MOLD AMPIT stood in the doorway again with a new can of beer which he sipped thoughtfully.
'Well,' he said. 'Here you are again.'
'I...' and Vetta fumbled with the piece of plate, the reason for her visit. Mold caught sight of the fragment and his indulgent expression changed.
'Blessed be,' he gasped. 'Wherever did you get that?'
'I...' Vetta attempted to explain but the man was not listening. He had turned back into the cabin and was shouting.
A second man appeared in the doorway with one magnified eye and a pair of tweezers in one hand. The reddish hat he had been wearing was nowhere to be seen.
'I'm right in the middle of my toils, Mold,' he said in an exasperated voice. Then he too caught sight of the trembling girl holding the pale blue fragment. He gulped, disappeared a moment and then came out at a rush that made Vetta take several steps back.
'Gently, Wackie,' his friend said. 'I apologise for my friend ma'am, he's in a bit of an intense mood at the moment.'
Wackie had brought another, larger piece of the plate he had broken earlier. He touched it against the fragment Vetta still held bravely forward as if wishing someone would relieve her of it.
'It is!' Wackie crowed in delight. Then he reset. 'How did you get this? Did you steal it?'
Vetta looked suitably shocked.
'I...' she began again. By this time Mold had figured out the way things were.
'Wackie,' he said gently. 'I think you owe this young lady an apology. If I'm not much mistaken, though I often might be, she found this little bit of a plate and by some miracle knew who was most in need of it. Am I right, ma'am?'
This galvanised the Poldorama girl somewhat.
'It was no miracle sir,' she managed to say. 'I saw the plate broken and the pieces scatter. I saw you so carefully gather up the fragments and walk off with them. Only,' and she swallowed at this vital moment. 'Only not all the pieces were found. This one came over to where I was and before I could let you know about it you were gone.'
'And so you found us,' Mold said with an encouraging smile, 'and brought us the missing fragment.'
'It seemed so important,' Vetta said with a gasp. 'I just had to.'
With that she placed the round piece, blue glaze uppermost, in the large hand of Wackie Mandrake.
'I hope you have all the pieces now,' she said and made to walk away.
'Wait!' Wackie croaked suddenly. He searched his pockets with his free hand but Mold, ahead of the game again, put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.
Vetta, having heard the request to halt in her departure, stood looking at the two men a moment. Her mission was fulfilled and there was a sense of calm repose about her.
To her surprise Wackie knelt down in front of her, took one of her small hands and made a small sob.
'I am most terribly sorry,' he said. 'We're just ignorant struggling folk hereabouts. I am more grateful than you can imagine for bringing me this little thing. Thank you for taking the trouble you did.'
With that he released her hand and wandered back into the cabin a little dazed as it seemed to Vetta.
'Like I said,' Mold added. 'He's a little intense at the moment. Things not being quite as he might wish. What you did just then will go a long way to setting him right so I thank you too. It might seem to some a little thing indeed but I've known Wackie for many years.'
'Why did he break that lovely plate?' Vetta said, searching for answers to this strange adventure. The more she knew, the more she could help.
'An unattainable dream,' Mold said prosaically. 'He's like an amateur Tinker. When something's broken he wants to fix it. Look around you ma'am. See how many broken things there are in this world. He can't fix 'em all. But he can try his little bit by rediscovering things of beauty among the fragments around him. That plate was a utilitarian thing, by that I mean it did what it was made for without taking on any airs. Yet you called it a lovely plate.'
'There is a niceness in circles,' Vetta said, taking in only parts of what the man was saying.
'And a completeness. Breaking a circle and then fixing it again was to him like a quest. All the years he's tried and all the years he's failed to complete a single broken thing of any significance.' Mold pondered the ashtray which showed so much promise. 'The plate was meant to be a chance, in his eyes, to at least complete something.'
Vetta went pale. She realised he would have failed if she had not brought the overlooked fragment.
'That's it, ma'am, you understand it a bit,' Mold said. 'That's why I thank you too, because he's my dearest friend.'
'I am glad,' Vetta said.
'Now, seems to me you've lost your ball again. Only fair I help you find it. Wackie'll be happy by himself for a bit with that plate, tweezers and glue.'
They searched the sand and rocks below where the cabin stood but no sign of the peach-coloured thing could be found so Vetta returned to Miss Plazenby's two coins lighter but unimaginably richer within.