"Gilligan's Acres" Chapter Eight

[kirsdarke]

Title: "Gilligan's Acres"
Chapter 8
Author: Karen (kirsdarke)
Pairings: Gilligan/Mary Ann; Professor/Ginger
Rating: PG
Summary: Honestly, if you read this chapter, you'll get the gist of it.
Disclaimer: I am not Gilligan, therefore I do not own Gilligan's Island.
Note: I really struggled with this one, so it's not as good as the others. I'm sorry. Also, I'm not a lawyer, so I probably got something wrong with the reading of the Will.


Chapter Eight
Where There's A Will

The next morning at the Howell mansion, Thurston came downstairs and found the living room filled with caterers, decorators, and the mansion staff, with his wife in the middle of the room, directing it all.

"Oh, good morning, darling," she said happily.

"Good morning, Lovey," he said. "What is all this?"

"I've invited Mary Ann and Ginger to lunch to meet some of the girls," Lovey said.

"Oh, how lovely."

"Yes, I thought so. Where are you off to today, Thurston?"

"Well, I'm meeting Leonard for lunch and he asked me to be at the reading of Frederick's Will."

"Why?" Lovey asked.

"Well, I assume that Frederick left us something."

"Oh, how sweet," Lovey said with a smile. "Frederick was always so generous."

"Well, don't get too excited, Lovey. Remember, he was also quite the practical joker."

"Gilligan," the Skipper said. "Stop packing for a minute. I want to talk to you."

"Okay, Skipper." He left his suitcase and joined the Skipper by his bed.

"Now, Gilligan, I'm your Big Buddy, right?"

"Sure," Gilligan said.

"And has your Big Buddy ever steered you wrong?"

"Only once. Remember, we took that left turn and sailed right into that big storm? Oh, that was a big one!"

"Never mind that!" Skipper exclaimed. "What I mean is, have I ever given you bad advice?"

"No."

"Then listen to me, Little Buddy," he said, laying a hand on Gilligan's shoulder. "I want you to go down to Mary Ann's room right now and talk to her."

"About what?"

"You know what," Skipper said impatiently. Gilligan's eyes went wide with panic.

"Right now?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Can't I do it later?"

"No, Gilligan, we're leaving tonight. There won't be a later. It has to be now."

"Skipper, I can't. What do I say?"

"Just speak from your heart, Gilligan," Skipper said. "Now quit stalling and go." He grabbed Gilligan's arm and walked him to the door. When they got to the doorway, Gilligan stopped.

"Skipper," he said.

"What is it?"

"I forgot where her room is."

"Room 1208, Gilligan. One floor down," he said, pointing downwards.

"1208," Gilligan repeated.

"Yes. Now go, and good luck." He pushed Gilligan out the door and shut it.

Thirty seconds later, there was a knock on the door. The Skipper opened it and found Gilligan still standing there.

"She wasn't home," Gilligan said.

"Gilligan!" Skipper slammed the door, leaving his Little Buddy in the hallway.

With no other ideas for escaping, Gilligan began the long walk to Mary Ann's room. He walked slowly. He had never done this before. He had no idea what to say, and neither did his heart. He could just open his mouth and see what came out, but that never seemed to end well for him.

He stood outside the girls' room for a full minute, trying to work up his courage. Finally, he knocked, as softly as he could. Maybe he would get lucky and they really wouldn't be there.

No such luck. Ginger opened the door, wearing a pretty purple dress.

"Hi, Gilligan," she said with a smile.

"Hey, Ginger," he said. "Why are you all dressed up?"

"Oh, Mrs. Howell invited Mary Ann and me to lunch with some of her friends."

"Oh. Well, is Mary Ann here? I have to talk to her."

"Talk to her?" Ginger said. She instantly knew what he meant, and her heart broke a little for him. She stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind her. "Gilligan, I don't think you want to talk to her about that."

"I know I don't, but the Skipper told me to."

"Oh, Gilligan," she said sadly. "How can I say this?"

"How about with words?"

"Well, Mary Ann called home last night and...I heard her talking to her boyfriend."

"Oh," Gilligan said, his face falling.

"I'm sorry," Ginger said. She wanted to give him a hug, but that would probably just send him into a panic.

"It's okay," Gilligan said. "I guess that's what I get for not speaking up, huh?"

The door opened behind Ginger and Mary Ann came out into the hallway. She was dressed for the lunch too, in a dark blue dress.

