Scout's mighty brave. I'm never callin' her a scaredy-cat again.

Scout, Jem and I sneaked out to Maycomb's jail yesterday night. Jem and Scout were worried 'bout their dad 'cause they were afraid somebody would hurt him an' decided to follow him secretly. We walked till we came to Mr Finch's office in the bank. But the door was locked so we decided to go to where Mr Underwood was.

Funny thing was, we found Mr Finch not at Mr Underwood's, but at Maycomb's jail, which we had to pass to get to Mr Underwood's place. He was sittin' an' readin', and we wouldn't have found him if Jem hadn't spotted the light in the distance.

Mr Finch seemed fine, so Jem decided it was time for us to go back. We were takin' a short cut across the square when we saw four cars that seemed to be headed for the jail. They stopped in front of it, but nobody came out.

Scout, Jem and I crept closer, till we were near hearing distance, but at the same time, discreet. We watched as men got out of the cars and moved towards the jail door, blockin' Mr Finch from our view.

The men and Mr Finch began to talk. I didn't know much of what they were discussin', but they didn't seem friendly. Their voices were rough an' harsh, and they didn't seem happy.

Jem and I almost had a heart attack when Scout broke away from Jem and ran to Atticus. Jem shrieked and tried to catch her, but failed. We wriggled into the light, and looked around. As I had suspected, these men weren't the ones who had been looking for Mr Finch last evenin'. I sniffed the air; it wasn't so great either. The situation seemed like the one in that book I read, dangerous, forebodin'. I recalled a particular phrase, "The tension in the air was palpable."It seemed to fit the current situation...

My musin' was interrupted when Mr Finch told jem to take me an' Scout home. Reckon he thought that it was not a good time or place for kids like us to be here. Seems that Jem didn't think so though; he didn't budge even when his dad repeated his words. I could tell he was worried 'bout his dad, but I doubt Mr Finch saw it that way. 'Cause it looked like he was too worried about our safety. Of course, Jem couldn't see it his father's way either.

Father and son's glaring contest was rudely interrupted when a burly man lifted Jem by the collar, yankin' him nearly off his feet. I gritted my teeth at his rough treatment of one of my two important friends. How dare he treat Jem that way? I was about to protest but Scout beat me to the punch. Her eyes narrowed an' she kicked the man swiftly, yellin' at him not to touch Jem. We watched in surprise an' satisfaction as the big brute fell back in real pain. Good ol' Scout!

Apparently, Mr Finch didn't think so. 'Cause he placed a hand on Scout's shoulder, tellin' her not to kick folks, ignorin' her protests of ain't nobody treatin' Jem that way. Father an' daughter were interrupted when one of the men threatened Mr Finch to get us out of here; says we had fifteen seconds to do so. Pfft. That ain't gonna make Jem budge any.

Seein' that the Father-son argument had started up again, I turned to Scout. She was lookin' mighty bored. She seemed to be lookin' through the group, an' stopped as she came to one man in the middle.

I watched silently as Scout began a one-sided conversation with the man she called Mr Cunningham, who only gave a faint nod when she was began talkin' about his son Walter. Though I saw his interest soon dyin' off. Reckon Scout saw it too, for she began talkin' 'bout entailments to Mr Cunningham.

Scout had caught everyone's attention: the other men were all starin' at her. Some had their mouths half-open. Even Mr Finch and Jem had stopped their bickerin' long enough to stare at her. Mr Finch's mouth looked like that of my pet goldfish at that place. I snickered mentally. Sure, I was surprised, fascinated even. Scout had just started talkin' about entailments, apparently a topic for the adults.'Cause I once heard my folks discussin' it. Ain't no surprise everyone would be disbelievin' at her chosen topic of conversation.

But that surprise soon faded to...dull amusement. I found myself grinnin'. It was so like Scout to surprise everyone by goin' off on a topic a kid oughta' know nothin' 'bout. Though Scout ain't no ordinary kid. She's mighty unpredictable. Rash an' stubborn too, but that don't matter much.

My amusement soon died off at the lack of noise. The men were all silent, an' starin' at Scout, who looked nervous, askin' what the matter was. I felt my palms beginning to sweat. I rubbed em' on my pants. I take back what I said. This oughta' be the situation when 'the tension is palpable'. You could hear a pin drop. It was as silent as that place. I shivered slightly.

Luckily it didn't last long. Like time had started again in his world, Mr Cunningham stooped and took Scout by the shoulders, tellin' her he'd tell his son she said hey. He an' the other men then left soon after. I heard a stranger's voice askin' Mr Finch if they were gone, an' he reasurred 'Tom' that they were.

Scout, Jem and I then waited as Mr Finch talked with Mr Underwood, who was leanin' out his window. I almost sighed in relief as Mr Finch returned. I was tired from the night's nerve-wrackin' events. I was better off than Scout though; she looked like she was fallin' asleep on her feet. She looked like she would fall down once. I moved to catch her, but stopped when she showed no trouble rightin' her balance.

