Sara Meets Pocahontas
Sara was in the kitchen scrubbing dishes. She had just finished the last one when the cook came in, an angry scowl on her face. She walked over to Sara and said, “Are you finished yet, lazy slattern? The girls’ fires need tending!” Sara replied, “Yes, Cook, I just finished the dishes.” The cook said, “Then get upstairs! And hurry. I need you to go out for groceries as well.” Sara nodded and grabbed the full coal scuttle. Even though it was far too heavy for her, she was used to the weight and was able to hurry out of the kitchen. She ran upstairs and knocked on Lavinia’s door. “Who is it?” asked the spoiled girl. Sara replied meekly, “It’s Sara, Miss Herbert.” Lavinia said, “Come in then.” Sara opened Lavinia’s door, careful to not let the coal scuttle tip. Then she walked over to Lavinia’s fireplace and began to tend the flames. “Took you long enough. I’ve been freezing for a whole half hour!” Sara sighed and said nothing as she carefully put coals on the fire. Lavinia frowned at not getting a response. When Sara was finished, she stood up and began to walk out. Lavinia saw her opportunity and pushed Sara down, causing her to lose her grip on the scuttle. The coals spilled all over her bare legs and the floor. “Look what you’ve done, clumsy skivvy!” said Lavinia, pointing to the ruined carpet. Sara glared up at Lavinia and lost her self-control. “You pushed me!” she said. Lavinia said, “No, you tripped over your own feet! Now you’ll have to spend all night scrubbing the soot out of the carpet. If you don’t, I’ll tell Miss Minchin that you spilled the coals on purpose.” Suddenly the door opened and Becky came in. She gasped at the sight. “Sara, the cook’s been looking for you. She told me to do the rest of the girls’ rooms, so I’ll take care of this. But you have to go now.” Sara thanked Becky and ran out of the room, glad to be out of the situation. She managed to ignore the pain in her legs as she ran down to the kitchen. As soon as the cook saw her, she stopped. “Sara, what on earth happened to your legs?” Sara looked down and saw that her legs were splotched with red. “Lavinia spilled hot coals on me,” answered Sara honestly. The cook sighed and said, “I don’t know what you did to provoke it, but I’d better not be hearing anything from the Missus.” Then the cook handed Sara the list of things to buy and the money. Sara was all too happy to get out of the school. She only wished she didn’t have to come back.
Sara walked to the docks. She needed a way out if Lavinia told Miss Minchin on her. She needed a way out anyway. She was starving and freezing and honestly she wasn’t sure how long she would survive at the school. She also knew that she needed to leave as soon as possible. She sighed as she reached the docks and looked at the ships. She gathered her courage and approached a man who appeared to be overseeing one of them. She pasted a smile on her face and said, “Hello! Where is this ship sailing?” The man replied, “To America. Do you need help? You look unwell.” He walked towards her but stopped when he saw her legs. “What happened to you? Are you all right?” Sara admitted, “A girl at the school I work for chose to spill hot coals on my legs.” The man was aghast and turned to a blonde man who was nearby. “Mr. Barlow, get the ship’s doctor immediately. This girl needs help.” Mr. Barlow said, “Yes, Captain Smith.” Then he went onto the ship. The other man smiled at Sara and said, “You should lie down. I am sorry this happened to you. My name is John Smith.” Sara smiled back and said, “My name is Sara Crewe. It is a pleasure to meet you, Captain. When are you sailing? I’d like to come with you.” John seemed taken aback by her statement. “Sara, this ship is no place for a young girl. If you came with us, you’d have to work hard to survive. What you need is rest.” Sara said, “I cannot rest either way. If I stayed here, I’d be forced to work day and night despite my injury. Miss Minchin doesn’t give a damn about me. All she cares about is getting her money back. I could be dying of fever and she’d still expect me to work. As long as I can stand at all, I must work. At least if I went on your ship, I wouldn’t be with people who beat or burned me. I would make a good cabin girl.” John sighed and said, “How much money do you owe?” Sara answered, “When my papa died, he left a debt of 200 pounds. It has been two years since, but my room and board have added to that.” John said, “Here, I will go to this school and settle your debt. But you must stay aboard the ship and rest your legs.” As John said this, the doctor came out and walked over. John said, “Doctor, this girl is badly injured.” The doctor nodded and examined Sara’s legs as John walked away to settle Sara’s debt. Sara doubted that Miss Minchin would let her go that easily. The doctor picked Sara up and carried her on to the ship. Then he laid her on a cot nearby. She yawned, suddenly very tired. “Go to sleep. You require rest to heal.” Sara obeyed, fully expecting to wake up locked in the attic.
Sara woke up back in her attic room. She sighed, wondering if meeting John Smith had just been a dream. She yawned and got up. Then she remembered: she had been telling Ermengarde about John Smith the other day. Sara laughed, realizing that she must have dreamt of meeting him. Then she stopped, having heard footsteps on the last flight of stairs. Sara had no idea what Miss Minchin was coming up here for, so she turned to the door expectantly. Still, her heart pounded in her thin chest as the steps came nearer and nearer. Then the door was flung open and Miss Minchin barged in. “What is the meaning of this? Lavinia told me you have stolen her locket. Give it to me now, and I may be inclined to be lenient with you.” Sara said, “I didn’t steal her locket, Miss Minchin! I don’t know where it is.” Miss Minchin said, “Are you accusing Lavinia of dishonesty? Fine, then I shall search your room for it. But know that when I find it, the consequences will be dire.” Sara shrugged although inside she was shaking. She knew that Lavinia probably planted the locket to get Sara in trouble. Sara feared that Miss Minchin would call the police. Sara looked around the room for an escape, but couldn’t find one. Miss Minchin said, “Don’t even think of escaping. I will not allow you to run off with that Mr. Smith.” Sara was dumbfounded. “So I did meet John Smith! I thought it was all a dream.” Miss Minchin glowered at the girl. “Don’t be impertinent. How dare you try to leave?” Sara suddenly was filled with courage and said, “How dare you force me to come back to this place? John was willing to give you plenty of money. I thought that was what you cared about!” Miss Minchin boxed Sara’s ears. “Don’t talk back! I will not allow you to go off with some strange man. You are my responsibility. The school’s reputation would be ruined if I allowed you to go away like that. You belong to me. You will always belong to me, Sara Crewe. You are no longer a princess.” Sara shook with the strength it took not to hit back as Miss Minchin began to look for the locket. Sara watched her with arms crossed. Miss Minchin opened a trunk which Sara didn’t expect to have anything but rubbish in it. Miss Minchin reached in and grabbed something and then shut it. Then she thrust a locket into Sara’s face. “After all I’ve done for you, this is how you repay me? I am horrified. I have no choice but to call the police. Stay here. It will be worse for you if you try to run.” Miss Minchin then walked out and locked the door behind her. Sara waited until the woman’s footsteps had died away before grabbing Emily and running to the skylight and flinging it open. She easily climbed out onto the roof and jumped into a nearby tree and shimmied down. She saw that the police were already coming near, so she ran to the docks as fast as she could, using her last bit of strength. She smiled to see Mr. Barlow, seemingly waiting for her. He smiled as well when he saw her. “Sara, thank God! I was afraid of what that woman had done to you.” Sara said, “She called the police because a student falsely accused me of stealing her necklace and hid said necklace in my attic room so that Miss Minchin would think I was guilty.” Mr. Barlow frowned and picked Sara up and then ran onto the ship. As soon as he was on board, he gently set her back on her feet as the anchor was lifted. John Smith was already on board. He smiled at Sara. “I’m happy you managed to come back, Sara. We were all very worried about you.” Sara smiled and said, “Thank you for being concerned for my wellbeing. Nobody has bothered for over two years. It is nice to know that someone finally cares about me.” John said, “Whatever has happened to you, you’re with friends now. Nobody will hurt you here. But you should lie down. I don’t want you to risk losing your legs to overuse.” Sara nodded and asked, “Where do I sleep, Captain?” John said, “I’ve set up a bed down in the hold. It isn’t much, but at least you’ll be able to sleep by yourself.” Sara was filled with gratitude. She was thankful that she didn’t have to sleep around the men. Even though she trusted John when he said nobody would hurt her, she still preferred to have some degree of privacy. She was nearly fourteen and it would be completely improper for her to sleep around men, especially with her quickly maturing body. Sara said, “Thank you, for all of this. You’ve done more for me in a couple of days than anybody has done in over two years. I often thought I would die up in that attic. I came very close several times. Nobody cared about me until I met you.” John said, “I couldn’t just leave you to suffer, Sara. I could tell your situation was dire. Not many girls would be willing to join a ship’s crew so quickly, especially with such injuries as you had. Then when I met Miss Minchin, my suspicions were confirmed that you were being badly treated. That woman would not let you go no matter how much money I offered.” Sara said, “That surprises me. I had thought that all she cared about was money, but she told me that it would ruin the school’s reputation for her to allow me to go off with some strange man like this. I suppose she is cleverer than I had thought. I hope never to see her again.” John said, “So do I, Sara. But go on downstairs. You need to rest.” Sara nodded and smiled again before walking downstairs. She sat down on the bed and realized it was much softer than the one she had had in the attic. “This is our new home, Emily. We are sailing to America.” Then she lay down and hugged her doll before surrendering to sleep.
