First mate's log:

March 17, 1969

I thought that they'd play an Irish fairytale on the radio for St. Patrick's Day, but instead it was a rerun of the Cinderella episode that gave Mrs. Howell her crazy dream where I was her fairy godfather. I listened while doing minor repairs on the ferry, which I guess makes it a ferrytale. The Skipper says he'll hire some more crew when we start doing more frequent runs this Fall. Maybe Mr. Howell will buy him a bigger boat, since the ferry is important to our island and the population will be bigger soon.

Bobby came over to visit about an hour after the show ended and he asked if I think it's true that stepmothers and stepsisters are mean like Cinderella's. I said sometimes but not always, and he has nice ones. He said that that's what Cindy said, "but she's one of them, so maybe she doesn't know she's mean." And he said Mrs. Brady asked him to sweep out the fireplace.

I said, "Well, it's not like you guys use it that much since it's so warm here."

"Yeah, but then when I asked Marcia and Jan if I could go with them over to the Dittmeyers, they made fun of me because my clothes are too big."

I'd noticed that his clothes were baggy on him. "Are you getting Peter's hand-me-downs?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I was the youngest boy, too."

"Oh."

"And my brother and sister would make fun of me. And they're related by blood."

He frowned. "Like vampires?"
"No, I mean they're not step-family. I was born with them."

"Oh. But when Greg and Peter make fun of me, I know they don't really mean it, and Marcia and Jan sounded like they did."

"That's just how some girls are. And why do you want to play with girls anyway?" The Dittmeyers have three daughters, no sons.

"They're having a taffy pull."

I could understand that temptation. "Well, I think your stepmom is a real nice lady and you've known her most of your life."

"Yeah, but she might start being mean now that she's a step."

"Maybe you should talk to your dad about this."

"He's so busy."

"Give him a chance."

"I'll try. Thanks, Gilligan."

"Any time, Little Buddy."

He left grinning. Even though I'm almost old enough to be his dad (I joined the Navy the year he was born), I sometimes feel like he's my kid brother, even more than Peter or Bobby. I hope everything works out OK for him.

March 18, 1969

Now it's Bobby's turn to feel left out. Alice told me that Bobby heard the "Cinderella" episode of the fairytale radio program and now he's feeling like an unwanted stepchild. (I wouldn't have asked him to sweep out the fireplace if I'd known.)

I've discussed it with Mike, who told me that Bobby asked Mike about the clubhouse he's promised to build but has been too busy to get to. Mike was then fixing Kitty Karry-All's cradle, but that's a smaller task. Bobby next asked Mike if fairytales are real and if stepmothers are as mean as in "Cinderella." Mike assured him that fairytales are just stories, and I love Bobby and his brothers, just like Mike loves my daughters. Bobby apparently didn't believe him, or Alice.

Mike was supposed to meet with Mr. Howell about building plans tomorrow, but he's rescheduled for Thursday, so that he and I can go over on the ferry tomorrow and find a nice gift for Bobby at the Blenford Toy Store. His birthday's not until next month, but maybe getting something early will cheer him up and make him see that we think he's special.

March 19, 1969

Mr. and Mrs. Brady went over on the late afternoon ferry today, to go to the Blenford Toy Store, they said, but they didn't bring anything back. I thought maybe they were getting something for Bobby, since he's been moping around ever since the "Cinderella" show, but I guess not.

The Skipper is planning a special Saturday run again, this time so all of the castaways who are still on the island (me, him, Mary Ann, the Howells, the Bradys, and Alice) can go see Ginger's new movie in its "limited run" at the Blenford Cinema. In the Hollywood news I've heard on the radio, the movie is a "bomb," not at all a good comeback for poor Ginger. I think it's hard for her to revive her career when everything has changed while she was away, although she writes that she's looking over more scripts. Anyway, it's being shown at the discount matinee and we're all going, even though it won't really help Ginger at this point, but it's fourteen more tickets sold. (Fifteen if the Professor goes.) It's still a way to show our support, and we're of course curious.

March 20, 1969

Bobby tried to run away! I knew he was unhappy but not that unhappy. Mike and I did go over to Blenford, but while we were at the toy store, we realized that we would be trying to buy Bobby's love. So we came back empty-handed.

