Vern leaped to clear the knee-high edge and hit the salt boundary at such high speed that Barry’s body was repelled backwards with incredible force. He must have been thrown at least ten feet and landed with a thud that made me wince. Barry lay unconscious and I looked up to discover Vern’s disoriented presence still over by the roof’s edge. I thanked God that the salt had been enough to save my uncle and dislodge Vern’s noncorporeal ass. Our group hurried forward and surrounded Barry’s prone body protectively.
I breathed out a sigh of relief as I saw Mike was carrying one of the leftover buckets. He quickly poured the salt around us.
“Nice work, Mike!”
He shook his head at me, overturned the now-empty bucket, and sat on it with a huff.
“Pain. In. My. Ass,” he said.
“I’ll make it up t
