The Gold Line

Text 1: The Sixth Piece, by Anika Wren

An original novel extract.

Mrs Varga arranged the fragments beneath the lamp without looking at Jay. Five pieces made most of a bowl; the sixth lay apart, curved and pale as a clipped fingernail.

‘Cloth.’

Jay passed it to her.

‘Brush.’

He passed that too.

‘Patience.’

Jay folded his arms. Six months in the workshop and she still spoke to him as if every word cost money. On his first morning, she had told him that a careless hand could turn damage into destruction. Since then, her own hands had hovered over every object he touched.

Mrs Varga fitted two fragments together. Then a third. Under the lamp, the cracks became dark rivers running through the white glaze.

‘What is wrong?’ she asked.

Jay studied the bowl. The sixth piece waited at the edge of the light. He could say nothing. He could let her finish and sweep the floor afterwards, as usual.

‘That piece,’ he said at last, nodding at the third fragment. ‘You have put it in the wrong place.’

The workshop seemed to shrink around the sentence. Even the clock above the sink appeared to hold its breath.

Mrs Varga did not move. ‘Show me.’

Jay lifted it free, turned the bowl a quarter-circle and brought it towards a narrow gap. It settled there so neatly that the pattern of painted leaves continued across the break.

For the first time that morning, Mrs Varga smiled. Not kindly, exactly, but with recognition. She pushed the dish of gold-coloured powder towards him and placed her hands behind her back.

‘The join must be steady,’ she said. ‘It must be honest.’

Jay lifted the brush. Mrs Varga adjusted the lamp so that its full circle of light fell over his hands.

‘Begin.’

He looked up. ‘Mrs Varga?’

She shook her head. ‘Emilia will do.’

How does Anika Wren use language and structure to show the relationship between Mrs Varga and Jay?

You should use relevant subject terminology to support your answer.