The Battle for Perfect

by Helena Duggan

  “All was good…until Arnold tracked us down. He told me he was taking us home, that he’d break the curse and we could return to our old lives. The kids were older then and thankfully William was still at school. So, while Arnold waited for him to return home, I pretended all was normal and began to cook my husband dinner. In the midst of that I grabbed the frying pan and hit him smack across the head. I meant to just knock him out and run again, but he didn’t make a sound and I was sure in my panic I’d killed him. So I lumped him in a barrow and wheeled him through the Emporium tunnel, which I’d discovered some years previously, to the graveyard above the Ghost Estate. I found an old tomb…the lid was broken and there was a space just big enough to drop his body inside.

  “That was the last I heard of Arnold until, like Violet just said, Edward spoke about his father from the Town Hall steps and mentioned the Divided Soul. I wondered how he’d known about the curse, as I certainly never mentioned it to him. Then Macula told me of Powick’s strange letter to her about Tom and the curse. She also told me about an unwanted visitor she’d had to her home after the twins were born. The man said he’d been watching her and he mentioned the curse too. It gave Macula such a fright that it made up her mind and she left the twins in the orphanage that night all those years ago. I thought it sounded like Arnold. I got nervous, but I couldn’t believe he was back – it seemed impossible. Then the scientists, all our old friends from Hegel, started to go missing…”

  Violet had forgotten Powick’s letter to Macula after Perfect had fallen, the one she’d shown Jack, Anna and herself after they’d found the picture in the orphanage and asked her if Boy had a twin. Something about that letter niggled at the back of her mind.

  “Why did the missing scientists make you think of Arnold?” Violet asked, trying to piece together the story. “Is that why you were in the graveyard yesterday morning?”

  “You saw me?” Iris looked up.

  Violet nodded.

  “Well, yes. I thought if I could find the tomb I’d put him in, I’d locate his body and know that this was all just a coincidence – but I couldn’t remember where it was. The place looked different and it was a long time ago…”

  “But why did news of the missing scientists scare you?” Violet asked again.

  “Because they were his peers. They were the ones who had laughed at him and the DeathDefier. He constantly spoke about how one day he’d prove to them that he could raise the dead with his machine and take back his place as one of the world’s most renowned scientists.”

  “That’s what he’s trying to do now!” Violet said, her heart thumping. “We saw the DeathDefier.”

  “And Powick said something about him showing the whole world his invention,” Boy added.

  “How could he do that?” Rose asked. “We’re only a small town!”

  “The Brain.” Eugene spoke quickly, his mind obviously on overdrive. “He could use that to broadcast to the world. Just train some of the eye plants on the event and…”

  “Perhaps more than the world, he’ll want me to see it. He thought I never believed in him.” Iris sighed. “The funny thing is, I did – he was a great scientist, a genius really, before he went mad!”

  “He’s looking for you,” Violet replied. “We were in your house when he broke in, and he told Edward and George to find you. Edward seemed afraid of him.”

  Iris sighed sadly. “Edward and George always feared and idolized their father in equal measure. They blamed me for leaving him and hated that I protected William so much. I never told them anything about what happened – I didn’t want to turn them against their own father or to carry his legacy of madness, but perhaps that was a mistake. I fear it’s the reason they are the way they are – I fear it’s my fault. I’ve let my family down badly.”

  “No you haven’t, Mam,” William insisted, grabbing her hand.

  “So your ex-husband wants to raise the dead, is that what all of this is about?” Rose asked, confused. “It sounds like madness to me!”

  “It is madness.” William was irate now. “Nobody can raise the dead. It’s impossible! And he’ll be a laughing stock once more if he tries to pass off those zombies as really living. They are simply robots. If you were to take their metal frames and batteries away, they are nothing but corpses. And what will he do then – what’s his plan for us and for Town?”

  “Powick thinks he’s giving Town to her and all her zombie friends,” Violet whispered, “but Edward thinks he’ll give it back to him and George.”

  “Neither option sounds great to me,” Merrill said, handing out mugs of tea.

