The Trouble with Perfect Read online

  The whisperings continued in the hallway. Boy and Iris were speaking quietly outside the sitting-room door.

  “What’s happening?” Violet asked, poking her head out.

  Boy turned and looked at his friend.

  “We were just talking about the plan,” he whispered.

  “Come into the kitchen,” Iris said. “We don’t want to wake the whole house.”

  Violet had just slipped out of the sitting room, when she heard a noise and looked up. Anna was descending the stairs, followed by Macula and Rose, who both looked like they needed a few more hours in bed.

  “We’re already awake, Iris,” Macula said, stepping into the hallway. “I don’t think anyone has slept much.”

  Everyone shuffled past Hugo, who was still staring at the door under the stairs, and wearily took their seats round the kitchen table.

  Rose was the first to speak.

  “My daughter is forever making me proud,” she said, looking over at Violet. “I heard you were great again last night, pet – as were you, Boy and Jack.”

  “Morning,” Jack croaked, climbing out from under the table. “I was so tired I grabbed some blankets and crawled into the first spot I found! Did you get the radio working?”

  Iris nodded. “Loud and clear.”

  Rose smiled, and waited for Jack to take a place at the table before continuing.

  “I know I’ve been a bit of a nervous wreck lately, what with all this weather playing havoc, but I think I’ve gotten a handle on it now and I want to be of help and make my daughter proud. I wasn’t much use in Perfect, but I won’t sit on the sidelines this time.”

  “I am proud of you, Mam,” Violet said, grabbing her mother’s hand.

  “You are strong, Rose. All of us women are strong, so very strong – never forget that,” Macula stated. “And as for children – they are capable beyond anyone’s belief. This is the second time we’re learning that lesson. Now, let’s go over the plan for today. We must be precise if we’re to win against the Archer brothers.”

  “Right,” Boy said seriously. “We lure Edward and George into the Committee Room in the Town Hall, just before the trial begins. We then trick them into telling the truth about their plans, so that Town’s people can witness it with their own eyes, through the screens of the Brain.”

  “Hugo’s transmitter is working perfectly, Boy.” Macula nodded at her son. “I checked the screens in the Brain again, after everyone went to bed a few hours ago. Each one had a perfect view of the door under Iris’s stairs. Hugo hasn’t stopped looking at it since he got here. When we place him in the Committee Room, everyone outside will see what our Child Snatcher sees. I met one of the ex-orphans while I was out too. Tom and the Archers were spotted going into the Town Hall during the night. The twins then came back out without him. I expect Tom’s been put in a cell, in preparation for the trial.”

  “My sons are sticklers for details, as are we,” Iris said, holding up one of the walkie-talkies. “Macula will have this handset in the Committee Room, and everything that happens in there will be broadcast live via my radio outside.”

  “We better get going. It’ll be getting light soon,” Violet said, glancing out the window.

  Everyone nodded, then Macula Archer cleared her throat and stood up.

  “I want to thank you all before we go,” she said seriously. Macula reached across and took Boy’s hand in hers. “William is the wordy one, but in his absence I’ll give it a try. I want to thank you for sticking by my family through these troubled times. You have all consistently dared to question and to stand up against the popular tide of opinion, in order to find truth. We are so deeply grateful.

  “Each of you at this table is filled with heart and passion beyond anything I’ve ever witnessed, and I feel so lucky to call you my neighbours. Let’s show those Archer brothers that they can fill us with fear and bring madness to our streets, but we will not be divided. There is no ‘them’ and ‘us’. We are men and women and children and husbands and wives and No-Man’s-Landers and Perfectionists. We are all these labels and we are none. We are simply people, and we fight for that simple truth.”

  Rose grabbed Violet’s hand and squeezed it. The energy in the room had suddenly come alive.

  An odd band of hooded people, united by a single goal, snuck through the streets of Town in the early morning. Most of the angry Townspeople were home in bed, but some lone troublemakers still wandered the streets, awaiting William’s trial.

