Van Bender and the Spirit Tether

By S. James Nelson

Richie Van Bender is the hottest teenage rock star on the planet. All he really wants is a chance at a normal life. He'd like to use Facebook and interact with his friends online. Maybe even hold a concert or two and win an award here and there. His mother refuses, saying it's for his own safety.

But with a little help from his friends, Richie seizes an opportunity to live his dream, and learns exactly what his mom is talking about when she says he has no idea what's out there.

This novelette--a self-contained story--introduces the strange and fantastic world of Richie Van Bender, which continues in the Van Bender Archives Book 1: Van Bender and the Burning Emblems.

• Language: English
• Publisher: S. James Nelson
• Release date: Nov 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301963775

S. James Nelson

I've been writing fantasy novels since I was fifteen. These days I get up early every morning before the three kids and wife, and before heading off to work for credit unions. Before dawn is the best time to write, when the mind is clear, and the only distractions are self-inflicted.I've got too many ideas and too little time. I eagerly await the day when I can spend eight hours doing this. Then I'll really be prolific. I appreciate any support you can give.Thanks for reading!

Book preview

Van Bender and the Spirit Tether

A novelette introducing the strange and magical world of Richie Van Bender

By S. James Nelson

Praise for S. James Nelson

Stephen Nelson is a brilliant storyteller: ingenious in his creativity, with an eye toward elegant prose, with stories that hit you like a heavyweight boxer's blow to the gut.

--David Farland, NYT Best-selling author of Nightingale

"THE DEMIGOD PROVING is a clever and unique fantasy with equal measures of wit and bloodthirsty mayhem.

--Kevin J. Anderson, #1 international bestselling author of the Saga of Seven Suns

Published by Augury at Smashwords.

Van Bender and the Spirit Tether

Copyright 2012 S. James Nelson

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or our used fictitiously.

Cover art by Arthur Nelson. Contact him at [e-mail].

First edition: November 30, 2012

Other works by this author

The Demigod Proving

Keep Mama Dead

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this free ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to Smashwords.com to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Best.Gift. Ever.

Chapter 2: The life-changing iPad

Chapter 3: A duo of problems

Chapter 4: I give reason a shot

Chapter 5: Saved by the squeaky floorboard

Chapter 6: Skirting the alarms

Chapter 7: Holy freaking impossible

Chapter 8: Escape

Chapter 9: Welcome to the big bad world of magic

Chapter 10: Among the stone titans

Chapter 11: Stones come tumbling down

Chapter 12: My dad, the teleporting maniac

Chapter 13: Hostage negotiations

Chapter 14: Promises, promises

Chapter 15: Paralyzed

Chapter 16: Life Changes

Chapter 1: Best. Gift. Ever.

I know Richie thinks I’m crazy. I’m not. I’m just over-protective. The world is full of magical crap he has no idea about.

-Elizabeth Van Bender

I’m Richie Van Bender, and my mother is a lunatic.

I suppose that could be normal for moms of teenage rock stars. I mean, when your son’s first single sells almost ten million copies, it’s sure to jack you up. When his third album has industry experts saying he might someday be the greatest rock star ever, that’s got to mess with your head. It sure messes with mine. It’s all I can do to keep things in perspective—that it all happened because of my friends.

I’m trying to keep it real.

Mom makes it harder, though. She has these rules I have to follow, and all they do is demonstrate her paranoia. For example, she won’t let me meet another rock star. Not one. And why is that? I have no idea.

No. Freaking. Idea.

But I sure would like to break that rule.

It’s my fifteenth birthday. We’re on vacation in Hawaii with my friends, Sandra and Kurt. I invited them because I knew they would love learning how to surf as much as I would.

We have an entire beach-front restaurant to ourselves. Mom’s rented out the entire joint. She does that anytime we go somewhere public.

We sit at the edge of a patio, under a bamboo and grass tiki roof. The sun sets over the water, just beyond the high tide crashing against the beach. A breeze rustles nearby palm branches.

Three gifts sit on the next table. One looks just the right size for an iPad. It came in the mail that afternoon, while I was out taking my surfing lesson. Dad sent it.

He lives in the D.C. area. Right before we left L.A., he joked that if Mom would let him zip on over, he would come. She got all uptight at that. I didn’t get why.

Time for presents, right? Kurt asks.

He takes an enormous swig of root beer, then suppresses a belch. Since arriving in Hawaii, he’s worn a thick layer of sunscreen on his nose because he thinks it’s funny. He buzzed his hair for the trip, so a brown fuzz covers his head.

Nah, Sandra says. Richie hates presents.

She pops the last bit of barbequed pineapple into her mouth, and smiles at me. She’s wearing a lei of red blossoms. Her brown hair falls straight down her back, with a red and yellow hibiscus tucked under