Oliver is found again (6)

 

He hit Oliver hard on the shouders with the stick. He was raising it for a second hit when Nancy rushed forward and, seizing the piece of wood , threw it into the fire.

 

'I won't let you do it , Fagin!' she shouted . 'You've got him again. Isn't that enough? Now leave him alone.'

 

Fagin and Sikes looked at each other, shocked by her reaction.

 

'You'd better keepquiet, my girl,' growled Sikes.

 

'No, I won't !' cried the girl wildly. 'Now you've got the boy, you'll turn him into a thief and a liar. Isn't that enough, without killing him too?'

 

She rushed at Fagin and would have hit him if Sikes had not held her arms so tightly that she couldn't move. She struggled wildly for a while , then exhausted, she fainted. Sikes laid her down in the corner, as surprised as Fagin at her anger.

 

'She can be really wild when she's angry,' Sikes asid.

 

Fagin wiped his forehead. 'That's the trouble with women,' he said, 'but she's a clever girl in her work.'

 

Then Charley Bates and the Dodger took away Oliver's expensive new suit, gave him some old clothes , and blcked him up in a dark room . Oliver felt tired and ill , and was soon fast asleep.