Raji ran away from a house in Queens New York where she had been held as an indentured servant for the past nine years. She was kidnapped on the streets of Calcutta when she was five years old. Raji and several other girls were then shipped to New York City where she was sold to a wealthy Indian family to work as an indentured servant.
When Raji turns thirteen, the master of the house begins making advances toward her. After months of trying to get his hands on Raji, he slips into her bed. He is caught by his overbearing wife before anything happens, but she punishes Raji for her husband’s attempt at molesting her. Terrified about what might happen, she runs away. After hopping a freight train out of New York City, she rides the rails for two days before ending up in the Fusilier barn.
Fuse is fourteen in the winter of 1925 when he finds Raji sleeping in the hay. Thinking she’s a Gypsy because of her dark complexion, he tells her she has to leave. Raji, having never been allowed outside the Queens house and hearing only the Hindi language all her life, does not understand what Fuse is saying to her. She leaves, knowing from his demeanor and hand motions that he wants her to go away. However, she goes only as far as the nearby woods where she waits until Fuse leaves for school. The near-starving girl then returns to the farmhouse and, thinking no one it there, slips inside. In the kitchen, she wolfs down some bacon and biscuits. She peeks into the living room to see a man in a wheelchair.
Fuse is three years ahead of his grade level and is working hard to be accepted to the prestigious Octavia Pompeii Academy. The two-year prep school holds an annual competition in tennis and chess to determine the fifty best students to fill the new junior class. Only high school seniors with the best scholastic performance, or boys and girls with exceptional abilities, are invited to the competition.
Mr. Fusilier, Fuse’s father, was injured in a fall from the windmill and is now a quadriplegic. He is cared for during the day by a nurse. Fuse takes care of his father before and after school. The boy’s mother is in Africa working as a volunteer on a smallpox epidemic. She does not know about her husband’s accident.
When one of the Fusilier horses goes into labor late at night, Fuse is awakened by a loud pounding at his back door. He is surprised to find the girl standing at the door and jabbering in some foreign language. He thought she had gone away the day before, but apparently, she had been staying in the barn. Fuse finally realizes something is wrong and runs to see what the trouble is. The horse has a difficult birth, but the girl helps and then Fuse brings Raji into the house for breakfast, and to meet his father.
A chessboard is set up in the living room where Fuse has been practicing his game. Raji glances at the board and then moves one of the pieces. Fuse studies the board for a minute before realizing she has made the best possible move.
Soon Raji is helping care for Mr. Fusilier and beating Fuse in every game of chess they play. After each of them learns a few words of the other’s language, they begin to communicate quite well and Fuse discovers what has happened to Raji.
Raji has never been to school, but with the help of a first-grade book from the library, Fuse teaches her to read. At first, she has difficulty grasping the concept, but after a week of repetition, she masters the Dick and Jane book and then asks Fuse to bring more books.
Fuse tries to keep Raji’s presence a secret because he’s afraid the authorities will take her back to the house where she was held captive. Eventually she is discovered by two workers from a neighboring farm and the sheriff comes to take her away to jail. Fuse enlists the help of friends to get her out of jail.
Mrs. Fusilier is finally notified of her husband’s accident and she hurries home to take care of him. When Fuse tells his mother about Raji and what has happened to her, Mrs. Fusilier takes the girl under her wing. It doesn’t take long for Mrs. Fusilier to realize the girl is gifted and only needs guidance in her education.
In the end, both Fuse and Raji are invited to compete for entry into the academy. Neither of them does well in tennis, but they are both very good in the chess competition. Fuse wins many of his games, but Raji demolishes every one of her opponents.
When the names of the fifty new juniors are read off, Raji is number one, but Fuse is not in the top fifty.
Feeling that she has taken his place at the academy, Raji tells Fuse she will not accept the position. But he gives her a hug and tells her she is the best and it is her place, not his. Raji then goes up to the stage and joins the new junior class of the first school she has ever attended.
