Empire Of Salt Read Online Free PDF

clearly abandoned and others in questionable states of occupation, ran off to her left, each surrounded by rusted chain link fences. The occupants of a blue trailer down the line had woven a banner which said "God Lovs U" between the links of their fence.
    To her right were several regular buildings. All but one, a corner market with a window filled with paper signs advertising specials on fruit and vegetables, had been abandoned. Three women sat on a bench in front, chatting amongst themselves in the shadow of the awning. Each of them wore shorts and bikini tops, although Natasha felt seriously that none of them should have been allowed to wear the latter. As nice as they might be, their days of showing cleavage had passed when Bill Clinton had been president and parents still let Michael Jackson play with their kids. Now their bodies were more a study of geography than anatomy.
    She peered between the trailers as movement caught her eye. At first glance it appeared to be a dog chained to a doghouse in a chain link-fenced yard. But interspersed weeds and the heat of the air made it hard to make out. She stepped closer, moving a foot or two into the alley beside the restaurant. Then the dog snuffled at the ground.
    She sucked in her breath. For a brief moment the creature wasn't a dog but a person. The face was covered by what looked like a baseball catcher's mask, metal bars sheathed in leather and fastened at the back of the head.
    Then the creature wrenched its face to the sky, made a strange barking noise and ran into the doghouse.
    Natasha turned to Derrick, who was admiring the mural on the alley wall.
    "Did you see that?" she asked.
    "Mmm?" he turned towards her, and by the look on his face, it was clear that his attention had been riveted on the fading space battle.
    "Over there, in that yard." Natasha pointed. "It looked like..." She didn't know how to finish the sentence.
    "Like what?"
    Natasha shook her head. Had she really seen it or had it been a mirage?
    "I thought I saw someone chained to a doghouse."
    "'Someone'?" Derrick laughed. "As in a person?"
    "I know. I know." She shrugged. "It sounds stupid. Forget about it."
    She looked once more at the empty yard and the chain trailing into the dog house, then strode back to the front of the restaurant. She began walking down the street, gravel and sand crunching beneath her feet.
    A portable arrow sign down the road announced a sale on salt. The arrow pointed to an immense tent with a banner above the entrance which read "Duvall Brothers Imperial Salt Exports."
    "My uncle said if the Duvalls can sell salt in the Salton Sea then they could sell water to a drowning man."
    Natasha turned at the new voice and saw a girl in her mid- teens, with long brown hair twisted into tight braids. Freckles danced across a wide nose on a light brown face, and her smile was one her mother would have called "petulant." Even though the girl was younger than Natasha, she wore eyeliner, mascara and blazing red lipstick.
    "Those your uncles?" Natasha asked.
    The girl shook her head. "Nuh-uh. My uncle collects salt for them. He goes out and brings it back so that they can press it into bricks. He says they have a good market with the Chinese."
    She spoke quickly with just a hint of Spanish to her pronunciation.
    "Why would the Chinese buy salt from here?" Derrick asked.
    "Who knows?" The girl shrugged. "Why do they sell dried bear penis? Or goat spleen? Sometimes you shouldn't ask."
    Derrick's jaw dropped as he looked at Natasha. "Did she say bear penis?" he mock-whispered.
    Natasha grinned. "I think she did." She held out her hand. "Natasha Oliver. This is my brother Derrick. We're new here."
    "No shit," the girl said, taking Natasha's hand then letting go. "I could tell by the way you're looking at everything that you weren't from around here."
    "Is it that obvious?"
    "You all do it when you come. Someone probably told you about the resort and about the sand and the sea. You might have