Sometimes, there were beautiful sunsets in the city. You could not see them from the kitchen windows. From the kitchen, you could only see the red bricks of the walls. But you could see everything from the attic window. Sara loved to look at the sky. She saw red, gold, and purple clouds. Sometimes the clouds looked like mountains or islands in the sea. The sky felt very near to her. It was like a beautiful ceiling. Sara felt free when she looked out of her high window.
A few days after the Indian gentleman moved in, Sara went to her room. She stood on her old table and looked at the sunset. The sky was full of gold light. The birds looked black against the bright sky.
"It is a beautiful sunset," Sara said to herself. "It makes me feel like something strange will happen."
Suddenly, she heard a sound. It was a squeaky, chattering noise. It came from the window of the next attic. A man was looking out of that window too. He was an Indian servant. He wore a turban. Sara knew he was a Lascar. He looked sad and lonely. He held a small monkey in his arms.
Sara smiled at the man. The man was very happy to see her smile. He showed his white teeth and smiled back.
Then, the man moved his arm. The monkey jumped away! It was a naughty monkey. It ran across the roof and jumped into Sara’s room. Sara laughed. She wanted to help the man. She remembered the language she spoke in India.
"Will he let me catch him?" Sara asked in Hindustani.
The man was very surprised. He was happy to hear his own language. He told Sara that his name was Ram Dass. He said the monkey was good but difficult to catch. Ram Dass asked if he could cross the roof to her room.
"Can you get across?" Sara asked.
"Yes," Ram Dass answered.
Ram Dass walked across the roof. He was very light and fast. He climbed in through Sara’s window. He saw how poor and bare the room was, but he was very polite to her. He treated her like a princess. The monkey ran around the room, but Ram Dass caught it.
"Thank you, Missee Sahib," Ram Dass said. He used the Indian words for "young lady." He told her that his master was ill. The monkey made his master feel better. Then Ram Dass went back across the roof to his own window.
Sara stood in her room. She thought about her past. A few years ago, she had many servants. They all treated her with respect. Now, she was a servant for Miss Minchin. She knew her future would be hard. She would have to work and teach for a long time. She would always wear ugly, plain clothes.
But Sara lifted her head high. "It does not matter," she said. "I can be a princess inside. It is easy to be a princess in beautiful clothes. It is much harder to be a princess when you are poor. But I will do it."
This thought helped Sara every day. Miss Minchin said many mean things to her. Sara did not care. She looked at Miss Minchin with a quiet smile. She thought, "You do not know that I am a princess. I only listen to you because I am polite."
The next morning, Sara was teaching the little children. She was dreaming about old stories. She thought about King Alfred. In a story, a woman hit King Alfred because he burned some cakes. The woman did not know he was a king. Sara wondered what Miss Minchin would do if she knew the truth.
Miss Minchin saw Sara’s face. She did not like her expression. She walked over to Sara and hit her on the side of the head. Sara was shocked, but then she laughed.
"Why are you laughing?" Miss Minchin shouted. "You are a bad child!"
"I was thinking," Sara said quietly.
"How dare you think!" Miss Minchin said. "What were you thinking?"
All the girls in the schoolroom listened. They wanted to hear what Sara would say. She was not afraid. Her face was red where Miss Minchin had hit her, but her eyes were bright.
"I was thinking that you do not know what you are doing," Sara said.
"What?" Miss Minchin gasped.
"I was thinking about what would happen if I were a princess," Sara said. "If I were a princess, you would be afraid to hit me. You would be very surprised if you found out the truth."
Sara spoke with much power. Miss Minchin did not know what to say.
"Go to your room!" Miss Minchin screamed. "Go now!"
Sara made a polite bow and walked out. The other girls whispered. They wondered if Sara really was someone special.