The next few months went by quickly. Sara proved to be an industrious cabin girl. She also dove down into the ocean and brought back fish, to the endless delight of the rest of the crew. She was determined to repay her debt to John Smith. She knew she would be in dire straits if he had not intervened. Lavinia would have still framed her for theft, and she would most likely be in a workhouse or prison now. She shuddered at the thought as she stood on the sparklingly clean deck, deep in reflective thought. She did not notice that John was watching her. Suddenly she was brought out of her thoughts by the lookout shouting that he saw land, filling Sara with giddy anticipation. As much as she loved life on the ship, she was eager to discover America, the New World, though she knew that it was really quite old and that it was only called new because Europeans had only recently discovered it, although that wasn’t entirely true either. Vikings had visited what was now Canada. Sara had read about it when she had toured Europe with her papa. Apparently, the Vikings had killed eight Indians. But Sara was perplexed that nobody seemed to believe her. Everyone thought that Christopher Columbus had discovered America and nothing Sara said could convince them otherwise. In reality, Sara knew that Christopher had only discovered the Bahamas and not America. But what perplexed her even more was the fact that John Smith and the rest of the men seemed to act like they were in the 17th century and not the 19th like Sara knew they were. She did not believe in time travel. Such a notion was preposterous. It was so impossible that Sara herself had never even fantasized about it in her wildest stories. Still, this ship was oddly primitive. She had never been on such a ship. The ships she had been on with her papa were all steam liners. This ship relied on sails, which also explained why they were moving so slowly. She had expected the trip to take a few weeks at the most, but they had been sailing for months. Also, she had expected to see a big harbor when they neared America, but there wasn’t one. Sara told herself that once they got closer, they would see Boston Harbor. But she found it difficult to swallow that there was not even one ship anywhere nearby. There ought to be many ships going to and from the harbor. Sara knew that what she was seeing didn’t make any sense. She looked at John and asked, “How far do you think we are from America now?” John shrugged and replied, “I’d say about a few hours. We should be there by late noon.” Sara suddenly got an idea. “Captain, may I swim the rest of the way?” she asked. John said, “Are you sure your legs can withstand such exertion? You haven’t swum but a few feet since they were injured.” Sara smiled brightly and said, “I shall be fine. I would not have asked if I didn’t think I could do it.” John smiled back and said, “Then go ahead, Sara. We’ll meet you there.” Sara smiled at him again and then dove into the ocean. The salt water still stung her legs, but it was not as bad as it had been. Certainly it did nothing to slow her down anymore as she swam as fast as she could. Suddenly, just as she had made it about a mile away from the ship, she began to feel dizzy. Her legs burned with pain. Then she was lifted out of the water and began to move rapidly towards the shore. She looked down and saw a dolphin carrying her. “Thank you,” she said, grateful that the animal had saved her life. She was sure she would have drowned if she had been underwater for much longer. She looked ahead and was shocked to her core at what she saw, or rather what she didn’t see. There was no bustling harbor full of ships. In fact, there was no harbor at all. There was nothing there at all. She had never seen such a naked shore except on a map. She was curious and eager to explore suddenly as the dolphin carried her swiftly. As soon as she reached the shore, she jumped off of the dolphin and waved as it clicked and then swam off. Then she turned around and began to look for a way to climb up the cliff side. She found one within a minute and climbed up. Then she ran, enjoying being on dry land again. Even better than that was the fact that she was now completely free. She was not a slave any longer, nor was she in danger of starving or freezing to death. She knew that this was her home now. Sara looked around. She knew that this land was already inhabited, a fact that the other people on the ship had seemed to dismiss as a possible hindrance to be dealt with. Sara already felt sorry for the natives that they were already thought of as mere savage animals and not the people that they were. She had a bad feeling that much harm would come to them once they and her new friends met. John Smith and his crew cared nothing for these people except for how to push them out of their way. Sara knew this from her experiences in India, where the British ruled with an iron fist. Sara was sure that India had once been a beautiful and happy place, but she had rarely seen that. Of course her ayah had acted happy and shielded her as best she could from the harsh reality, but Sara had seen past the pretty façade that was put on for her happiness. She knew that the streets were filthy and the people impoverished. It was just like London, really. The British ruined everything they touched and Sara doubted they had done it without knowing. Sara was sure they were fully aware of what was happening and even what would happen. They either didn’t care or they wanted it that way. They wanted everyone else to suffer so they could feel powerful. Sara vowed not to allow the same to happen here. If she had to kill to protect these people, she would, because she knew exactly what would happen to these people if someone didn’t stand up for them. She had never been to America, but she knew what was happening there to the Native Americans. They were almost all on reservations in Sara’s time. Sara supposed that there might be some that had escaped, but they were most likely alone and scattered to the point that they would never meet each other. She wasn’t sure if she could prevent that from happening, but she would certainly do her best to keep peace for the rest of her life, however long that would be without the medical knowledge and technology that she had until this point taken for granted. But if there was a battle, Sara would fight for Chief Powhatan. In reality, Sara knew that war was nearly inevitable. John Smith was only interested in claiming new land for Britain. He wouldn’t hesitate to shoot the Indians when they resisted. Sara considered just killing John Smith and his men. She could burn their fort. But she knew that there was no stopping Britain. No matter how many she killed, more would keep coming. And the second group would have more and better weapons and would be prepared to fight. No, it was better to let John Smith and his men live. With that in mind, Sara walked back to the shore to await the ship.
