Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great (15 page)

   
"Yes you can," Marty said.

   
I folded my arms and gave him one of my best stares.

   
"You've got to try, Sheila. That's all I ask. You just can't give up without trying."

   
"Who's giving up?" I asked. "I can swim. You know that. You've seen me."

   
"Okay," Marty said. "So I know it. So now I want you to prove it to everyone by swimming across the pool."

   
"Maybe I just don't feel like it."

   
"Look, Sheila, there's absolutely nothing to be afraid of. If you can't make it I'll be right there to help you."

   
"I am not afraid!"

   
"Then prove that you're not! Jump in right now and start swimming. I know you can make it. I have a lot of confidence in you."

   
I didn't answer him.

   
"Please, Sheila. Please try. . . for me."

   
I liked the way Marty said that. But when I looked across the pool the other side seemed ten miles away. "You promise nothing bad will happen?" I asked.

   
"I promise," Marty said. "Word of honor. I'll even clear this section of the pool while you take your test."

   
"Do I have to keep my face in the water the whole time?"

   
"No, you can swim any way you want."

   
"How far is it across? About a mile?"

   
Marty laughed. "It's only forty feet."

   
"It looks like ten miles to me," I said.

   
"It's not. Tell you what . . . I'll count to three. Then you jump in and start swimming. I'll walk along the side of the pool and if you have any trouble I'll pull you out."

   
"You'll really be near me?"

   
"Yes. I told you that. Now get ready."

   
I stood at the edge of the pool.

   
Marty counted. "One . . . and two . . . and three jump!"

   
I didn't move.

   
"What are you waiting for?" Marty asked.

   
"I wasn't quite ready," I told him. "Let's try it again."

   
"Okay. Here we go. And one. . . and two. . . and three. . . jump!"

   
I held my nose and jumped in. When I came up I looked for Marty. He was right where he said he'd be. "Swim. . . swim. . ." he called.

   
I started. First I tried blowing bubbles, but I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. So I kept my head out and swam like a dog. That way I could see what was going on. And I could keep an eye on Marty to make sure he followed me all the way across.

   
Every time I looked up at him he yelled, "Go, Sheila, go!"

   
I swam past the low diving board. Then past the high one. And then I started to get tired. I couldn't get my arms all the way out of the water. And my legs didn't want to kick anymore. I looked up at Marty.

   
"Go, Sheila, go! Don't stop now!"

   
Marty was wrong. The pool wasn't forty feet across. It was really forty miles. I never should have tried it.

   
"Go. . .go. . . ."

   
Why didn't he just shut up? When I raised my head and looked straight across the pool, who did I see waiting for me but Mouse and the twins. They were yelling "Go . . . go!" just like Marty. I wanted to tell them to stop. That I would never get to their side. This was very stupid. Soon I would be dead. Why didn't Marty pull me out? What was he waiting' for? Couldn't he see I wasn't going to make it?

   
I tried to say, "I can't make it," but it came out so soft he didn't hear me.

   
He said, "That's it. Keep on going ."

   
I can't . . . I can't. . .I thought. Then my hand touched the ladder.

   
Mouse and the twins were cheering and jumping up and down. Marty was yelling, "You made it! You made it! I knew you would!"

   
It was true. I swam across the deep end of the pool and I was still alive! I really and truly did it! I tried to climb up the ladder, but Marty bent down and said, "Now all you've got to do is tread water for two minutes."

   
"No. . . no. . . let me up!"

   
"Relax, Sheila. You can do it. Just tread for two minutes."

   
Treading water is pretty easy. It's just like riding a bicycle except you aren't on one. But I was so tired. I wanted to go to sleep.

   
Marty was holding a watch. He talked to me the whole time I was treading. He said, "That's it, Sheila. Only one more minute to go. And what's one little minute?"

   
When we got down to the last couple of seconds Marty counted out loud. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. . . . Hurray! You did it! You did it!"

   
I climbed up the ladder and Marty put his arms around me. Then he gave me a big kiss right in front of everybody, but I didn't mind. My mother ran over and wrapped me up in a towel and Mouse and the twins dragged a lounge chair to me.

   
"I really did it?" I asked over and over.

   
"You sure did," Marty said.

