The Trouble with Perfect Page 19

  “But how would people know who is who, Violet?” her mother asked. “Wouldn’t that confuse everyone even more?”

  “Everyone trusts the Archer brothers. What if they told the truth?” Anna shrugged.

  “Edward and George will never do that, Anna.” Jack smiled, patting her head.

  “Anna might be on to something,” Macula said, thoughtfully. “We could trick them into telling the truth, and play their confession on the Brain. Wouldn’t it be lovely if my husband’s latest invention were to trip his brothers up?”

  “The Brain…yes, brilliant, Macula!” Violet exclaimed. “What if we get them to admit the truth in front of a bed of eye plants? Then people would see it on the Brain!”

  “But how do we get my sons to do that?” Iris asked. “It could be a little tricky to orchestrate.”

  “Hugo!” Jack jumped up. “Hugo’s eyes are made of eye plants. What if we somehow get the Archers to tell the truth, and Hugo is there to witness it? They won’t be suspicious of him!”

  “That thing’s eyes are eye plants? I knew there was something strange about them.” Boy shuddered.

  “Yes.” Violet nodded. “His eyes are connected to a screen in the stables near Nurse Powick’s cottage. I could see everything Hugo was seeing on the screen.”

  “If we can tune all the screens in the Brain into the electromagnetic frequency of Hugo’s eyes and have him witness the Archers telling the truth, we could roll up the sides of the Brain and play it on all the screens. Then all we’d need is someone to see it,” Boy replied, sitting forward.

  Violet smiled, jumping up from her seat. “What if everyone saw it?”

  “Of course, the trial,” Macula said excitedly. “Everyone will be outside the Town Hall for the trial. If we can somehow trick the Archers into telling someone their real plans, and Hugo is there to witness it, we can play it on the Brain for the whole of Town to see. We’ll turn William’s humiliation into Edward and George’s defeat!”

  “The trial of the century!” Iris laughed.

  “I might just stay around for that.” Boy smiled.

  Macula had been home and raided William’s toolbox, and now Boy was busy fiddling with a signal transmitter at Iris’s kitchen table. Violet was sitting beside him, in front of a piece of paper, trying to recall the details of the white room – the one that created the clouds. She felt a little better, having caught a few hours’ sleep before the next stage of their plan, tonight.

  “All those hours watching Dad paid off.” Boy smiled as he fiddled with the small black box in his hands. “Now all we need to do is go back to the Outskirts tonight, and attach this new transmitter to Hugo’s eyes while he’s recharging. It’ll be tuned into all the receivers in the Brain, and every screen will show whatever Hugo is seeing!”

  “And I thought Jack was the intelligent one,” Violet joked.

  “He is, isn’t he? He was always reading in the orphanage. He’s got an encyclopedia for a head.” Boy looked back down at the transmitter.

  The sound of trouble outside swept through the house, making Violet nervous.

  Jack had gone to tell some ex-orphans their plans, as they’d need their help tomorrow at the trial. Rose, Iris, Anna and Macula had gone to the Brain. Boy had given them the code for the transmitter he was going to fix to Hugo’s eyes. They were inputting the code into every single screen.

  “How did Tom catch you?” Violet asked Boy. She’d wanted to know for ages.

  He stayed silent for a minute.

  “I was hiding in the orphanage, because everyone was blaming me for things I didn’t do,” he said eventually. “Madeleine wanted to talk to me about the kidnappings. They had a picture of me stealing the eye plants, and I knew nobody would believe it if I said it wasn’t me. I was confused too. I mean, who was it? Anyway, someone knocked on the side of the stairs. I thought it was Anna—”

  “Was it Tom?” Violet interrupted.

  Boy nodded.

  “What did you think? Were you scared? It must have been weird, looking at yourself.”

  “It was weird, but at that point I already had an idea that he existed. There were lots of boxes of photos from the orphanage under the stairs, and I’d been looking through them. I found the one with the two of us in it, and something made sense. It was almost as if I knew already, deep down.”

  “Did you talk to him?”

