Oliver Twist Chapter 8 (narrated by Syrile) Back Among the Thieves Oliver was walking towards the bookshop when he heard a young woman shouting, 'Oh, my dear brother!' He felt a pair of arms round his neck. 'Who is that?' he cried, 'Why are you stopping me?' ‘I have found him!' cried the young woman. 'Oh, Oliver! Oliver! You are a bad boy. I have suffered so much!' 'Young Oliver?' cried Bill Sikes, coming out of a shop with his white dog. 'Come home to your poor mother, you young fool. Come home at once.' People watched and called to Oliver, 'Yes, you bad boy! Go home to your poor mother and father!' 'What are these books?' cried Bill Sikes. 'Have you been stealing?' He tore the books from Oliver and hit him. What could one poor child do against all this? He was pulled by his collar through the narrow streets. Night came. At Mr Brownlow's house, Mrs Bedwin stood at the open door. The two old gentlemen sat upstairs, waiting in silence with the watch on the table between them. Nancy and Bill Sikes ran through the streets with Oliver. After half an hour they came to a very dirty, narrow street. Oliver did not know where he was. Sikes rang a bell, the door opened, and all three quickly went inside the house. It was dark inside. Sikes pulled Oliver down some stairs and opened the door of a dirty room at the back of a kitchen. Fagin and the boys were there. 'Look at his clothes, Fagin!' laughed Charley Bates. 'And books too! He is a little gentleman now!' 'I am glad to see you,' Fagin said. 'And you are looking so well. Jack will give you another suit, my dear - you mustn't spoil that Sunday suit.' At that moment Jack Dawkins pulled out Mr Brownlow's five pound note from Oliver's pocket. 'What's that?' said Sikes, stepping forward as Fagin seized the note. 'That's mine, Fagin.' 'No, no, my dear,' said Fagin. 'Mine, Bill, mine. You can have the books.' 'If that money isn't mine I will take the boy back,' said Sikes. Nancy and I got him for you. Give us that money, you evil old man.' He took the note from Fagin's fingers. 'That is for our work,' he said. 'You can keep the books.' 'They belong to the kind old gentleman who took me to his house,' said Oliver, falling on his knees at Fagin's feet. 'He looked after me when I was ill. Please send them back. He will think I stole them. Oh, please send them back!' 'The boy is right,' said Fagin. 'Ha, ha!' He laughed and rubbed his hands together. 'It couldn't be better for us!' Now Oliver understood. He jumped quickly to his feet and shouted for help. He ran from the room, but Fagin and the other boys soon brought him back. 'Keep the dog away!' cried Nancy. 'He will tear the boy to pieces!' Sikes pushed Nancy violently to the other side of the room. 'So you want to get away, my dear, do you?' said Fagin to Oliver, taking up a stick. 'You want to get help? You would like to send for the police perhaps? We will soon stop that.' He hit Oliver hard. He was raising the stick for a second blow when Nancy rushed forward, pulled the stick from his hand and threw it into the fire. 'You've got the boy!' she cried. 'What more do you want?' 'Keep quiet!' shouted Bill Sikes. 'Women cause a lot of trouble,' said Fagin, 'but we need them for our work. Charley, take Oliver to bed.' Bates led Oliver into the next room. He gave him a dirty old suit and took his new clothes away from him. Then he shut the door behind him and left Oliver alone in the dark. Fagin kept Oliver in the house for nearly a week. He reminded Oliver that without Fagin he would still be very hungry or even dead. He told him about a boy who had run away from him. Sadly he had been hanged - a very unpleasant death. Oliver was filled with fear as he listened to Fagin's words. Then Fagin smiled at Oliver and said that if he worked hard for him, they would be very good friends. Oliver thought about Mr Brownlow, his good, kind friend. 'What will he think of me?' Oliver asked himself sadly. One cold, wet night, Fagin left the house. He went down the dark street and knocked at the door of another house. 'Who is there?' said a man's voice. 'Only me, Bill, only me, my dear.' 'Come in,' said Sikes. They both had a glass of wine, then sat down to talk about business. 'I have come about the house at Chertsey,' said Fagin, rubbing his hands. 'When are we going to steal the silver from it?' 'We can't do it as we planned,' said the burglar. 'Toby Crackit has been staying near the place for more than two weeks now. One of the servants will agree to help him. Will you give me fifty pounds extra if the work is done from the outside?' 'Yes,' said Fagin. 'Then we can do it when you like,' said Sikes. 'Toby and I climbed into the garden the night before last. The house is shut at night like a prison. But there is one small window that we can open. We need a small boy to get through it.' 'Oliver is the boy for you, my dear,' said Fagin. 'He must start working for his bread, and the other boys are too big. He will do anything, Bill, if you frighten him enough.'