CHAPTER 2

…
I willed myself to stay awake, but the rain was so soft and the room was so warm
and his voice was so deep, and his presence was so soothing that I drifted off into a gentle slumber.
Seconds later, it seemed, his gentle prodding woke me up. He lifted me to my
feet and walked me to my room. “Heard every word you said,” I muttered. “I wasn't asleep at all. It was a story about a ship and Three-Fingered Fred and Stoner's Boy.”
He unhooked my overalls, leaned me against him, and pulled them off. He held
me up with one hand and reached for my pajamas with the other.
“Yeah, and they all thought it was Stoner's Boy messing up their clubhouse and
throwing ink all over it and...”
He guided me to the bed and sat me down. He lifted my legs and put me under the
cover.
“An' they chased him and never could catch him because they didn't know what he
looked like, and Atticus, when they finally saw him, why he hadn't done any of
those things... Atticus, he was very kind.”
His hands were under my chin, pulling up the cover, tucking it around me.
“Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.”
He turned out the light and went into Jem's room. He would be there all night,
and he would be there when Jem woke up in the morning.