A few hours later, Sara was sitting in a chair from the ship as the men worked. She would be helping, but John Smith refused to allow her to do anything but rest. She was holding Emily and listening to the men talk. She focused on the conversation between John Smith and Mr. Barlow. Mr. Barlow asked, “Do you think the Indians know we’re here?” John replied, “If they don’t now, they will soon enough and we’ll have to deal with them.” Sara bristled. Her assessment of John Smith was more than confirmed. She knew he was no good. Suddenly, she heard the noise of rocks rolling down the cliff. She looked up and saw a Native American girl standing up on the cliff. Sara watched as Mr. Barlow spoke to the girl. Sara stood up and began to walk forward, wanting to meet her. She was nearly Lottie’s age. It would be nice to talk to another girl. She had spent so many months among men who were far older than her that she had forgotten what it was like to spend time with a young girl. Suddenly, as she smiled at the girl and waved, the girl became frightened and ran away. “Mr. Barlow, you may have a way with the men, but you still have a lot to learn when it comes to talking to young girls,” said John Smith. Mr. Barlow replied, “Yes, Captain. One thing’s for sure: they know we’re here now.” Then he turned and saw Sara standing there. Surprisingly, he showed no anger at being disobeyed. Instead, he smiled at her. He seemed to know that it had been impossible to stay seated when something so interesting had been happening. “I want to meet her,” admitted Sara. Mr. Barlow frowned as John said, “You may sooner than later, Sara. The Indians won’t be happy about us invading their land.” Mr. Barlow said, “Invading, sir? I was under the impression that this land belongs to England.” John said, “It does, Mr. Barlow. But the Indians don’t know that. Imagine how we’d feel if they tried to take our land.” Sara was again surprised and began to think her assessment of him was wrong. She had thought him incapable of such empathy, but evidently she was mistaken. This gave her cautious hope that peace would not be as difficult to achieve as she had assumed. She would still protect the Native Americans, of course, but perhaps it would not involve as much fighting as she had feared. Perhaps her legs would have time to truly heal after all. And perhaps the Native Americans would help her with that. Sara knew that they had powerful medicine men; mayhap one of them would know how to cure Sara’s legs for good. Sara feared that no matter how much she rested her legs would never be able to fully heal without medical help and she knew John Smith and his crew were no help for that. Even the ship doctor had no idea of what to do. He had only been able to tell Sara to rest as much as possible lest she become lame. Sara could not rest; she had an important mission. So she resolved to meet the Native Americans as soon as possible both to discuss what to do about John Smith and to receive medical help. She sat down to bide her time until an opportune moment arose.
That moment didn’t come until a week later. Sara was kept hard at work until one day she realized that nobody was watching her. She didn’t hesitate as she picked up Emily and ran into the woods, ignoring the pain in her legs. Once she was sure that nobody would follow her, she rested against a tree. Suddenly, she saw two girls walk past. Sara recognized one of them as the girl from a week before. She saw that they were picking berries. Sara was suddenly shy. She was not sure that either girl would want anything to do with her. What would they think of a pale girl wearing black rags with horribly burned legs? Girls could be especially cruel. Tears stung her eyes as she held back from approaching the girls even though she desperately wanted to befriend them both. She followed them at a distance, listening to their conversation. She learned that their names were Pocahontas and Nakoma. Sara wished she had a basket so she could help them pick berries. Maybe then they would want to talk to her. She sufficed by using her apron.
A few minutes later, Sara’s apron was overflowing with berries and she was unsure what to do with them when suddenly a man Sara had never seen before began to chase the two girls. Sara was at once alarmed and began to run after him, trying to keep her apron from spilling and keep a firm grip on Emily at the same time. They soon reached an unsurmountable rock cliff. The girls tried to climb it, but couldn’t. The man smiled as he approached them. Sara dropped Emily and her apron as she heard the girls scream. “Stop right there! Leave them alone!” yelled Sara fiercely, ignoring the fact that the man was much bigger than she was. The man didn’t pay her any attention as he said, “There’s nowhere to run.” Sara lunged at the man. He seemed surprised as he turned around and saw her. “I told you to leave them alone!” she said. The man caught her easily. She stifled a scream. Pocahontas grabbed her arm and gently pulled her away. Sara allowed this but as soon as her arm was free she walked up and stood in front of Pocahontas and Nakoma in a protective stance. Sara began to feel very dizzy as the man said, “And now,” Sara jumped as a voice said, “And now you can explain what you’re doing.” Sara looked up and nearly fainted at seeing the most handsome man she had ever met standing with his arms crossed. He walked over to the man and said, “I’m waiting Nabori, or should I say big bellied bear?” Sara nearly smiled at seeing this man getting his comeuppance from what she assume was the chief and Pocahontas’ father, if she remembered history correctly. Nabori replied, “We were playing Pale Face.” Sara stopped. Playing? She realized she had misinterpreted the situation. She frowned. She was not used to making such serious mistakes like this. What if she had hurt Nabori? She would be in deep trouble. Something was very wrong with her that she couldn’t tell playing from actual danger. Had she hit her head? She didn’t remember that. Or were her legs worse than she had thought? Was this sepsis? She was so preoccupied that she didn’t hear anything said until the chief turned to the girls. “I see no baskets full of berries,” he said sternly. Sara stepped forward despite feeling like she was about to faint. “Excuse me. I don’t mean to interrupt or be rude, but I gathered many berries myself. I was hoping to use them to befriend Pocahontas and Nakoma since I assumed they wouldn’t want to talk to me otherwise. They are over by my doll which I also dropped when I thought Nabori was attacking them. I didn’t realize that they were only playing. I am sorry. I am not usually this stupid.” Sara curtsied as she spoke, not knowing how else to greet a chief. The man walked over and saw the berries, which were all intact in Sara’s apron. “Pocahontas, it seems you owe this girl thanks. She helped you even though she did not need to.” Sara was frightened for a moment that Pocahontas would be angry. But Pocahontas smiled at Sara and said, “Thank you. I am sorry that you thought we were being attacked, but thank you for trying to save us. I hope we can be friends.” Nakoma said, “Yes. Thank you for gathering berries too, but you really didn’t need to do that. We would’ve wanted to be your friends anyway.” The chief smiled at Sara and said, “Pale face, thank you for attempting to defend my daughter and her friend. I would like to invite you to share a meal with us as a token of our gratitude.” Sara smiled back. She had no idea that this would be so easy. The chief didn’t seem to care that she had misread the situation. She blushed a little at the idea of eating with such a handsome man. She knew he was married to Pocahontas’ mother, but that didn’t stop her imagination from taking flight. She curtsied again and said, “I would be honored to share a meal with you and your people. I am especially eager to eat with such a handsome man. Pocahontas’ mother must be a very happy woman.” The chief blushed a little and said, “I am equally honored to spend a meal with a lovely young lady.” Sara wondered why he didn’t respond to her comment about his wife. Then it hit her: his wife was dead. She remembered reading that Pocahontas’ mother had died at her birth. Sara mentally slapped herself for saying such a callous thing. Pocahontas didn’t seem to mind in the least as she frowned and asked, “What is the matter? You look quite pale suddenly. Is it your legs?” Sara flushed as everyone looked at her legs. Powhatan gasped in horror and winced. “What happened?” he asked. Sara replied honestly, “I was working at the school when a girl spilled hot coals on my legs on purpose.” Powhatan looked at her with eyes full of empathy. “I am sorry that that happened to you. It must be agonizing.” Sara nodded as the world went dim. “I am going to faint,” she stated too late as she fell. She was barely aware of Pocahontas catching her as she lost consciousness.
