SYNOPSIS
Careful
what you wish for...
Sarah Schilling’s twelve year-old brother is wicked smart. But this? Pure genius. Brian snagged an invitation to spend the summer with their favorite aunt and uncle on St. Croix. Uncle Jack tells them, “There will probably be some swimming, some diving. We like to run. There’s a range, so maybe you’ll learn to shoot. Cooking. Your Aunt Helen is a classically trained chef. You knew that, right? There’s the Mallard seaplane, so maybe you’ll learn something about flying. That sort of thing.”
Sarah Schilling’s twelve year-old brother is wicked smart. But this? Pure genius. Brian snagged an invitation to spend the summer with their favorite aunt and uncle on St. Croix. Uncle Jack tells them, “There will probably be some swimming, some diving. We like to run. There’s a range, so maybe you’ll learn to shoot. Cooking. Your Aunt Helen is a classically trained chef. You knew that, right? There’s the Mallard seaplane, so maybe you’ll learn something about flying. That sort of thing.”
That sort of
thing sounds like too much work for Sarah
Schilling’s summer on the beach. Until Brian’s scuba regulator mysteriously
fails sixty feet underwater. Her training snaps into laser focus. During
Brian’s rescue they unearth the 250 year-old secret of Black Bart—the pirate
and his ghost. The discovery launches them into a hurricane of peril at the
hands of modern-day pirates. The Schilling family will not survive unless Brian
and Sarah discover the most powerful weapon that is within themselves.
A Pirate’s Time Served is a YA thriller of a ghost story. It shows how two teens can dig deeper than they thought possible, discovering what it means to lead, to follow, and to never ever give up—especially on family.
A Pirate’s Time Served is my third novel. I wrote it while attending Stanford’s Writers School, Continuing Education. My second novel, God’s Banker, reached number eight on Amazon’s suspense list. I have also written eleven business books published by Simon & Schuster, Putnam, McGraw-Hill, Wiley, and Adams.
A Pirate’s Time Served is a YA thriller of a ghost story. It shows how two teens can dig deeper than they thought possible, discovering what it means to lead, to follow, and to never ever give up—especially on family.
A Pirate’s Time Served is my third novel. I wrote it while attending Stanford’s Writers School, Continuing Education. My second novel, God’s Banker, reached number eight on Amazon’s suspense list. I have also written eleven business books published by Simon & Schuster, Putnam, McGraw-Hill, Wiley, and Adams.
PURCHASE
A Pirate’s Time Served
Thar be parole for good behavior…argh, argh!
By Chris Malburg
Represented by Tia Souders, World Wind Tours
Log line
The ghost of pirate Black Bart joins forces with two over-privileged teens
and their relatives on St. Croix in a modern-day quest to discover priceless buried
treasure and along the way, their life’s mission under the most unlikely and
dangerous circumstances.
Excerpt
Chapter
1
This is a first. All four of us in the same room at the same time. Even if we
are just downstairs in the library where Dad usually works until late at night.
We’re squared off with Mom and Dad sitting on a red leather couch; Sarah and I
on the one opposite. A glass coffee table separates us like a neutral buffer zone.
Mom’s voice is pleasant, “Isn’t this nice. A family conversation. We should
have these more often.” Dad’s cell phone vibrates. We all look at him. Dad raises
one finger—asking for a second—and says into the phone, “Got an interesting
conversation going here. Talk to you later.” Then he does the unthinkable—he
holds down the button until it turns off the phone completely.
“What’s up kids?” asks Dad. “Take all the time you need. All night, if you
want. Tomorrow’s Saturday. We can sleep in.”
We all know the joke. Dad never sleeps past 5:00 a.m. He says he’s just
wired that way.
Sarah looks at me. I nod my head. She begins, “Look, we can’t stand all the
fighting. This house has so much anger. We’re tired of it.”
