The Trouble with Perfect

by Helena Duggan

NUNN TOO SOON, BROWN BEATEN BACK, MARX HIS CARDS and A MAN DIVIDED were other headlines that dotted the pages. Again and again, the articles were filled with lies. Robert Blot was clearly having fun.

  Violet felt sick. If the Perfectionists in Town believed the Tribune, then anyone who had been a No-Man’s-Lander was in big trouble.

  “Edward might be right – he could get Perfect back in no time,” Violet said, holding up the paper.

  “What do you mean?” Jack asked, his mouth full. He’d joined Boy in the scavenge for food.

  “They’ve set a date for the trial – it’s tomorrow morning. The paper is full of the Archers’ lies!”

  Boy walked over and pulled the Tribune off Violet.

  “What is going on?” he asked, scanning the pages. “The paper says Dad tried to take over Town?”

  “Never believe what you read, Boy.” Violet half-smiled.

  “It’s not funny, Violet. How could you joke?” he said, munching on a sandwich.

  Violet fell quiet as Jack explained what had happened in Town since Boy had been captured.

  “I think we need to go see Iris,” she interrupted, when Jack had almost reached the end of the story. “Macula will probably be there too.”

  “But we need to save Dad first,” Boy said.

  “My dad’s locked up there with him too.” Violet raised her voice.

  “It’s not a competition, Violet!”

  “What is up with you two?” Jack snapped. “You’re friends – so act like it!”

  “Friends believe you when you tell them things, Jack!” Boy avoided looking at Violet.

  “Well, it’s hard to believe your friend when he has an identical twin brother who’s pretending to be him,” Violet fumed.

  “It wasn’t hard for Jack, was it?” Boy replied.

  Jack turned his back on the pair and pretended to be searching in a kitchen cupboard.

  “Well, he didn’t have Tom telling him lies all the time, did he?” Violet’s face was bright red with anger. “Maybe you’re not even the real Boy. How would I know?”

  She stopped, as rage flooded her veins. She shouldn’t have said that. Boy’s face dropped. He looked down at his hands.

  “Maybe I’m not,” he whispered. “Maybe I’m not anyone any more.” He sounded hurt, and mixed up.

  “We should go to Iris’s now,” Jack said quickly.

  Boy and Violet looked away from each other and nodded in unison at Jack, both eager to break the tension.

  “You should put on a hat or something,” Violet mumbled at Boy. “Just in case someone sees you. Everyone’s so angry, I don’t think it’s safe, especially with what the paper’s saying.”

  Boy got up and left the table without a word. Violet could hear his feet on the stairs. A few moments later, he was back in the kitchen, his clothes changed, and he was now wearing a hat and a hoodie.

  Violet stood up from the table, a little lighter inside. At least Boy had listened to her.

  “Let’s go then,” she said, opening the front door on the miserably wet morning.

  The three friends quickly headed through Market Yard, towards Forgotten Road. People were gathered in whispering groups. An awful, angry energy played on the air.

  Violet kept her head low and repeated to herself, over and over, that what she was feeling was simply the weather.

  They were near the top of Rag Lane when a huge crash rang through the morning streets and somebody yelled: “NO-MAN’S-LANDERS, OUT!”

  Boy raced ahead, following the sound. Violet chased after him, leaving Jack, as he questioned an ex-orphan they’d just met about what was going on.

  “Stop, please!” she panted, reaching Boy’s side. “We have to go to Iris’s. You can’t be seen out here. Everyone in Town is angry with you right now.”

  “They’re not angry with me, Violet,” he replied, stopping at the top of Archers’ Avenue.

  Suddenly the dark clouds seemed to explode, and the morning rains turned torrential.

  “I know they’re angry at Tom, but they don’t know that! Everyone thinks they’re angry at you and your dad,” she called through the maddening weather.

  Another crash rang round Town. Boy darted down Edward Street, towards the sound. Violet followed. They stopped short of a small group standing laughing outside Merrill Marx’s toyshop.

  All Merrill’s windows were smashed and giant black letters were sprayed across his bright-green door.