  Violet, Rose, Jack and Anna stopped at different corners of the Town Hall to keep watch as Boy picked the lock. He was much better at it than Jack. Like a loyal dog, Hugo remained obediently by his side.

  Macula beckoned Violet over as she waited a little away from the door, for Boy to open it.

  “This is where we split up. I owe you and Jack a personal thanks, Violet. Though you did sneak away on me, it was the right thing to do. You saved Boy, and I am eternally grateful. Now let’s save the others and Town. Take this,” Macula said, handing her the second walkie-talkie. “Use it to let me know if anything goes wrong out here.”

  “I will,” Violet replied seriously.

  “Got it,” Boy whispered, as the lock clicked and the door to the Town Hall opened.

  Macula turned to walk away, then hesitated.

  “Tom’s not a bad child, Violet. I hope someday, when all this is over, you will help me help Boy to see that.”

  Violet nodded – though she wasn’t fully sure how she felt about Tom, she trusted Macula. Then Boy’s mam and Iris silently waved their goodbyes, before slipping inside.

  Boy looked straight at his friend. “I’ll see you after.”

  “What if our plan doesn’t work?” Violet asked, only willing to air her doubts to him.

  “It will, Violet.”

  “But that doesn’t answer my question!”

  “Your question is stupid,” Boy teased.

  “You’re stupid,” Violet huffed, half-smiling.

  “We’ll figure it out,” Boy said, serious again. “We’re a good team, Violet. If this doesn’t work, we’ll just figure it out.”

  “Do you really think we’re a good team?”

  “Sometimes,” Boy joked, before disappearing inside, followed closely by the Child Snatcher.

  Rose was pacing up and down the street outside, when Violet reached the Brain. Jack was there too, holding Iris’s radio.

  Violet opened the lock of the Brain’s main door and stepped inside the small space, the other two in tow.

  The screens were bright and her eyes had to adjust before being able to look directly at them. Every single TV showed the same image: a bird’s-eye view of the Committee Room in the Town Hall.

  “Hugo’s in place already.” Rose smiled, trying her best to seem relaxed.

  “Everything okay out there? OVER,” Macula’s muffled voice came across the radio.

  Violet clicked the button on the side of her walkie-talkie and was about to respond, when Rose poked her head over her daughter’s shoulder.

  “Everything is perfect, Macula!” she whispered.

  “I’ll leave this here,” Jack said, as he placed the wooden radio on a high stool William used whenever he watched the screens for a long time. “If you need help, just call me. I’ll be over by the front steps of the Town Hall, ready to direct people your way.”

  “I told you I’d make you proud, Violet,” Rose said, as Jack left the small space, “and that’s what I’m going to do. We’ll make your dad proud too.”

  In all the planning, Violet hadn’t thought about her dad in a little while. Now the same feeling of dread played round her stomach. She hoped he was okay, locked up in the clock tower.

  Gradually, the crowds began to build. Rose and Violet took it in turns to poke their heads outside for a look.

  “There’s a lot of people out there now. Robert Blot has set up on the steps of the Town Hall too, and he’s with Vincent Crooked. It looks like they’ll both be runnin
g the show,” Rose said, ducking quickly back inside as nine o’clock approached. “It seems like the whole of Town is here in force. They’re still angry, though – like your father said, that OA gas is everywhere now. We’re probably even drinking it in our water! When are those other rains ever going to fall?”

  Violet glanced at one of the screens. Hugo was still in the viewing platform, looking down on the Meeting Room. Violet imagined Boy and Macula waiting nervously beside him. Iris was in his eyeline now – the old woman was in place, marching backwards and forwards across the Committee Room.

  There was a crackle from the radio, and Macula’s voice whispered through their small space once more.

  A loud screech rang out on the air and Robert Blot’s voice boomed around the street.

  “Welcome to the trial of the century, where William Archer stands accused of heinous, horrifying crimes,” the man announced extravagantly.

  Everyone erupted – it wasn’t exactly a happy sound. The crowd was tense.

  “I’m just going onto the street for a quick look, Mam,” Violet whispered.