Mom says, “Honey, your dad and I are just two very strong willed people
both with high pressure jobs. If we didn’t let off some steam every so often, we’d
both burst. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Mom is right. It’s the ones who keep it all inside you have to watch. They’ll
explode from the pressure build-up and die of a coronary.”
“Even so,” continues Sarah, “It hasn’t been easy for Brian and me. We want a
change. Actually, it was Brian’s idea. He’s the smart one between us.”
Mom nods. “So what’s your idea, Brian-the-Brain?”
“Well, summer vacation starts next week. Without school and its air
conditioning, it’ll be miserable here in the City. So Sarah and I want to leave.”
“Leave?” asks Dad. “You mean, just the two of you? Without us?”
Mom asks, “Leave as in run away? Honey your friends will think that you’re
some elementary school kid. Aren’t you worried what they might say?”
“No. Besides, Brian and I are not running away. We are going away for the
summer. Of our own choosing. We’re going to Aunt Helen’s and Uncle Jack’s
house in the islands.” Mom first opens, then shuts her mouth.
She needs some help with the next step. “Uncle Jack and Aunt Helen live on
a beautiful Caribbean island for the summer. They don’t fight either.”
“Really?” asks Dad as if this is news. He knows where Aunt Helen and Uncle
Jack live in the summer. At least he doesn’t quite reject my idea. “So you both
want to leave home for three whole months? Both of you forsaking your friends?
What if they forget about you, Brian? Sarah, what if Bobby Jones falls in love
with someone else?”
“His loss. Anyway, we will be the coolest kids in our class, getting to spend
the summer on an island. And we can always stay connected to what’s happening
with our friends on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snap and the rest. It’ll be like
we never left, only we’re too cool to stay here melting away our summer vacation
in New York City.”
The library in our house has walls covered with dark brown leather and the
floors are dark hardwood; the furniture is red leather. It’s like all this darkness
sucks in the light. Mom’s face is in shadow. Even so when she turns toward the
lamp I can see the lines across her forehead.
Sarah breaks the silence, “It will be nice just laying out on the beach with no
one telling us what to do and when to do it. I like Aunt Helen and Uncle Jack.
They’re so mellow.”
Dad raises his eyebrows. Then he winks at me, “And Aunt Helen is beautiful.
But then again, your mom is gorgeous. Bet you think I don’t notice. But I do.”
Sarah says, “Do you know why I never invite my friends over? It’s because
of all the tension here. Remember what happened at the Jonathon Club last
Christmas?”
Mom’s forehead wrinkles some more.
Sarah continues, “That was awful. The manager had to call security. Then
you both kept yelling at each other while the valet was getting the car.” Sarah
shuts her eyes at the pain. “I never told you that someone—I never found out
who—videoed your fight and sent it to the school list. Whatever it costs me, I will
never risk such humiliation again. Never.”
“So being out of the house for the summer beats being away from my friends
every time. Besides, like I said, I’ll stay in close touch on my cell.”
My turn. “I already called Aunt Helen and told her about my idea.”
“You did?” asks Dad. He seems surprised. “What’d Helen say?”
“She and Uncle Jack are cool with it. They both said that we need your
permission. Uncle Jack even said he’d go to bat for us.”
“The deal is done,” says Sarah. “Aunt Helen and Uncle Jack already said
yes.”
Dad stops clenching his jaw. I take it as a sign of defeat.
Dad says, “Okay. We admire your initiative. But you two need to know some
things before you make your final decision.”
It can’t be this easy. What’s missing?
“Your Uncle Jack is a great guy,” Mom begins, “I’ve known him for twenty
years. He is a solid person and one in whose care I would trust you both for three
months. Same with Helen. They said they’re glad to have you.”
“Wait,” Sarah says. “You already talked with them?”