Sara woke up slowly. She did not know at first where she was. She looked around, but everything was blurry. She blinked several times as her vision slowly began to clear to reveal the dark attic of Miss Minchin’s school. Panic and fear filled her mind. How was she back here? Had her whole escape been a dream? She stood up and could see that Melchisedec’s mouse hole was boarded up. Sara did not remember that happening. She bent down and ripped the boards off. Normally she would be careful and avoid making noise, but she no longer cared what Miss Minchin thought. “She can go to hell,” said Sara to herself as she freed her friend. Suddenly the door opened and Ermengarde walked in. Surprisingly, she didn’t react to Sara’s presence at all. In fact, it was as if she didn’t even see Sara as she walked in and sat on the rock hard bed. Sara’s heart ached as her friend began to cry silently. “I miss you so much, Sara! Why’d you have to go?” Then Ermie changed and became angry, “I thought you were my friend. How dare you trick me like that? I hate you! I hope I never see you again!” Sara was cut deeply even though she knew Ermie didn’t mean it. Mel came out and sniffed the air. He looked sideways at Sara, as if he didn’t believe his eyes. “Hello, Mel!” said Sara with a smile. Melchesidec finally seemed to believe that Sara was really there and ran over, squeaking in joyful greeting. “I missed you too!” said Sara happily, snuggling the rat. Ermie stopped crying and looked at Mel oddly. “Mel, what are you doing?” she asked. Sara realized that Ermie could not see her and that she must think that Mel was crazy, snuggling with air. Sara suddenly got an idea. She carried Mel over to the skylight. “You’re going to live with Ram Dass now, Mel,” she said. She ignored Ermie, who was staring awestruck at Mel seemingly floating in midair. Sara climbed up and opened the skylight. Then she pulled herself through just as the door opened and Lottie walked in. “Mama Sara?” asked Lottie as Sara ran across to the next house. Luckily the skylight was open. She climbed into the house and set Mel on a table as she wrote a note that said, “Please take care of my rat.” She then signed her name as Sara Crewe and left the note on the table as she continued to snuggle with Mel until she fell back to sleep.
The next time Sara woke up, she sighed in relief when she saw that she was not in the attic. She looked around, assuming she was in some sort of teepee. She sighed in content. The nightmare had reminded her how lucky she was to be out of that situation. Suddenly, as she was thinking, an old man came into the teepee. Sara smiled at him and said cheerfully, “Hello! My name is Sara. I assume you’re the medicine man?” The man nodded and replied gruffly, “Yes, I am the medicine man. My name is Towanaca. I was asked by the chief to heal your legs.” Sara could tell this man did not like her. In fact he probably hated her. Sara sighed, having been prepared for this for a long time. She had known in the back of her mind that most of the Native Americans would at first dislike her, assuming she was just like the others. She knew many horrific things had already happened to them at white hands. This man must have suffered deeply to hate her so much. Had someone he loved been killed by white people? She wanted to know, but she did not want to pry. It would be very callous of her to ask such a thing. If she waited long enough, perhaps he would tell her himself after he began to know and trust her. As she was thinking, he walked over to her and began to examine her legs which she saw were bandaged. She asked, “Why did I faint?” The man replied coldly, “Why do you think? Your burns were highly infected, Sara, and the infection was spreading throughout your body. You had a fever as a result of that and would have died if you hadn’t come to me when you did. You were very lucky that our chief took pity on you, pale face.” Sara knew he was right. She knew that many other chiefs would abandon her to die because she was white and because she had been acting stupidly. They wouldn’t want to take on the burden of a sick pale face that could rise up and become violent at any moment. “You have a good chief. I understand that most would have just left me to die.” The man nodded as he started to remove the bandages. “Powhatan is a fair and kind man, pale face. He rescued you out of the goodness of his heart. But don’t think that means that you can run around here and do whatever you want. Powhatan may trust you, but nobody else does. You need to remember that you are not a guest here. Do you understand?” Sara replied, “Yes, I understand.” The man ripped her bandages off none too gently, causing Sara to wince. But she did not complain. She wanted to show that she was a friend to these people. Besides, princesses didn’t complain. Sara instead tried to focus on something else. She looked around the room for Emily but didn’t see her. She became pale as she remembered that she had left Emily on the ground. Was she still there? The medicine man noticed her upset and said sternly, “Calm down, pale face.” Sara asked, “Where is Emily?” The man frowned and replied, “Who’s Emily? Is she your sister? Just as I thought, more pale faces come to take our land.” The man was now angry. Sara cried out as he ripped the last bit of bandage off of her left leg. Tears came into her eyes as she broke down and replied, “Emily is my doll. She is the last thing I have from Papa! He died nearly three years ago and now I don’t know where she is!” The man sighed in annoyance. “I’m sure she’s safe with Pocahontas.” That calmed Sara down immediately. How stupid she was to think that Powhatan would leave Emily lying on the ground. “I’m sorry. I began to panic when I didn’t see her. I thought she was still out there.” The man felt her forehead and said, “You are still feverish. Try to rest. This panicking is not good for you.” Sara nodded as he went back to working on her legs. She lay back down and tried to go to sleep. She was almost asleep when the man began to put medicine on her burns. It was soothing at first and then painful. Still, she did not cry out or show any sign of discomfort. Soon, the man finished with her left leg and moved to her other one. This time she jumped a little as his hand touched her leg. “Stay still!” he told her sternly. He then put his hand on her thigh and held it still as he started to apply the same stinging medicine. After he was done, he bandaged her legs. "Go to sleep now," he ordered. Sara did feel very sleepy, so she obeyed willingly.
Sara woke up the next morning with Emily in her arms. Pocahontas was sitting by her. Sara smiled at the girl. “Hello,” she said. Pocahontas smiled at her and said, “Hello, Sara! Are you feeling any better?” Sara said, “Yes, I am feeling much better.” Pocahontas said, “Good, because my father wants to speak with you as soon as you are well enough.” Sara became excited and said, “I am well enough now!” Pocahontas stood up and said, “Follow me then. I’ll show you where my father is talking with his men.” Sara stood up too and followed Pocahontas to another teepee. As soon as she entered, she saw men sitting cross legged around a fire. Sara saw that there was a space next to Powhatan that was empty, seemingly waiting for her. Powhatan smiled up at her as she walked towards him. He said, “Sara, come sit here. I am so happy to see you are finally well.” Sara smiled back at him and sat down next to him.
