Free Out of Sight by Amanda Ashby Page A

only was the six-year-old Ryan a biter of legendary status, but the last time Sophie had been at Mr. Rivers’s house, she had managed to get herself turned into a djinn. And while logically she knew it was unlikely that he would accidently have another djinn-infested vase lying around, Sophie wasn’t exactly eager to repeat the experience. She instantly shook her head. “I promised Kara I’d go with her and her mom to the mall. Not to mention all my homework.”
Or the fact that she would rather stab herself in the leg with her scissors than have to be in the same room as Ryan the biter.
    â€œWell, you can do your homework at Max’s house, and I’m sure that Kara would understand if you missed out on tomorrow’s shopping trip. The thing is, I’d really appreciate it. Max has been such a wonderful help to me lately. He’s the one who convinced Monica Tait to order so much of my work.” Then her mom coughed. “Is there...a particular reason why you don’t want to do it? Is there something you don’t like about him?”
    â€œWhat?” Sophie asked in surprise before quickly shaking her head. “No, I guess he’s nice enough.” Which was kind of true, since while she didn’t like the fact that he had a crazy nephew and had managed to have a djinn-bound bottle in his basement, he seemed okay. Plus, there was the added advantage that he lived next door to Jonathan Tait, which was why Sophie had agreed to babysit Ryan the first time around. “The thing is, I really did promise Kara that—”
    â€œAre those shoes I can see over there?” Her mom suddenly looked over Sophie’s shoulder in the general direction of where the pair of nude-colored, peep-toe wedge boots were sitting. Sophie silently groaned as she realized too late that they weren’t invisible. Thankfully, the basement lighting wasn’t the best, and so Sophie quickly tried to block her mom’s view while glancing in the other direction.
    â€œS-shoes,” she stammered. “I can’t see any shoes.”
    â€œNo, not that way,” her mom said. “Over there. In the corner. I’m sure it’s some—”
    â€œSo about this babysitting tomorrow. I’d love to do it,” Sophie quickly broke in, and the moment her mom stopped looking in the direction of the shoes, Sophie made a quick wish, sending them to the back of her closet, while making a mental note never to shop and fly at the same time.
    â€œOh?” Her mom was immediately distracted as she looked at Sophie in delight. “You would? Sophie, that’s wonderful. Max will be so thrilled.”
    â€œThat makes two of us,” Sophie lied as she followed her mom up the stairs and wiped her brow. That was way too close for comfort. Still, the important thing was that, according to Malik, with some more practice her flying skills would be good enough to rescue her dad. Suddenly, the idea of having to babysit Ryan the biter didn’t seem so bad.

S O,WHAT HAPPENED? I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING,” Harvey demanded the next morning as they pushed their way down the aisle of the bus and squeezed onto the two-person bench seat, as was their habit.
    â€œIt was fantastic.” Sophie grinned before proceeding to tell them everything that had happened. Right down to the ice cream and the shoes.
    â€œShoes?” Harvey shook his head in disgust, his long bangs swinging. “You ruined a perfectly good flying adventure by stopping to buy shoes?”
    â€œWell, it was Malik’s fault for wanting ice cream,” Sophie protested, before remembering just what a nuisance the shoes had been. She turned to Kara and took a deep breath. “But actually, there is something I need to tell you. I kind of promised that I would babysit Ryan the biter after school today,” she said, bracing herself for their reaction.
    Yep. There it was.
    â€œYou what?” Kara and