  Violet turned and glared at a woman who was laughing nearby.

  “Why would you do that? It’s not funny!”

  “You’re a sympathizer! I knew I recognized you, you’re that Brown girl. Your mother is a Perfectionist, isn’t she? No matter, you’re obviously on the other side. Your lot are causing no end of trouble around here. The No-Man’s-Landers need to find their own place to live and leave us in peace, like we used to be. Perfect was beautiful once, now look at the state of this Town!”

  “Perfect was controlled by the Archers,” Violet replied angrily. “They brainwashed you. How could you want to go back to that?”

  “I don’t remember feeling like this back then. We’re under constant threat from those No-Man’s-Landers. If it’s not our property, it’s our children – they take whatever they can get their dirty hands on. They’re lunatics! They were put in No-Man’s-Land to get better, you know, and now look how they repay the Archer brothers’ generosity. They deserve to be locked up again!”

  The woman was shaking angrily as she finished her speech.

  Thunder boomed overhead, and the downpour increased.

  “We need to get inside. It’s not safe out here!” Jack puffed, catching up with them.

  Boy’s face was almost purple with rage.

  “We need to get to Iris’s, quickly,” Violet insisted, looking at Jack.

  The pair grabbed their friend’s arms, and led him swiftly through the hostile streets.

  “Violet! Have you found my grandson?” Iris exclaimed, as she opened her front door.

  Violet beckoned Jack and Boy forward, and followed them into the house. Once safely inside, Boy took down his hood and removed his hat.

  “Oh, thank heavens.” Iris hugged Boy for what felt like ages, then pulled back to properly see her grandson. “You look pasty, my lovely. Come in, come in. I’ll make you something to round those hollow cheeks.”

  The old woman ushered them down the hall to the kitchen. Macula, Rose and Anna stood up from the table as they entered the warm room. Rose rushed round to hug her daughter as Macula and Anna welcomed Boy and Jack.

  “You gave me such a fright, pet,” Rose stuttered.

  “I’m fine, Mam,” Violet replied.

  She watched as Boy pushed back from his mother’s embrace, choosing to hug Anna first. Macula’s face dropped as he gave his mam a quick nod and sat down to the table.

  The room slipped into an awkward silence.

  “What happened to you, Boy?” Macula asked softly, breaking the quiet.

  “Tom took me.”

  “We found him in the Outskirts, Mac—” Violet tried to explain.

  “I can speak for myself,” Boy snapped.

  Everything stopped. The room fell utterly still.

  Boy’s face turned red. Then he stood up and raced from the table, banging the kitchen door behind him. Macula tried to follow, but Iris grabbed her arm.

  “No,” she said, shaking her head, “give him time.”

  Boy’s mother sat back down in silence.

  “Tell us what happened?” Iris encouraged, as she finished making sandwiches.

  Violet’s mind was caught up with worrying about Boy. Jack began to tell their story and as she tuned in and out of snippets, Iris nudged her.

  “Take this to Boy,” the old woman whispered, passing her a sandwich she’d just prepared. “He could do with his best friend right now.”

  “But he doesn’t like me at the moment,” Violet whispered back.

  “He’s just pretending. It’s
a little thing called pride, Violet. Take this to him, you’ll both be fine.”

  Violet got up from the table and was walking towards the door, when Macula grabbed her elbow.

  “Tell him I’m sorry,” Boy’s mam whispered. Her eyes were sad.

  Violet nodded, and went out into the hallway.

  Boy was sitting on the bottom stair, his head in his hands. Violet walked round the banisters and stopped in front of him.

  “Can I sit down?” She coughed awkwardly.

  “Free country,” he huffed.

  A surge of rage raced through her, but she held her composure as she sat down beside him.

  “Ask me,” Boy urged.

  “Ask you what?” Violet asked.

  “Something that proves I’m me. I know you won’t believe me until you do. Go on!”

  “I do believe you, Boy. I know it’s you.”

  “No, you don’t – don’t lie. Ask me. Now!” He was angry, much angrier than Violet had ever seen him.

  “Okay…erm, where did we first meet?”

