The Battle for Perfect

by Helena Duggan

  “But I do. Just ’cause she’s gone, doesn’t mean she was never here! Everyone’s afraid to talk about the dead.” His voice was strained. “Except for Arnold… What if…” Boy hesitated.

  “What if what?” Violet encouraged.

  “What if Arnold’s not mad? What if he could beat death? Maybe he could bring Mam back!”

  “But he can’t, Boy,” Violet whispered, tears welling in her eyes. “Nobody can.”

  The pair fell silent. The sound of the chaos below filtered over the rooftops; screams and cries cut the morning.

  “Why does Powick need me?” Boy quietly asked as though the weight of the thought had only just hit him.

  Violet shook her head.

  “I don’t know,” she said softly.

  “I’m…” Boy hesitated, looking away across the rooftops.

  “What?” she encouraged gently.

  “I’m scared.” He blushed, not meeting her eyes.

  “She can’t hurt you, not if… That’s it!” Violet sat forward. “What if you stayed here hidden until after your birthday? Then Arnold and Powick’s plans surely wouldn’t work. If we stayed up on the roof until then, they’d never find us and you’d be safe!”

  A terrified cry cut through the streets. Violet shot up onto the wall, shivering as she watched a small band of people breaking onto Archers’ Avenue and racing for Edward Street. Three zombies gave chase and pounced on them, easily knocking the escapees to the ground. Violet looked away as the terrified Townsfolk were dragged, screaming, back down Rag Lane.

  “No.” Boy shook his head, suddenly firm. The fear had left his voice. “Mam didn’t hide, not when I needed her! We can’t either, Violet, now our family and Town need us!”

  Her friend stood up and, without another word, the pair picked their way across the slanted rooftops until they reached the old bathroom window that used to be part of their escape route during Perfect. Violet, less sure-footed than Boy, wobbled on the windowsill as she climbed awkwardly inside and tumbled forward onto the broken white floor tiles of the snot-green room.

  “Shush.” He darted a look back at her.

  “Thanks for the sympathy!” she huffed, pushing herself off the floor.

  They had just snuck out onto the orange-wallpapered landing when a noise startled them. Violet inched forward and leaned over the loose wood banisters. The stairwell was dark but she could just make out two shadowed figures climbing up the steps below.

  Violet started looking for a weapon, something to defend themselves with should they need it. When she glanced up, Boy was disappearing down the stairs. Unsure if he’d seen the shadows, she picked up the nearest thing – an old bottle top – and flung it after him as a warning. It just missed her friend’s shoulder and rebounded off the banisters with a ting .

  She flinched, afraid whoever was below had heard.

  “Jack…?” Boy’s voice drifted across the darkness.

  There was a shuffle on the landing.

  “Jack?” he hissed again.

  “Boy…? Boy, is that you?” someone whispered nervously.

  There was a flurry of movement on the second floor. Suddenly Anna Nunn’s small, round face was illuminated in the darkness. She was staring up at them, holding a torch beneath her chin, which, from Violet’s point of view, gave her enormous large black nostrils. Then she moved the torch and Jack lit up beside her.

  “Anna, you scared me!” Violet gasped, almost toppling over the railing.

  “Got ya!” The little girl laughed.

  A giggle slipped from Violet’s lips and suddenly all four friends were in convulsions.

  “What…what are you doing here?” Boy managed to say a few minutes later.

  “Sneaking out of No-Man’s-Land,” Anna replied, as though the answer were obvious.

  “We were looking for Anna’s mam. Madeleine isn’t here yet and everyone’s getting a little worried,” Jack explained.

  “We saw her,” Violet said. “The Watchers are bringing her now! Any minute.”

  “Is she okay?” Anna asked, cupping her hands to her mouth.

  “She’s fine,” Violet replied, trying to ease the little girl’s worries.

  “You said everyone ?” Boy probed, looking straight at Jack.

  “Yes.” The older boy nodded. “Everyone is back in Merrill’s old shop in No-Man’s-Land. We were worried about you two as well. William’s been asking around, but nobody had seen you at all. We thought maybe—”

  “Is Iris there?” Violet interrupted.