When we got to the house, Alice told us that Greg told her that Peter told him that Bobby was going to run away, as soon as he finished packing. I raced up to the master bedroom and grabbed an empty suitcase, telling Mike I'd meet Bobby at the foot of the staircase. Mike, as he told me later, treated Bobby's plans seriously and encouraged him to keep in touch. If Bobby had left before we got home, I don't think he could've gotten too far, because we would've sent Officer Carter looking for him, and I know the Skipper would've stopped Bobby if he tried to board the Thursday evening ferry by himself. But that wouldn't have solved the problem of Bobby wanting to run away.

I told Bobby I couldn't let him run away into the big, scary world all by himself and I was going with him.

"What about the other kids?"

"Alice and your dad can look after them," I said, thinking of how I had felt unneeded not so long ago.

"But I'm just a step."

"The only steps in this house are these," I said, pointing up the staircase that separated us. "And they lead back to your bedroom, where you should unpack if you want to eat the dinner Alice is making with all your favorites."

I knew that would win him over if nothing else would. But then he said, "And you really love me, Mom?"

"Of course I do, Sweetheart."

We dropped our suitcases and he ran down into my arms. I hugged him tight and then carried him up to his room, where Mike and I helped him unpack. I wish we hadn't gone over to Blenford, but at least we were able to pick out his birthday gifts. (We'll all be going over to Blenford on Saturday by the way, to see Ginger's movie, which sadly didn't do well on the mainland, but the Skipper wants to do a special ferry run so Ginger's island friends can catch it.)

Everything seemed back to normal, except that at bedtime we found out that the fairytale program played "The Frog Prince" episode recently, so Cindy has been kissing all the frogs she can find on the island, hoping one will turn into a prince. Yes, I never imagined having to worry about romantic troubles with our kindergartner.

March 22, 1969

Well, we all went to see Motor-Psychedelic Monsters on the Moon, which is a sci-fi movie about hippie bikers who take drugs in outer space. Ginger was the Queen of the Moon, which was better than when Zsa Zsa Gabor was just a lady-in-waiting in Queen of Outer Space. (Mary Ann thought Zsa Zsa was the title character, but I saw the movie more than she did when we were teenagers.) Ginger looked beautiful as always, even in a silly costume with antenna, and she did her best acting considering the dialogue wasn't very good. (One of her lines was "Summon the thermonuclear cyborgs instantly!")

The movie is rated M, part of the new rating system that came in last year. G is for General Audiences, and M is for Mature Audiences. (Then there's R for Restricted, where you need to be 18 or older unless accompanied by an adult, and X, for 18 and up, but I doubt we'll get any Xes on Blenford. I'd be too embarrassed to go if we did.) Mr. and Mrs. Brady decided to send the children to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang instead, although they'd been looking forward to seeing Ginger's movie. Greg and Marcia probably would've been fine watching it, but I guess their parents didn't want to single them out for special treatment.

March 23, 1969

Mike and I saw Ginger's new movie, but the content didn't seem appropriate for the children, so we had them attend Chitty Chitty Bang Bang instead. I'd read the book when we were back in the States this summer (it was published a few months after the shipwreck), and there was nothing objectionable in it, except for gangsters, and the children in the story outsmart them, and violence is kept to a minimum. The movie was released this past December and I didn't realize that they changed almost everything about it, just keeping the car and a few of the characters. Apparently, the movie version is quite a spectacle, but I didn't know that there's a "Child Catcher" character in it. Poor Bobby and Cindy were in tears when everyone met up in the lobby after the movies. (CCBB was two and a half hours long! Ginger's movie was much shorter.)

Ginger's movie had drug content, although not the parts she was in. I didn't blame her for that. I know it's probably hard for her to find good scripts after being away from Hollywood so long, and the culture having changed so much. To be honest, I don't think any of Ginger's old movies were ever great cinema, but they had a certain innocent cheesiness about them, which this one tried for but couldn't manage. I felt embarrassed for her, but her last letter said she's reading a script for a film that will start shooting in France this spring, more of an arty piece, which will give her a chance to really act.

I will say this: of all of us, she's the one most trying to cope with the larger world after our rescue. This is ironic, considering she works in "the dream factory." Meanwhile, for the rest of us, not counting the Professor, an occasional trip to Blenford is about as much of the outside world as we can handle. Even Bobby, when he planned to run away, never really pictured getting further than the caves of our island.