Ben must have known about this as well. He did want her to watch as he crossed the bridge. Did he want her to see him disappear the way Ethan did? Where had they gone? Why weren't they back yet? Was the bridge dangerous? Was that why Ethan didn't want her to follow him? But did he expect her just to walk away? What if he was in trouble?

She couldn't take it anymore. Tali took a deep breath and hurried over to the bridge before she could chicken out. She stepped onto the bridge, her footsteps sounding hollow as they stomped across the wooden arch.

Suddenly, it was sweltering hot and she felt like she would suffocate in her warm winter coat. She yanked it off, nearly popping off a button as her fingers fumbled to undo them. She ripped her scarf off and pushed up her sleeves, trying to cool off as much as possible. And she hadn't even finished crossing the bridge. It was only then that she thought to look at her surroundings; she stumbled back in shock.

The forest had become a jungle! The ash and pines had been replaced by palms and vines. She looked back, but there was no sign of Pabi's property. Instead of a small stream, it was a wide, calm river nearly three times as wide as the original stream. The bridge was the same, only longer; she was a lot closer to the end of the bridge than she expected.

And the noise. Pabi's property was quiet and still but this place was alive with birds of all kinds singing, squawking, and competing with each other; several unidentifiable animals were sounding their mating calls to each other. And there was the sound of a waterfall in the distance. Tali leaned over the bridge, surprised at how murky the water looked. The whole river almost had a yellowish tint to it, probably from all the sludge that was in it. Tali made the mistake of taking a deep breath. She crinkled her nose. Now she understood why the river was so polluted; it was being used for sewage.

"I thought I told you to stay put," Ethan said, coming back onto the bridge. He had removed his windbreaker and tied it around his waist, his white t-shirt nearly see-through with sweat.

"What is this place?" Tali asked, overwhelmed with shock and awe.

Ethan sighed. "I'm not going to get away with telling you to go back and forget what you saw, am I?"

She shook her head, her eyes still wandering as she tried to take everything in.

Ethan wiped some sweat from his brow. "We're in Karagan."

"Karagan?" Tali frowned.

"Yes. It's..." Ethan sighed again, running his hand through his sweat-slick hair. "How do I put this... Karagan is a country in another world."

Tali stared, blinking. "What?"

"I know, it sounds outrageous," he said, shifting uncomfortably.

"Not that outrageous, considering where I'm standing," Tali said. She took another look at where Pabi's property should have been. "Pabi knew about this?"

"Of course," Ethan said. "He was born here."

"What? Pabi?"

"Yeah." Ethan sighed yet again. "Pabi was living on our side of the bridge to keep people from crossing over. Which is why we need to find your fiancé."

"I told you, he's not my fiancé!" Tali snapped.

Ethan shook his head. "Well, whoever he is, we need to find him."

"You mean he's gone?"

"Yeah. I guess I didn't get here fast enough." Ethan rubbed his temples. "If he's not your fiancé, why did you tell him about the bridge? I thought you knew it was a secret."

"You're right, I thought it was our secret," Tali shot back. "And I didn't tell him. He forced me to come here."

Ethan's hand dropped, a look of concern on his face. "He forced you?"

"Yeah," Tali said, twisting a lock of hair around her finger. "He lured me to his mansion with the promise of a commission, then wouldn't let me leave until I showed him the bridge."

"Wow. What a creep. I'm sorry," Ethan said. He looked out into the jungle. "I guess the logical thing to do is visit the town and ask around."

"Town? There's a town nearby?" Tali asked.

Ethan held out a hand. "Here, I'll hold your coat." Tali passed it over. "Yeah, there's a town upriver called Tanasi. Pabi took me there once."

"Wait, there's a town called Tennesee? In another world?"

Ethan left the bridge and Tali scrambled to keep up with his long legs. He shook his head. "Not Tennessee, Tanasi. You know, like the Cherokee village?"

Tali frowned, following as Ethan turned right along the river bank. "I'm not familiar with it."

"I guess if you didn't grow up in Tennessee you wouldn't know," Ethan said. "There used to be an old Cherokee village in Monroe County called Tanasi. Many people think that's where we got the name Tennesse."

"So?" Tali asked. "What's that got to do with this place?"

"According to Pabi, Karagan colonists are the ones who settled in that village, naming it after the town here," Ethan explained. "They ended up marrying into the Cherokee tribe and the rest is history."

"That's just crazy." Tali's forehead, neck, armpits, and breasts were all beginning to sweat puddles. Tali grabbed a hair tie from her purse, pulling her hair into a tight ponytail. "So why did Pabi show you the bridge and nobody else? And how come you've been here before?"

"Pabi wanted me to inherit his role as bridge-keeper," Ethan said. "I've actually only been here once when Pabi brought me here to show me the bridge."

Tali stopped in her tracks. "Wait, you've only been here once?"

Ethan turned around. "Yes. Come on, we don't have much time."

"So the last time you were here was when you were, what, ten?" Tali said, refusing to budge.

"Yes," Ethan said impatiently. "Let's go. We don't want to get too far behind your fake fiancé."

Reluctantly, Tali started walking again. Ethan turned around and continued to follow the river. "So how do you know you're going the right way?"

"It's about a ten-minute walk upriver," he said. "Shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Fine," Tali said. "I guess I'll have to trust you."

"Speaking of which, there's something that's been bothering me," Ethan said. "How did your fake fiancé know you knew of the bridge?"

Tali winced. She had been hoping he wouldn't ask. "Yeah..." She cleared her throat. "About that. I actually made a painting of the bridge."

It was Ethan's turn to stop in his tracks. "You. Did. What?" He whirled around to face her. "What about 'keeping a secret' did you not understand??"

"You were ten! I was eight! I thought it was a kid's secret hideout, not some portal to another world!" Tali argued. "The theme for my University Capstone project was 'Childhood Memories.' I thought the bridge would be the perfect subject to represent the fondest memories of my childhood. How was I supposed to know some crazy rich dude would see it and recognize the bridge?"

Ethan was quiet for a few long moments. Then he spoke up. "A rich dude, huh? No wonder I didn't like him from the start."

"Yeah, he's the owner of some landscaping company in Seattle," Tali said. "Can you really blame me for thinking his offer was legit?"

Ethan took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I see." He turned around again. "Let's go. We're almost there."