Sara was in the kitchen scrubbing dishes. She had just finished the last one when the cook came in, an angry scowl on her face. She walked over to Sara and said, “Are you finished yet, lazy slattern? The girls’ fires need tending!” Sara replied, “Yes, Cook, I just finished the dishes.” The cook said, “Then get upstairs! And hurry. I need you to go out for groceries as well.” Sara nodded and grabbed the full coal scuttle. Even though it was far too heavy for her, she was used to the weight and was able to hurry out of the kitchen. She ran upstairs and knocked on Lavinia’s door. “Who is it?” asked the spoiled girl. Sara replied meekly, “It’s Sara, Miss Herbert.” Lavinia said, “Come in then.” Sara opened Lavinia’s door, careful to not let the coal scuttle tip. Then she walked over to Lavinia’s fireplace and began to tend the flames. “Took you long enough. I’ve been freezing for a whole half hour!” Sara sighed and said nothing as she carefully put coals on the fire. Lavinia frowned at not getting a response. When Sara was finished, she stood up and began to walk out. Lavinia saw her opportunity and pushed Sara down, causing her to lose her grip on the scuttle. The coals spilled all over her bare legs and the floor. “Look what you’ve done, clumsy skivvy!” said Lavinia, pointing to the ruined carpet. Sara glared up at Lavinia and lost her self-control. “You pushed me!” she said. Lavinia said, “No, you tripped over your own feet! Now you’ll have to spend all night scrubbing the soot out of the carpet. If you don’t, I’ll tell Miss Minchin that you spilled the coals on purpose.” Suddenly the door opened and Becky came in. She gasped at the sight. “Sara, the cook’s been looking for you. She told me to do the rest of the girls’ rooms, so I’ll take care of this. But you have to go now.” Sara thanked Becky and ran out of the room, glad to be out of the situation. She managed to ignore the pain in her legs as she ran down to the kitchen. As soon as the cook saw her, she stopped. “Sara, what on earth happened to your legs?” Sara looked down and saw that her legs were splotched with red. “Lavinia spilled hot coals on me,” answered Sara honestly. The cook sighed and said, “I don’t know what you did to provoke it, but I’d better not be hearing anything from the Missus.” Then the cook handed Sara the list of things to buy and the money. Sara was all too happy to get out of the school. She only wished she didn’t have to come back.
Sara walked to the docks. She needed a way out if Lavinia told Miss Minchin on her. She needed a way out anyway. She was starving and freezing and honestly she wasn’t sure how long she would survive at the school. She also knew that she needed to leave as soon as possible. She sighed as she reached the docks and looked at the ships. She gathered her courage and approached a man who appeared to be overseeing one of them. She pasted a smile on her face and said, “Hello! Where is this ship sailing?” The man replied, “To America. Do you need help? You look unwell.” He walked towards her but stopped when he saw her legs. “What happened to you? Are you all right?” Sara admitted, “A girl at the school I work for chose to spill hot coals on my legs.” The man was aghast and turned to a blonde man who was nearby. “Mr. Barlow, get the ship’s doctor immediately. This girl needs help.” Mr. Barlow said, “Yes, Captain Smith.” Then he went onto the ship. The other man smiled at Sara and said, “You should lie down. I am sorry this happened to you. My name is John Smith.” Sara smiled back and said, “My name is Sara Crewe. It is a pleasure to meet you, Captain. When are you sailing? I’d like to come with you.” John seemed taken aback by her statement. “Sara, this ship is no place for a young girl. If you came with us, you’d have to work hard to survive. What you need is rest.” Sara said, “I cannot rest either way. If I stayed here, I’d be forced to work day and night despite my injury. Miss Minchin doesn’t give a damn about me. All she cares about is getting her money back. I could be dying of fever and she’d still expect me to work. As long as I can stand at all, I must work. At least if I went on your ship, I wouldn’t be with people who beat or burned me. I would make a good cabin girl.” John sighed and said, “How much money do you owe?” Sara answered, “When my papa died, he left a debt of 200 pounds. It has been two years since, but my room and board have added to that.” John said, “Here, I will go to this school and settle your debt. But you must stay aboard the ship and rest your legs.” As John said this, the doctor came out and walked over. John said, “Doctor, this girl is badly injured.” The doctor nodded and examined Sara’s legs as John walked away to settle Sara’s debt. Sara doubted that Miss Minchin would let her go that easily. The doctor picked Sara up and carried her on to the ship. Then he laid her on a cot nearby. She yawned, suddenly very tired. “Go to sleep. You require rest to heal.” Sara obeyed, fully expecting to wake up locked in the attic.
Sara woke up back in her attic room. She sighed, wondering if meeting John Smith had just been a dream. She yawned and got up. Then she remembered: she had been telling Ermengarde about John Smith the other day. Sara laughed, realizing that she must have dreamt of meeting him. Then she stopped, having heard footsteps on the last flight of stairs. Sara had no idea what Miss Minchin was coming up here for, so she turned to the door expectantly. Still, her heart pounded in her thin chest as the steps came nearer and nearer. Then the door was flung open and Miss Minchin barged in. “What is the meaning of this? Lavinia told me you have stolen her locket. Give it to me now, and I may be inclined to be lenient with you.” Sara said, “I didn’t steal her locket, Miss Minchin! I don’t know where it is.” Miss Minchin said, “Are you accusing Lavinia of dishonesty? Fine, then I shall search your room for it. But know that when I find it, the consequences will be dire.” Sara shrugged although inside she was shaking. She knew that Lavinia probably planted the locket to get Sara in trouble. Sara feared that Miss Minchin would call the police. Sara looked around the room for an escape, but couldn’t find one. Miss Minchin said, “Don’t even think of escaping. I will not allow you to run off with that Mr. Smith.” Sara was dumbfounded. “So I did meet John Smith! I thought it was all a dream.” Miss Minchin glowered at the girl. “Don’t be impertinent. How dare you try to leave?” Sara suddenly was filled with courage and said, “How dare you force me to come back to this place? John was willing to give you plenty of money. I thought that was what you cared about!” Miss Minchin boxed Sara’s ears. “Don’t talk back! I will not allow you to go off with some strange man. You are my responsibility. The school’s reputation would be ruined if I allowed you to go away like that. You belong to me. You will always belong to me, Sara Crewe. You are no longer a princess.” Sara shook with the strength it took not to hit back as Miss Minchin began to look for the locket. Sara watched her with arms crossed. Miss Minchin opened a trunk which Sara didn’t expect to have anything but rubbish in it. Miss Minchin reached in and grabbed something and then shut it. Then she thrust a locket into Sara’s face. “After all I’ve done for you, this is how you repay me? I am horrified. I have no choice but to call the police. Stay here. It will be worse for you if you try to run.” Miss Minchin then walked out and locked the door behind her. Sara waited until the woman’s footsteps had died away before grabbing Emily and running to the skylight and flinging it open. She easily climbed out onto the roof and jumped into a nearby tree and shimmied down. She saw that the police were already coming near, so she ran to the docks as fast as she could, using her last bit of strength. She smiled to see Mr. Barlow, seemingly waiting for her. He smiled as well when he saw her. “Sara, thank God! I was afraid of what that woman had done to you.” Sara said, “She called the police because a student falsely accused me of stealing her necklace and hid said necklace in my attic room so that Miss Minchin would think I was guilty.” Mr. Barlow frowned and picked Sara up and then ran onto the ship. As soon as he was on board, he gently set her back on her feet as the anchor was lifted. John Smith was already on board. He smiled at Sara. “I’m happy you managed to come back, Sara. We were all very worried about you.” Sara smiled and said, “Thank you for being concerned for my wellbeing. Nobody has bothered for over two years. It is nice to know that someone finally cares about me.” John said, “Whatever has happened to you, you’re with friends now. Nobody will hurt you here. But you should lie down. I don’t want you to risk losing your legs to overuse.” Sara nodded and asked, “Where do I sleep, Captain?” John said, “I’ve set up a bed down in the hold. It isn’t much, but at least you’ll be able to sleep by yourself.” Sara was filled with gratitude. She was thankful that she didn’t have to sleep around the men. Even though she trusted John when he said nobody would hurt her, she still preferred to have some degree of privacy. She was nearly fourteen and it would be completely improper for her to sleep around men, especially with her quickly maturing body. Sara said, “Thank you, for all of this. You’ve done more for me in a couple of days than anybody has done in over two years. I often thought I would die up in that attic. I came very close several times. Nobody cared about me until I met you.” John said, “I couldn’t just leave you to suffer, Sara. I could tell your situation was dire. Not many girls would be willing to join a ship’s crew so quickly, especially with such injuries as you had. Then when I met Miss Minchin, my suspicions were confirmed that you were being badly treated. That woman would not let you go no matter how much money I offered.” Sara said, “That surprises me. I had thought that all she cared about was money, but she told me that it would ruin the school’s reputation for her to allow me to go off with some strange man like this. I suppose she is cleverer than I had thought. I hope never to see her again.” John said, “So do I, Sara. But go on downstairs. You need to rest.” Sara nodded and smiled again before walking downstairs. She sat down on the bed and realized it was much softer than the one she had had in the attic. “This is our new home, Emily. We are sailing to America.” Then she lay down and hugged her doll before surrendering to sleep.