Mom laughs, “Of course, Honey. Helen and Jack both called us as soon as
they got off the phone the first time Brian called begging for an invitation.” Mom
stops talking. “What? Every kid needs to understand that they’re never smarter
than their parents. And they won’t be until they have their own kids. So, yes, we
talked—several times, actually. They even flew in last week and spent a whole
afternoon with us. Together we figured out what your summer vacation on the
lovely island of St. Croix will consist of. We have planned the curriculum, the
physical objectives. Everything. Day-by-day and with progress reports from you
each week in the form of a video conference call with us.”
Dad says, “There are some things you should know before you decide to go
off and live with Jack and Helen for an entire summer—”
“So you were playing us all along?” I ask.
“You both seemed so pleased with yourselves,” Dad says, “I didn’t want to
spoil your fun. You’re lucky you have relatives like Jack and Helen who can take
three months off to go live on an island. Jack only does what he calls odd jobs
now and then for the US government. His time is his own. Helen was the CEO of
Taiko Automotive’s light truck division. That’s where they both met, by the way.
She resigned that post but is still the board chair. She comes and goes as she
pleases.”
Dad continues, “Thing is you two, my brother has skills and an extraordinary
background that you don’t know much about—”
“Yeah,” says Sarah, “he was in the Navy or whatever—”
“Not just in the Navy. He was a SEAL. You know what those guys do, right?
Jack is among the best in the world in certain…situations. He is an elite warrior.
There is nothing combat related that your Uncle Jack cannot do and come out the
winner. Nothing.
Sarah says, “I want to be Aunt Helen. She goes to all those famous parties in
New York. She flies to Switzerland on a private jet to ski—”
Dad interrupts, “All that was once true about Helen. But since she and Jack
have been married, you haven’t seen one newspaper or magazine photograph of
her out partying with the eliterati, have you. She’s settled down. And by the way,
Aunt Helen has an MBA from Stanford. Bet you didn’t know that. Your Uncle
Jack has transferred some of his unique knowledge to Helen. Don’t let her knockout
looks and that sweet voice of hers suck you in. She’s as smart and deadly as
Jack if it comes down to it.”
“Right. So we feel afraid?” asks Sarah now in her condescending voice.
Mom says, “No. Not afraid. But maybe feel very, very safe.”
“When Jack left the Navy,” Dad continues, “he went to work for the
Securities Exchange Commission. He ran their Enforcement Division. You heard
of the Deadly Acceleration incident two years ago at Taiko Motor Corporation?
Where the terrorists used the cars as their weapon of choice? Your Uncle Jack
took out the instigators. Saved thousands of lives. Then last year, there was the
God’s Banker episode with the Vatican Bank. Only there they engineered a forced
takeover of the entire Roman Catholic Church. Guess who saved the Pope? Your
Uncle Jack. Double tap to their leader.” Dad taps a finger right in the middle of
his forehead. “Jack won’t tell you, but I will. He accomplished both of those
incredibly dangerous missions by killing people. He had no choice. These are the
odd jobs he does for the US government.”
Mom takes over, “Another thing you two need to know. Jack and Helen are
fanatics about the physical stuff—fitness, diet, conditioning. If you spend the
summer with them, you will live the life they do.”
“Okay. So Brian and I know about their alpha personalities. We’ve talked
with them at all the Thanksgiving dinners, Christmases, and New Years. We can
handle them, don’t worry. I am sixteen years old.”
Dad gives that little chuckle of his when he thinks he knows better.
Mom says, “You both need to ask yourselves if you’re sure you want to leave
your cushy life to go live on an island? It’s an important question. This will be
totally different than anything you’ve ever experienced.
“It is Jack and Helen’s gift to you two. You will get the chance to look inside
yourselves and see what you’re made of. If you’re unwilling to do that, then don’t
go.”
Is my sister hearing this warning? I know Sarah. She’s already shrugged it off
as Mom being overly protective. Sarah is already thinking about lying on a warm
beach with the sun overhead. Who wouldn’t, right?
