The Trouble with Perfect

by Helena Duggan

  Violet pulled on her brakes, a little back from the crowd, and got off her bike, resting it against the Brain. Then she pushed her way towards the steps of the Town Hall.

  She arrived in time to see George Archer stride out the door of the old building, under the columned stone canopy, to his brother’s side. She’d forgotten how strange the twins looked together – one tall and pencil thin, the other short and wide.

  The crowd erupted in applause. Violet shuddered.

  “Thank you for welcoming my brother so graciously, you truly wonderful people.” Edward smiled. “George has something he’d like to say.”

  The tall twin bent down to speak into the microphone. The crowd held their breath.

  “No, I haven’t,” he grunted.

  Violet remembered how George was never one for words. He always scared her more than his twin. At least his brother pretended to be nice.

  “It seems prison has stolen his voice,” Edward quickly interjected, “but George asked me to impart his sincere and grateful thanks for his compassionate release. Though he was unlawfully imprisoned, he bears no grudges.”

  “I bear a few grudges,” George growled, as Edward snatched the microphone away.

  “He wasn’t unlawfully imprisoned – the No-Man’s-Landers were!” a woman cried.

  Violet turned to see who it was, but her view was blocked by a small group who circled the heckler, pushing her aggressively from the gathering.

  Town was becoming divided. If things kept going like this, the Archers would be in charge again soon.

  Vincent Crooked took the microphone. He seemed to be in charge of the proceedings and thanked everyone for coming out to support George, before dispersing the crowd.

  Violet looked around for her dad, spotting him just as he disappeared inside the Town Hall with Merrill and Madeleine following behind him.

  She snuck up the steps and crossed the flagstones to the door. Checking no one had noticed her, she slipped inside.

  A thick red velvet curtain, acting as a draught excluder, was the perfect hiding place. From there she watched her dad, Madeleine and Merrill climb the steps of the spiral staircase to the Committee meeting room on the second floor. After a few minutes, Vincent Crooked entered the hall and ascended the steps after them.

  Violet waited until the coast was clear, then raced upstairs and crept into the public viewing platform; a small windowed area that overlooked the Committee Room below. It was used so members of the public could attend meetings. Violet had fallen asleep there many times, on the nights her dad made her go.

  She was just in position when Mr Crooked stood up behind the wooden lectern.

  “What’s going on, Crooked?” Eugene asked. “It’s not like the others to be late.”

  There were usually ten Committee members, but, besides Vincent, nobody else was there except Violet’s dad, Merrill and Madeleine.

  Mr Crooked was about to speak, when the double doors of the room swung open.

  “Oh goody, we’re all here!” Edward Archer laughed as he walked briskly across the pinewood floor, followed in slow, looping strides by his brother George.

  “This is a private Town Committee meeting,” Merrill announced, standing. “Nobody else is allowed in here!”

  “Oh shut up!” George spat. “This is our town, so it’s our meeting.”

  “It’s not your town any more, George, it’s run by the people now,” Violet’s dad replied.

  “But you called us to this meeting, Eugene,” Edward smiled.

  “No I didn’t,” Violet’s dad insisted, looking confused.

  “Yes you did, Eugene. You wanted to speak to us about William,” Edward said. “Then you just started to attack me. It was completely unprovoked. Of course, Merrill and Madeleine joined in. William turned up too. Vincent tried to pull you all off, but he couldn’t. You were simply too strong for him.”

  “What is going on?” Madeleine asked, also standing now.

  “This,” George spat, picking up a wooden chair and whacking it across his shoulder.

  Violet’s heart pounded. Why had George Archer just hit himself?

  “This is madness,” Merrill protested, as Edward ripped the collar of his own shirt.

  Eugene, Madeleine and Merrill stood open-mouthed as George and Edward Archer beat themselves up.

  “Of course Vincent, as a witness, will have to report this to the paper.” Edward smiled, his left eye now a little puffy and bruised. “How will the story go, Mr Crooked?”