  “But why wait this long?” Eugene asked. “Has he been sitting in the Outskirts all this time, plotting revenge? If William is his problem and he really believes in the curse, why not just try to kill him again long ago?”

  “Thanks, Eugene!” William huffed, half smiling.

  “I don’t think the curse has to do with William any more, Dad. For some reason he needs Boy and Tom, and on their birthday,” Violet answered, “but we don’t know why. Tom said Arnold’s machine, the DeathDefier, doesn’t work, that it’s just for show…”

  “You were talking to Tom?” William choked on his tea.

  “Yes.” She nodded. “He saved me from Powick. He told me he has the real power and we’d see it on his birthday. He said this has all been planned for years. It just doesn’t make sense!”

  “But his…their…birthday is tomorrow!” William gasped.

  “That must be why the Watchers are looking urgently for Boy,” Anna announced.

  “I found some letters too,” Violet said, not sure she should mention them in front of Iris. “They were from Arnold to Priscilla Powick. She had them kept safe in her room in the castle. I think they were written around the time when Arnold’s job was starting to fall apart. I think she was telling him to blame William.”

  Iris flushed, looking a little surprised. “That might make sense. I thought someone was influencing him during that time. He would never have looked at folklore books had he not been encouraged. He was secretive too then – he didn’t tell me much, but I did wonder… How did he know her back then? We had the same circles of friends, and I’m sure I never met her…” Iris fell quiet.

  “So if I understand all this correctly, Arnold is going to try and raise the dead zombies tomorrow?” Eugene was flustered. “Using his machine?”

  “He said something about bringing a Dr Spinners back to life first, Dad, then the zombies, I think!”

  “Dr Spinners?” Iris startled. “When did he—”

  “So Town will become a zombie town!” Anna gasped, interrupting the old woman.

  The bell above the door jingled and Violet turned around in time to see a frightened Madeleine Nunn enter the shop.

  “I met Billy Bobbins in the Market Yard. He told me you were here!”

  “Mam!” Anna raced to her mother’s side, throwing her arms around her waist.

  “Anna! I was so worried – you have to stop sneaking out of the house like that!” Madeleine scolded, then embraced her daughter tightly. After a few moments she looked up and addressed the room. “Can someone please tell me they know what’s going on? I was pulled from my bed by zombies and the Watchers have been released from the Town Hall. Billy even reported seeing Edward and George as he was dragged through Town!”

  “We’re just trying to work that out ourselves, Madeleine,” Eugene replied.

  Anna launched into an explanation of everything she’d heard so far, Violet correcting whenever the little girl exaggerated, which tended to be a lot.

  Madeleine sat down on an old toy box as her daughter stopped for a breath. “Well, that explains a few things,” she sighed, shaking her head.

  “What things?” William asked, stopping mid tea-sip.

  “They were lifting in some sort of huge machine under the canopy of the Town Hall. The Watchers were fiddling with it, running masses of wires to the thing. It looks like a giant test tube
, the same as some of the ones you use, Eugene.” Madeleine nodded. “But person-sized and turned upside down. And there’s a strange metal cut-out of a human shape inside the glass—”

  “That’s the DeathDefier,” Boy interrupted. “We saw them bring it through the graveyard!”

  “They’re planting new eye plants too, all around the base of the Town Hall,” Madeleine continued.

  “It’d be simple enough to have the world see Arnold’s experiment,” William said worriedly. “The Brain is very powerful. If he can disconnect the eye-plant beds from around Town and tune the new ones he’s planting into the Brain, then they can code my machine to transmit what the plants are seeing to the world. Just a matter of simple tuning and frequencies really. Everyone would see whatever Arnold has planned. He’ll be a laughing stock the world over!”

  “And if he is a laughing stock again, William,” Iris said seriously, “don’t underestimate what your father will do to us and to the rest of Town. He’s not one who deals well with failure.”

  “But we can stop him,” Violet insisted, “and get our town back.”

  “Not while we’re locked in No-Man’s-Land.” Jack shook his head.

  “Are they going to keep us in here for ever?” Anna asked nervously. “Just like in Perfect?”