"Hi, Gilligan," she said happily.

"Hey, Mary Ann," he said as if everything were perfectly normal. "I just came over to...borrow some sugar."

"Sugar? Well, we don't have any sugar. We don't even have a kitchen."

"You either, huh? I guess I'll go ask the Professor."

"Good luck," she said.

The girls went downstairs to the lobby, and Gilligan walked back upstairs, defeated.

Mary Ann and Ginger were the last of Mrs. Howell's guests to arrive. The butler led them into the living room, where Mrs. Howell was sitting and enjoying appetizers with two of her friends. The three of them stood up when the two younger women entered the room. Mrs. Howell exchanged happy greetings and hugs with them, then introduced the other ladies.

"Girls, this is Evelyn Vandergraft and Susan Haverty," she said. "Ladies, this is Ginger Grant and Mary Ann Summers."

"Hello," Ginger said.

"Very nice to meet you," Mary Ann said.

Evelyn responded with a civil "Hello," and Susan with a much friendlier greeting. The five ladies took their seats, Mary Ann and Ginger to Mrs. Howell's right, Evelyn and Susan to her left.

"Thank you for having us, Mrs. Howell," Ginger said.

"Oh, I'm simply delighted that you could all come," Mrs. Howell said. "I'm sorry that it's just the five of us, but it was rather short notice."

"Mary Ann," Susan said. "Lovey tells us that you're from Kansas?" She said the state's name as though she'd never heard of it before and wasn't quite sure how to pronounce it.

"That's right," Mary Ann said. "Winfield."

"I've never heard of a town called Winfield," Evelyn said.

"Well, it's the county seat of Cowley County."

"Come again?"

"The county seat," Mary Ann said.

"Oh," Evelyn said.

"It's a charming little town," Ginger said.

"Yes, Thurston and I have been planning to visit, but we haven't had a chance," Mrs. Howell said. "What with the social season beginning and all."

"Ginger," Susan said. "I've heard you've returned to Broadway."

"Yes," Ginger said, hoping the topic wouldn't go any further than that.

"She's playing Juliet," Mary Ann said proudly.

"Yes, so I've read," Evelyn said. "The reviews seem to mention you a lot."

"Oh, pooh," Mrs. Howell said. "You can't believe everything the critics say. Thurston and I thought it was absolutely delightful."

"Really?"

"Really," Mrs. Howell said firmly.

"What kind of business is your husband in, Mrs. Vandergraft?" Mary Ann asked.

"Securities trading," Evelyn said.

"I'm...afraid I don't know what that means," Mary Ann said, embarrassed.

"It's very complicated financial business. It's hard to explain."

"Oh."

The women fell into silence.

The Howells butler appeared in the doorway. "Ladies," he said. "Lunch is served."

"Wonderful," Mrs. Howell said. "Thank you, Edward."

"Mrs. Howell," Mary Ann said. "Would you mind if I go freshen up real quick?"

"I think I could use a little freshening myself," Ginger said.

"Of course, darlings," Mrs. Howell said. "Do you remember where the powder room is?"

"Yes."

"We'll meet you in the dining room."

After fixing up their make-up in the bathroom, the girls went to join the other women in the dining room, but stopped in the hallway when they heard slightly raised voices.

"I just never thought I'd see Lovey Howell socializing with farm girls and show people," Evelyn was saying.

Ginger's mouth fell open in anger.

"For goodness sakes, Evelyn," Susan said. "It's not as if she's in the circus."

Ginger gave an angry nod, even though they couldn't see her.

"And they seem like perfectly nice young women," Susan said.

Mary Ann crossed her arms and nodded.

"I'm sure they are," Evelyn said. "But they're not...our sort of people."

"Maybe not your sort," Mrs. Howell said. Mary Ann and Ginger shared a small, triumphant smile. "If that's your attitude, perhaps you should leave."

"Perhaps I will."

"All right, then."

The girls heard a chair moving on the hardwood floor and, before they could move, Evelyn was standing in front of them, ready to leave.

"Very nice to meet you, Mrs. Vandergraft," Mary Ann said.

Evelyn gave a curt nod and walked away. The girls went into the dining room to join the other women.

Leonard and Mr. Howell went straight from their lunch at the country club to the offices of Goldman, Douglas & Finch. They found someone waiting for them there: a handsome man in his thirties, wearing an expensive suit and glasses. He stood up as the men approached, and held out his hand.

