Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great

When they are alone, Sheila yells at her mother for embarrassing her in front of Mouse and declares she is “never going to learn how to swim” (35). Her mother puts her foot down and insists Sheila is going to learn how to swim as a matter of safety. Mrs. Tubman reminds Sheila of all the times she and her husband have been patient with Sheila’s other fears. The Tubmans have never pushed Sheila, but they will not budge on this. Libby asks if they can take Jennifer to the pool, and Sheila tells her mother she is allergic to dogs and gets hives “inside where [her mother] can’t see them” (36), which exasperates her mother.

When they go to the pool, Libby is delighted to see so many boys, but Sheila is furious when her mother signs her up for private swimming lessons. The swimming instructor, Marty, is friendly and determined to put Sheila at ease. He tells her there’s nothing to be afraid of, but Sheila refuses to admit she is afraid. The next day, Sheila thinks of every possible excuse to avoid her swimming lesson, but her mother is unfazed and brings her to the pool anyway. Marty is patient and invites Sheila to put her face in the water, but she refuses. He explains that if she learns how to swim, she will be able to save herself from drowning. Reluctantly, Sheila agrees to learn how to swim, but only if she can avoid putting her face in the water. Marty teaches her to dog paddle, but he goes slowly. She feels encouraged by her meager progress, and as she leaves the pool, she sees Betsy dive off the diving board. Sheila wonders if “maybe Marty could teach [her] to swim like that” (44).

That night, Mouse comes to Sheila’s house to ask about Sheila’s swimming lessons. Sheila tries to make excuses, saying she used to swim when she was younger, but Mouse suggests that “[i]f a person doesn’t know how to do something,” they should “just admit it” (45) instead of lying. Sheila still refuses to tell the truth, and Mouse finally changes the subject. She gives Sheila a present, a fancy, name-brand yo-yo of her own, and offers to teach her a few tricks. Sheila agrees, and she imagines bragging to all the kids back home that the Junior Champion of Tarrytown taught her to yo-yo.

At swimming lessons the next day, Sheila asks Marty if he can teach her to dive like Betsy, but without putting her face in the water. For three more days, Marty slowly helps Sheila get used to the water, and Sheila’s mother tells Marty she will “pay for lessons all summer if she [has] to” (47). Sheila is unnerved by the sight of the other kids playing rough and dunking each other in the water, even as Mouse reassures her no one would dunk a beginner-level swimmer like her. Meanwhile, Libby develops a crush on an older lifeguard and lingers by his lifeguard stand all day. However, after a few days, the lifeguard’s girlfriend comes to the pool with him, and Libby loses all interest.

The Tubmans settle into their new routine, and Libby and Sheila go to day camp every day from 9am to 3pm. Sheila tries to hold on to the special game she played with her father back in Manhattan. One night, she points her shoes in the direction she is hiding in, but her father doesn’t come looking for her, and Sheila gets nervous. She worries her father has forgotten about her, or that he got lost in the big house. A thunderstorm starts, and Sheila’s fear intensifies until she comes out of hiding. She and her father agree it will take too long to find her in a house of this size, so they decide to pause their special game until after the summer.

At night, Mr. Tubman and Libby play with Jennifer in the backyard. Sheila watches them from her bedroom window and wonders “why [she] had to be born like [this] instead of like Libby, who isn’t afraid of anything” (51). Still, Sheila is adjusting to life in the Egrans’ home, and she is less afraid at night now.

One day, Mouse tells Sheila about an author named Washington Irving and his famous tale about the Headless Horseman. Mouse swears she’s heard the Headless Horseman riding around town. Her father tries to tell her the Headless Horseman is only a fictional character, but Sheila becomes convinced every strange noise she hears at night is the Headless Horseman, which causes Sheila to have “a lot of trouble sleeping” (54) that night.