Mom says, “One thing for sure, you will return to New York both very
different people than when you left. Better people, your dad and I think. That is
why we agreed to let you both go to St. Croix. And why Jack and Helen have set
aside their summer for you. We’re a family. Families do this for one another.”
Dad adds, “Truth is, I’d give my little finger to join you. I’ve always wanted
to learn the stuff and do the things you will from the two people who just may be
among the best qualified to teach it.”
“So that’s it? We can go?” I can’t believe how easy this was.
“Yes,” says Dad, “you can go. One last thing to keep in mind, be careful
what you wish for, you just may get it.”
* * *
Thar be parole for good behavior…argh, argh!
By Chris Malburg
Represented by Tia Souders, World Wind Tours
Log line
The ghost of pirate Black Bart joins forces with two over-privileged teens
and their relatives on St. Croix in a modern-day quest to discover priceless buried
treasure and along the way, their life’s mission under the most unlikely and
dangerous circumstances.
Excerpt
Chapter
1
This is a first. All four of us in the same room at the same time. Even if we
are just downstairs in the library where Dad usually works until late at night.
We’re squared off with Mom and Dad sitting on a red leather couch; Sarah and I
on the one opposite. A glass coffee table separates us like a neutral buffer zone.
Mom’s voice is pleasant, “Isn’t this nice. A family conversation. We should
have these more often.” Dad’s cell phone vibrates. We all look at him. Dad raises
one finger—asking for a second—and says into the phone, “Got an interesting
conversation going here. Talk to you later.” Then he does the unthinkable—he
holds down the button until it turns off the phone completely.
“What’s up kids?” asks Dad. “Take all the time you need. All night, if you
want. Tomorrow’s Saturday. We can sleep in.”
We all know the joke. Dad never sleeps past 5:00 a.m. He says he’s just
wired that way.
Sarah looks at me. I nod my head. She begins, “Look, we can’t stand all the
fighting. This house has so much anger. We’re tired of it.”
Mom says, “Honey, your dad and I are just two very strong willed people
both with high pressure jobs. If we didn’t let off some steam every so often, we’d
both burst. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Mom is right. It’s the ones who keep it all inside you have to watch. They’ll
explode from the pressure build-up and die of a coronary.”
“Even so,” continues Sarah, “It hasn’t been easy for Brian and me. We want a
change. Actually, it was Brian’s idea. He’s the smart one between us.”
Mom nods. “So what’s your idea, Brian-the-Brain?”
“Well, summer vacation starts next week. Without school and its air
conditioning, it’ll be miserable here in the City. So Sarah and I want to leave.”
“Leave?” asks Dad. “You mean, just the two of you? Without us?”
Mom asks, “Leave as in run away? Honey your friends will think that you’re
some elementary school kid. Aren’t you worried what they might say?”
“No. Besides, Brian and I are not running away. We are going away for the
summer. Of our own choosing. We’re going to Aunt Helen’s and Uncle Jack’s
house in the islands.” Mom first opens, then shuts her mouth.
She needs some help with the next step. “Uncle Jack and Aunt Helen live on
a beautiful Caribbean island for the summer. They don’t fight either.”
“Really?” asks Dad as if this is news. He knows where Aunt Helen and Uncle
Jack live in the summer. At least he doesn’t quite reject my idea. “So you both
want to leave home for three whole months? Both of you forsaking your friends?
What if they forget about you, Brian? Sarah, what if Bobby Jones falls in love
with someone else?”
“His loss. Anyway, we will be the coolest kids in our class, getting to spend
the summer on an island. And we can always stay connected to what’s happening
with our friends on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snap and the rest. It’ll be like
we never left, only we’re too cool to stay here melting away our summer vacation
in New York City.”
The library in our house has walls covered with dark brown leather and the
floors are dark hardwood; the furniture is red leather. It’s like all this darkness
sucks in the light. Mom’s face is in shadow. Even so when she turns toward the
lamp I can see the lines across her forehead.
