First mate's log:

May 12, 1972

Cindy Brady is a lot happier than she was a few days ago. She still doesn't know if she'll be able to testify against her mother, but she no longer feels like a little girl.

"Gilligan, guess what! I have a secret admirer!"

I remember the time that Mrs. Howell had a secret admirer and Mr. Howell acted jealous of me, the Skipper, and the Professor. And then it turned out that Mr. Howell was sending his wife presents and notes anonymously, to make her feel better about not being young and single like Ginger and Mary Ann. But Cindy definitely doesn't have a husband, or even boyfriend, so I guess it's an actual boy who likes her.

"How did you find out?"

"Yesterday he left a package with a note on it. He addressed it to me but he didn't sign his name, just 'Your Secret Admirer.' "

"What was in the package?"

"A whole candy bar!"

That didn't sound that impressive to me, since one of the kids Peter flattered in the paper gave him a whole box of candy bars in thanks. But I guess when you're nine, a candy bar is a big deal. (Well, it's still a big deal to me, but I wouldn't think someone admired me if they gave me one. Then again, I did really miss candy bars when we were marooned, so maybe if Mary Ann had somehow gotten me one, I would've really been flattered.)

"Not only that, today he left me these flowers!" She reached into her pocket and took out some droopy-looking flowers. I hope they were in better shape when they arrived. "And he gave me this hair ribbon!" She pointed at the red one she was wearing.

"Very pretty."

"Yes, he has a lot of style, whoever he is."


Carol Brady's diary:

May 14, 1972

Someone in this house has a secret admirer, and you'll never guess who! In the past few days, someone has anonymously sent Cindy some gifts. Most of them are nothing fancy. Just the sort of items that a boy Cindy's age would give a girl he had a crush on.

However, today Peter found a ring left outside for Cindy! It doesn't exactly look like it came out of a Crackerjack box, but I had trouble not laughing when Peter asked if it's a diamond. It's probably a rhinestone, which is still an impressive gift from a boy of nine or ten. Peter also wondered if this means that Cindy is engaged. Thank goodness Cindy is too young to even go steady. (Jan might be in another year or two, although I still feel Marcia rushed into it.)

I think this is all harmless, and it certainly seems to have boosted Cindy's confidence. But I do wonder what boy it could be, since there aren't many her age on the island, although far more than there used to be of course.


May 16, 1972

Bobby confessed to me that he's Cindy's secret admirer!

"I don't like her like a girl. She's my sister. But I wanted to feel like boys could like her, like they like Marcia and Jan."

"That's nice of you, but she's going to find out, one way or the other."

"I know, especially since she's gonna wanna meet me, I mean him, sooner or later."

"Why don't you say he's moving away but he'll always think fondly of her?"

"You're a genius, Gilligan! How do you spell 'Europe'?"

"Uhhh," I began, because I thought that was a little drastic.

"It's OK, the secret admirer isn't a great speller, but neither is Cindy. I'd better go start the goodbye note. Thanks, Gilligan!" And he ran off before I could object.

I hope Cindy won't be upset when she finds out the truth, but obviously I'm not going to be the one to tell her. I'm surprised she didn't recognize Bobby's handwriting, but maybe he wrote with his left hand or something.


May 18, 1972

Well, I was not expecting that! Mike and I heard strange noises last night and it turned out that Bobby had locked himself out. It was a little like when Marcia snuck out in the middle of the night to mail her "Father of the Year" letter to The Blenford Bugle. But instead of writing a letter of praise about a family member, Bobby was flattering Cindy's ego by pretending to be her secret admirer.

I thought this was sweet, especially since Bobby isn't a very sentimental boy. But I feel that, in general, honestly is the best policy, and Mike agrees. We made him promise to tell Cindy today. He asked if he could write her a note and slip it under her door. I'm not sure if he was joking.


May 19, 1972

Well, the letter sending the secret admirer away didn't work, because Bobby's parents found out and want him to tell Cindy the truth.

"And I did try, but I just couldn't make her sad."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I think I need to find a boy who can be her secret admirer."

"Like matchmaking?"

"No, I'm not supposed to play with matches, because it's too dangerous."

"Um, no, Bobby, I mean you'd find a boy who likes her."

"Oh, I don't have time for that. I figured I'd just find a guy who can pretend to have written all those letters and given her all those gifts."

I was dubious about that but before I could object, he said, "I've gotta go home and make a list of the all guys my age and Cindy's who might be good boyfriends for her."

I still think she's gonna find out and be mad, sort of like with Mrs. Howell. But Bobby is too young to remember that.


May 20, 1972

Well, Bobby's idea of telling Cindy the truth was to bribe one of his classmates, Tommy Jamison, to pretend to be Cindy's secret admirer! Instead of thinking he did anything wrong, Bobby was pleased that it only cost a Kennedy half-dollar. And he got that back, because Tommy ended up actually liking Cindy. Not as a girlfriend but just as a playmate.

Mike and I agreed that Bobby doesn't have to tell Cindy, and we won't make Tommy tell her either. But if Cindy does find out later, Bobby will have to make amends. I'm not completely happy with this solution, but it's still weighing on my mind that we want both Bobby and Cindy to tell the truth, yet I don't know if I can face making them speak what they see as the truth in my upcoming court case. Not that I want them to lie on my behalf, but I'm still not sure if I can put them through that. I don't want to give in to Mr. Duggan, but I keep something will happen to make him give in and not pursue this.