The next few months went by quickly. Sara proved to be an industrious cabin girl. She also dove down into the ocean and brought back fish, to the endless delight of the rest of the crew. She was determined to repay her debt to John Smith. She knew she would be in dire straits if he had not intervened. Lavinia would have still framed her for theft, and she would most likely be in a workhouse or prison now. She shuddered at the thought as she stood on the sparklingly clean deck, deep in reflective thought. She did not notice that John was watching her. Suddenly she was brought out of her thoughts by the lookout shouting that he saw land, filling Sara with giddy anticipation. As much as she loved life on the ship, she was eager to discover America, the New World, though she knew that it was really quite old and that it was only called new because Europeans had only recently discovered it, although that wasn’t entirely true either. Vikings had visited what was now Canada. Sara had read about it when she had toured Europe with her papa. Apparently, the Vikings had killed eight Indians. But Sara was perplexed that nobody seemed to believe her. Everyone thought that Christopher Columbus had discovered America and nothing Sara said could convince them otherwise. In reality, Sara knew that Christopher had only discovered the Bahamas and not America. But what perplexed her even more was the fact that John Smith and the rest of the men seemed to act like they were in the 17th century and not the 19th like Sara knew they were. She did not believe in time travel. Such a notion was preposterous. It was so impossible that Sara herself had never even fantasized about it in her wildest stories. Still, this ship was oddly primitive. She had never been on such a ship. The ships she had been on with her papa were all steam liners. This ship relied on sails, which also explained why they were moving so slowly. She had expected the trip to take a few weeks at the most, but they had been sailing for months. Also, she had expected to see a big harbor when they neared America, but there wasn’t one. Sara told herself that once they got closer, they would see Boston Harbor. But she found it difficult to swallow that there was not even one ship anywhere nearby. There ought to be many ships going to and from the harbor. Sara knew that what she was seeing didn’t make any sense. She looked at John and asked, “How far do you think we are from America now?” John shrugged and replied, “I’d say about a few hours. We should be there by late noon.” Sara suddenly got an idea. “Captain, may I swim the rest of the way?” she asked. John said, “Are you sure your legs can withstand such exertion? You haven’t swum but a few feet since they were injured.” Sara smiled brightly and said, “I shall be fine. I would not have asked if I didn’t think I could do it.” John smiled back and said, “Then go ahead, Sara. We’ll meet you there.” Sara smiled at him again and then dove into the ocean. The salt water still stung her legs, but it was not as bad as it had been. Certainly it did nothing to slow her down anymore as she swam as fast as she could. Suddenly, just as she had made it about a mile away from the ship, she began to feel dizzy. Her legs burned with pain. Then she was lifted out of the water and began to move rapidly towards the shore. She looked down and saw a dolphin carrying her. “Thank you,” she said, grateful that the animal had saved her life. She was sure she would have drowned if she had been underwater for much longer. She looked ahead and was shocked to her core at what she saw, or rather what she didn’t see. There was no bustling harbor full of ships. In fact, there was no harbor at all. There was nothing there at all. She had never seen such a naked shore except on a map. She was curious and eager to explore suddenly as the dolphin carried her swiftly. As soon as she reached the shore, she jumped off of the dolphin and waved as it clicked and then swam off. Then she turned around and began to look for a way to climb up the cliff side. She found one within a minute and climbed up. Then she ran, enjoying being on dry land again. Even better than that was the fact that she was now completely free. She was not a slave any longer, nor was she in danger of starving or freezing to death. She knew that this was her home now. Sara looked around. She knew that this land was already inhabited, a fact that the other people on the ship had seemed to dismiss as a possible hindrance to be dealt with. Sara already felt sorry for the natives that they were already thought of as mere savage animals and not the people that they were. She had a bad feeling that much harm would come to them once they and her new friends met. John Smith and his crew cared nothing for these people except for how to push them out of their way. Sara knew this from her experiences in India, where the British ruled with an iron fist. Sara was sure that India had once been a beautiful and happy place, but she had rarely seen that. Of course her ayah had acted happy and shielded her as best she could from the harsh reality, but Sara had seen past the pretty façade that was put on for her happiness. She knew that the streets were filthy and the people impoverished. It was just like London, really. The British ruined everything they touched and Sara doubted they had done it without knowing. Sara was sure they were fully aware of what was happening and even what would happen. They either didn’t care or they wanted it that way. They wanted everyone else to suffer so they could feel powerful. Sara vowed not to allow the same to happen here. If she had to kill to protect these people, she would, because she knew exactly what would happen to these people if someone didn’t stand up for them. She had never been to America, but she knew what was happening there to the Native Americans. They were almost all on reservations in Sara’s time. Sara supposed that there might be some that had escaped, but they were most likely alone and scattered to the point that they would never meet each other. She wasn’t sure if she could prevent that from happening, but she would certainly do her best to keep peace for the rest of her life, however long that would be without the medical knowledge and technology that she had until this point taken for granted. But if there was a battle, Sara would fight for Chief Powhatan. In reality, Sara knew that war was nearly inevitable. John Smith was only interested in claiming new land for Britain. He wouldn’t hesitate to shoot the Indians when they resisted. Sara considered just killing John Smith and his men. She could burn their fort. But she knew that there was no stopping Britain. No matter how many she killed, more would keep coming. And the second group would have more and better weapons and would be prepared to fight. No, it was better to let John Smith and his men live. With that in mind, Sara walked back to the shore to await the ship.