Sarah breaks the silence, “It will be nice just laying out on the beach with no
one telling us what to do and when to do it. I like Aunt Helen and Uncle Jack.
They’re so mellow.”
Dad raises his eyebrows. Then he winks at me, “And Aunt Helen is beautiful.
But then again, your mom is gorgeous. Bet you think I don’t notice. But I do.”
Sarah says, “Do you know why I never invite my friends over? It’s because
of all the tension here. Remember what happened at the Jonathon Club last
Christmas?”
Mom’s forehead wrinkles some more.
Sarah continues, “That was awful. The manager had to call security. Then
you both kept yelling at each other while the valet was getting the car.” Sarah
shuts her eyes at the pain. “I never told you that someone—I never found out
who—videoed your fight and sent it to the school list. Whatever it costs me, I will
never risk such humiliation again. Never.”
“So being out of the house for the summer beats being away from my friends
every time. Besides, like I said, I’ll stay in close touch on my cell.”
My turn. “I already called Aunt Helen and told her about my idea.”
“You did?” asks Dad. He seems surprised. “What’d Helen say?”
“She and Uncle Jack are cool with it. They both said that we need your
permission. Uncle Jack even said he’d go to bat for us.”
“The deal is done,” says Sarah. “Aunt Helen and Uncle Jack already said
yes.”
Dad stops clenching his jaw. I take it as a sign of defeat.
Dad says, “Okay. We admire your initiative. But you two need to know some
things before you make your final decision.”
It can’t be this easy. What’s missing?
“Your Uncle Jack is a great guy,” Mom begins, “I’ve known him for twenty
years. He is a solid person and one in whose care I would trust you both for three
months. Same with Helen. They said they’re glad to have you.”
“Wait,” Sarah says. “You already talked with them?”
Mom laughs, “Of course, Honey. Helen and Jack both called us as soon as
they got off the phone the first time Brian called begging for an invitation.” Mom
stops talking. “What? Every kid needs to understand that they’re never smarter
than their parents. And they won’t be until they have their own kids. So, yes, we
talked—several times, actually. They even flew in last week and spent a whole
afternoon with us. Together we figured out what your summer vacation on the
lovely island of St. Croix will consist of. We have planned the curriculum, the
physical objectives. Everything. Day-by-day and with progress reports from you
each week in the form of a video conference call with us.”
Dad says, “There are some things you should know before you decide to go
off and live with Jack and Helen for an entire summer—”
“So you were playing us all along?” I ask.
“You both seemed so pleased with yourselves,” Dad says, “I didn’t want to
spoil your fun. You’re lucky you have relatives like Jack and Helen who can take
three months off to go live on an island. Jack only does what he calls odd jobs
now and then for the US government. His time is his own. Helen was the CEO of
Taiko Automotive’s light truck division. That’s where they both met, by the way.
She resigned that post but is still the board chair. She comes and goes as she
pleases.”
Dad continues, “Thing is you two, my brother has skills and an extraordinary
background that you don’t know much about—”
“Yeah,” says Sarah, “he was in the Navy or whatever—”
“Not just in the Navy. He was a SEAL. You know what those guys do, right?
Jack is among the best in the world in certain…situations. He is an elite warrior.
There is nothing combat related that your Uncle Jack cannot do and come out the
winner. Nothing.
Sarah says, “I want to be Aunt Helen. She goes to all those famous parties in
New York. She flies to Switzerland on a private jet to ski—”
Dad interrupts, “All that was once true about Helen. But since she and Jack
have been married, you haven’t seen one newspaper or magazine photograph of
her out partying with the eliterati, have you. She’s settled down. And by the way,
Aunt Helen has an MBA from Stanford. Bet you didn’t know that. Your Uncle
Jack has transferred some of his unique knowledge to Helen. Don’t let her knockout
looks and that sweet voice of hers suck you in. She’s as smart and deadly as
Jack if it comes down to it.”
