A Place Called Perfect (7 page)

CHAPTER 14

A Night Visitor

All day in school Violet ran through the night’s events. She was so distracted Mrs. Moody made her swallow more pills. Violet pretended then spat them out as soon as teacher’s back was turned.

Something was up and now she knew the Archers had to be involved. First there was the glasses, something about them neither Boy or Violet understood made the people of Perfect act strange and caused No Man’s Land to disappear altogether. Then there was the Watchers who met up outside the Archer’s shop and talked about the brothers. Everything pointed back to Edward and George but Violet couldn’t piece together exactly how. She had so many questions, but she needed to find answers.

As the day wore on she became convinced that her Dad was in trouble. He wasn’t on a business trip. It was his voice she heard that day in the shop. She needed to talk to Boy.

That evening as the sun fell over Perfect she said goodnight to
her Mam and climbed the stairs to her room. Finding the glasses where she’d left them she slipped the box into her pocket and tiptoed back down. Slipping silently past the sitting room where her Mam watched T.V. she slowly opened the front door and stepped outside. The cold evening air made her shiver as she took up a spot on the first step.

Carefully she took the glasses from her pocket, placed her normal pair in the box and put on the new ones. There was no one there, she’d thought maybe Boy would
be. She stayed on the spot past darkness waiting for him. Maybe Fists had done something to him, maybe he needed her help. She could go back to No Man’s Land, she was worried but without Boy she’d never find the way. It was well into night when she raised her stiff legs and as quietly as possible slipped back inside.

Her mother was long in bed and the lights were off all over the house. She picked her way along the hall and tiptoed up the stairs. She was just at the top when the front door unlocked. Her heart jumped. Quietly she placed her hands on the banisters and peered over. A figure moved slowly through the hallway, too large to be Boy’s. As the person got closer she gasped. It was the Watcher from the previous night, the one who’d fought with Fists.

Violet sprung to action. Nerves raced through her veins as she made as quietly as possible for her room. Keeping on her new specs, she took the old ones from her pocket and placed them on the bedside table. She threw on her pyjamas and snuck into bed pulling the sheets right up over her head. She lay still. Her heart pounded in her ears. It wasn’t long before her door creaked open. It was stupid to wear the glasses but it was the only way she could find out what the Watcher wanted and maybe help her Dad.

His steps were quiet, how could someone so big make so little noise. He stopped by the edge of the bed, his eyes burning a hole in her sheets. She prayed he couldn’t smell fear. There was a faint creak as her glasses case opened. Suddenly a loud noise, like someone sucking snots up their nose, took over the room. Just as quickly it stopped, the box snapped closed and the Watcher slipped quietly from the room.

Violet turned over to check her glasses. They looked normal. The Watchers footsteps left her mothers room, heading back downstairs. She jumped from the bed, forced on her runners and opened the door. Waiting until the Watcher was in the hallway below, she tiptoed after him out of the house, across the yard, through the trees and down the main road towards town. She was near the spot where she’d hidden the previous night when a hand grabbed her.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Boy whispered.

“You scared the life out of me!” Violet gasped, catching her breath.

“What do you think you’re doing? How stupid are you Violet?”

“I’m following him,” she snapped, “there’s something up and I need to know what it is. I have to save my Dad.”

“What do you mean? What do you think is wrong with your Dad?”

“Well…I don’t know really but there’s something wrong and I think the Archers are behind it.”

“What!” Boy said, his face mocking, “Did you come up with all this today?”

“Yeah and without your help.”

“Well you needed my help last night! Where’s my thanks for distracting Fists? And I would have been at yours tonight except the Watchers were watching me. Fists wasn’t happy that I jumped him you know!”

“Look,” Violet said, ignoring Boy, “I knew it. He’s going into the Archers. We have to go inside. It’s the only way we’ll find out what’s going on.”

“Ah Violet,” Boy said, raising an eyebrow, “I might be brave but I’m not stupid. Whatever the Watchers are doing in there you don’t want to know.”

