“How is anyone supposed to cross that?” she asked, horrified.

“You just do it,” Orlu said, stepping up to a large rock that sat in front of the bridge. He rubbed its smooth black surface with the palm of his hand. “Beyond the mist is the entrance to Leopard Knocks.”

She waited for him to go on.

“The full name is Ngbe Abum Obbaw, that’s Efik for ‘Leopard Knocks His Foot,’” Chichi explained. “Long ago, some Efik woman created a juju that stopped a leopard from attacking her. It made the leopard stub its foot on something hard, and the pain scared it away. The builders named Leopard Knocks His Foot after her strong juju. The Efik people have the strongest juju in the world.”

“In whose opinion? Not the Igbos’,” Orlu said irritably. “Sunny, there are Leopard People all over the world from every tribe, race, whatever. None is better than the other.”

“Oh, be realistic,” Chichi said, rolling her eyes.

But Sunny wasn’t really listening. She couldn’t take her eyes off of that narrow bridge. The wild waters beneath it boiled and churned.

“Only truth will allow you across,” Orlu said.

“Every time,” Chichi added.

“So you’ve crossed that?” Sunny cried. “It’s so flimsy! The thing doesn’t even look like it’s-” She stopped talking and just stared at it.

“Relax,” Chichi said, putting her arm around Sunny. “We’re not going over the bridge right now. We’re going that way.” She pointed to a small path that ran to the right, beside the river. She pulled Sunny along.

“I don’t like this,” Sunny said.

“You’re just not used to it,” Orlu said.