1Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they belong to Harper Lee
A/N: Please Review after reading-this is just a one shot
Scout and Jem had been playing with Dill in the back yard all day and they were running out of things to do. Atticus had left for the day, they didn't know a lot about what Atticus was doing but it had something to do with the Ewell's. They didn't care at the time because it only meant less supervision. Calpurnia had just checked them so she would not be back out for another hour. They had been acting out scenes about Boo Radley, Dill would chase the two around the yard with a stick.
After they had run completely out of ideas Dill has a micheveous look on his face. He explained his plan in whispers to make sure Calpurnia would not hear. Jem ran into the kitchen and told Calpurnia that they were going to play with some other kids down the street and they would be back by supper. Calpurnia shoved him back outside and slammed the door shut behind him. The three walked about three houses down and sat on the bench.
Their plan was difficult-dangerous even. They were going to sneak into the Radley house with an old camera Atticus had and get a picture of Boo. They ran through someone else's backyard and made their way behing the Radley's house. Not a thing moved inside. They snuck up onto the back porch and waited. They waited for a sound, for a light to flick on, for anything. When nothing happened Jem used a stick they had found to push the door open, it made a small creak and they waited again.
When all seemed to be clear Dill and Jem crawled through first to make sure the coast was clear before Scout followed. They found themselves sitting in a dark kitchen - the lights were out, newspapers sat on an old table in the middle of the room. They expected an inch of dust to be over everything, but it was almost the same as Calpurnia's kitchen. Directly infront of them on the other side of the kitchen was a passage into the living room. From where they stood they could see the window at the front with old gray curtains hanging infront of them. The curtains were which most likely the cause for the gloomy look that fell upon everything.
They snuck through the door and looked around. It was a fairly normal living room - in the middle was a large coffee table with a could on each long side and a small chair at the other ends. Their were family pictures all over the walls, a large book shelf held a number of old books that had not been moved in years and a few small trophies on the higher shelves. Jem eyed up the front door, he walked over and quietly unlocked all of the locks. That would be their only escape once they went upstairs.
Scout wanted to stay at the bottom, she would keep watch and warn them when was coming home. Jem and Dill crept up the stairs, they went as a snail's pace not wanting to make a sound. It took them about 5 minutes to climb fifteen stairs. When they got to the top they were in the middle of a long hallway, at one end there was a door which most likely led to a bedroom and on the other was a window. In between there were three other doors- one small enought to only be used for a closet and enterance to the attic, another was opened and they could see it was a bathroom, then the third had to be the second room. They walked to the end of the hall to the first room, Dill had the camera ready to take the picture. Jem stood there with his hand on the doorknob for only a minute but it felt like a lifetime. They were about to open the door when they heard Scout scream. Dill and Jem rushed to the top of the stairs and looked to where Scout had been standing, she wasn't there. They ran down the steps - they didn't care who caught them, they had to get to Scout.
When they found her she was standing against the wall facing the kitchen, her eyes were wide and her face was as white as a ghost. They jumped out infront of Scout to try to protect her from whatever was scaring her. He stood in the doorway with a gun, pointing it directly at Jem with a scary look in his eyes. Boo was now real, Boo was dangerous. Dill whispered to Jem and Scout to burst out the front door on the count of three and run into the Finch home. When three hit Jem flung the door open in one swift movement, he shoved Scout out infront of them and ran. Just as Scout reaached the steps Jem heard the loud gunshot behind them but kept on running. When they reached the sidewalk Jem turned to ask Dill something but he wasn't there. The door on the house was closed again and the house was quiet. Jem now realized that the gunshot he heard had actually hit something, it had hit Dill.
Jem and Scout ran straight to Calpurnia. When Jem burst into the kitchen he was crying, "Boo got him, he got Dill Calpurnia!! You got to get Atticus!" soon he had explained the whole story and Calpurnia called Atticus over immediatley. Within five minutes Atticus arrived in his car with in the passenger seat, the sheriff followed close behind. ran into the house immediatley and slammed the door behind him. Atticus gave Jem and Scout a grave look, he had told them not to mess with Boo. The Sheriff walked into the Radley house after whispering something to Atticus , Atticus walked over to get . She came out with a look of terror on her face as he walked her over to the front of the Radley house.
The Sheriff came out and walked over to Miss Rachel and gave her a hug. She began to cry and scream and soon fell to the ground. Jem knew the news the Sheriff had given her, Dill had died in that house. came out a minute later and gave his apologies to Miss Rachel and suggest she go back inside for a while. Calpurnia brought her into their kitchen and the Sheriff walked back into the Radley house. When he came out he had Boo in handcuffs and put him straight into the back of the police car. The Sheriff headed back inside to show the coroner where the body was hidden.
Boo must have shot Dill then tried to hide the body. If he hid it well enough then no one would have believed them and he would have gotten away with murder. Miss Rachel would have been told that he probally ran back home. Jem and Scout went straight up to the rooms and lay in bed, Jem could hear Scout crying into her pillow and he couldn't help fight off his tears any longer. He heard Atticus trying to calm down Miss Rachel downstairs and offered her his room for the night so she wouldn't be alone. Jem heard him whispering to Scout before he came in to his room.
Atticus was very dissapointed in Jem but did his best to comfort him. He wished that Jem didn't have to see that and didn't have any words for him. All Atticus could do was hug his son and give him a shoulder to cry on.