  “Not really – he talked mainly. He started saying weird things – like how he was the chosen one, or something. He said that Mam and Dad didn’t think he was good enough for our family, so they gave him away, but that he’d show them.”

  “What did he mean?”

  “I don’t know. He talked about this Divided Soul thing too, as if he believed it…then I tried to climb out from under the stairs and saw Hugo. I think he hit me on the head, because the next thing I remember is the cramped space and the darkness.”

  A knock on the front door made Violet jump. Boy quickly hid as she walked over to open it.

  “Jack!” she said, relieved, as he strode in, soaking wet.

  “They’re tearing down shop signs and writing stuff about No-Man’s-Landers all over the walls,” he panted. “The rain is heavy, even heavier than earlier. I felt awful. I had to keep reminding myself about the clouds and it not being real. Did you sort the transmitter?”

  “Yes.” Boy nodded, stepping out from behind the door. He held up the little black box. “We just have to wire this to Hugo’s eyes and, if the others have done their part right, the Brain should be able to see whatever Hugo does.”

  “But people are really angry right now.” Jack shook his head. “Will they even look at the Brain, or take in what’s happening? It’s crazy outside.”

  “When we add the happy gas to the rain, it should stop people being so angry,” Violet answered. “Remember how relaxed and happy people were when Edward spoke that day? If we can make them that way again, they’ll be calm enough to take it all in.”

  “Something’s been playing on my mind though,” Jack said with a frown. “I know the people waiting outside the Town Hall for the trial to start will be able to see what’s happening in the Committee Room on the screens of the Brain. But how will they hear it – even if we do manage to trick George and Edward into telling the truth?”

  Boy and Violet both dropped what they were doing and looked at their friend. They’d got carried away with the plan so much that they never stopped to think about something this simple.

  Jack was right! Everyone outside would see the Archers’ confession through Hugo’s eyes, but if they couldn’t hear it, then all of this plotting was pointless.

  Violet’s throat tightened.

  The front door of Iris’s home opened again, and Boy raced to his hiding spot. Violet peered out from the kitchen, relieved, as Macula, Iris, Rose and Anna shuffled inside.

  “Oh, it’s awful out there. This is never going to work – we’re doomed. Doomed, Violet,” her mother cried, as Boy returned to his place at the table.

  “Mam, that’s just the rain getting to you, remember. It’s all going to be okay,” Violet replied, though she was becoming a little doubtful herself.

  “Getting the nitreous oxitocin into those clouds is crucial to everything, though,” Iris panted. “People need to be calmer, before they’ll listen to reason. It’s chaotic out there.”

  “We’ve recoded all the receivers, Boy.” Macula smiled. “I found these in the Brain too. I thought they might be useful?”

  Macula held up a pair of walkie-talkies; the ones Violet and Boy had used to speak to William, the night they discovered the missing eye plants.

  “I thought when you’ve attached the transmitter to Hugo’s eyes, you could let me know with one of these, and then I can check it’s working properly in the Brain.”

  “Good idea, Mam!” Boy said, trying to sound enthusiastic. “But we have another problem—”

  “I’m not sure we do, any more,” Jack interrupted.

  Eve
ryone watched as Jack walked forward, took a walkie-talkie from Macula and started fiddling with the buttons.

  “Do you have an old radio, Iris?”

  “Yes…” Boy’s grandmother answered, her brow furrowed. “Why?”

  “While we were all worried about how the people outside the Town Hall would see what was happening inside the Committee Room, we forgot something. How will everyone hear the Archers’ confession? If they can see it but not hear it, then our plan won’t work. But now, we can use these…”

  “The walkie-talkies. Of course!” Iris muttered. “You’re a genius, Jack! They work on a frequency. So if we can tune my radio into the frequency of the walkie-talkie, then the radio should be able to broadcast whatever the walkie-talkie is hearing. Am I right?”

  “Exactly,” Jack replied triumphantly. “If someone can hold the walkie-talkie in the Committee Room, we will be able to hear what’s happening!”

  “But how do we tune the radio into the walkie-talkie?” Violet asked, wishing that they had her dad or William with them right now.