  “Oh something like, ‘William Archer and friends – in a final, desperate attempt to seek revenge on Perfectionists – stormed the Town Hall, freed Boy, and tried to release the Watchers, to take full control of Town. Edward and George heroically stopped them, though both were left a little bruised by the battle.’ I’m sure Robert Blot will word it much better than I can.” Vincent smiled.

  “No one will fall for that, Edward,” Eugene snapped. “The Watchers are your army – why would William or any of us try to free them?”

  “The people will believe what they’re told, Eugene, they always have. Minds are easy to mould when you know how. I can hear the gossip now… ‘Those loonies from No-Man’s-Land are causing a lot of trouble these days – with break-ins, robberies, kidnappings – so why wouldn’t they try this? They are clearly unhinged, wouldn’t you agree? The streets would be much safer without them… Throw them in No-Man’s-Land,’ they’ll be crying, soon enough. We’ll have Perfect again in no time.”

  “What about the trial?” George replied.

  “Of course, Georgie, I almost forgot. Democracy is all the rage in Town now. William and you three,” Edward pointed, “will be publicly tried for this crime. We’ll make sure the crowd’s calling for your blood.”

  “Where is William? What have you done to him?” Merrill asked.

  “You need to learn patience, my dear toymaking man. If you’d just left Perfect perfect, you wouldn’t be in this predicament.”

  “No, but we’d be living like rats in your No-Man’s-Land, Archer!”

  “Soon you’ll be envious of the rats, Marx,” George spat.

  There was a noise outside. George walked across the room to the window. Violet’s dad grabbed the broken leg of a chair and swung it at Edward, hitting him smack in the stomach.

  “Run, Merrill, Madeleine – now!” Eugene shouted, grabbing his friends as he raced for the door and down the spiral staircase.

  Violet scrambled across the viewing platform to follow after them, when Madeleine’s cry cut the air.

  “Eugene!” she roared, as a loud bang shook the building.

  Violet gasped and pulled back into hiding. She gripped the grey carpet and tried to breathe.

  There were feet in the stairwell again. The door of the Committee Room opened. Violet shuffled forward and forced herself to look down.

  Edward and George stood by the lectern. The stout twin was smiling, the taller wore a grimace. Vincent Crooked stood behind them, white-faced.

  Madeleine and Merrill were just inside the main door. Anna’s mother trembled as she edged away from a large figure to her right.

  Violet gasped.

  The Child Snatcher stood just beside the twins. Violet’s dad was resting, unconscious, over one of the monster’s shoulders, while William Archer was in a similar condition over the other.

  “Let that be a lesson to you, Merrill and Madeleine – if you want to stay conscious, don’t try to escape,” Edward snarled. “Now, I’d like everyone to meet Hugo. He’s affectionately known as the Child Snatcher.”

  So Edward knew about Hugo, Violet realized. Her dad was right – this was proof that he must have been involved in the kidnappings and that the rescue was staged.

  “That thing…that thing is a monster.” Madeleine struggled with her words.

  “It’s not all about appearances.” Edward smirked. “Let’s see what you look like when you’ve been dead a few years, Madeleine. He’s in great condition for a zombie!”


  “A zombie?” she exclaimed, looking away.

  “What have you done to William?” Merrill interrupted, stepping towards his friend.

  “Get back, Marx!” George snapped.

  “Hugo’s had some fun with our little brother,” Edward laughed. “Bring them up to the clock tower, Hugo.”

  The Child Snatcher grunted and stomped to the Committee-room door, Eugene and William still over his shoulders.

  “You too,” Edward growled, pushing Madeleine and Merrill after them.

  Violet listened. Footsteps climbed the spiral stairs to the clock tower where Boy was being held.

  George stared out the window as Vincent Crooked, who’d kept quiet all this time, slipped silently along the wall, heading for the exit. He was looking more than a little nervous. Mr Crooked was almost at the door when it swung open and Edward strode back inside, followed by the Child Snatcher.

  “You weren’t trying to escape, were you, Crooked? Not chickening out, now you’re up to your neck, are you?” The stout twin’s smile was evil.

  “No…of course not. I was…I was just cleaning up the place,” Vincent stammered picking the leg of a chair from the floor.

