about boats," the Skipper said defensively.

She hadn't intended to offend either man, so she didn't point out that the Professor had mostly chosen the crew on the basis of body mass, or that the Skipper had only taught Mary Ann about canoes the day before. Instead she said, "I hope they get picked up soon, so they don't have to paddle all the way to Hawaii."

Both men nodded.

"Well, I guess I'd better start thinking about what to make for lunch. And dinner." She knew as soon as this voyage was decided on that the bulk of the cooking would fall to her. None of the men nor Mrs. Howell could cook very well without Mary Ann's guidance, while Ginger could manage on her own. And hopefully it would be for only a few weeks.

"Thanks, Ginger. I'll try to catch you some fish today."
"Thanks, Skipper." Gilligan had done most of the fishing, but the Skipper was certainly capable of it.

"And I'll see what in Mary Ann's vegetable garden is ripe."
"Thanks, Professor."

She went back to her hut. It seemed so quiet and empty now that her roommate was gone. Mary Ann wasn't a larger than life sort of person, like Ginger's old roommate Debbie Dawson. She was quiet and sensible, the sort of person who might be overlooked at a party. But Ginger had really gotten to know the farm girl, and her absence was already making a difference.

She sighed and started to make a list of possible menus. She didn't know how long this would be for, but she'd plan for a month, just in case. Mary Ann had said it would take 25 days to Hawaii by canoe, and then of course the rescue party would have to find the uncharted desert isle. She didn't want to think what would happen if Gilligan and Mary Ann were lost at sea.

Breakfasts were simple. There were enough birds on the island that eggs were easy to come by, although the best tree-climber was now gone. Perhaps the Professor could come up with a device to get eggs out of the higher nests. Oh, and there were turtle eggs, too, which weren't bad once you got used to them. Ginger knew how to make pancakes, and there were trees with sap that made good cider.

Ginger smiled, thinking of how Mary Ann had once told her about how she and Gilligan had first found those trees, and they'd had to "kiss" the trees to try the sap. Mary Ann had told Gilligan that it was sweet, just like him, but he didn't take the hint. Ginger hoped he was better at taking hints now, or maybe Mary Ann would use a less subtle approach now that they were married.

Ginger sighed and went back to her list. Shellfish and other kinds of fish of course. Birds, although she'd try to spare Gilligan's pet duck unless they got desperate. Eggs for dinner as well as breakfast she supposed. Occasionally the men captured wild pigs, so that would mean sausage, ham, and bacon. That covered meat, unless something washed ashore.

As for fruits and vegetables, they were lucky that so many tropical and not so tropical fruits grew on the island, among them bananas, berries, dates, grapefruit, and oranges. There were wild vegetables as well as the ones in Mary Ann's garden. Ginger couldn't remember if breadfruit was actually a vegetable, but they had that, too.

What else? Oh, baked goods. Mary Ann had claimed that Ginger's pies were as good as her own, but Ginger knew that Gilligan preferred Mary Ann's. Well, the others had never complained. And Ginger could make a decent cake. But mostly they would need bread for everyday meals. Perhaps the Professor could help with that, since it was like science. Well, all cooking was, she supposed.

There wasn't much she could do for the milk group. They had no cows or goats, and you can't really make cheese or butter out of coconut milk, no matter how hard Mary Ann had tried. They had eaten ice cream years ago, when Gilligan had wasted two out of three wishes on it. It had tasted so good though, and Ginger didn't regret it. She planned to order a hot fudge sundae once they got back to civilization, no matter what it did to her figure.

She thought of all the plans she and the others had made each time there was a chance of rescue. She hoped they weren't setting themselves up for disappointment again. This time it would be even worse, because if they didn't get rescued, then that would mean that Gilligan and Mary Ann hadn't survived. She couldn't let herself dwell on that. She had to hope for the best.

She envied the pair, getting to Hawaii before the rest of them, but they would earn it by their efforts. Hopefully they wouldn't have to row all the way, just into the shipping lanes.

Ginger wished there was a way to communicate with them. If only there were portable phones that you could just call, no matter where someone was. But then of course the seven of them would never have been marooned for eight years. Even when they had had access to a phone cable, it hadn't worked very well for them, and then it got washed out to sea in a storm before they reached anyone that believed them.

She always used to think that the first person she'd call would be her agent, but would he want to manage her after all this time? After all, she was eight years older. She assumed she was still attractive, judging from how the men on the island liked to look at her, but then none of them had ever made any serious advances, so maybe she wasn't as attractive as she used to be.

Well, she was still a good actress. Of course, she hadn't had much chance to act in recent years. Just the very amateur productions with the other castaways.

Ginger shook her head. She needed to be positive. It would be good to be rescued and she could rebuild her career. If nothing else, the notoriety of being shipwrecked for so long would bring publicity that she could use until she had a chance to prove herself again.

Meanwhile, she was the island chef now and would focus on that.