The Radley house

Our whole neighbourhood thought that when Mr Radley passed, Boo would finally come out of the house. We didn’t expect Boo’s older brother to return from Pensacola and take Mr Radley’s place. The more Scout and i told Dill about the Radleys, the more he asked. I told him that Boo comes out when it’s pitch black, and that Miss Stephanie Crawford told us that one time she woke up in the middle of the night and saw him looking right at her through the window. “Ain’t you ever waked up at night and heard him, Dill?” I asked. “He walks like this-“ I dragged my shoes through the gravel i was standing on. “Wonder what he looks like?” Dill asked. I explained that Boo was about six and a half feet tall, judging by the tracks he leaves on the ground. He snacks on raw squirrels and cats, that’s why his hands are always bloodstained. There was a large scar that spread across his face; yellow teeth, large eyes and a drooling mouth. “Let’s try to make him come out.” said Dill. I asked if he wanted to get himself killed, trying to get Boo to leave the house was a bad idea.

It took me three days to decide if i was going to go along with Dill’s request. He kept calling me scared, but i denied it and said i was just being respectful. I knew I was scared, but i couldn’t admit it. Dill said that the folks in Meridian weren’t as afraid as the folks here in Maycomb, which made me instantly want to prove him wrong. I marched to the corner and stood in front of the poorly hinged gate. “I hope you’ve got it through your head that he’ll kill us each and every one, Dill Harris, don’t blame me when he gouges your eyes out.” I spoke as Scout and Dill stood next to me. Dill and i kept arguing because he thought i wasn’t going to do it, but i claimed i was just trying to think of a way to lure him out safely. “I won’t say you ran out on a dare if you just go up and touch the house.” Dill agreed. I was slightly relieved but still not happy about it. Scout and Dill left the corner, waiting to run up and hold Boo down if he did come out. I walked to the corner of the lot, then back, scratching my neck and frowning. I really didn’t want to do this. I took a deep breath before throwing open the gate and sprinting to the side of the house, hitting the wall and running back past Scout and Dill until i was safely on our porch. I looked back and saw the Radley house, looking as dull and droopy as always. We all stared at it for a while longer and i could’ve sworn i saw the inside shutter move. There was then a small movement inside, and then the house stood as still as ever.

Treasures in the tree

I watched Scout enter the house chewing on a piece of gum. I told her to spit it out instantly, she shouldn’t eat things she finds on the ground. “This wasn’t on the ground, it was in a tree.” i growled at her and told her again to spit it out. She claimed that it was alright because she had been chewing it all afternoon and she wasn’t dead yet. I stomped my foot. “Don’t you know you’re not suppose to even touch the trees over there? You’ll get killed if you do!”

Scout and i were walking to the live oaks at the Radley place and she raised a finger, pointing at the knot-hole where she had found the chewing gum for the hundredth time, except this time i saw something myself. I reached up to grab the shining box and we ran back to our front porch. It looked like a box rings would come in, purple velvet covering it. I opened the box to reveal two scrubbed and polished pennies, one on top of the other. “Indian-heads. Nineteen-six and Scout, one of em’s nineteen-hundred. These are real old,” i spoke to Scout. 
“Jem, you reckon that’s somebody’s hidin’ place?” she asked. I told her it wasn’t, nobody ever walked by there. I said we would keep them until school starts, then ask everyone if it belonged to them. 


Scout and i were walking past the Radley house one afternoon when something white in the knot-hole caught my eye. Scout reached up and pulled out two small objects which were carved out of soap. One of them a boy, the other a girl. She screamed and threw them to the ground. I quickly picked them up. “What’s the matter with you?” i yelled. I had never seen anything like them, they were very well made. I held them out, staring at the two close to perfect miniature figures. The boy had on shorts and hair which fell to his eyebrows. I looked over at the girl doll, then over to Scout. “These are us.” 

The following week we went back to the tree and inside sat a tarnished medal. I showed Atticus and he told me it was a medal from a spelling contest that used to be held before we were born. 
The greatest treasure we found in the knot-hole was what we found four days later. It was a pocket watch that hung from a chain with an aluminium knife. Atticus said it could be worth ten dollars. 
Scout came up with the idea to write a letter to whoever was leaving these items in the tree for us. I thought they would appreciate us thanking them. She handed me a pen and some paper. The letter read, “Dear Sir, We appreciate everything you have put into the tree for us. Yours very truly, Jem Finch and Jean Louise Finch (Scout).”The next morning on the way to school I ran past Scout and stopped in front of the tree. “Scout!” i called out. She ran over to me and looked towards where my eyes had landed. Someone had filled the knot-hole with cement. Why would anyone do such a thing?

Sneaking into the Radley house

Dill had suggested that we go for a walk. When Scout asked where we’d be walking, he nodded his head in the direction of the Radley house. “Okay.” I agreed. Scout didn’t want to go. “You don’t have to come alone, Angel May.” i teased. We walked quietly down the sidewalk, the only audible sounds being porch swings creaking as they swayed back and forth, and the occasional laugh from Miss Stephanie Crawford. I told Scout that she should head home, I could tell she didn’t want to do this. “What are you gonna do?” she questioned. Dill explained that we were simply going to peep through the window with the loose shutter to see if we could see Boo Radley, and that if Scout didn’t want to come with us she could go straight home and keep her mouth shut. She tried to beg me not to go but i just told her to keep quiet or go home. “I declare to the Lord you’re getting more like a girl every day!” After that statement she decided to join us. I held up the bottom wire of the fence that enclosed the Radley House’s garden and motioned Dill under it, Scout following behind him. Scout held up the wire from the other side so i could get through. I struggled to get through because i am bigger than them, but eventually made it. “Don’t make a sound.” i whispered. I silently made my way towards the the old gate that separated the garden from the backyard. I tried to open it but it squeaked loudly. “Spit on it,” Dill said. We did as he said and i tried to slowly open the gate once again, successfully doing so. We crept around to the side of the house, where the window was. The sill was several inches taller than me. Scout and i held each others wrists and crouched down so we could raise Dill to the window. He said he saw nothing but curtains. “Let’s get away from here,” i breathed. 

Dill suggested trying the back window so i walked ahead of him to the back porch, ignoring Scout’s protests. As i placed my foot on the bottom step it creaked loudly. I panicked for a moment and stood still. I skipped two steps, not willing to risk more creaking, and stood myself on the porch. I dropped to my knees and crawled towards the window, then raised my head to look inside. I couldn’t see anything. As i was about to crawl back to the steps, i saw a shadow creep it’s way towards me on the porch wall. The shadow’s arm came out from it’s side, dropped, then just stood still for a few moments. It then slowly turned and walked back across the wall and off the side of the house, returning to where it had come from. I sprinted off of the porch and headed towards Dill and Scout. I quickly opened the gate and we all ran through the garden. I looked back to see that Scout had fallen over, and the loud roar of a gunshot pierced through the silence of the night. Dill and i helped Scout regain her balance before continuing to run to the fence, as if our lives depended on it. I held the wire once again for Dill and Scout to crawl through, then tried to crawl through myself but i noticed my pants had gotten stuck on the wire. I panicked and quickly kicked off my pants, running after Dill and Scout in my shorts. We didn’t look back until we were all safely behind the large oak tree.