First mate's log:

April 20, 1972

Peter Brady told me that Emma Nelson is still driving them crazy. Bobby and Cindy borrowed a friend's pet mouse to frighten her, but it didn't work, although it would've on Alice, like the time Jan played a practical joke with Myron. Then the four oldest kids tried to convince Emma that she looked sick, but she decided that she'd have to switch everyone, including herself, to double calisthenics.

"You do look pretty tense but tired," I admitted.

Peter shook his head. "It's not just that. You know I've been real busy with the school paper."

"Did you get in trouble with one of your articles?"

"No, that's still going swell. But I haven't been studying as much as I should and I've got a really tough Science exam coming up."

"Oh, well, I don't think I'd be much help. Maybe you should ask the Professor to help you study."

"There's not really time. I did get some study tips from Greg and Marcia."

I wished him luck and resisted suggesting he ask Emma for help, at least in giving him more time to study by assigning less exercise and chores.

Carol Brady's diary:

April 22, 1972

Well, Emma is gone, and Alice is back. I ordered a cake from the bakery to celebrate Alice coming back, luckily without a message on it. Emma saw the cake in the kitchen before I could hide it, and she assumed it was for her. Again, I didn't want to hurt her feelings, so I didn't correct her, and I got the kids to play along.

So we had a little going-away party for her, and she gave a little speech about how touched she was, especially since she hasn't really had a home or family since joining the Army thirty years ago. This touched me, and I'm glad that we made her feel welcome, however difficult it was at times.

We all walked her down to the lagoon so she could meet the ferry. Alice arrived and again the cousins met in passing. We didn't hug Emma goodbye, but we all saluted. Once the ferry was gone, we all hugged Alice and led her back to the house, Mike taking her suitcase.

On the way, Alice said that she won't worry about leaving the island in the future, since she knows Emma can fill in.

I didn't enlighten her, but I said, "Alice, you know you're irreplaceable," which she thought was just a compliment.

I was distracted by Emma's visit and I must admit that I haven't been paying as much attention to the children's schoolwork. I did ask Peter today about his recent Science exam, but he said the papers haven't all been graded yet.

April 24, 1972

Peter confessed to me that he got a D on the Science exam. He's afraid to tell his parents, especially because he would've done much better if he hadn't been distracted by the school newspaper.

"They're going to find out sometime," I pointed out.

"I know but I wish there was some way to get Mr. Price, the Science teacher, to change my grade."

I joked, "Too bad he doesn't want to be a yell leader."

"Hey! That's it!"

"What's it?"

"I'll flatter Mr. Price in my the next 'Whole Truth' column. If it worked on all those kids, it's gotta work on him. Thanks, Gilligan!"

He ran off before I could say that I didn't think it would work on a teacher, especially a tough teacher.

April 26, 1972

I found Peter's Science exam in his jacket pocket. I don't know if he lied to me when he made me think it wasn't graded yet, or if it was graded after I asked about it. In any case, I'm sure he didn't want me to see it, since he got a D.

I talked to Mike about it and he told me that Greg was very amused that Peter recently wrote an article that flatters Mr. Price, who's not the most charismatic teacher. We didn't know if that was before or after the exam.

Mike went to talk to Peter, who admitted that the Price profile was not exactly "The Whole Truth." Mike feels that Peter has learned his lesson, although Mike is going to talk to Marcia, as Peter's editor, about cutting back on his assignments until he can bring his grades up.

April 28, 1972

Peter did write the article about Mr. Price but it didn't help. It turns out that Marcia, as editor of the paper, showed it to Mr. Price. She explained to me that she wasn't trying to snitch on Peter, but she did think it was inappropriate.

"I mean, I looked the other way when he was flattering the other kids, since it wasn't like they were bribing him ahead of time. And his column is just sort of local color about the school, so it's fine if he wants to offer personality profiles. But it's different with Mr. Price. He's a very serious, professional teacher and he wouldn't want, like, compliments on his jokes in Latin. And he's definitely not 'groovy.' And Greg told me how Peter bombed on the exam."

I talked to Peter later and he said he doesn't hold it against Marcia, although he sort of wishes she'd warned him before he went to talk to Mr. Price. He and his teacher were able to talk honestly, once Peter got past his nervousness. Mr. Price isn't going to change Peter's grade, but there's still time to bring up his class grade by the end of the school year. And Mr. Price appreciated the feedback on his teaching style.

April 30, 1972

We got a nice thank-you card from Emma, again thanking us for our hospitality, although of course she was doing us a favor. OK, not all that exercise, but looking after us and the house. She did say that she's not sure about coming back though, because our island is so far from everything. "I traveled the world but that was when I was younger. Your island is lovely and brought back happy memories of my time in the Pacific Theater, but it's good to be back in the 'real world.' "

I didn't take offense. There is something unreal about our lives here, even with all the modern conveniences we have compared to the old days. Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes that's a bad thing, but for the most part, I'm glad we're here.