  “Leave that, we’ll need photographic evidence of the attack, for Blot’s front page.”

  Vincent Crooked dropped the chair leg and it clattered to the floor. His forehead glistened with sweat. He startled as the door opened again and Boy walked inside.

  Violet gasped.

  “Is everything okay in the clock tower? They can’t get out? The doors are securely locked?” Edward asked.

  “Yeah, everything’s in order.” Her friend nodded.

  Violet’s head swam. Boy really was working for the Archers!

  But why? Maybe she was right, and he was being controlled somehow. Edward said minds were easy to mould. The Archers had to be controlling Boy’s mind, otherwise she was sure he’d never turn against his dad or Town.

  “Ahem… Can I…can I go now?” Vincent Crooked stuttered, edging closer to the door.

  “Patience, my dear man. So you know what you have to do next?”

  Conor’s dad nodded, his face a little red. “I tell Robert Blot, so the story’s in the paper tomorrow.”

  “Excellent, Vincent.” Edward smiled. “You seem nervous, though, my dear fellow. Is something the matter?”

  Conor’s dad hesitated. “Ahem…the payment… When can I…”

  “You’re a greedy man, Mr Crooked – selling out your son and your town.” Edward laughed. “You’ll be paid when the job is finished. Now go and get Robert Blot, tell him what William and his friends tried here, and make sure he takes lots of pictures! He can call round and photograph our injuries too. We’ll be in our emporium.”

  Vincent nodded and raced out the door, purple-faced.

  “We’re watching you!” George shouted, as Crooked’s footsteps slapped off the spiral stairs and out onto the flagstones below.

  Violet ducked down, resting her head on the carpet to gather her thoughts.

  So Mr Crooked knew about the Archers’ plans from the start. He’d sold out his son and his town for money. The robberies, the kidnappings, the weather, the rescue – everything was a set-up, so the Archer brothers could destroy William and the No-Man’s-Landers, and take back Town.

  The only part of the puzzle that didn’t seem to fit was Boy, but Violet couldn’t worry about him right now. She had to stop Edward and George.

  Her head hurt. She pushed back up onto her elbows to peer out again.

  “Put this on.” Edward tossed a dark hooded jacket at Boy. “Take Hugo to the Outskirts, recharge him and pass on word it’s all gone to plan.”

  Boy nodded.

  “And don’t forget this.” Edward threw a tiny red disc at him. It looked like a magnet. “For the time being, you still need to black out the eye plants as you pass. We don’t want those things picking you up on the Brain. Once you’ve sorted Hugo, go straight to the emporium. You’ll stay with us there, and we’ll sneak you back into the Town Hall the night before the trial. Be careful. We can’t risk anyone seeing you from now on – you’re meant to be locked in the clock tower.”

  So that’s how Boy was stealing the eye plants, undetected. He was disturbing the signals – just as William had thought – by using a magnet. And the Outskirts. Violet had heard that name before. She rooted through her memories. The nurse, in the graveyard – she’d told Boy to bring the Child Snatcher back there too.

  “So the emporium is ours again?” George half-smiled.

  “We can return to our home tonight, George. Both William and Brown are in prison, and when people read the papers tomorrow, nobody will dispute us taking back our stolen property!”

  “And we can release the Watchers.” George fully smiled this time.

  “Not yet, my dear brother. If we do that now, we’ll lose favour, and people will rise up. We don’t have the numbers yet to overpower Town. We need to win back trust, then slowly take full control again. We’ll destroy William, then the No-Man’s-Landers. Once they’re all locked away, these streets will be ours to play with and we can pick up where we left off.”

  “And what will you do with William?” Boy asked.

  “Why do you care?” George growled.

  “I don’t, I merely asked a question,” her friend replied, a little sheepishly.

  “We’ll make sure he pays for our suffering – for all of our sufferings,” Edward answered, pushing down the light switch and plunging the meeting room into darkness.

  “Good,” Boy stated.

  Violet felt sick to her stomach.

  Violet waited as Edward, George, Boy and the Child Snatcher headed down the spiral staircase and out the front door. Then she crept from her hiding space on the viewing platform, and raced up the steps to the clock tower.