  “Be careful, pet,” Rose said, glued to the TV screen, watching Iris Archer standing as though frozen in the middle of the Committee Room.

  Violet partially opened the door of the Brain. Everyone was looking at the Town Hall, so she covered her head with her hood, and slipped out unnoticed. She pushed her way through the crowd until she had a good vantage point of the proceedings.

  Robert Blot, the newspaper man, stood under the canopy of the Town Hall, beside a microphone and two large speakers. Behind him was a large printed poster of William Archer’s face, under the words TRIAL OF THE CENTURY. A big round red sticker reading Exclusive insights brought to you everyday by the Town Tribune was half-covering William’s right eye.

  To Robert Blot’s left-hand side sat Vincent Crooked and the remaining members of the Town Committee, most of them Perfectionists.

  “And here they are, the men who will save us!” Mr Blot announced, turning to face down Edward Street, in the direction of the Archers’ Emporium.

  Edward and George strode up the road triumphantly, as people yelled their names. The crowds parted, giving the two men a clear run to the Town Hall. The crowd roared wildly again as the Archers climbed the steps to join Robert Blot.

  Vincent Crooked then stood up from his seat to shake both Edward’s and George’s hands. He looked nervous.

  The microphone screeched again when Edward grabbed the mouthpiece.

  “Thank you all for coming out on this both sad and glorious day. Sad because we will see our brother, William Archer, a man who many believed was great, tried for the most awful crimes – including the kidnapping of our beautiful children.”

  The people exploded in anger. “Bring back Perfect, No-Man’s-Landers out!” a woman roared beside Violet, starting a chant.

  “And glorious,” Edward continued, holding his hands up for silence, “because this could be the beginning of making our once-great town a perfect place to live again!”

  The cheer this time was immense, and Violet felt an awful energy grow amongst the crowd.

  She turned and pushed her way through the sea of bodies, back to the Brain, checking quickly before disappearing inside.

  “You okay, pet?” Rose asked, looking up from the screens.

  “Yes, Mam, but it’s awful out there. We need the rain soon or they’ll all be too angry to hear or see anything!”

  Robert Blot’s voice echoed around the Brain again. “Vincent Crooked will now bring out the accused.”

  The cheers were even louder.

  Violet looked back at the TV screens. Just as they had planned, Iris Archer was starting to cause a fuss. She seemed to be calling out names and throwing her arms in the air as she stomped around the Committee Room.

  “Can you see this? OVER!” Macula’s voice crackled across the radio. In the background Violet could hear Iris calling out for Edward and George.

  “Yes. OVER,” Violet whispered, as she kept her eyes peeled on the screens. Just as they’d hoped, Vincent Crooked walked into the Committee Room, and began talking to Iris.

  The radio crackled again.

  “She’s telling Vincent that she needs to talk to Edward and George. OVER,” Macula’s voice sizzled across the airwaves.

  Violet watched as Vincent Crooked left the meeting room, looking flustered. She gripped the sides of the screen in front of her. Her heart was pounding in her ears.

  “There’s just a slight delay in proceedings,” Robert Blot announced over the microphone. “I’ve been told Edward and George need to go inside for a few moments. No doubt their brutal brother is causing even more trouble.”

  The crowd began to boo.

  A few minutes later, Violet watched as Edward and George strode into the Committee Room. The stouter twin looked livid. He grabbed his mother’s shoulders and shook her. She wrestled away and seemed to be shouting something at him, then, clearly frustrated, the taller twin disappeared from the room.

  “George has gone to get William and Tom, OVER.” Macula’s voice was very faint.

  Violet held her breath.

  The door of the Committee Room flew open, and William was pushed across the floor towards his mother. Iris rushed to her son’s side, as Tom walked in with George.

  “This is it. We’ll get the truth. Get ready to broadcast. OVER!” Macula’s voice crackled.

  “Now,” Violet said, looking at her mother.