A few hours later, Sara was sitting in a chair from the ship as the men worked. She would be helping, but John Smith refused to allow her to do anything but rest. She was holding Emily and listening to the men talk. She focused on the conversation between John Smith and Mr. Barlow. Mr. Barlow asked, “Do you think the Indians know we’re here?” John replied, “If they don’t now, they will soon enough and we’ll have to deal with them.” Sara bristled. Her assessment of John Smith was more than confirmed. She knew he was no good. Suddenly, she heard the noise of rocks rolling down the cliff. She looked up and saw a Native American girl standing up on the cliff. Sara watched as Mr. Barlow spoke to the girl. Sara stood up and began to walk forward, wanting to meet her. She was nearly Lottie’s age. It would be nice to talk to another girl. She had spent so many months among men who were far older than her that she had forgotten what it was like to spend time with a young girl. Suddenly, as she smiled at the girl and waved, the girl became frightened and ran away. “Mr. Barlow, you may have a way with the men, but you still have a lot to learn when it comes to talking to young girls,” said John Smith. Mr. Barlow replied, “Yes, Captain. One thing’s for sure: they know we’re here now.” Then he turned and saw Sara standing there. Surprisingly, he showed no anger at being disobeyed. Instead, he smiled at her. He seemed to know that it had been impossible to stay seated when something so interesting had been happening. “I want to meet her,” admitted Sara. Mr. Barlow frowned as John said, “You may sooner than later, Sara. The Indians won’t be happy about us invading their land.” Mr. Barlow said, “Invading, sir? I was under the impression that this land belongs to England.” John said, “It does, Mr. Barlow. But the Indians don’t know that. Imagine how we’d feel if they tried to take our land.” Sara was again surprised and began to think her assessment of him was wrong. She had thought him incapable of such empathy, but evidently she was mistaken. This gave her cautious hope that peace would not be as difficult to achieve as she had assumed. She would still protect the Native Americans, of course, but perhaps it would not involve as much fighting as she had feared. Perhaps her legs would have time to truly heal after all. And perhaps the Native Americans would help her with that. Sara knew that they had powerful medicine men; mayhap one of them would know how to cure Sara’s legs for good. Sara feared that no matter how much she rested her legs would never be able to fully heal without medical help and she knew John Smith and his crew were no help for that. Even the ship doctor had no idea of what to do. He had only been able to tell Sara to rest as much as possible lest she become lame. Sara could not rest; she had an important mission. So she resolved to meet the Native Americans as soon as possible both to discuss what to do about John Smith and to receive medical help. She sat down to bide her time until an opportune moment arose.
That moment didn’t come until a week later. Sara was kept hard at work until one day she realized that nobody was watching her. She didn’t hesitate as she picked up Emily and ran into the woods, ignoring the pain in her legs. Once she was sure that nobody would follow her, she rested against a tree. Suddenly, she saw two girls walk past. Sara recognized one of them as the girl from a week before. She saw that they were picking berries. Sara was suddenly shy. She was not sure that either girl would want anything to do with her. What would they think of a pale girl wearing black rags with horribly burned legs? Girls could be especially cruel. Tears stung her eyes as she held back from approaching the girls even though she desperately wanted to befriend them both. She followed them at a distance, listening to their conversation. She learned that their names were Pocahontas and Nakoma. Sara wished she had a basket so she could help them pick berries. Maybe then they would want to talk to her. She sufficed by using her apron.
A few minutes later, Sara’s apron was overflowing with berries and she was unsure what to do with them when suddenly a man Sara had never seen before began to chase the two girls. Sara was at once alarmed and began to run after him, trying to keep her apron from spilling and keep a firm grip on Emily at the same time. They soon reached an unsurmountable rock cliff. The girls tried to climb it, but couldn’t. The man smiled as he approached them. Sara dropped Emily and her apron as she heard the girls scream. “Stop right there! Leave them alone!” yelled Sara fiercely, ignoring the fact that the man was much bigger than she was. The man didn’t pay her any attention as he said, “There’s nowhere to run.” Sara lunged at the man. He seemed surprised as he turned around and saw her. “I told you to leave them alone!” she said. The man caught her easily. She stifled a scream. Pocahontas grabbed her arm and gently pulled her away. Sara allowed this but as soon as her arm was free she walked up and stood in front of Pocahontas and Nakoma in a protective stance. Sara began to feel very dizzy as the man said, “And now,” Sara jumped as a voice said, “And now you can explain what you’re doing.” Sara looked up and nearly fainted at seeing the most handsome man she had ever met standing with his arms crossed. He walked over to the man and said, “I’m waiting Nabori, or should I say big bellied bear?” Sara nearly smiled at seeing this man getting his comeuppance from what she assume was the chief and Pocahontas’ father, if she remembered history correctly. Nabori replied, “We were playing Pale Face.” Sara stopped. Playing? She realized she had misinterpreted the situation. She frowned. She was not used to making such serious mistakes like this. What if she had hurt Nabori? She would be in deep trouble. Something was very wrong with her that she couldn’t tell playing from actual danger. Had she hit her head? She didn’t remember that. Or were her legs worse than she had thought? Was this sepsis? She was so preoccupied that she didn’t hear anything said until the chief turned to the girls. “I see no baskets full of berries,” he said sternly. Sara stepped forward despite feeling like she was about to faint. “Excuse me. I don’t mean to interrupt or be rude, but I gathered many berries myself. I was hoping to use them to befriend Pocahontas and Nakoma since I assumed they wouldn’t want to talk to me otherwise. They are over by my doll which I also dropped when I thought Nabori was attacking them. I didn’t realize that they were only playing. I am sorry. I am not usually this stupid.” Sara curtsied as she spoke, not knowing how else to greet a chief. The man walked over and saw the berries, which were all intact in Sara’s apron. “Pocahontas, it seems you owe this girl thanks. She helped you even though she did not need to.” Sara was frightened for a moment that Pocahontas would be angry. But Pocahontas smiled at Sara and said, “Thank you. I am sorry that you thought we were being attacked, but thank you for trying to save us. I hope we can be friends.” Nakoma said, “Yes. Thank you for gathering berries too, but you really didn’t need to do that. We would’ve wanted to be your friends anyway.” The chief smiled at Sara and said, “Pale face, thank you for attempting to defend my daughter and her friend. I would like to invite you to share a meal with us as a token of our gratitude.” Sara smiled back. She had no idea that this would be so easy. The chief didn’t seem to care that she had misread the situation. She blushed a little at the idea of eating with such a handsome man. She knew he was married to Pocahontas’ mother, but that didn’t stop her imagination from taking flight. She curtsied again and said, “I would be honored to share a meal with you and your people. I am especially eager to eat with such a handsome man. Pocahontas’ mother must be a very happy woman.” The chief blushed a little and said, “I am equally honored to spend a meal with a lovely young lady.” Sara wondered why he didn’t respond to her comment about his wife. Then it hit her: his wife was dead. She remembered reading that Pocahontas’ mother had died at her birth. Sara mentally slapped herself for saying such a callous thing. Pocahontas didn’t seem to mind in the least as she frowned and asked, “What is the matter? You look quite pale suddenly. Is it your legs?” Sara flushed as everyone looked at her legs. Powhatan gasped in horror and winced. “What happened?” he asked. Sara replied honestly, “I was working at the school when a girl spilled hot coals on my legs on purpose.” Powhatan looked at her with eyes full of empathy. “I am sorry that that happened to you. It must be agonizing.” Sara nodded as the world went dim. “I am going to faint,” she stated too late as she fell. She was barely aware of Pocahontas catching her as she lost consciousness.