“I do,” Violet protested.

“You don’t! You don’t know what they are like Violet. You saw No Man’s Land; there are places darker than that. Places where the Watchers send people when they want them gone, disappeared, for real. It’s not safe Violet. It’s not a game.”

“I don’t think it’s a game! I know they have my Dad and I have to save him before Mam forgets he ever existed.”

Boy’s expression changed. Violet held his gaze. Did he ever miss his Dad? The Dad he said he never had.

“Come on,” he said, crawling out from behind the bush and running the shadows towards the Archers shop.

CHAPTER 15

Jars Of Colour

Violet followed silently behind, afraid any minute another Watcher might stumble upon them. Quickly they crossed the distance to the Archers. Boy signalled to stay back while he approached the door. Not listening she was by his side when he discovered it was locked.

“What will we do?” she whispered, causing Boy to jump.

“I told you to stay back.”

“He’s my Dad!”

“Do you have a hair clip?” he whispered, ignoring her tone.

She pulled a pin from her ponytail. Boy fiddled with the doorknob and after a few minutes it came loose in his hand.

“Have you been to jail?” she whispered.

“No!”

“It’s just I thought people only learned that stuff in jail.”

“Or No Man’s Land.” he winked, gently pushing in the door.

The shop was empty and they slipped in closing the door behind them. Inside was dark and Violet prayed she wouldn’t bump into anything.

“There’s no one about,” Boy whispered, after a quick investigation, “they’re not here Violet. Now let’s go, I don’t like the feeling I get in this place.”

“Please Boy, just a few more minutes. I want to check something. I have an idea where Dad might be. Then I promise I’ll leave.”

Reluctantly he agreed. Quickly Violet ran her fingers along the mahogany walls until she hit a familiar bump. Pushing it just a little the wall gave way to the secret passage. She smiled at Boy and entered.

It was dark, even darker than the shop floor as there were no windows. A thin strip of light warmed the carpet on the opposite wall marking another doorway. A shadow passed through the light. Violet inched her way across the room, and placed her ear against the dark wood. A familiar sound greeted her, a sucking noise. She pulled Boy alongside to listen. After a few minutes it stopped and the light went out.

“Do you know the noise?” Violet whispered.

Boy shook his head.

“I heard it tonight in my house. I think it’s from the machine the Watcher carries on his back. We have to go in there.”

“No we don’t,” Boy protested, “you don’t know what you’re saying. You’re new here but you should be afraid of the Watchers. They’re dangerous Violet.”

“Please Boy,” she begged, “You have no parents so maybe you don’t understand but my Dad is one of my two favourite people in the world. I can’t let anything happen to him. I need to find out what’s going on.”

Boy stepped back from the door and sat down. Violet bit her lip. She shouldn’t have said what she’d said. Her Dad always told her to think before she speaks otherwise she might hurt people’s feelings just like she’s hurt Boy’s.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean it,” she whispered, sitting down beside her friend.

“I’m not afraid of the Watchers you know.”

“I know you’re not.”

“Well let’s go in then.” Boy said, pushing off the floor.

“Boys,” Violet sighed, they never made any sense.

Listening again to make sure there was no one in the room beyond, Boy leaned his weight against the door. It began to move. He opened it just enough for the pair to slip through, then shut it quietly behind.

Violet stood just inside the entrance. It wasn’t a room at all. It was more like a long, narrow hallway. Steel shelving ran the length of both walls standing about five feet high. It looked odd compared to the beautiful wood in the rest of the shop. The shelves were filled with rows upon rows of glass jars. Each jar held a strange coloured gas that glowed in the dark of the room. 

“What are they?” Violet whispered, picking up a jar.

The gas was dull, a dark blue green colour that moved sluggishly inside it’s glass. Beside her Boy was holding another jar with slightly brighter colours, dark blue greens mixed with hints of yellow and a single stream of bright red.

“Look,” Boy whispered, shoving his jar into Violet’s face.

