I sincerely love this story. The style it was written in is similar to Frances Hodgson Burnett and totally suits the story. I also enjoyed the plotline and actual idea of a new school. All I could criticize you on was that your punctuation is off in a few places (missing periods, commas, etc.). Other than that it was wonderful.

-Queen of Narnia49

I like it! I'll continue reading but this is a great beginning... :)

Great, summary lines:

"You're a funny creature, Sara" said Lavinia "You always sound so OLD; sometimes it's hard to remember that you're just a little girl."

"...perhaps Sara had had no choice than to achieve a moral victory over Miss Minchin in order to live up to her father..."

This "clarification" conversation between Lavinia and Sara is Superb here. Just excellent!

Becky wielding the umbrella! Excellent! Rugby tactics to wrestly the bad guys! Better!

"The English could be unreasonable about things like that."

Hee hee...

An excellent first term, indeed! Slytherinsal's readers will await a second!

Clio1792

Really great chapter... loved every word of it... albeit I though it was small... well, after all, no chapter of this story is big enough for me...

And thanks for mentioning it, even if I don't think I deserve that praise... :-)

Nicely rounded up. Not extravagant, but believable :)

Lall's florid language is funny as he rescues Lavinia; and Sara's confrontation/reconnection with Lavinia is GREAT!

Best line: "...that horrid creature Miss Minchin behaving like a spoilt brat who ignores her cat because she has a new puppy..."

Yep, that's about the size of it; although the author, I believe, is well aware that there is also a distinction between people who take animals seriously, and people who regard them as advanced "toys" without feelings...we both know which category Minchin would fall into...

And excellent that Sara would be most indignant about the risk Lavinia's malice imposed on Becky. This was solid.

And now Lavinia is going to be shamed into being the goat? A fitting punishment for the damage her petty jealousies have done...as long as it doesn't get Lavinia killed...

Terrific chapter,

Clio

Prince Abjay is a chilling villain...his dumping the body of his informant in the Thames is a great touch...and his threats to Lavinia are good & scary...

Great the way the author establishes the transformation of Lavinia in the midst of her traumatic experience...realizing that even she wouldn't wish Abjay on Sara...

Great cliff hanger as Lavinia begins her search for the coal chute, and great touch that the Indians wouldn't realize it was there...

Clio1792

As Shasta discovered, the reward for a good deed is often a still harder and better one O.O

Good chapter... although a little more details would have been better...

But monetheless, it was a good chapter... I really like Sara's appearance in the chapter...

Keep up the good work... .

Really good chapter and I agree with the atrocities the Prince said he will release on Lavinia is she doesn't co-operate... Almost every royalty of that time was a snobby little thing...

Waiting to read more... :-)

Wooo! This is a twist: Go Lavinia!

Good chapter... although the talk between Ram Das and Vijay Lala sounded too stiff...

Other than that... the chapter was really good...

Loved Ram Dass's advice, "do not despise their aid"-in general, the courteous exchange between the two men was very solid...as what Minchin's confrontation with Lavinia...

Rohini learning the ins and outs of peer interaction was also good-what you gain in companionship you forfeit in control...

This author likes the idea of an egg timer so much that she may try it in other settings...it is sad to contemplate the number of long-winded people (including the present writer) who might be forced to consider means to get to the point more swiftly if placed under such constraints...!

So Rohini's about to find out how the other half lives, eh? Hope her creepy suitor isn't lurking in an alleyway...

Great chapter,

Clio

Loved it...

One of the best chapters you wrote for this fic...

Their isn't a thing I would like to change...

Love the way that Sara gets the inside skinny from Ram Dass...you can take the girl out of India, but you can't take the India out of the girl...

"as though the poor girl were some strange menagerie beast!" Great, funny line, and Lydia's conversation with Rohini is also very interesting...and oh those Spenserian justifications for disparities in income!

I like the way you've found some good points at which to emphasize that Rohini is a stranger in a strange land, from her attitude about touching to her cluelessness about Lall's actual status in comparison to those in Great Britain. And Sara's reflection on her trials was solid-it should be pointed out, though that she and Lydia both lost parents they adored. It's her father's death that weighs heaviest on Sara, yes? And Carrisford is a father-surrogate with a strong sense of obligation, if memory serves...

Great chapter!

Clio