  “In your bedroom, after I gave you the glasses. Though, technically it kind of wasn’t. It was in the Archers’ shop, when you were getting your first specs and I was being chased by the Watchers.”

  “See? I knew it was you.” Violet smirked, though secretly she felt guilty for doubting him earlier.

  “This time, maybe.”

  They slipped into an uneasy silence.

  “I’m really sorry,” Violet whispered, after a few minutes.

  Boy played with the strings of his hoodie.

  “I was just so confused and angry. I was sure I saw you with Conor, and you said it wasn’t you. I didn’t know what to believe. I mean, how could I have known you had a twin brother?”

  “How could you think I’d do anything like that?” Boy replied. There was pain in his voice. “How could you think I’d kidnap Conor or Beatrice, or anyone, Violet?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied quietly. “I saw you – or who I thought was you – and strange things were happening around Town. Nothing made sense.”

  “But you’re meant to know me, Violet. At least, I thought you did…” Boy’s voice faded.

  “You weren’t telling me anything – I tried to ask you questions, but you said nothing was wrong!”

  “I told you to trust me.”

  “Yes, without giving me any reason to!”

  Tears streamed down Violet’s face, though she’d willed them not to. She looked away. The clock ticked over the fireplace in the sitting room, and noise from the street outside filtered in.

  The kitchen door opened, and Macula stepped into the hall.

  “I heard you two fighting…” she said, looking a little uneasy.

  “We weren’t,” her son answered.

  “You were, and I am truly sorry for being the cause of that.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me I had a brother?” Boy asked, not looking up from his feet. “The first I knew about him was that photograph.”

  “I wanted to tell you – so many times, Boy – but I thought I was protecting you. I wanted to find out what happened to Tom, first, before I told you anything. I know now that was a mistake.”

  “Would you stop trying to protect me?” Boy responded. “I protected myself for twelve years!”

  His mother’s head dropped, and Violet could feel the sting of Boy’s words.

  “I know,” Macula whispered. There were tears in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, son.”

  “Tom –” Boy winced as if the word caused him pain – “how can he be my brother, when he’s trying to hurt everyone and make people believe I’m bad? How can I be related to him? He even turned my best friend against me.”

  “No, please, Boy – I wasn’t against you. I was worried about you,” Violet corrected. “Please don’t think that I hated you. I wanted to help you, that’s all.”

  “I don’t believe your brother has had a nice life, Boy.” Macula’s voice was steady. “I did the wrong thing giving you both up.”

  “Maybe,” Boy said under his breath.

  “I’ll leave you be,” his mam said, nodding gently at her son.

  She stepped away down the hall.

  “Mam,” Boy said, when her hand was on the kitchen door.

  “Yes, son?”

  “You didn’t do the wrong thing.”

  “I love you, son,” Macula replied. A sad smile played on her lips as she pushed open the door and disappeared inside.

  The pair sat in silence for a while more, as Violet racked her brain for something to say. She was about to stand up and leave, when Boy spoke again.

  “Thanks for finding me,” he said quietly.

  “Jack helped,” Violet answered, unsure of what else to say.

  “I probably would have found you a lot quicker, though.” Boy half-smiled. “I was starved by the time you got there.”

  “Well, you needed to lose some weight,” Violet joked tentatively.

  Boy hit her shoulder, and her opposite elbow banged against the banister.

  “Hey, what was that for?”

  “For taking too long to rescue me,” he joked.

  Violet grabbed her elbow – it throbbed a little, but it was a good pain. A pain that meant she might just be getting her old friend back.

  Violet pushed open the kitchen door and walked in, followed a little sheepishly by Boy. Rose, Macula, Iris, Jack and Anna were deep in conversation, and they all pretended not to notice the pair slip back inside.

  Iris caught Violet’s eye and winked, as Violet sat down at the table beside her mam.

  “Here,” the old woman said, putting a sandwich down in front of Violet and another in front of Boy, “get those into you.”

  Boy smiled up at his grandmother. Iris squeezed his shoulders.