A worn sticker on top of the jar read Mr. John Bumsbury. Completed 09th Dec 1983. Violet looked up at her friend.

“Haven’t a clue,” he shrugged.

She moved her jar towards Boy’s for a little more light then read the lid.

“Mrs. Charlotte Cotts. Completed 24th March 1970. That’s ancient,” she whispered.

“Come on,” Boy said, leaving down his jar.

He walked towards the far end of the room not stopping until he reached a separate section of shelving. The jars here were different. They were only partially full, the gas was brightly coloured, almost luminous and moved rapidly through the confined space. The mixtures of colour were beautiful. Boy picked one up, Mr. Jim Joiners. Incomplete. Last Session 14th June 1985. NML.

“I know him,” he said, his voice shaky, “he lives in No Man’s Land.”

Quickly he put it down and picked another, Mr. Raymond Splinters. Incomplete. Last Session 01st Aug 2001. NML.

“I know him too.”

Violet was reaching for another jar when a noise startled the pair. Quickly they ran for cover. Violet dived for the bottom of the shelf she was standing beside. Pushing some jars out of the way she crawled in towards the back. Suddenly the lights flickered on.

Footsteps advanced down the hallway towards her hiding place. A pair of large, polished, br
own, leather shoes walked past, stopping millimeters from where she knelt hiding.

“Ah Violet Brown,” George Archer suddenly said, “I hope you’ve been a good girl.”

Her heart stopped. How had he found her? She waited in disbelief for the giant to bend down and grab her but he appeared to be distracted by some jars on the shelf above.

“That blasted Watcher!” he spat, “Still not enough. Do I have to do everything myself?”

Glass clattered angrily off glass and George Archer turned on his heels and marched down to the other end of the hallway. The lights switched off, a door slammed and the room was plunged back into darkness.

“He was looking at that jar,” Boy said, jumping out from hiding to run to the spot where George Archer had stood.

Violet crawled out less elegantly from her crouched spot and was by his side to hear him gasp. His hand shook as he held the jar. It was about a quarter full of brightly coloured gas, which raced around at lightening speed. He passed it silently to Violet. She stared, gobsmacked, at the spanking new label.

Miss. Violet Brown. Processing.

She handed the jar back to Boy and slid down the wall onto the floor.

“What is it?” she trembled, “why does it have my name on it?”

“I don’t know Violet,” Boy whispered, finding her side, “but I promise we’ll find out.”

CHAPTER 16

The Warning

The pair sat side by side in the darkness too shaken to talk. The Archers were up to something and it involved Violet.

“Come on,” Boy smiled, a little later, “No more moping. We’re not going to sit around when there’s a mystery to be solved.”

“What do you mean, I thought you wanted to go back?”

“Well that was before I saw your name on that jar. Nobody can put your name on a jar of colourdy stuff without asking me first.”

Violet sighed.

“I don’t know Boy. Maybe you were right; maybe I should be more careful.”

“That was the old me,” Boy said, sounding brave, “Now you are involved in this whole mystery, the jar tells us that. I think we have to find your Dad. If he doesn’t know what to do then at least you’ll all be back together and can escape from Perfect.”

Violet nodded. She trusted Boy. He was almost her best friend already and it had taken her two whole weeks to get to that stage with her old one Becky. Her family had to leave Perfect but maybe, since Boy didn’t have any parents, he’d come with them. She wouldn’t tell him yet though, families were a touchy subject.

After a quick discussion, Boy did most of the talking as Violet was still a little shaky, they decided to follow George Archer. He was annoyed over Violet’s jar and was definitely on a mission so wherever he was going might lead them to her Dad.

They walked the long corridor following George’s di
rection past more rows of shelving, until they reached a dead end. Violet and Boy heard a door bang when George left, but they were now facing a stone wall. Boy ran at it and had to bite his tongue not to cry out in pain when he slammed into the solid structure.

“Well that was a bit stupid,” Violet laughed.

“Any better ideas?” Boy snapped, cradling his shoulder.

“I bet it’s like the hidden doorways in the Archers shop. I had to run my hands…hold on.”