  Anna nodded.

  “Let’s go then,” Boy instructed, descending the stairs ahead of the other three.

  “No!” Jack grabbed his friend’s sleeve before he had time to step outside. “The Watchers are looking for you. We think some of the old Perfectionists are helping them.”

  “What…? Why would anyone help the Watchers?” Violet asked, confused.

  “It’s Vincent Crooked and his friends.” Anna looked straight at Boy. “Nobody else. Everyone said Mr Crooked’s just annoyed about losing his place on the Committee after he tried to help Edward take over Town again. Violet’s dad said Mr Crooked was lucky he wasn’t locked in the Town Hall with the Archers last time and if we all get out of this situation he’ll make sure he is this time! He was really angry, Violet, he even—”

  “Do you know why they’re looking for me?” Boy asked, cutting Anna off.

  The little girl shook her head.

  “No,” Jack replied. “I overheard some Watchers talk about an Arnold Archer on the way here, as though he had something to do with all this. Do you know who he is?”

  “Sort of,” Boy replied, heading for the door again, “but we think Iris knows more. We need to talk to her.”

  “No.” Jack pulled him back. “I said they’re looking for you. You need a disguise!”

  “Well, it’s lucky we have one.” Violet smiled, grabbing the shawl roughly from Boy’s grasp and wrapping it back over his head and shoulders.

  Jack tried to muffle a laugh.

  “You look just like your granny!” Anna smiled.

  “Thanks.” Boy fumed, red-faced, as the foursome snuck outside.

  Forgotten Road in No-Man’s-Land was quiet in the early morning light. Some people huddled, whispering, in groups by the walls, while others walked around confused, as though not knowing what to do with themselves. Watchers patrolled the cobblestones, picking random passers-by to intimidate. Violet watched as one of the hulking men grabbed a young boy by the collar of his shirt and reprimanded his parents for allowing him to play with his toy car in the street.

  There were zombies too – a small number of them were stationed at all the main crossings. They stood straight and menacingly still, as if awaiting orders.

  “They’re scary,” Anna whispered as they passed a creature with half an arm and no lower jaw. “I didn’t know Hugo had any friends!”

  “There are loads more where he came from,” Boy replied quietly.

  “Has anyone been told what’s going on?” Violet interrupted, hoping that Anna hadn’t heard Boy’s response.

  “As far as we can piece together, the zombies invaded during the night. They released the Archers and the Watchers and since then the whole of Town has been forced into No-Man’s-Land. The people who already live here are offering to share their homes.” Jack nodded at a group entering Lucy Lawn’s house just ahead. “But it’s getting really crowded. At the moment people who don’t have a place are finding spots in the Market Yard. But we haven’t a clue what the Archers are up to or why they are doing this.”

  “How long have you been here?” Boy asked.

  “Not long,” Jack replied. “The Watchers burst into my home a couple of hours ago. I thought I was dreaming when I saw them coming up our stairs. Mam screamed – there was a zombie there too and it was pretty disgusting to look at. I tried to calm everyone down but it was horrible. It’s like Perfect all over again, except people can see the Watchers this time!
”

  “I saw them coming,” Anna added. “I snuck out and was looking for you, Violet. I knew you’d gone to the Outskirts without me, even though you promised you wouldn’t! I was hiding in the Market Yard behind the Rag Tree when the zombies marched in. They all had torches and their eyes were huge; some growled like dogs and they had all this spit coming from their mouths, and then one of them tried to bite me but I got away. It was pretty scary and I’ve seen scary films – this was worse. Tom was with them. He ordered some of them to stay in the yard and the others to get Edward and George, then he disappeared!”

  “That’s when he must have come back for me,” Violet said as they walked quickly past a zombie that was standing at the top of the first laneway to the Market Yard.

  The creature turned its head at an impossible angle to follow them, kind of like the owls they learned about in school that could twist their heads the whole way round. Violet shuddered as they passed.