  “Not if we can help it, Anna.” Eugene stepped forward and picked up a piece of spare wood from Merrill’s work table, brandishing it about. “Violet’s right, we can stop him! We’ve stopped the Archers twice before, we can do it again…”

  “But how?” Rose asked. “Arnold seems even more deranged than his sons – excuse my bluntness, Iris. And he has a whole army of zombies behind him. We’d never be able to tackle them and the Watchers together!”

  “But what if we can stop the zombies?” Jack said, standing up. “For now at least they work on battery power. They’re not alive! What if we could run down their power somehow? They wouldn’t be able to move. We’d only have the Watchers to face then, and we beat them the last time when everyone worked together.”

  “Before they left the castle, Powick said the zombies were super-charged,” Violet interrupted, “and shouldn’t need charging for a long time… Boy did stop one of them at the footbridge though. He disconnected its metal spine from its legs. It kept moving, but it couldn’t get very far on just its arms!”

  “It took a lot of force, Violet, and the zombie didn’t see me coming. I don’t think we’d be able to do it for the whole army… But the frames are made of metal…” Boy was thinking quickly. “What if we could use some kind of magnet that their frames would get stuck to? Arnold is planning to raise Dr Spinners from the dead first and then the army. That means the zombies will all have to be together somewhere near the DeathDefier outside the Town Hall tomorrow.”

  “Hugo Spinners…” Iris whispered to herself, as if toying with a memory.

  Violet was about to ask Iris to repeat herself when Anna laughed loudly. “How could we make a magnet that big? It’d need to be bigger than the moon to fit all of the zombies on it and the only magnets I know of are the ones on my fridge!”

  “Hold on…” Eugene looked up as though pulling a thought from his head. “Boy could be on to something. I know I’ve read about it… There was an article recently about a magnetic force field… I know, it was in the Tribune ! Written by Dr Joseph Bohr, one of the kidnapped scientists – his work is mainly on magnetism!”

  Boy replied excitedly, “Then he could help us! We need to find him – he has to be in Town somewhere!”

  “Well wouldn’t that be wonderful,” Iris laughed. “I bet Arnold didn’t think about that when he kidnapped Dr Bohr. If Joe can figure out a way to stop those zombies, Arnold’s own lust for revenge will be his downfall!”

  “We’ll have to start searching now – there’s hardly any time. Nobody will notice us. We’ll go in and out of No-Man’s-Land over the wall, just like we did in Perfect.” Boy spoke hurriedly as if piecing a plan together.

  “Being an orphan had its advantages.” Jack smiled, standing up. “I’ll go with you!”

  “Me too!” Violet and Anna chorused together.

  “We can split up,” Boy continued. “We’ll cover Town better that way – the scientists could be kept anywhere.”

  “I’m not sure about all this – we’re letting the kids do our dirty work again. It’s too dangerous this time. Those zombies don’t look friendly and we know from old what the Watchers are like.” Rose stepped forward, shaking her head.

  “We went up against the Watchers before, Mam, and the zombies aren’t that clever. We’ll be fine!” Violet replied.

  “They’ll be okay, Rose.” Eugene grabbed her hand. “We’d never be able to sneak in and out of Town like they can. They’ve done this before and are far more capable than even we know.”

  Rose sighed, bending down to cup Violet’s face. “Promise me you’ll be careful, pet. You are so very brave, but please don’t be foolish. Those zombies might not be clever, but that nurse surely is!”

  Violet hugged her mother. “I promise, Mam,” she said, and this time she didn’t cross her fingers. “We’ll find Joseph Bohr and see if he can help us. Then we’ll come straight back!”

  “I’ll go home and see if I can rummage up some books on magnets – I know I have at least one somewhere.” William walked to the door. “Hopefully between us all we’ll have an answer, and soon.”

  “I’ll go with you.” Eugene followed his friend outside.

  William, Eugene, Violet, Anna, Boy and Jack left Merrill’s old toyshop as the sun was shining over Town. They kept their heads down and bid each other goodbye at the Rag Tree, the two adults heading for 135 Wickham Terrace.

