A fire was raging in the center of a rubbish dump under the high concrete walls of the East Suffolk CC landfill site, sending jets of golden flame into the night sky where they illuminated an uneven ring of tall gravestones, abandoned cars, upturned crates and a small number of Cardboard houses built of salvaged cardboard material.
A number of brown goblins, their eyes glinting in the firelight and covered with sores and ulcers, were sitting in a half circle facing the fire and were listening to the music of Deaf Dog playing in the background.
As the music creshendoed to an end a tall goblin with a face ravaged by the ravages of time and circumstance, who had been playing a mouth organ suddenly yelled at the top of his voice :
'There she is , there she is , the great Mother
Minerva Riddle followed by her two seeker 's Corgis.
' and he pointed at a swarthy figure, which had just materialised in mid air above the makeshift stage in the middle of the clearing.
This figure was dressed in robes of a type favored by the Ministry of Magic, an agency responsible for the collection of magical artefacts and persecution of those who broke Ministry rules on the use of magic. Her eyes were a bright bright red. Her name was Minerva Riddle and she was one of the three official and legal gods in Britain and Ireland, who depended for their powers on being initiated in the darkest and most dangerous corners of Britain and Ireland, often in the company of denizens of the wilder parts of the country, swooping down in menacing red aerodynamic flying machines.
The goblin 's heart was beating very fast as he stepped out of his circle and walked towards the fire with the confident spring of an athlete warming up.
He reached the fire and looked intently at the figure that was now standing on the stage looking down at the fire.
'Ah Minerva, Minerva Riddle' he said as he approached her. He was so frightened that he was almost wheezing. 'I'm so glad to see you again, well almost' he continued 'I can't see your dog walker' he said
' You don't see me anywhere do you, my dearest' replied Minerva , 'I think she's around here somewhere'
She rubbed her nose against her two seeker 's Corgis.
The goblins heart started to pound and a short cry escaped his lips as he looked anxiously at the ground. 'My head !!!' he said
Minerva rolled her eyes at her seeker 's Corgis. 'I'm not just here for a social call I'm afraid' she said 'It is time for you to pay up and it's high time too'
' What do you mean Minerva' the goblin answered, trying without success to master the tone of his voice by slowing down the pace at which he was speaking and through the use of pausing and with his whole body filled with trepidation and courage
' I mean you owe me two hundred pounds or I fly away again'
' Oh I'm so sorry, how could I forget. It is all to do with my head. I still can't see it you know. I can't see any thing. I just can't see it. I don't really understand where it has gone to. I can't see it anywhere. It's all so very confusing for me. Everything is so very confusing for me. I can't see my head here anywhere. It's probably somewhere down on the ground at the foot of your machine. There I can see it. I can see it groping around at the feet of your machine. I can see it down there on the ground. I can see it at the feet of your machine. I can see a bit of its head up here. There I can see its ears up here. I can see a bit of its head up here. I can see its ears here. I can see a bit than its eyes here. And I can see its eyes here. It is all so very confusing for me.'
' I only want what's due to me and I do not need to see your silly dog walker's head before I leave.'
'Oh! 's reply, " where have you put it? I can't find it anywhere. I really can't find it anywhere. It's all very confusing for me. I can't see it anywhere here. I can't find it anywhere anymore. I can't find it anywhere.'
' Well I'm sorry you're having so much difficulty with your eyes it looks like you're going blind.