  The murmurs of a large crowd reached them. Violet stopped at the mouth of the lane to look out at the Market Yard. The place was packed. Angry people sat in groups all over the cobbled ground. Whispers and suspicious glances flew around the space as the Watchers patrolled.

  Jack directed them forward. Everyone kept their heads down as they cut through the masses straight for Merrill Marx’s place in a lane tucked away at the far end of the Market Yard. Merrill, the Town toymaker and a Committee member, had kept the place as a storage room for his materials since moving back to his shop on Edward Street after Perfect fell.

  As Jack turned the brass handle and pushed open the door, a small bell tinkled. There was a fluster of movement and Merrill looked a little flushed as he stepped out around his workbench.

  “Boy, Violet, it’s you!” he exclaimed, rushing forward. “Thank goodness.”

  The man was barefoot and wearing white-and-red striped pyjamas. Violet might have laughed had she not been so worried.

  A noise stirred under the stairs, from the small cubby where they’d stored the imaginations during Perfect. Slowly the wood-panelled door opened. William Archer poked his head out gingerly before bursting into the room.

  “Boy, where have you been? I looked for you everywhere! Oh, I’m so glad you’re safe.”

  “Why are you hiding, Dad?” Boy asked.

  Another head appeared from under the stairwell.

  “The Watchers don’t like congregations, Boy, especially not a Committee get-together.” Eugene Brown winked. “They’re a suspicious lot. Might think we’re planning a rebellion!”

  “Dad! I wasn’t…I didn’t…” Violet stuttered as she ran into his open arms.

  “Violet Brown,” her mother scolded, peering down from the top of Merrill’s rickety staircase, “you have an awful habit of going missing! I promise I’ll chain you to my wrist if you continue to insist on heading off on dangerous adventures!”

  “We were just—”

  “You were what?” William interrupted, also annoyed now that the relief of seeing them had passed.

  “We were just looking for the scientists,” Boy explained.

  “What scientists?” William asked, clearly confused.

  “Not the missing five?” Eugene butted in.

  “Yes, Dad.” Violet nodded, launching into an explanation. “You see, I saw Tom near Town – well, Anna saw him first – and then we found this walking stick!”

  “I knew it.” Anna stomped her foot angrily. “I knew you were on an adventure!”

  “And then I got this,” Violet rambled, ignoring Anna as she took the crumpled paper from her pocket and handed it over to her dad. “I persuaded Boy to come to the Outskirts with me. The note’s from Tom. He’s trying to help us, I think…”

  “Slow down,” William insisted, holding up his hand as Eugene examined the message in his grasp. “Tell us exactly what happened.”

  Violet launched into her story about how they’d gone to the Outskirts, making sure to explain that Boy hadn’t wanted anything to do with it but that she’d convinced him. She talked about the empty cottage and the forest, then the trap in the trees and seeing the zombies. She explained about the maze, the eye-plant lookouts and finally the invisible castle and Nurse Powick.

  “So that woman is behind all of this,” William interrupted, shaking his head. “What does she want?”

  “No, it’s not just her, Dad,” Boy replied. “It’s a man named Arnold Archer. We think he’s…he’s…”

  William’s face turned sickly grey.

  “He’s your father, William.” Iris Archer stepped onto the stairs from the landing above.

  William sat down as his mother slowly descended the stairs. Iris looked weak and Rose Brown caught her elbow as she rounded the bottom step.

  “I think there might be a need for some tea, Merrill.” Iris nodded. “Arnold is not the nicest of subjects.”

  Merrill walked to a roughly made counter at the back of the shop and turned on the kettle.

  “Tell me, did you meet Arnold?” Iris asked both Boy and Violet seriously.

  “No.” Her grandson shook his head. “But we heard him speaking to Nurse Powick. He’s got some strange machine…the Death something.”

  “So he is alive. I knew it,” Iris whispered, taking a moment. “That machine is called the DeathDefier,” she continued. “So that’s what all this is about. His ego never could take a battering. He’s got the memory of an elephant and a huge thirst for revenge, that man.”