  “Right.” Boy nodded at his friends. “We’ll look suspicious in a group. Let’s split up and meet back on the rooftop beside the wall.”

  A woman who’d been sitting on the ground near them shuffled closer to their group. She was looking intently at Boy. He pulled the shawl further over his head as the foursome split up.

  Violet was just passing into the first laneway when someone cried out behind her. She turned just in time to see the same woman pulling on Boy’s jumper. The pair tussled in the middle of the yard, creating an unwanted fuss.

  “Get off me!” Boy struggled to release her tight grip.

  “The Watchers are looking for him! It’s him!” the woman cried.

  People began to move towards the activity. Violet raced back and grabbed Boy’s arm, tearing him away. A zombie nearby started to groan and look around uneasily, as if waiting instruction. From the corner of her eye, Violet noticed two Watchers moving towards the commotion.

  “What’s going on here?” one of them snarled, elbowing his way into the gathering crowd.

  “Nothing,” an old man said, stepping in front of the Watcher to block his path. “Just a silly fight.”

  “Let me be the judge of that,” the Watcher snarled, shouldering his way past.

  “He said it was nothing,” another woman announced, pushing Boy behind her back to shield him.

  Violet recognized this woman from the school gates. Her daughter was a few classes ahead of them.

  “Go quickly. We heard there’s planning going on in Merrill’s. Whatever it is, young ones, we’re behind ye!” the older man whispered to Violet and Boy, before stepping in shoulder to shoulder with the younger woman to confront the Watcher.

  “It’s Boy, it’s him.” The first woman pointed behind her, frantic now. “Vincent Crooked said the Archers have a reward out, says you’re looking for him!”

  The Watcher grimaced, clapping eyes on the pair, and grabbed for Violet. Boy yanked her away and they broke from the commotion towards the first laneway. The Watcher yelled out to the zombies to stop them as they sprinted past. The creatures sprang to life, snarling as they beat a path down the cobbled lane behind the children. Violet could smell their rancid bodies as she pushed frantically through a group of people approaching from the other direction.r />
  Suddenly she heard the crowd in the Market Yard boo and jeer, then an unearthly, bloodthirsty roar cut the air. The hair pricked on the back of her neck as she exited onto Forgotten Road. She glanced back over her shoulder – the group in the laneway were being tossed like rag dolls against the stone walls as they tried to hold back the zombies.

  Violet spotted Lucy Lawn’s house just ahead of them on Forgotten Road and in a panic she jumped the small picket fence into the garden. Lucy’s dad was great with his hands and loved to turn old things into new. Her mam said he could make a masterpiece from a rusty old bucket, and his garden was full of his elaborate creations. Violet ducked down behind a giant flower pot that was once an old water cylinder and watched Boy scramble under an upturned wheelbarrow, now a quirky garden bench.

  Four zombies broke out onto the road, their nostrils flared and their eyes protruding as they stopped and sniffed the air. Two Watchers exited the lane behind them, red-faced and frazzled. They barked instructions as they bent over, gasping for breath. People hustled inside their homes or hid in doorways as the zombies began to slowly prowl the street.

  Boy looked over at Violet from his hiding place under the makeshift bench. With his back to the street, he couldn’t see what was going on. She shook her head, signalling for him to stay put.

  The Watchers split up – one went left towards the orphanage accompanied by two zombies, and the other went right towards Rag Lane, exactly in the direction Boy and Violet needed to go.

  Suddenly one of the zombies stopped and sniffed the air, as if catching a whiff of something. Violet froze.

  “Violet,” a voice hissed quietly behind her.

  She turned around, shaking nervously. Lucy Lawn was peeking out of her front door. The girl quickly beckoned to the pair to come inside.

  Boy hesitated. Violet knew what he was thinking – he didn’t trust Lucy.

  Lucy Lawn had accused him of stealing her bike when things started to go missing in Town a few months before, just before Edward Archer had reappeared. Lucy had been wrong – it wasn’t Boy who took her bike but his twin brother Tom.