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.

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
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