  “But why have a trial at all?” Jack asked, staring down at the Tribune on the table. “Surely the twins could just release the Watchers and take over Town? I don’t understand.”

  “Edward told George they need to win back people’s trust before releasing the Watchers,” Violet replied, remembering. “The Watchers were horrible – I don’t think people have forgotten that and I think he’s worried the Perfectionists won’t believe all his crazy lies if he releases them too soon.”

  “He wants to avoid a battle like the one we had in Perfect, I suspect.” Iris shook her head. “He knows, even with the might of the Watchers, if the Perfectionists and No-Man’s-Landers remain united, they won’t be stopped. He’s trying to divide us, and it’s working.”

  “Divide and conquer,” Rose muttered, remembering Madeleine’s words.

  “Those two sons of mine have a madness in them, an evil streak – just like their father. I expect the humiliation of Perfect has added extra venom to their hearts,” the old woman continued. “They are power-hungry creatures, who want to control everything. They will relish destroying William all the more because they’re using his own son Tom to do it. Poor young thing.”

  “I won’t feel sorry for Tom,” Boy stated bluntly. “He’s pretending to be me, and doing terrible things in my name.”

  “But he’s your brother,” Anna replied, wide-eyed.

  “I don’t want a brother! Can we not talk about him? I need to figure a way to get Dad out, so we can leave this place.”

  “I don’t think having a brother is a choice,” Anna said, looking a little confused.

  “And what then, Boy?” Iris interrupted, sounding stern. “Let Edward and George take back Town, and create Perfect part two?”

  “I don’t care about Town any more. Nobody here cares about me or Dad. If they did, they wouldn’t hate us so easily.”

  “That’s not true, Boy, they don’t hate you,” Violet pleaded. “The Archers have made people sad and afraid, and made them think all of that is because of you, William and the No-Man’s-Landers. They’ve given them someone to blame for their pain. That’s all.”

  “Well, I’m sick of being the person to bla
me. Let this place fall apart. I just want to get Dad and Mam, and leave.”

  “Thanks,” Violet huffed, looking away.

  “Yeah thanks,” Anna sobbed. “You said you’d always be my friend, but now you’re leaving.”

  “It was a bit of a waste risking our lives for you then, wasn’t it?” Jack replied drily.

  “You don’t mean what you say, Boy,” Macula said quietly, looking him in the eyes. “I know you’re hurt, son – but this is a good place, full of good people. You know that too.”

  Boy dropped his head and continued eating his sandwich.

  “We can save William and our friends, and still save Town,” Macula continued. “You’ve all done it before. Why can’t we do it again? Together we can beat Edward and George!”

  “But how, Macula?” Rose looked anxiously at the woman. “Maybe Boy is right. Maybe we should all just leave, and give George and Edward what they want. It’s not as if people’s imaginations are gone any more – they have the ability to think for themselves, and they seem to be choosing those horrible men.”

  “No, they don’t have the ability to think for themselves, Mam,” Violet corrected, sitting forward. “Like Dad said, fear can take over a person’s mind and make them do strange things.”

  “But we can stop the rain,” Anna said excitedly. “All we have to do is block up the pipe! Won’t that stop the fear? Maybe people’s heads will feel better then?”

  “That’s brilliant, Anna. But if we block the pipe, the rain will stop and the Archers will know we’re on to them. We need the clouds to be there still, but maybe we could put something else into them, to relax people a bit – like the laughing gas. There must be more of it in the canister room.” Violet was thinking fast.

  Iris nodded. “Yes, we can certainly do as Edward and George have, and change how people feel – but the key is to change how they think. That will prove a little more difficult.”

  Boy looked up, suddenly paying attention.

  “What if I tell them the truth?” Boy said quietly. “Won’t it change how they think, if they know the truth?”

  “The truth?” Rose laughed bitterly. “Nobody listens to that any more.”

  “Boy’s right though,” Violet said, remembering her dad’s words. “If you tell the truth, you’ll never be wrong. We wanted to find Boy so we could help him by showing people he had a twin. If somehow we could still do that, show Boy and Tom together, then Boy can tell the truth.”