Chapter 9 has arrived! I'm not sure how many more chapters I'm going to write, but definitely at least three more. This chapter involved Jem finally being able to go back to school, and Scout asks him not to tell everyone about their so-called 'adventure', for very grown-up reasons.

Enjoy!

"Reckon I can read Scout some more of The Gray Ghost, Atticus?" Jem said from the doorway, and Atticus nodded. He left the room to get his Sunday paper and Jem told Scout to scoot over. He climbed onto the bed next to her and opened the book to where they left off last time and started to read.

He read all the way through dinnertime, and then even afterward. "All right, Jem, that's enough. It's time for Scout to go to bed," Calpurnia said from the doorway. Jem pulled a long face but then glanced down and saw that his sister was half-asleep already.

"I heard every word you said," Scout said sleepily as Calpurnia came in to change her into her pajamas. Jem told Scout goodnight and then went back to his own room as Calpurnia tucked Scout into bed. "I'm sick and tired of staying in bed, Cal," Scout murmured, and Calpurnia smiled.

"Oh, I know you are, Scout. Maybe if you're a good girl I'll have Mr. Finch move you to the couch or something for a while tomorrow,"

Scout muttered something about a good girl before she fell asleep, her head falling back amongst the pillows. Calpurnia shook her head at her as she left the room, turning the light off and pulling the door mostly closed. Atticus took her home for the night, and came back to find Uncle Jack snoring in the living room.

"Did you give Scout her pill?" Atticus asked his brother, shaking him awake.

"Yeah, yeah," Uncle Jack said sleepily, and then yawned, stretched and got to his feet. "Are you actually going to sleep in your own bed tonight?" He said as he walked towards the guest room.

"Yes I am," Atticus said, rolling his eyes. Uncle Jack disappeared into his room and Atticus turned all the lights off before going to his own room and shutting the door.

The next morning, Jem was up early to get ready to go to school. He was about to bound into Scout's room when Atticus caught him and said, "Your sister needs her rest, Jem, don't go waking her up,"

"Can I tell her bye when it's time to leave?" Jem asked, and Atticus sighed.

"We'll see, son. If she's awake, maybe,"

Jem ran off to the breakfast table with Calpurnia scolding him, telling him to slow down. "What happens if you fall and break your other arm, eh?" Cal said as she poured him his juice.

"Morning Cal," Atticus said as he stepped inside the kitchen.

"Good morning, Mr. Finch," Cal said to him as she grabbed a plate for him and began loading it up.

"Morning," Uncle Jack said from the doorway, and Atticus turned to look at him. They both cracked a smile as Uncle Jack meandered into the kitchen.

"Would you like some breakfast, Mr. Finch?" Cal asked Uncle Jack politely, and he thought for a moment.

"Sure, thank you,"

"What're you and Scout gonna do today Uncle Jack?" Jem asked as he ate his breakfast.

"That's a good question, Jem. Maybe we'll break out the checkers," Uncle Jack said thoughtfully as he sipped his coffee.

Jem finished his breakfast and brought his plate to the sink. "Can I go see if Scout's up?" He asked Atticus, who nodded.

"But don't you go waking her up!" Atticus called as Jem hurried towards Scout's room.

"She's up, Atticus!" Jem hollered, and Atticus shook his head.

"Will you stop by my class and tell 'em I'm okay?" Scout asked her brother, and he nodded.

"I'm gonna go show everyone my cast, and I'll tell 'em all about our adventure," Jem said, relishing the thought of telling everyone the tale.

"Jem, you can't do that!" Scout cried out, and Jem shook his head.

"Well, why not? We both coulda died!"

"That's exactly why you shouldn't just go around spreading it. I mean, tell 'em the basics if you have to, but bad stuff happened," Scout said, and Jem looked at her weird.

"Gosh, Scout, you've been acting stranger and stranger ever since," He got to his feet as Cal called for him. "Gotta go, Scout, bye!" He ran out and through the screen door, headed to school with Cal calling after him, telling him to slow down.

Atticus stepped into Scout's room and she looked at him. "You going to your office today Atticus?"

"Yes I am," He said slowly, and then sat down on her bed. "You beat me to it, Scout,"

"Beat you to what?" Scout was confused.

