A Little Princess by Cathy East Dubowski

Author:Cathy East Dubowski [Burnett, Frances Hodgson]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Adult, Arranged marriage, California, Contemporary, Custody of children, Fiction, General, Loss, Mayors, Romance, Social workers
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 1994-03-29T18:30:00+00:00

12

Two Visitors

Lottie heard the gossip about Sara. But she did not really understand. Sara still helped the younger girls with French. Yet something was different.

“Are you very poor now, Sara?” Lottie asked one day during French. “Are you as poor as a beggar?”

“Beggars have no place to live,” said Sara. “I do.”

“Where?” said Lottie. “Is it nice? Can I come see?”

“Hush,” said Sara. “Miss Minchin is looking.”

One day Lottie heard the older girls talking. Sara was in the attic! Lottie climbed the stairs to Sara’s room. She pushed open the door.

“Mama Sara!” Lottie cried. She looked around. Then she burst into tears.

“Don’t cry, Lottie,” said Sara. “It’s not so bad.”

Lottie stopped crying. “Why isn’t it so bad?” she asked.

Sara took her hand. She showed her the skylight. “You can see all sorts of things from here,” she said. “Things you can’t see downstairs. You can see sparrows talking to each other. You can see chimney smoke making wreaths in the sky. It’s like another world.”

“I want to see!” said Lottie.

Sara lifted Lottie to the window. The sparrows came when Sara called. Lottie took a bun from her pocket. Sara was so hungry. She could have eaten it in three bites. But Lottie fed it to the birds.

The attic next door had a window, but the house was empty. “Suppose a girl lived there,” said Sara. “We could talk to each other across the rooftops.”

Then Sara walked Lottie around the bare little room. “Suppose my room had a blue rug. A sofa just there. Imagine book-shelves. A lamp with a rose-colored shade. A table set for tea.”

Sara made everything seem so real. Lottie could almost see it all. “I like this attic, Mama Sara,” she said. “I want to live here too.”

Lottie was happy now. But she could go back downstairs whenever she wanted. She could go back to her warm, pretty room. Sara had to stay in the attic.

“Goodbye, Mama Sara,” Lottie said at last. “I’ll visit you again soon.”

Sara watched her go. She closed her door. The pretend things faded away.

Then something moved—there, in the shadows!

A large rat sat on his hind legs. He sniffed the air. He looked so funny—like a little man with whiskers! Sara was not afraid.

Sara imagined the rat had a family. His children were hungry and crying. So Papa Rat was hunting for food.

Sara held out a few crumbs from Lottie’s bread. She sat very still. Papa Rat seemed not to fear her. He crept forward. He snatched the crumbs. Then he ran back into the wall.

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