“What’s a pepper bug?” Chichi asked, frowning.

Anatov smirked and pointed a long finger at her. “See, you and Sasha consume all the juju, Leopard history, and Leopard culture books, but yet you neglect the field guides. And, Sunny, you haven’t had time to learn about the creatures of the Leopard world, except for those things you encounter personally, like ghost hoppers or the lake and river beasts. Knowledge gaps are no good.”

“I know tungwas and bush souls, too,” she added. “And wasp artists, and all those . . .”

Anatov waved a hand at her. “You know nothing of the millions of magical creatures of the world. And I have yet to assign you any field guides to read. For instance, you see tungwas all the time, but who can tell me what tungwas actually are?”

Sunny looked at the others, barely able to contain her delight. Even Orlu was silent, an annoyed frown on his face. Being new to the Leopard world, Sunny had been deeply disturbed by the basketball-sized skin covered balls that exploded into a shower of teeth, bones, giblets of meat, and tufts of hair. To calm her mind, she’d done a bit of research on them.

“Even in the Obi Library, there was no concrete information about them,” Sunny announced, smugly looking at Orlu, Sasha, and Chichi. “One: no one really cares to know. Two: some things in the world are just beyond logic and the tungwa is one of them.” She grinned and then added, “All this is according to Sugar Cream. I have to admit, I’m quite satisfied with both of these answers.”

Everyone stared at Sunny, and she stared back at them, her grin fading.

“Well, that was surprising,” Anatov said, after a moment. “Anyway, for now, this exercise will do.” He turned to Orlu. “I trust you know exactly what a pepper bug is.”

Orlu nodded. “And I knew you’d ask us to go and find some.”

“Why’s that?” Anatov asked.

“For a few reasons,” Orlu said. “The cost of tainted peppers just went up in the market. You like your food really hot. And the patch of peppers in your garden out back looks like something just came and ate it all.”

Anatov grunted, irritably. “Yes, there is a small grasscutter that lives around my hut that has a taste for spicy food. Damn things are the woodchucks of Nigeria. They even look like them.” He smiled at Orlu. “You are observant. Explain to them along the way.”

Anatov gave Orlu a large metal pot, four spatulas, and oven mitts and then quickly ushered them out the IN door. “Good luck,” he said. “And remember, the entrance to Night Runner Forest closes at dawn. Bring the bugs here before you go home.”

Only Orlu was excited about the assignment. All of them remembered what Night Runner Forest was like as it had nearly killed them last year. But they’d all learned a lot since then. They knew how not to get killed or too badly hurt. Of course, that didn’t make traipsing around in it at one A.M. any more tolerable.