  “Dad?” she called, hoping to hear his voice.

  “Violet, is that you?”

  “Yes, Dad. Are you okay?”

  “What are you doing here? Go, pet, before they see you!”

  “But I have to get you out!”

  “Just go, Violet. If they catch you here, you’re in big trouble. Tell your mother what happened and—”

  “Get Anna, please. Make sure she’s safe,” Madeleine interrupted.

  “Is William okay?” asked Violet.

  “Yes, he’s just hit his head.”

  “You were right, Dad, it was all a set-up. The robberies and kidnappings, everything. Boy is working with the Archers too. I don’t understand it…”

  “I know, pet, but you can’t worry about that now – just get out of here.”

  The door handle of the main entrance downstairs rattled. Violet’s heart thumped rapidly. Was Crooked back already?

  “Go, Violet, before you get caught,” Merrill whispered. “You’re no use to anyone if you’re thrown in here with us. Get help. Tell Iris and Macula. Make sure people know the truth.”

  “But Robert Blot is going to write the Archers’ version of the story. He’s going to tell their lies and people will believe him!”

  “Not everyone will believe him, Violet. Just get help. Go, pet – now,” her dad insisted.

  The door handle shook again. Violet looked over the banisters, down the spiralling stairwell. Fear gripped her.

  “Dad,” she whispered.

  “Yes?”

  “I love you so much.”

  “You too, pet – more than you’ll ever know. Now go…please!”

  She placed her hand on the door, imagining she was hugging her father, then turned and quickly slipped down the stairwell.

  The door handle rattled again.

  “You’re making too much noise. You were much better at this when we lived in No-Man’s-Land,” someone whispered from the other side of the door.

  Violet recognized the voice.

  “Shush, I need to concentrate!” someone else replied sharply.

  She knew that voice too.

  The ornate do
or knob slowly turned, and the door opened inwards. Two heads poked cautiously through the gap.

  “What are you doing here?” Violet whispered.

  “Violet!” Anna exclaimed, stumbling backwards in fright.

  “We were looking for you.” Jack, Boy’s friend from the orphanage, was with Anna. He scooted past Violet and checked up the stairs. “What happened?”

  “We need to leave,” Violet said, ignoring Jack’s question. “Vincent Crooked will be back soon, with Robert Blot, to take pictures for the paper. They can’t catch us here.”

  “Why are they taking pictures?” Anna asked.

  “Questions later, Anna. Violet said we have to go,” Jack replied, grabbing the young girl’s arm and running out of the building.

  Violet hesitated for a moment, looking back up the winding stairwell to where her dad and the others were held. Then she followed the pair down the steps, out from under the canopy of the Town Hall.

  The street was quiet, and it was raining again.

  Jack pulled Anna into the doorway of the tea shop for cover, and Violet ducked in after them. She was just catching her breath, when voices reached them from the other side of the Town Hall.

  Anna peeped round the deep door frame.

  “It’s Mr Crooked and the newspaper man,” she whispered, pulling back into hiding.

  “Don’t let them see you,” Violet spoke urgently. “Conor’s dad is working with the Archers. Town is in big trouble.”

  “Where is my mam?” Anna asked nervously.

  “Madeleine’s okay,” Violet answered, before stopping to think for a moment. “How did you get here, Anna?”

  “I snuck into Town after you,” the little girl replied, avoiding Violet’s eyes. “I saw you go into the Town Hall and I tried to follow, but the door was locked and I couldn’t find Mam’s keys. So I waited, and heard terrible noises. I got scared and found Jack, ‘cause I knew he’d be able to break in. When we got back here, the Archers and the Child Snatcher were just leaving. Why was Boy with them?”

  “Anna, my mam is probably really worried now,” said Violet, avoiding the Boy question.

  “No, I told her I was tired and wanted to go to sleep, so she put me in the spare room. When you’re a kid, adults think you’re always tired and they’re always trying to make you go to bed, so she definitely believed me. Then I climbed out the window. It was pretty easy, much easier than sneaking out of my house.”