"I was going to tell Jem not to spread the tale of your…adventure…around to everyone at school, but you told him before I could,"

"It's just…when I go back, everyone's gonna be asking me about it, and I don't wanna go back there, Atticus, I wasn't scared at the time but when I look back, it frightens me so bad I almost start shaking," Scout confessed, and Atticus scooted closer to her, wrapping his arms around her.

"You're safe now, baby, nothing's gonna hurt you now,"

"I know that, Atticus, I really do, it's just, bad stuff happened that night, a man's dead and Jem and I could've died. Talking about it kinda brings it back, you know? And I just think talking about it makes it seem more…less like a nightmare and more like real. If I think of it as just a dream, I guess I can, I don't know, live with it?"

"Makes it easier to deal with, if it's just a dream," Atticus said slowly, and Scout nodded.

"I'm really wising up, aren't I Atticus?" She said with a half-smile, and he dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

"You're my grown up girl now, Scout, that's for sure."

They sat in silence for a long moment and then Scout said, "Please don't tell Jem what I said, Atticus, I don't want him thinking I'm weird or going soft or something,"

"All right, Scout, I won't tell him. Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you?"

"I think me and Uncle Jack'll do just fine," Scout said, and Atticus nodded, getting to his feet. He gently brushed his hand over the fading bruise on her cheek and said,

"I'll see you later, Scout," He couldn't bring himself to tell her goodbye, not after what happened the last time he went to town for the day to the office.

"Okay," She said easily, and settled back in her pillows, waiting for Uncle Jack to come.

"Who wants to play checkers?" Uncle Jack called out as he stepped in Scout's room.

"Me!" Scout said excitedly, and Uncle Jack grinned.

"Red or black?"

"Red," Scout said decisively, and Uncle Jack proceeded to set the board up.

Uncle Jack and Scout spent the entire day playing games, and when Miss Maudie came over to visit she brought both of them a small cake and joined in some of their games.

Later in the day, Jem came running into Scout's room with a big card in his hands. He gave it to Scout and said, "Your entire class helped make this, they made it last week and were waiting for me to come back to bring it to you," He explained, and her face lit up as she read all the little messages from all of her school friends.

"Even Cecil Jacobs signed this! He must be going soft or something," Scout declared, and Jem, Uncle Jack and Miss Maudie smiled.

"Here, I'll put it on your shelf," Uncle Jack said, but Miss Maudie snatched it out of his hands.

"I'll arrange it with the flowers you've gotten, make it look pretty for you Scout," She said, and Uncle Jack raised his hands in defeat.

"My future wife has a better eye for that than I do," Uncle Jack said wickedly, and Miss Maudie aimed a glare at him.

"You, Jack Finch, can take that proposal of yours and…"

She was interrupted as Calpurnia knocked at the door. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but you have a telephone call, Mr. Finch,"

Uncle Jack walked out and Miss Maudie began arranging the big card and the few bouquets of flowers on Scout's shelf.

After a while longer, the screen door opened and both Jem and Scout recognized their father's footsteps on the floor. He came in and greeted all of them before sitting down next to Scout and reading the newspaper. Miss Maudie didn't stay for dinner, and they finished out the night with Jem reading a few more chapters of The Gray Ghost to Scout.

That's the way it went for a few weeks, and then Dr. Reynolds came back for a check-up on Scout. Atticus was postponing going to his office until Dr. Reynolds finished his examination. He came out of Scout's room and saw Cal, Atticus and Uncle Jack waiting for his report.

"Miss Scout is healing extremely well. She can start trying to move around, but I do not recommend her trying to get out of bed, except maybe sitting on the side. It will hurt a lot, but she needs to start moving." He said, and Atticus thanked him and proceeded to walk him out. They ended up walking to town together, discussing the best ways to get Scout up and moving again.

No one could predict that Scout was already sick and tired of just sitting around and would decide to give standing a try on her own.

Well then. She's a very stubborn little girl, isn't she? I love writing the interactions between Miss Maudie and Uncle Jack, they're usually very humorous in the novel. And I imagined that Scout's class would at least do something nice for her, so they made her another card, just like her Sunday School class. The next chapter will have Scout using all of her willpower in order to get her body working right again. Thanks so much for reading, I hope you're enjoying this story!