CHAPTER 8

As Skipper strolled out of his hut the next morning, the first thing he did was scan the active morning crowd for his first mate. He still didn't see Gilligan.

Mrs. Howell was sitting in her lounge chair, surrounded by Meka, Kalia and Lalani. Meka was showing Mrs. Howell how to weave thin palm fronds.

"Thurston, Thurston!" she called, excitedly. "Look. I've made a placemat." She held up a loosely woven trapazoid. Her enthusiasm, however, couldn't be contained. "Oooh," she squealed as she delicately clapped her hands together. "Let's make another."

The other women laughed and handed her some more palm fronds.

Skipper gave Lalani a smile, and moved on. He saw the girls all disappearing around the corner heading toward the kitchen area. Following them, he called out.

"MaryAnn?"

The tiny farm girl stopped and turned. "Oh, Good morning, Skipper," she said.

"Uh, hi. Good morning," he answered. "Say, have you seen Gilligan?"

She shook her head sadly. "No. I didn't see him last night either. He must be all right, though. Don't you think?" she asked, sounding a bit worried.

"Oh, sure. I'm sure he just spent the night in one of his caves. Professor said that he was feeling a bit . . . overwhelmed by some of our company." Skipper patted the young girl's arm. "He'll be back for breakfast."

Just as he said that, he spied Gilligan, as expected, coming into the clearing looking disheveled and hungry. As he walked toward Skipper and MaryAnn, she saw him.

Running into his arms, she reached up and kissed his cheek. "Gilligan," she scolded. "I was worried about you. Where have you been?"

He shrugged. "I'm going to go put my spear away. MaryAnn, when will breakfast be ready? I'm starved."

She looked a little hurt at his aloof nature. "Soon," she answered. "The other girls are working on it now. I'd better get back there."

Not long after that, all the young girls came back from the kitchen area, holding platters of fresh-cut fruit, warmed poi rolls left over from the night before, a bowl of turtle eggs and some freshly-grilled crab-meat.

There was a rush for the table as people good-naturedly grabbed plates and bowls and took their fill. Haruki and Pilipo grabbed Gilligan as he filled his plate and pulled him over to the log by the firepit. They were questioning him on the best places to hunt boar. Pilipo and Gilligan had come up with a mixture of english, the native's language and hand signals, and they were becoming rather adept at interpreting the other's intentions.

When he started to grasp the idea that the men all wanted to go hunting together, he glanced nervously over at Nahele. He looked over his shoulder and saw the girls all heading over with their breakfasts, too. MaryAnn quietly sat next to him and started to pick at her food.

All the conversation around him carried on, but suddenly, Gilligan was only aware of the young brunette sitting next to him. He leaned over, close to her ear, and whispered, "I'm sorry you were worried. I just wanted to be alone last night. I slept in my Lone Wolf Cave." He gently kissed her temple.

She glanced up at him, and her eyes filled with tears. She tried to stop them, but couldn't. "Are you mad at me . . . for not going with you last night?" she asked.

He looked totally surprised by that question. "Of course not," he exclaimed. "I just . . . I just . . ." He couldn't say it. He didn't want to tell her that he was jealous (and a little scared) of Nahele. "No, MaryAnn," he finally said, shaking his head and putting his arm around her shoulders. "I'm not mad at you."

"Are you going hunting with them?" she asked, quietly.

"Well, sure," he answered. "They can teach me a lot. It will help me when I'm getting food for us all." He took a big bite of the egg on his plate, followed by an entire dinner roll, and finished it off with a big swig of water.

"Hey, I know!" he said excitedly, with his mouth full of food. "Why don't you come, too."

"Really?" she asked, suddenly brightening up. "You wouldn't mind?"

"Well," he answered slyly. "You might be a little distracting, but . . ." his voice trailed off and he grinned at her.

On the other side of the firepit, Nahele sat watching Gilligan and MaryAnn. He scowled. Pilipo watched him watching them. He leaned over and whispered something to Nahele, who nodded back. Gilligan looked over just in time to see the exchange.

xxxxx

Once the other girls heard that MaryAnn was going, they wanted in, too. Kalia and Meka told everyone that they would clean up. Ginger had no interest in hunting pigs, so she offered to stay and help them. Mr. and Mrs. Howell took their usual spots in their lounge chairs, set off in the shade, sipping on fruit juice and reading their tattered copies of the Wall Street Journal.

As the hunting party was gathering with their weapons in the clearing, Lilo suddenly doubled over. With her hand over her mouth, she ran for the jungle. Haruki followed her, with Kalia and Kapena close behind him. Meka talked to Pilipo for a few minutes, then smiled at the group, shooing them off to hunt.

Pilipo motioned them into the jungle, as well. The hunting party would have to continue without Haruki.

xxxxx

With his spear in his hand and his machete hanging on his hip, Gilligan led the large hunting party toward the southern end of the island. As they walked, he and Pilipo developed a strategy, with Nahele listening in. They called Professor up to the front of the line, and asked his opinion on the habits of the wild boars.

The crowd was loud and lively. The men were up front, holding their spears, talking hunting strategy and looking as manly as possible. The women followed, giggling and twittering and batting their eyelashes at the mighty hunters.

xxxxx

Bringing up the rear, Skipper and Lalani strolled along slowly, with their arms linked. Lalani was in a much better mood than the previous evening and was enjoying flirting with Skipper.

"Tell me, Jonas," she said. "How is it that you have never married? You are so handsome and kind."

He turned about six shades of red. "Well," he stammered. "I just never met a woman who made me feel like settling down." He shrugged and glanced down at her. "Come on, we'd better hurry up. We're losing the hunting party," he said as he noticed how far behind they were lagging.

Lalani chuckled at how he side-stepped that conversation. She picked up her pace as they caught up to the rest of the hunters and joined in the festive atmosphere.