Part of Chapter 28 of To Kill a Mockingbird
In Jem's point of view
I don't own To Kill a Mockingbird, I don't know why anyone would think that.
The dialog is as close to the story as would work, because this is the same exact thing, but in Jem's point of view.
We walked along the road home, tired from the long Halloween pageant and party. Scout was complaining about the loss of her shoes.
"We can get them tomorrow; have the janitor let you in..." Suddenly I had the feeling someone was watching me. Thinking it was just my sister, I said, "Scout?"
"Hm?" She muttered from beside me. The feeling that someone was watching me lessened.
"Nothing." I said, not wanting to scare her.
Suddenly, I heard soft footsteps from behind us. I subconsciously pushed harder on Scout's head, and she complained, "Jem, you don't hafta-"
"Hush a minute, Scout," I whispered, pinching her. We walked along silently, and the sound of footsteps stopped.
"Minutes up," Scout said, "Whatcha thinkin' about?"
"I thought I heard something," I replied, "Stop a minute." We stopped, "Hear anything?"
"No." We walked a little, before I heard it again. "Stop," I whispered.
"Are you tryin' to scare me, cause it's not working." Scout answered, her voice serious. In the background I heard footsteps again.
"Be quiet," I replied, completely serious. I steadied my breathing, listening. I felt a small breeze, but everything else was still... too still. A dog barked somewhere in the distance.
"Heard an old dog just then," Scout said.
"It's not that," I replied, "I hear it when we're walkin' along, but when we stop I don't."
"You hear my costume rustlin'. Aw, it's just Halloween got you..." She said, but it didn't convince me. Maybe the way she said it, but I could tell that she was as unsure as me. Scout was obviously frightened, and it was up to me to calm her down.
"It's just old Cecil," I said, "He won't get us again." I paused, "Let's don't let him think we're hurrying. It'll only convince him that we're scared." So we slowed.
"How can Cecil see us in the dark, looks to me like he'd bump into us from behind?" Scout asked.
"I can see you, Scout," I replied, "Your fat streaks are showin'. Ms. Crenshaw painted 'em with some of that shiny stuff so they'd show up. I can see you pretty well, an' I expect Cecil can too." Scout didn't reply. Instead, she yelled out, "Cecil Jacobs is a big wet he-en!" And she turned around to face whoever was behind us. I turned around and waited for Cecil to pop out. Nothing happened, so I decided it was my turn to try.
"I'll get him," I told Scout before yelling, "Hay-e!" But all that we heard was the echo of my voice, surrounding us. Cecil should have come out already. It wasn't Cecil following us, someone else was. I signaled Scout to stop. Softly, I whispered, "Scout, can you take that thing off?"
"I think so, but I ain't got anything under it much."
"I've got your dress," I replied, holding it up.
"I can't get it on in the dark," Scout replied.
I mentally sighed, "Okay, never mind then."
"Jem, are you afraid?"
I paused, then decided to lie, "No. Think we're almost to the tree now. Few yards from that, an' we'll be to the road," I said in a flat, toneless voice, "We can see the street light then." I kept my voice unhurried so I sounded unafraid.
"You reckon we oughta sing?" Scout asked.
"No. Be real quiet again," I answered, keeping the same voice. I started to speed up, but restricted my pace to what it was before.
Even farther down the road, and I could still hear the shuffling footsteps of whoever it was that was following us. We walked on, until the air turned slightly cold, signaling us that we were under that big oak tree. I pushed on Scout's head to signal her to stop. But the shuffling footsteps kept coming toward us. They stopped, only to turn into louder footsteps. Running footsteps.
I panicked, "Run, Scout! Run! Run!" I screamed, turning to run away. Beside me I heard Scout as she lost her balance, and Scout yelled, "Jem, Jem help me, Jem!" I turned to help her, but someone pushed her away, and sent a kick at me. I barely dodged, and I went to kick the person, a male. He flung me on top of Scout, who I pulled up with me as soon as I touched her. I looked over at her, and in the darkness, I could just see her head and shoulders outside of the metal wired costume. We were almost at the road when the man jerked me backwards and to the ground. I threw a punch at him, but he grabbed my arm and crushed it, making a loud crack. I screamed louder than I ever had at the pain.
After that, I don't remember much. There were two men, or maybe one was Scout. They fought, making loud scuffling noises. A man coughed a violent, sobbing, cough. Then another man leaned over me, perhaps the same man, and I felt his breath hot on my face.
"Jem?" Scout's voice came, soft. I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out. The pain in my arm, it was too much. I heard another, "Jem?" Before my mind slipped into darkness.
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