We soon found ourselves walkin' to Mr Finch's office. I carried the chair which I had offered to carry for Mr Finch; it had seemed the polite thing to do. Also my mouth felt quite dry for not talkin' the entire time. Through the gaps of the chair's legs, I saw Atticus reach out a hand to ruffle Jem's hair. I smiled. Looks like Jem managed to emerge victorious against his father after all.

I turned to Scout beside me. She was still lookin' dead tired, but she had a smile on her face too. As I looked at her weary features, I thought back to the events we had just gone through. She had been so brave, confrontin' a group of dangerous lookin' men face on without any fear. She had even managed to get them to go home without hurtin' anyone, which they had come to do.

I felt a surge of pride. That was my Scout, always facin' any challenge head on without an ounce of fear. Though she's often rash an' stubborn, i wouldn't have her any other way. Like I said before, she's the one girl I love for a reason after all.

I would've reached out and hugged and kissed her for her brave deed, if I hadn't been carryin' Mr Finch's chair. Instead, I continued walkin' along the path to Mr FInch's office with Scout, enjoyin' the cool night breeze that blew past our faces.

Seems that the night turned out to be a great one after all.

That's it. I ain't takin' this anymore. I ain't gonna sit around all day an' night when my own folks don't give a damn 'bout their kid's well being.

Could be me exaggeratin', 's not like they mistreat me or anythin'. In fact, they get me anythin' I want; so much so that I almost feel like one of those rich kids.

But that's it. After that its,'we gave you what you wanted, so go to your room and leave us alone.' Alright, they ain't so direct, but the meaniing's still the same. Clear as day they don't want me there loiterin' around, disturbin' the peace, yadda yadda.

Dad once said I ain't a boy; boys get out and play baseball with other boys, they don't hang around the house worryin' their folks. Gotta say I reckon that's 'cause other boys' folks love their kids as much as their kids love them; they don't see the need to stay in the house to try an' make their folks notice them, even just the slighest bit. 'S too bad I ain't similar to them.

Sure, my folks do hug and kiss me good night and good mornin' and goodbye and sometimes even tell me they love me. But I know they don't mean what they say. They ain't bein' sarcastic or anythin', they just don't feel that way. 'Cause, as folks say, the eyes are the window to your soul.

A family's gotta always keep together, care an' be there for one another. At least, that's what I heard. An', from what I've seen of Scout and Jem's relationship with their dad and even Cal, I'd say whoever came up with that saying's pretty much right. Of course, the same can't be applied to me and my folks, not with a Dad who can't even be bothered to take some time to build a simple wooden boat with his own son, like he promised.

I'm leavin'. They should be goin' out soon, or so I heard. Once they're gone, I'm gonna get out of this damn place, use my money to buy a ticket on the train to Maycomb, where the people who are my real family are. I ain't gonna stay in a house where Dad an' Mum ain't like Dad an' Mum. They get on a lot better without me anyway. I can't help them any. I'm sorta glad I won't get to see the relief on their faces when they find out I've gone.

Finally,summer's here. An' that means I'll be able to play with Jem an' Scout. Seems like ages since I last saw 'em.

Saw Dad today, an' told Jem an' Scout so. Told them 'bout his job and how I helped that engineer. They didn't seem to believe a word of what I was sayin' though. Pity.

Anyway, Jem and I had decided to occupy ourselves with playin' the Rover Boys. Though, that idea was thrown away when Scout objected. Probably 'cause we often give her Tom's part, which ain't much.

Since we could not decide on what else to play after Scout's objection, we spent our time just strollin' around. And it was when we had stopped at the front yard that I smelled a peculiar smell from the Radley Place. Somethin' gloomy an' morbid. Almost like... death.

Maybe it was my imagination, but I told Jem an' Scout so. Scout told me to shut up, but I said I was serious. At her skepticism, I told her I could smell somebody an' tell if they're gonna die, and that an old lady told me how. I then sniffed her and told her she was goin' to die in three days. Alright, so that was a lie.

When Scout threatened me in return, Jem told her to hush and said somethin' about 'Hot Steams'. Scout retorted, and I asked what Hot Steam was. I then learnt from Jem that a Hot Steam's somebody who wallows around on roads 'cause he can't get to heaven and you can't walk through him or yawl end up with the same fate as him. He told me somethin' like a chant to keep them from wrappin' around you too. Somethin' that began with the words 'Angel-bright'. Can't really remember.

Anyway after all that talk 'bout Hot Steams and the usual conflict between Jem an' Scout, we decided to take turns to roll in that old car tyre. That's usually fun, and I wanted to be first. But Scout said she wanted to be first and Jem agreed. Though I found out later that he wanted revenge for her verbal victory over him earlier, for he pushed the tyre with Scout in it so hard that it went rollin' like the wind while we went chasin' after Scout. Can't imagine what Scout was feelin' like being shaken about so. Poor Scout. Reckon Jem was a little too harsh on her this time.

The tyre soon stopped it's journey at the Radley Place and spat Scout out. She lay there as if dazed. Jem and I were shocked for a moment, before Jem yelled for her to come back. She eventually did, but forgot to take the tyre with her, which sparked off another argument between Jem and Scout before the former gave in and retrieved the tyre. After which Jem taunted her 'bout actin' like a girl, which I have to say I agree with. And here I thought Scout ain't a scaredycat like her brother. How disappointin'.

