Chapter 3 (narrated by IxChel) He Runs Away Noah Claypole made life very unpleasant for Oliver. Mr Sowerberry tried to be his friend, so Mrs Sowerberry was his enemy. There was a lot of illness in the town, and Mr Sowerberry had a lot of business. He took Oliver with him when he collected the dead bodies, but Oliver did not like his new job very much. One day Noah was trying to make Oliver cry. He pulled his hair hard and hit his ears. 'How is your mother, Workhouse?' he said. 'She is dead,' replied Oliver, and his face went pink. 'Don't say anything about her to me.' 'What did she die of?' asked Noah. 'Of a broken heart, some of our old nurses told me,' replied Oliver. 'Don't say anything more about her!' 'Don't be rude, Workhouse. We all pity you, Workhouse, but your mother was a bad woman. You know she was!' 'What did you say?' asked Oliver. 'A bad woman, Workhouse,' repeated Noah. Red with anger now, Oliver seized the bigger boy by his neck, shook him and then threw him to the ground. Oliver's unhappy life had made him a quiet, sad boy, but the insult to his mother had upset him. He stared angrily at Noah, who was still lying on the ground. 'He will murder me!' cried Noah. 'Help, Mrs Sowerberry! Oliver has gone mad!' Mrs Sowerberry ran into the kitchen, caught Oliver and scratched his face. Noah got up and hit him from behind. When they were tired and could not tear and scratch and beat him any more, they carried Oliver to a dark room and shut him in there. Mrs Sowerberry sat down and began to cry. 'He might murder us all in our beds,' she said. 'But what shall we do? Mr Sowerberry isn't at home. Run to Mr Bumble, Noah. Tell him to come here immediately.' Noah found Mr Bumble at the workhouse. 'Oh, Mr Bumble, sir!' cried Noah,' Oliver, sir, Oliver has-' 'What? What?' asked Mr Bumble, with a look of pleasure in his eyes. 'He hasn't run away, has he, Noah?' 'Not run away, sir, but he attacked me and tried to murder me, sir. And then he tried to murder Mrs Sowerberry, sir. Oh, the terrible pain!' And Noah showed signs of suffering badly from Oliver's attack. 'My poor boy,' said Mr Bumble.' I will come now.' He took his stick and walked with Noah to Mr Sowerberry's shop. He went to the door of the dark room and said in a deep voice, 'Oliver!' 'Let me out!' cried Oliver from the inside. 'Do you know this voice, Oliver?' asked Mr Bumble. 'Yes,' answered Oliver. 'Aren't you afraid of it?' 'No!' said Oliver in a brave voice. Mr Bumble was very surprised by this answer. He stood back from the door and looked at the others. 'Oh, Mr Bumble, he must be mad,' said Mrs Sowerberry. 'No boy speaks to you like that.' 'He isn't mad,' said Mr Bumble after a few moments deep thought. 'The trouble is - meat!' 'What?' said Mrs Sowerberry. 'Meat, Mrs Sowerberry, meat,' said Mr Bumble. 'If you fed him only on soup, as we do in the workhouse, he wouldn't behave like this!' 'Oh!' said Mrs Sowerberry, 'This is the result of my kindness.' 'Leave him in there for a day or two,' said Mr Bumble, 'Give him soup and nothing else in future, Mrs Sowerberry. He comes from a bad family.' At this moment Mr Sowerberry arrived. He wanted to be kind to Oliver, but his wife's tears forced him to beat Oliver. He hit him hard and then shut him in the dark room again. At night Oliver was ordered upstairs to his bed in the shop. When he was alone in the silence of the shop, Oliver began to cry for the first time. All day he had listened to their cruel words and suffered their beatings without any tears. But now he fell on his knees on the floor, hid his face in his hands, and started to weep. For a long time he stayed like that, without moving. Then he opened the door and looked out. It was a cold, dark night. The stars seemed farther from the earth than he had ever seen them before. He shut the door, tied up his few clothes in a handkerchief, and sat down to wait for morning. When the first light of day showed through the windows, he opened the door again. After one quick, frightened look around him, he closed the door behind him and was out in the open street.