Sara woke up slowly. She did not know at first where she was. She looked around, but everything was blurry. She blinked several times as her vision slowly began to clear to reveal the dark attic of Miss Minchin’s school. Panic and fear filled her mind. How was she back here? Had her whole escape been a dream? She stood up and could see that Melchisedec’s mouse hole was boarded up. Sara did not remember that happening. She bent down and ripped the boards off. Normally she would be careful and avoid making noise, but she no longer cared what Miss Minchin thought. “She can go to hell,” said Sara to herself as she freed her friend. Suddenly the door opened and Ermengarde walked in. Surprisingly, she didn’t react to Sara’s presence at all. In fact, it was as if she didn’t even see Sara as she walked in and sat on the rock hard bed. Sara’s heart ached as her friend began to cry silently. “I miss you so much, Sara! Why’d you have to go?” Then Ermie changed and became angry, “I thought you were my friend. How dare you trick me like that? I hate you! I hope I never see you again!” Sara was cut deeply even though she knew Ermie didn’t mean it. Mel came out and sniffed the air. He looked sideways at Sara, as if he didn’t believe his eyes. “Hello, Mel!” said Sara with a smile. Melchesidec finally seemed to believe that Sara was really there and ran over, squeaking in joyful greeting. “I missed you too!” said Sara happily, snuggling the rat. Ermie stopped crying and looked at Mel oddly. “Mel, what are you doing?” she asked. Sara realized that Ermie could not see her and that she must think that Mel was crazy, snuggling with air. Sara suddenly got an idea. She carried Mel over to the skylight. “You’re going to live with Ram Dass now, Mel,” she said. She ignored Ermie, who was staring awestruck at Mel seemingly floating in midair. Sara climbed up and opened the skylight. Then she pulled herself through just as the door opened and Lottie walked in. “Mama Sara?” asked Lottie as Sara ran across to the next house. Luckily the skylight was open. She climbed into the house and set Mel on a table as she wrote a note that said, “Please take care of my rat.” She then signed her name as Sara Crewe and left the note on the table as she continued to snuggle with Mel until she fell back to sleep.
The next time Sara woke up, she sighed in relief when she saw that she was not in the attic. She looked around, assuming she was in some sort of teepee. She sighed in content. The nightmare had reminded her how lucky she was to be out of that situation. Suddenly, as she was thinking, an old man came into the teepee. Sara smiled at him and said cheerfully, “Hello! My name is Sara. I assume you’re the medicine man?” The man nodded and replied gruffly, “Yes, I am the medicine man. My name is Towanaca. I was asked by the chief to heal your legs.” Sara could tell this man did not like her. In fact he probably hated her. Sara sighed, having been prepared for this for a long time. She had known in the back of her mind that most of the Native Americans would at first dislike her, assuming she was just like the others. She knew many horrific things had already happened to them at white hands. This man must have suffered deeply to hate her so much. Had someone he loved been killed by white people? She wanted to know, but she did not want to pry. It would be very callous of her to ask such a thing. If she waited long enough, perhaps he would tell her himself after he began to know and trust her. As she was thinking, he walked over to her and began to examine her legs which she saw were bandaged. She asked, “Why did I faint?” The man replied coldly, “Why do you think? Your burns were highly infected, Sara, and the infection was spreading throughout your body. You had a fever as a result of that and would have died if you hadn’t come to me when you did. You were very lucky that our chief took pity on you, pale face.” Sara knew he was right. She knew that many other chiefs would abandon her to die because she was white and because she had been acting stupidly. They wouldn’t want to take on the burden of a sick pale face that could rise up and become violent at any moment. “You have a good chief. I understand that most would have just left me to die.” The man nodded as he started to remove the bandages. “Powhatan is a fair and kind man, pale face. He rescued you out of the goodness of his heart. But don’t think that means that you can run around here and do whatever you want. Powhatan may trust you, but nobody else does. You need to remember that you are not a guest here. Do you understand?” Sara replied, “Yes, I understand.” The man ripped her bandages off none too gently, causing Sara to wince. But she did not complain. She wanted to show that she was a friend to these people. Besides, princesses didn’t complain. Sara instead tried to focus on something else. She looked around the room for Emily but didn’t see her. She became pale as she remembered that she had left Emily on the ground. Was she still there? The medicine man noticed her upset and said sternly, “Calm down, pale face.” Sara asked, “Where is Emily?” The man frowned and replied, “Who’s Emily? Is she your sister? Just as I thought, more pale faces come to take our land.” The man was now angry. Sara cried out as he ripped the last bit of bandage off of her left leg. Tears came into her eyes as she broke down and replied, “Emily is my doll. She is the last thing I have from Papa! He died nearly three years ago and now I don’t know where she is!” The man sighed in annoyance. “I’m sure she’s safe with Pocahontas.” That calmed Sara down immediately. How stupid she was to think that Powhatan would leave Emily lying on the ground. “I’m sorry. I began to panic when I didn’t see her. I thought she was still out there.” The man felt her forehead and said, “You are still feverish. Try to rest. This panicking is not good for you.” Sara nodded as he went back to working on her legs. She lay back down and tried to go to sleep. She was almost asleep when the man began to put medicine on her burns. It was soothing at first and then painful. Still, she did not cry out or show any sign of discomfort. Soon, the man finished with her left leg and moved to her other one. This time she jumped a little as his hand touched her leg. “Stay still!” he told her sternly. He then put his hand on her thigh and held it still as he started to apply the same stinging medicine. After he was done, he bandaged her legs. "Go to sleep now," he ordered. Sara did feel very sleepy, so she obeyed willingly.
Sara woke up the next morning with Emily in her arms. Pocahontas was sitting by her. Sara smiled at the girl. “Hello,” she said. Pocahontas smiled at her and said, “Hello, Sara! Are you feeling any better?” Sara said, “Yes, I am feeling much better.” Pocahontas said, “Good, because my father wants to speak with you as soon as you are well enough.” Sara became excited and said, “I am well enough now!” Pocahontas stood up and said, “Follow me then. I’ll show you where my father is talking with his men.” Sara stood up too and followed Pocahontas to another teepee. As soon as she entered, she saw men sitting cross legged around a fire. Sara saw that there was a space next to Powhatan that was empty, seemingly waiting for her. Powhatan smiled up at her as she walked towards him. He said, “Sara, come sit here. I am so happy to see you are finally well.” Sara smiled back at him and sat down next to him.