  “I think I can do it, it’s simple enough,” Jack said confidently. “There were lots of old technical books on radio systems and frequencies in the orphanage. I read them loads of times.”

  “Really?” Violet asked, wondering why anyone would put themselves through that.

  “We didn’t have much to read in the orphanage,” Jack said, shrugging, by way of explanation.

  “I can help too, Jack,” Iris replied. “Radio systems were a hobby of mine in my heyday. In fact, I was quite the inventor. I’ll see what I can do, while you’re in the Outskirts.”

  “Great,” Boy said, putting the black transmitter safely in his pocket. “Are we ready to go then?”

  Violet looked at Boy and Jack.

  “We’ve done this before, we can do it again,” she said bravely.

  Macula pulled her son close, wrapped him in her arms and kissed the top of his head.

  “Be safe, please,” she whispered. “I love you.”

  Boy blushed and Violet was about to tease him, when she thought better of it – they were only just back on good terms.

  Then Jack, Violet and Boy grabbed their coats and headed for the front door. Iris, Macula, Rose and Anna followed them out into the hallway. Rose paced nervously around the small space.

  “Now you will be careful, Violet, won’t you?” she said, cupping her daughter’s face. “I really shouldn’t let you go alone. I mean, what kind of a mother am I?”

  “A brave one, Rose,” Iris answered, easing her away from her daughter.

  “I’ll be grand, Mam. I promise.” Violet smiled. “The last time, you didn’t have a clue what was happening, and I had to face the Watchers then. This is easy compared to them.”

  Jack opened the door and stepped outside into the driving rain.

  “Right, let’s go,” he said.

  “Oh, don’t forget this!” Macula ran out the door and put one of the walkie-talkies into Boy’s hand. “I’ll be waiting for your call.”

  Everything was still as Violet, Boy and Jack took shelter behind the twisted tree in the Outskirts. The moonlight fell gently across the ploughed field and reflected off the stable roof.

  The lights were on in Nurse Powick’s cottage, and the thatched home looked picture-perfect as the glowing windows warmed the night. Violet imagined the nurse sitting down by the stove to feed her dolls and teddies. The only sign that anything was wrong was the lump in Violet’s throat.

  She pointed to the stables.

  “Hugo’s over there,” she whispered.

  Boy nodded. Silently, the three children slipped along the edges of the field until they reached the yellow stable-door and crept inside.

  Boy gasped as he spotted Hugo, Denise and Denis strapped to the back wall, their heads bowed as if asleep.

  Violet walked forward to check the battery symbols on each of the monster’s monitors. They were all at ninety per cent.

  Boy and Jack got to work on Hugo. They were unwiring his current transmitter, the one that linked to the TV screen in the first stable, and attaching Boy’s new one, that now linked to all the screens in the Brain.

  As Violet kept lookout, she noticed how Boy and Jack were finding it difficult to reach up to the back of the monster’s head.

  “I’ll get you something to stand on,” she whispered, remembering the black leather chair.

  She slipped next door.

  The leather chair was exactly where it had been before, parked beside the small table that held the black box with the three green buttons.

  Violet grabbed the seat, but one of its wheels was stuck between two cobblestones and wouldn’t budge. Roughly, she jerked it to the side, accidentally knocking against the table as she dislodged it.

  She was just manoeuvring the large leather seat through the doorway into the second stable, when she heard a commotion.

  Hugo’s eyes were open. How had he woken up? He was still strapped to the wall, but his hands were wrapped firmly round Jack’s neck. Boy kicked frantically at the Child Snatcher, trying to free his friend.

  Overcome by panic, Violet raced at the monster, hitting him smack in the stomach. Hugo didn’t flinch. They didn’t have much time; Jack was turning blue. Boy grabbed the creature’s hands and tried to prise them off, even biting down into Hugo’s rotten skin.

  Suddenly Violet had a thought. Tom looked like Boy… and the Child Snatcher listened to Tom.

  “Tom, control Hugo!” she ordered, staring hard at Boy.

  Boy stopped what he was doing and caught her eye. Something registered.

  “Hugo! Stop,” he commanded. “Put Jack down.”

