At the end of chapter 27, the children begin their long journey. What do you think this means?

In the last line of chapter twenty-seven, Scout stated:

"Thus began our longest journey together."

She was referring to a journey that she and Jem took together. The reader does not know what she was referring to until chapter twenty-eight.

Scout and Jem left the Halloween pageant at school on a dark autumn evening. A passerby warned them to "'be careful of haints.'" This was a warning to watch out for ghosts. Scout was wearing a ham costume, which had been made for a performance during the pageant.

Jem and Scout cut across the dark schoolyard on their way home. On several occasions, Jem thought he heard the sound of someone following them. Scout dismissed it as Cecil, a boy from school. They eventually came close to a familiar tree. Then they heard someone running toward them. Jem pulled Scout by the hand. She became trapped inside her ham costume, but she heard "scuffling noises." Scout eventually became free of her costume and discovered Boo Radley carrying an injured Jem home. Bob Ewell had attacked them. He had been the one following them home.