I'd have added my two cents to Scout turnin' into a girl had Jem an' Scout's cook not called us in for lemonade. Thank the lord she did; never did notice how hot it was out there till I drank that glass of lemonade.I'd say, that was heaven.

While we were sittin' and drinkin' immensely refreshin' and heavenly lemonade, Jem raised the idea of playin' as Boo Radley and his folks. Wonder why I hadn't thought of that 'fore? But of course, Scout just had to reject her role. Was gettin' quite irritated by her sudden cowardice, and told Jem that he and I'd play and Scout'd watch if she's scared. That shut her up, alright.

Though, we didn't really do much. Just distributin' of the roles; Scout played Mrs Radley, Jem was to play Boo Radley and I played Mr Radley. Good thing we decided on somethin' at last though. Have to admit; I was startin' to get bored. Hope Scout'd stop bein' a scaredycat, and be back to her normal an' 'fearless' self again. She'd be much more fun to hang out with that way. She's the one girl I love for a reason, after all.

After all that starin' at the Radley Place, I finally got some action today. Sure, it was Jem who did the deed, but that don't really matter, right?

Anyway, I dared Jem to make Boo Radley come out. Betted against him, that I did. Didn't take long for him to give in. Reckon the last straw was that one 'bout him an' his folks being scaredycats. That did him in, alright.

Of course, he protested some ; says he's got his little sister to think of. Pfft. Yeah right. Even Scout looked like she didn't believe a word of what he was sayin'.

After somemore tauntin', he finally gave in. Says he needed to think, that it was sort of like making a turtle come out. Says he'd strike a match under a turtle to make the creature come out. I told him it was hateful an' he said that ain't hateful, 's not like you'd chunk him in the fire. I shot him back, and after some quarrelin' and him changin' the subject, I let him win. Huh. Never did reckon a friend of mine could be so insensitive. I oughta have taught him a lesson...

After that little event, Jem took so long to 'think' that I finally got tired at his pathetic attempt at delayin' his dare. Told him that all he's gotta do is run up and touch the house, an' I'd swap him The Grey Ghost and won't say that he ran out on a dare. Said that Scout'n' me'll jump on Boo Radley when he came out, hold him down till we can tell him we ain't gonna hurt him.

Still, even after that glorious offer, Jem hesistated. He would've continuted pacin' 'bout the place if dear Scout hadn't sneered at him. Openly. Lord, I love that girl. At that, Jem threw open the gate, did his dare (at last), an' ran back past us as speedy as a hare, not once lookin' back.

Now here comes the excitin' part. After runnin' to safety and recoverin' from our run, we looked back, an' saw a tiny change in the house. An inside shutter moved. Flick. An almost invisible movement, but it's an accomplishment for now.

'Cause of the previously mentioned an' unecessarily prolonged ordeal, I've finally gotten a hint of Boo Radley. It's a small one, but it's a hint no less. Pity summer's gonna end soon, I'd have loved to try our luck once more on the 'Radley Case'. But then again, Jem's probably too traumatized by the recent incident to have the guts to do anythin' concernin' the Radley Place again. Reckon I'd have to rely on Scout. I'm sure she's not as big a scaredycat as her big brother. Though, that'd have to wait till next summer.

Went to stay at Aunt Rachel's today. 'S not bad I guess. Better'n that place, at least. Reckon I'll be stayin' here every summer from now on.

Saw the people close to my age that Aunt Rachel mentioned too. Says their names were Jeremy Atticus Finch and Jean Louise Finch. Went to greet 'em, and offered to help 'em read. Soon found out that the girl, Scout, can read too. Was quite surprised. Didn't think I'd meet someone who could read even if she ain't even started school yet.

Got into an arguement with Scout's brother over our names too. Wasn't a big deal though. Told Scout and Jem (Scout's brother) that I came from Meridian, an' that Mum was a former photographer who entered my picture in a contest an' won.

Of course, I also told 'em about Dracula. Jem said my story sounded better'n the book too. Got a little awkward after that though, since Scout raised the 'forbdidden question'. Luckily, I didn't have to say much since Jem cut in. Thank the Lord!

I'd say today wasn't too bad, since I met Scout and Jem. Didn't get to spend much time with 'em though, since Aunt Rachel called me back when the three of us were buildin' our treehouse. Pity. But then again, we all've the whole of summer to spend together. Can't say how glad I'm that for once, summer's gonna be an exciting one. Come to think of it, I remember Jem and Scout mentionin' somethin' 'bout plays and some mysterious and evil guy called Boo Radley... Sounds intriguing...

Name's Charles Baker Harris. Folks call me Dill though. Friends with Jem and Scout ; spend all of summer with 'em. Currently interested in the Radley Place. An' Scout, of course. Goin' on seven, and I can read. Same thing goes for Jem an' Scout. Guess birds of a feather do flock together.

Scout
Dracula
The Radleys
Plays

temporary none

Man Ping - Jem
Ivy - Burris Ewell
Dayna - Jem
Yun Teng - Scout
Feng Ling - Miss Caroline
Joshua - Scout
Links
Links
Links