“Right. So we feel afraid?” asks Sarah now in her condescending voice.
Mom says, “No. Not afraid. But maybe feel very, very safe.”
“When Jack left the Navy,” Dad continues, “he went to work for the
Securities Exchange Commission. He ran their Enforcement Division. You heard
of the Deadly Acceleration incident two years ago at Taiko Motor Corporation?
Where the terrorists used the cars as their weapon of choice? Your Uncle Jack
took out the instigators. Saved thousands of lives. Then last year, there was the
God’s Banker episode with the Vatican Bank. Only there they engineered a forced
takeover of the entire Roman Catholic Church. Guess who saved the Pope? Your
Uncle Jack. Double tap to their leader.” Dad taps a finger right in the middle of
his forehead. “Jack won’t tell you, but I will. He accomplished both of those
incredibly dangerous missions by killing people. He had no choice. These are the
odd jobs he does for the US government.”
Mom takes over, “Another thing you two need to know. Jack and Helen are
fanatics about the physical stuff—fitness, diet, conditioning. If you spend the
summer with them, you will live the life they do.”
“Okay. So Brian and I know about their alpha personalities. We’ve talked
with them at all the Thanksgiving dinners, Christmases, and New Years. We can
handle them, don’t worry. I am sixteen years old.”
Dad gives that little chuckle of his when he thinks he knows better.
Mom says, “You both need to ask yourselves if you’re sure you want to leave
your cushy life to go live on an island? It’s an important question. This will be
totally different than anything you’ve ever experienced.
“It is Jack and Helen’s gift to you two. You will get the chance to look inside
yourselves and see what you’re made of. If you’re unwilling to do that, then don’t
go.”
Is my sister hearing this warning? I know Sarah. She’s already shrugged it off
as Mom being overly protective. Sarah is already thinking about lying on a warm
beach with the sun overhead. Who wouldn’t, right?
Mom says, “One thing for sure, you will return to New York both very
different people than when you left. Better people, your dad and I think. That is
why we agreed to let you both go to St. Croix. And why Jack and Helen have set
aside their summer for you. We’re a family. Families do this for one another.”
Dad adds, “Truth is, I’d give my little finger to join you. I’ve always wanted
to learn the stuff and do the things you will from the two people who just may be
among the best qualified to teach it.”
“So that’s it? We can go?” I can’t believe how easy this was.
“Yes,” says Dad, “you can go. One last thing to keep in mind, be careful
what you wish for, you just may get it.”
* * *
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Malburg is
a widely published author, with work spread over 11 popular business
books--including How to
Fire Your Boss (Berkley) and Surviving the Bond Bear Market (Wiley,
March 2011). In his other life, Chris is a CPA/MBA, a former investment
banker and now the CEO of Writers Resource Group, Inc., providers of
professional financial literary content to corporations
(www.WritersResourceGroup.com). That’s the professional side of Chris’
career. The fun side began when UCLA’s Writers’ school taught him to
transition from biz-speak to fiction. GOD’S BANKER and the first installment
in the Enforcement Division series, DEADLY
ACCELERATION, both combine Chris’ natural talent for story
telling with his professional command of the high-stakes investment world and
what money and power do to some people.
GOD’S
BANKER came to fruition from Chris’ hospital bed
while recuperating from an athletic injury. As a long-time endurance
athlete, Chris is no stranger to the surgeon’scalpal. Over 130,000 words
later, GOD’S BANKERwas
complete. “It just poured out me,” says the author. “I carried my
note pad to physical therapy; made plot notes during the hours in the gym doing
rehab; even while on my long bicycle rides through the hills overlooking the
Pacific Ocean where we live. Slowly endurance returned and with it, GOD’S BANKER.”
Chris Malburg
lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Marilyn. Their hobby is raising
service dogs for Guide Dogs for the Blind. As of this writing, they have
raised eight Labrador retrievers and have had three make the cut for placement
with their disabled partners.
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