  Hugo looked at Boy, then back at Jack in his hands. Slowly he released his grip, dropped Jack to the floor and grunted. Violet grabbed the leg of Jack’s trousers and, with Boy’s help, pulled him away from the monster.

  “Jack…are you okay?” they both cried, gently slapping him on the cheek.

  Their friend moaned and began to come round.

  “Boy, do something!” Violet pointed urgently at Hugo. The Child Snatcher was trying to wriggle from his harness.

  “Stop, Hugo. We’re just trying to fix your eyes, that’s all. It’s nothing to worry about,” Boy ordered.

  “What happened? How did he wake up?” Violet looked at Boy as the monster stopped struggling.

  “I don’t know,” he replied. “You went to get something to stand on, and then Hugo’s eyes opened and he came alive.”

  “So you didn’t do anything weird with the transmitter, or something?”

  Boy shook his head, confused. “We weren’t even near him when his eyes opened.”

  “Oh no…the table! I hit against it when I was moving the chair. I must have accidentally switched Hugo on,” Violet said, jumping up.

  She sprinted next door and plunged down the green button bearing Hugo’s name.

  When she walked back into the zombies’ stable, the Child Snatcher was asleep. Boy was still sitting on the floor beside Jack, who was lying down, breathing heavily.

  “I’m sorry,” she apologized, joining them on the cobbles.

  “It’s okay, Violet,” Boy replied. “At least Jack’s alright, and now we know how to get Hugo to come with us to Town. I’ll just order him!”

  “I think there might have been an easier way to figure that out,” Jack spluttered, pushing himself upright.

  “Right, back to work!” Boy said, after a few minutes.

  He stood up and walked over to the Child Snatcher. Using the chair, he was much quicker at wiring the new transmitter to Hugo’s eyes, and didn’t even need Jack’s help.

  “Finished!” Boy smiled widely, jumping back down a little later.

  “Brilliant. That means we can go then?” Jack wobbled as he tried to stand up.

  “Don’t forget we have to call Macula, to check if she can see what Hugo is seeing, right now,” Violet said. “I’ll turn him on when I’m putting back the chair.�
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  “I almost forgot about that,” Boy said, taking the walkie-talkie his mother had given him earlier from his trouser pocket.

  Violet wheeled the chair next door and put it back beside the table. Then she switched Hugo on and sat down for a moment to steady herself. The image of Jack’s neck in the monster’s grip still frightened her.

  She was getting up to leave, when a voice that wasn’t Jack’s or Boy’s floated in from the stable beside her. Could it be Macula? She listened harder.

  “Tom, I’m talking to you!” the muffled voice filtered through the stone wall.

  Macula would never call Boy Tom. Violet shivered. She took a deep breath, and pressed Denis’s green button on the table beside her. She needed to turn him on so she could see what was happening next door.

  The left-hand screen on the wall in front of Violet came to life. Boy and Jack stood in the middle of the stable, facing the door, and in front of them was Nurse Powick.

  “What are you doing in here, Tom?” Powick’s muffled voice snarled through the stone wall. “I thought you were going to the Town Hall tonight, to be ready for the morning. And who is this with you?”

  Violet was frozen to the spot, as she watched the nurse on screen.

  “I…erm,” Boy said, looking across at his friend. “I, erm… Edward asked me to come and fix Hugo. He hasn’t been seeing straight lately. His eyes are a little fuzzy.”

  “Fuzzy?” Powick said, marching past the boys, right up to the Child Snatcher, so Violet could only see the side of the nurse’s face. “There’s nothing wrong with his eyes, unless it’s those faulty eye plants again. The eyes Brown developed are just not good enough for the job at all. Anyway, it’s strange timing for Edward to be sending you here now, on the cusp of his big day. Who is this with you?”

  Powick turned around, so Violet could only see her back on Denis’s screen now. She was facing Boy and Jack.

  “Answer me, Tom.”

  “He’s erm, Jack… He’s good with technical stuff, like this. Edward said he didn’t have time to fix Hugo, because of the trial tomorrow, so he told me to bring Jack for…erm, for help.”