Her fingers slipped across a loose stone. She pulled on the brick and the top half popped out from the wall like a door handle. Violet glanced at Boy, smiled, turned the stone and pushed. The wall gave way to another hall beyond. Quickly the two passed through gently closing the door behind them.

The hallway was circular and lined in stone, the same sort that the door was made from; solid squares of rock like it was part of a castle. This hallway was very small, more like a landing and to the left of it was a set of steps that spiralled downwards. The space was lit by a mounted torch, the flickering flame warmed the cold stone. Quickly Boy grabbed the torch from its perch and began to descend the stairs.

“We can only go down,” he whispered.

Violet nodded, her bravery was being tested.

“I feel like we’re in a computer game,” she said, following close behind.

“What’s that?”

“You know a computer game. You must have played at least one before you came to Perfect?”

Boy fell silent, just like he’d done before when Violet mentioned his lack of parents. What had she said wrong this time? How could talking about computer games upset anyone?

“Your parents weren’t killed by a computer game or anything were they? I heard once before from a girl in school that that had happened to a friend of hers. I’m really sorry Boy, I didn’t know.”

“No,” Boy snapped, “I don’t know what a computer game is.”

“Oh is that all, well you’ve spent way too long in Perfect,” Violet laughed relieved.

“I never lived in Perfect,” Boy whispered, so faintly Violet barely heard him.

“But how did you get to No Man’s Land then?”

“I don’t know. I was born there I think. I don’t ever remember anywhere else.”

“Oh!”

What could she say? She didn’t want her shock to be obvious but all words disappeared from her brain. They continued the descent without talking, the steps seeming to spiral forever.

“We’ll be in the centre of the world soon,” she said, to break the silence.

Suddenly Boy jumped back pushing her up against the cold stone. He brought the flame round to his face and put his finger to his lips silencing her protest. He pointed down the stairwell. A chilling cry reached up from below. Someone was in pain, not just ordinary pain, terrifyingly painful pain.

“I promise, I’ll get her next time Sir,” someone whimpered.

“You better or you know where I’ll be sending you,” George Archer hissed, “There’s too many going to No Man’s Land, until Brown fixes our problem I don’t want anymore disappearing.”

“I understand Sir, it’s just this Violet’s a hard’ne to crack. I’m doin the same that I do t’all the rest but I think she’s got too much.”

“I don’t care how much she has, just figure it out! I WANT NO MORE DISAPPEARING!!”

“I understand Mr. Archer Sir,” the voice trembled, “I’ll do me best.”

“YOU’LL DO YOUR JOB!”

Footsteps pounded across the floor below. Then, after a few moments of silence, laughter erupted.

“I’ll do me best Mr. Archer Sir!” a different voice snorted.

“Well what was I meant to say?”

“I love you Mr. Archer Sir,” someone else sniggered.

Boy whispered to Violet to stay put. Then he quenched the flame with his foot and followed the stairwell down. Violet stood in the darkness. She fought the urge to run listening to the voices squabble below. What did the Archers want her Dad to fix?

“There’s three of them. Watchers,” Boy whispered, rejoining her side, “I think they are getting ready to sleep off their night’s work. I figure give them another little while and they’ll be out for the count. Then we can move on.”

“What about George Archer? Is he still there?”

“No. I didn’t see him. There’s a few passages leading off the Watchers room. I’d say he went down one of them.”

Violet shivered as she sat on the step to wait. She couldn’t shut off her imagination, her head swam in terrifying images of what might happen. Sometimes her imagination was her worst enemy but other times it was her best asset, at least that’s what her Mam told her. She couldn’t think about her Mam. She needed to be strong, not just because she had to rescue her Dad but she had to rescue her Mam too. Boy shifted uncomfortably next to her and she sought out his hand on the cold stone floor. She slipped her fingers through his and felt safe.

“You know,” she whispered, “my parents can be yours too.”

There was nothing for a minute. Had she upset him again? Then he squeezed her hand.