01_-_The_Alchemyst

and crows, they covered all available surfaces, with more arriving every
moment.
“They’re coming from Alcatraz,” Josh said, dipping his head to look
across the choppy waters toward the island.
A dark cloud had gathered above Alcatraz. It rose out of the abandoned
prison in a dark curl and hung in the air looking like smoke, but this smoke
didn’t dissipate: it moved and circled in a solid mass.
“Birds.” Josh swallowed hard. “There must be thousands of them.”
“Tens of thousands,” Sophie corrected him. She turned to look at
Flamel. “What are they?”
“The Morrigan’s children,” he said enigmatically.
“Trouble,” Scatty added. “Big trouble.”
Then, as if driven by a single command, the huge flock of birds moved
away from the island and headed across the bay, directly toward the bridge.
Josh hit his window button and the tinted glass hummed down. The
noise of the birds was audible now, a raucous cawing, almost like highpitched
laugher. Traffic was slowing, some people even stopping to get out
of their cars to take photographs with digital cameras and cell phones.
Nicholas Flamel leaned forward and placed his left hand on Josh’s
shoulder. “You should drive,” he said seriously. “Do not stop…whatever
happens, even if you hit something. Just drive. As fast as you can. Get us off
this bridge.”
There was something in Flamel’s unnaturally controlled voice that
frightened Sophie even more than if he had shouted. She glanced sidelong at
Scatty, but the young woman was rummaging through her backpack. The
warrior pulled out a short bow and a handful of arrows and placed them on
the seat beside her. “Roll up your window, Josh,” she said calmly. “We don’t
want anything getting in.”
“We’re in trouble, aren’t we?” Sophie whispered, looking at the
Alchemyst.