"Leonard Goldman?" the man asked.

"Yes," Leonard said, shaking his hand.

"My name is Darcy," he said, "Wilber J. Darcy. I'm here on behalf of the Friedman Corporation."

"Oh, yes. Lovely to meet you. This is Thurston Howell the Third. He was a friend of Mr. Friedman's."

"Yes, of course," Darcy said, shaking Mr. Howell's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You, too," Mr. Howell said.

"Well I don't think we're expecting anyone else," Leonard said. "If you gentlemen will follow me."

He led them into his office, where Darcy and Mr. Howell took the two seats in front of the desk. Leonard took the Will out of the top drawer and sat down behind the desk. He took out his reading glasses and put them on.

"All right," he said. "Here we are. 'I, Frederick J. Friedman, being of sound mind and body,' so on and so forth..." He skimmed the document. "'To my dear friend, Thurston Howell the Third, I entrust my beloved boat the Mary Jane and my home in Wayward, Oklahoma. To the residents of the aforementioned town, I leave a sum of one million dollars. The rest of my fortune and assets I leave to the Friedman Corporation to be dealt with as they see fit.'"

He put down the paper and looked up at the other two men. "That's it," he said.

"That's it?" Mr. Howell repeated. "May I see that?"

Leonard handed him the paper. Mr. Howell read it over carefully.

"'Wayward, Oklahoma,'" he read. "I've never even heard of such a place."

"It's right between Arkansas and Texas," Darcy said.

"Oh, yes. Thank you."

"Mr. Darcy," Leonard said. "Why don't you make an appointment with my secretary to come back tomorrow, and we'll finalize everything then?"

"Yes, sir, I'll do that." Darcy stood up and shook hands with both of them. "Nice to meet you both. Enjoy Oklahoma, Mr. Howell."

"Yes. Thank you." The two older men watched as Darcy left.

"Either they're starting them younger these days," Leonard said. "Or we're getting older."

"Bite your tongue," Mr. Howell said, looking over the Will again. "What kind of property is it, exactly?" he asked cautiously.

Leonard took another document from the top drawer, a Deed.

"'A farmhouse, a barn, and one hundred acres of land,'" he read.

Mr. Howell laughed, although he wasn't amused at all. "No, no. That must be a mistake. Frederick was going to sell that."

"Yes, that's what he said. He called me the day after you got back and said that he wanted to sell it. Then a few days later, he called and said that he'd changed his mind. That's when we changed the Will."

"Darn it all," Mr. Howell said in frustration. "He got me one last time."

When Mr. Howell got home, the servants were cleaning up from lunch and the guests were gone. He stood in the front hall for a moment, trying to decide how to explain the whole thing to Lovey.

"Thurston, is that you?" she called from another room.

"Yes, Lovey," he said. "Where are you?"

"In the office, darling."

Thurston went upstairs and found his wife at the desk in his office, writing a letter. She spoke before he had a chance to.

"Thurston, the Vandergrafts aren't coming to the Cotillion this year," she said.

"Why not?"

"They're not invited."

"All right, then. Lovey-"

"You should have heard the way Evelyn talked about Ginger and Mary Ann," she said. "It was horrible."

"Lovey, I need to tell you something," he said impatiently.

"What is it, darling?"

"Well, I have good news and bad news."

"Oh, dear. What's the good news?"

"Frederick left us the Mary Jane."

"Oh, how sweet of him," Lovey said happily.

"Well, hold the applause. I haven't given you the bad news yet," Thurston said. "Do you remember that discussion we had about his buying a farm?"

"Yes, I believe I do."

"Well he left us that, too."

"A farm? Now why would he do a silly thing like that?"

"I'm sure I don't know, Lovey. At any rate, we can move fast and put it on the market as soon as possible. We'll have to go inspect it first, of course."

"Oh, Thurston, what a wonderful idea. The girls and I were just talking earlier about all of us going away together. Where is it?"

"Oklahoma. But Lovey-"

"Well, it's not Paris, obviously, but I suppose it'll do. Oh, I'll have to work quickly. I do hope Gilligan and the Skipper haven't left yet."

She got up and hurried from the room, leaving her husband to wonder what had just happened.

In case you're curious, here are the dresses the ladies wore to the lunch: Mrs. Howell's, Mary Anne's, and Ginger's.

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