   
"How about that?" Never mind that Mouse and the twins are already working on their Advanced cards. Never mind that Libby is practically a Junior Life Saver. Never mind that I will never dive like Betsy Ellis or stand on my hands under the water.
I can swim
. I proved it to everyone, including myself! I am Sunny Tubman, girl swimmer! I am Super Sheila the Swimming Wonder. I am. . . I am. . . I am. .

   
"Sheila . . ." I heard my mother say. "Are you all right?"

   
I think I nodded.

   
Then another voice laughed and said, "She's asleep. That's all."

   
I think it was Marty. But I couldn't even open my eyes to thank him.

   
NEXT week we are going home. Our summer in Tarrytown is practically over. In some ways I am glad. Such as I won't have to listen for the Headless Horseman anymore. But in other ways I'm sorry. I will really miss Mouse. She's promised to tell Bobby Egran that I never touched any of his models. But just in case he doesn't believe her and decides to
get me
, Mouse will say I've gone to Australia and won't be back.

   
"I'll visit you in the city," Mouse said. "And next summer maybe you'll come back to Tarrytown."

   
"But next summer we're going to Disneyland," I told her.

   
"You're really going?" she asked.

   
"Well, we're thinking about it. At least I am!"

   
"Then I'll think about it too," Mouse said. "And maybe we can all go together."

   
"Now that's a really good idea!" I said.

   
Me and Mouse would love to be around when Libby says good-bye to Hank Crane. She is the star of his new movie It s all about a girl who sees everything upside down. Libby had to learn to stand on her head to get the feel of the part She says some day Hank will be very famous and we will all be able to say we knew him-when. . . . Mouse and I don't believe her.

   
Mom got the idea of having a Farewell to Tarrytown party. She told us about it after supper tonight.

   
Daddy said, "That sounds like fun."

   
"Can I invite Mouse?" I asked.

   
"Of course," Mom said. "We'll have the whole Ellis family."

   
Then Libby asked, "Can I invite Hank and Maryann Markman?"

   
Mom said Sure And let s have Marty too

   
"And the Van Arden twins," I said.

   
"And maybe Hank can bring a friend for Maryann," Libby said.

   
By that time Daddy and Mom were laughing and making up a party list.

   
The next few days we were all busy planning our Farewell to Tarrytown. Daddy said he would do the cooking on the outside grill and Mom said we'd set up tables and chairs in the backyard.

   
At the last minute I remembered about Betsy Ellis and how she gets hives from dogs, but Daddy said.she would be all right as long as she didn't get near Jennifer.

   
The day of our party started out cloudy and Mom was very disappointed. I thought if it rained we could get up a good game of indoor hide-and-seek. But by noon the sun came out and Mom cheered up.

   
At two o'clock our first guests came-Mouse
 
and her family. Betsy was dragging Ootch. But she had a new ribbon tied around him instead of the dirty old string.

   
Right after that everyone started to arrive at once. The Van Arden twins, Maryann Markman, Hank and his friend Bucky Parker, who brought a bat, a ball, and a fielder's mitt with him.

   
Marty came last and for a minute I didn't recognize him. It was the first time I saw him in clothes instead of a bathing suit!

   
We spent the afternoon eating-hamburgers, hot dogs, barbecued chicken, and a bunch of stuff to go with it. Everyone took turns at the grill so Daddy didn't have to cook the. whole time. We all agreed that Hank Crane and Bucky Parker were the best cooks. They were the only ones who didn't drop anything into the fire or burn up the rolls.

   
Even Jennifer had fun. All of our guests stopped to say hello and tell her congratulations on her condition. Toward the middle of the afternoon she curled up.in the shade and went to sleep.

   
At six o'clock Mom brought out the watermelons. Me, Mouse, and the twins took our plates and went off by ourselves. When we finished eating Mouse said, "Now take three pits and stick them to your foreheads. Then give each pit a boy's name, and the one that stays on longest is the boy you'll marry."

   
I couldn't think of one boy I might want to marry. So I named my pits Russ Bindel, Sam Sweeney, and Bobby Egran.

   
After Mouse, Sonda, and Jane named pits we all stood up and walked around with them stuck to our foreheads. As they dried they fell off. Sam Sweeney fell off me first, then Russ Bindel, which left me with Bobby Egran as the boy I would marry. And that was pretty funny because I don't even want to meet him, let alone marry him!

   
Then Bucky Parker started throwing his baseball around and pretty soon we divided into teams and started a game. Me, Mouse, Bucky, and Marty against Sondra, Jane, Libby, Maryann, and Hank.