  Violet and Rose raced to either side of the Brain. Quickly, Violet unlocked the roller-door on her side, pushing it up to reveal the screens beneath. Then she helped her mam, who was struggling to open her lock.

  “What’s going on?” a woman nearby barked. “Why are George and Edward on those screens? Is this some kind of a trick?”

  “You’ll understand soon,” Violet replied, running over to turn up the radio.

  “I’ve tried that, Violet.” Her mother looked frantic. “You can’t hear the sound over the crowd.”

  “What?” Violet tried not to panic.

  She looked at the screens again. Macula, Boy and Hugo were now in the Committee Room. Macula and Boy were confronting the Archer brothers, but no one could hear a thing.

  Jack, Anna and the orphans were trying to get the crowds to look at the screens, but people were angry and roared at them to stop disrupting the trial.

  Then the skies burst open, and the rains hailed down around them.

  Almost immediately, faces began to soften a little, and some smiles appeared on those gathered nearby. The change wasn’t as obvious as the day Edward returned with Town’s kidnapped children, but the plan seemed to be working and the crowd calmed enough for Jack, Anna and the other ex-orphans to guide them towards the screens.

  “Would you take a look at this – there’s two of them, two Boys!” someone shouted. “What’s going on?”

  The crowd swarmed forward and surrounded the Brain.

  “What’s going on?” someone else shouted. “I can’t hear anything. Why are there two Boys?”

  “Nobody can hear anything,” Jack panted, reaching Violet’s side. “Turn up the radio or our chance is gone!”

  “I have turned it up,” she panicked. “It’s the crowd – they’re too loud!”

  At that moment Rose appeared, pushing her way through the masses, and pulling Robert Blot behind her.

  “Now, Mr Blot, I’ve always admired your newspaper – you believe in proper reporting,” Violet’s mother said, charming him.

  “Well thank you, Ms…?”

  “Rose Brown is my name. I’m an avid fan of yours…avid,” Violet’s mam lied, as she grabbed Robert Blot by the ear and pulled him down to the radio. “Listen to this and watch those screens,” she ordered.

  “But Edward… What? He’s just told everyone in that room that…that he made it all up, the rescue…everything. Boy has a twin? What is going on here?” the newspaper man spluttered, looking up at Rose.

  �
�Exactly.” She nodded. “Those Archer brothers are not here for the good of their so-called citizens! Don’t you think you should be the first to break a story like this?”

  “This is outrageous. I don’t like being played for a fool.” Robert Blot grabbed the radio and elbowed his way back through the crowd. The newspaper man mounted the steps of the Town Hall and brought the radio right up to the mouthpiece of the microphone.

  “And that’s the end of it, mother!” Edward Archer’s voice rang out into the crowd from the two large speakers resting beside Robert Blot. “Now myself, George, William and his son are heading outside to start this trial. And if any of you, including you, Macula, try to stop us again, you’ll pay for it when the Watchers are released. Now, our people await.”

  Violet looked at Jack in despair. “Oh no. They’ve finished,” she cried.

  “It can’t be over, we can’t…we can’t go back to Perfect, Violet. I can’t go back to No-Man’s-Land,” Anna bawled, running over to pull on Violet’s jumper.

  “It’s not over, Anna,” she announced, thinking fast. “You and Jack, keep the crowd watching the Brain. I’ll get the Archers talking again!”

  Violet pushed through the crowd, raced up the steps under the canopy and sprinted through the Town Hall door, and up the spiral staircase two steps at a time, before bursting into the meeting room just as Edward and George were making their way out.

  “Young Brown!” Edward exclaimed, as Violet almost collided with his round stomach. “Have you come to join our fun? Well, I’m afraid you’re a little late!”

  “I know what you’re up to,” she shouted. The words spilled from her mouth before she even had time to think. “You’re lying to everyone in Town, Edward. William didn’t do any of the things you said he did. You did them all, along with Boy’s twin brother.”

  Edward stood just in front of her, smiling. Tom was standing beside him. Behind them, George was holding William firmly. Hugo stood in the corner of the room, watching with the others.