  “He has the scientists too,” Violet said quickly. “We met Joseph Bohr…”

  “I suspected as much. Tell me, is Joe okay?”

  “Yes. But he said to get help! Arnold and Nurse Powick marched the scientists here earlier, along with his machine. They must be being kept in Town somewhere.”

  “What does he want with them?” Eugene Brown asked, his face lined with worry. “They’re great minds – they could cause huge devastation if made to work together for some awful means.”

  “No, no, no, Eugene.” Iris smiled, shaking her head. “My ex-husband only believes in his own genius. I suspect he wants them as witnesses, to prove a point. They were all his peers at Hegel University, you see, when he fell from grace. They laughed at him and at his science. He vowed he would get revenge. I just didn’t…”

  “What’s going on, Mam?” William asked, red-faced. “You told me… You told me that Arnold was dead… You told me you killed him!”

  Everyone gasped.

  “I knew this would come back to haunt me,” Iris said, as she started to pace the floor. Violet had noticed before that pacing seemed to be the Archer family way of working things out.

  “What’s going on, Mam?” William repeated, standing up this time.

  “Well how do I know, William?” Iris snapped, a little flustered. “I’m only hearing this for the first time too! I suspected he was alive when the scientists started disappearing but… Yes, I had thought I killed your father, but I see now I was wrong!”

  “Killed him?” Boy asked, confused. “But you…you couldn’t kill anyone!”

  “It was an accident, Boy, but a lucky one for me,” Iris replied. “You see, your grandfather Arnold was a great scientist. Once. He was heralded throughout the world. Fascinated by the brain and the mind, an area not many studied or knew much about really. He made all kinds of valuable discoveries, some still used today. His research led him down the road to mortality…”

  “What’s that?” Violet whispered, engrossed.

  “It means death, Violet.” Iris sat down heavily on a stool by Merrill’s workbench. “For all his studies into the mind, I suspected Arnold was starting to lose his. He became fascinated by death and what it meant to be alive. He wanted to discover where the essence of life came from. He knew how the body worked, mechanically, but life – that spark some call the soul – eluded him. He never could figure it out. So he began to toy with death, a dangerous endeavour. He took dead animals and tried to revive their souls. This work got him the wrong kin
d of attention. He lost his friends, his scientific standing and his licence to practise.”

  “But that doesn’t explain anything, Gran. Why did you kill him…or try to kill him?” Boy corrected himself, clearly still horrified.

  “Please don’t look at me like that.” Iris shook her head. “The shame and guilt have followed me ever since but I tried to make peace with it. Arnold was a nasty man…”

  The old woman seemed to play with her thoughts before continuing.

  “Around the time Arnold’s career began to show cracks, William was born. Arnold started reading all sorts of mystical books on the spirit and folklore tales. He brought them home from work. It confused me at first, as he’d never been interested in anything non-scientific before. He began to talk about something he’d read called ‘the Divided Soul’, which occurred in a person born with different coloured irises. This person, folklore said, brought a curse of bad luck on those around them.”

  “Edward talked about it from the Town Hall when he pretended to rescue Beatrice, Conor and me, remember?” Violet said enthusiastically.

  Iris nodded and continued. “Our lives were falling apart, we had no money or food because Arnold’s work was dwindling, so I ignored his ramblings at first as I tried to keep everything together. Until he began to look at William differently and I realized: he was blaming our son for his downfall. Then one day, when William was just a small tot, Arnold attacked him.”

  The room was utterly silent, the stillness broken only by Merrill, who shifted awkwardly as he made tea.

  “Fortunately I was able to stop him before William was hurt but I couldn’t stay around. I fled. One night while Arnold slept, I packed up the three children and left. My family were originally from Adequate, as Town was called back then. I’d never been there but when I was growing up I’d heard stories of it being beautiful and secluded, just what we needed. We were always engrossed in Arnold’s life and achievements so I was sure I had never mentioned Adequate to him. We had a new start. I had family money which I’d hidden from Arnold, so I bought the Emporium and set up an optician’s – I had studied at Hegel myself, you see, and my original degree was ophthalmology.