Empire Of Salt Read Free Page A

represented an entire side of her family she knew nothing about. And now he was dead. They'd already had the funeral, the will had been processed through probate, and notification had gone out to Natasha's dad. According to the letter, her grandfather had been found washed up on the beach, missing a head and an arm. She shuddered. The letter her father had read said wildlife had probably been responsible for the missing body parts, even though he'd only been in the water for twenty-four hours. It didn't matter how many times Natasha thought about it, the idea of a missing head creeped her out.
    Suddenly the car hit a pothole and bottomed out at seventy miles an hour. Her father swerved violently to the right, then managed to correct to the left.
    Natasha held her breath and grabbed hold of the armrest on her seat as she watched the fish-tailing view through the rear window.
    Then an immense pop filled the inside of the car.
    The tire?
    The air was suddenly filled with a fine orange blizzard. The top of Derrick's black hair was almost entirely covered, as was her own, in a dusting of orange. Her father coughed and opened all the windows in the car.
    "Cheeseballs!" Auntie Lin hacked and shuddered. "Ack!"
    Natasha couldn't help herself. She released the breath she'd been holding and burst out laughing. Maybe everything was going to work out fine after all.

 

    T hey arrived at a rest area north of Bombay Beach just after midnight. The four of them were far too tired to unpack or even get out of the car. They'd collapsed in place, postponing their new resort life on the edge of a sea until the next morning, when they could see it and appreciate it more in the light of day.
    As the next day dawned, they awoke to the screams of a thousand birds.
    Patrick Oliver jerked awake. The cacophony was amazing; he couldn't hear anything else, including Auntie Lin's snores. He peered through the windshield, but saw nothing but a Vaseline-smeared sunrise, which is what he normally saw without his glasses. He sat up and groaned. His back felt as if he'd strapped a board to it and rode down a mountain. Worse. He'd driven across country in a car with a 30 year old suspension. Frankly, he thanked his lucky stars he was alive.
    He pawed around on the dashboard for his glasses and found them about the same time that Auntie Lin woke in the seat behind him.
    "What? Are the children okay?" she asked, with her hands blocking the light of the dawn from her eyes as she licked her dry lips.
    Patrick slid his glasses into place and dug around on the floor beneath his seat for his flask. His mouth felt like eight miles of desert. He'd rationed himself as they'd crossed the breadth of America. He was proud of himself for managing the craving for so long. From the heft of the flask, there was still a quarter left.
    "What's that noise?" Aintie Lin asked.
    "Birds, I think." He grabbed a water bottle from the empty passenger seat, took a long swig, then handed it to her. "Here. You might need this."
    "What? I can't hear you over the birds. Jesus. Where did they come from?"
    Patrick turned to gaze through the windshield and for the first time saw the conflagration. He couldn't identify a single bird. Their wings, beaks and talons created a single, frenetic, ravenous beast, undulating along the edge of the sea, as it at once dove and rose, fighting against itself in a violent collage of motion.
    "What the hell?"
    He went to open his door, but Auntie Lin grabbed the back of the seat.
    "Are you sure it's safe?"
    Patrick grinned. "Come on. They're just birds."
    Despite her protests, he opened the door and climbed out, allowing his back to stretch for the first time since 7 PM yesterday when they'd stopped to clean the residue of giant cheese balls from everyone's hair. He brought the flask to his mouth and took a deep refreshing drink.
    And then the stench hit him.
    "Oh my God!"
    The alcohol burned acrid as he covered his nose and mouth with both hands. His eyes