“Schist," said an angry voice from the grass. Hazel raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?" "Schist! Big pile of schist!”

“Nitre, vitriol, cinnabar, alum, salt ammoniac, sublimated mercury, rock salt, alcali salt, common salt, rock alum, alum schist, arsenic, sublimate, realgar, tartar, orpiment, verdegris.”

“In a deep sexy voice, she said Windows don't turn me on.I raised an eyebrow at her, Mac user?”

“Pilgrims, digging in shifts, dig till midnight in mining pits, chipping flint with picks, drilling schist with drills, striking it rich mining zinc. Irish firms, hiring micks whilst firing Brits, bring in smiths with mining skills: kilnwrights grilling brick in brickkilns, millwrights grinding grist in gristmills. Irish tinsmiths, fiddling with widgits, fix this rig, driving its drills which spin whirring drillbits.”

“Je penchai le cou vers la plage blanche, m'approchai encore, qu'il n'y ait plus d'esquive possible à ma chute, Schist craillait autour de moi je crois me souvenir, il y avait entre ma vie et le saut aucune préférence plus d'hésitation j'étais au-delà à somnambuler sur la tranche de l'amont juste bien certain aux tréfonds de l'inanité de la farce désormais, la farce immense des Hordes.”

“The witch raised one careful eyebrow. “I? I want nothing,” she told Hazel. “Don’t you see? I want nothing.”