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1. If every effort to bring down your child’s fever is unsuccessful and the doctors cannot diagnose anything wrong with her, then you should seek other means to alleviate her health. Before you help her into the house, if you notice that her shadow refuses to follow her body, then you should know that her sickness is numinous, and it is beyond what science can cure or fathom.
2. Carefully search for the places your wife used to keep her things hidden. Before now, you have never been bothered about why she is secretive about certain things. But now that she has passed, you feel like she went to the grave with a secret that is somehow linked to the ailment of your daughter.
3. Check her wardrobe; this is certainly where you will find what you are looking for: a wooden box, inside which is a letter on a piece of parchment. Inside the same box is a red stone talisman. Your heart pounds and sweat begins to slide down your face as you see this and start to think your wife is a witch. But she is not. The letter tells you in great detail that your child was a granted wish by the Deity of Many Faces. Your child’s illness is not a sickness; it’s a reminder that she is a borrowed blessing. A vow was made. Every fifth year it must be renewed, and you are now three months late in doing so. A failure to do so will result in the deity calling back the gift. Now, you must embark upon a journey.
4. Now that you have accepted that you must go on this journey and you have read the instructions your wife wrote down, keep watch for the cues that will tell you the best time to leave. Within three nights of reading the letter, you must stay up past the witching hour to receive instructions explaining how to proceed.
   1. A tawny owl will perch on your window and knock against the pane until dawn. It will leave behind some of its feathers. Pick these up, bind them together, and keep them safe.
   2. Your neighbor’s Rottweiler will bark when the gibbous moon appears in the night sky. Listen closely to its bark, as in it will be instructions that only you can hear.
   3. Come out of your house when the cathedral bell down the road tolls. A messenger of the Deity of Many Faces will hand you a beaded trinket.
5. You are now prepared for your journey. Keep the owl’s feathers, the trinket, the red stone talisman, and the smooth wooden doll that you have kept beneath your pillow since her passing. The doll has the tuft of your late wife’s hair braided in it. The obstacles your wife faced during her own journey are no longer a threat—the red stone talisman will protect you from those same dangers she already faced.
6. As you travel the road, before long you will see the owl again flying west. Follow it. You will find a village that does not appear on modern maps. The natives there do not speak any language you understand. They are adherents of the old ways, and they worship the Deity of Many Faces. Memories are the only currency they understand. You will be directed to an old woman who instructs you to make your payment inside a gourd. If you fail to do this, you will be unable to find your way back to the main road. The old woman will ask you to carefully decide which of your memories you are giving. Choose carefully. The more precious a memory is, the easier your road will be to travel.
7. When you come across Baba Ibeji, the old ferryman who accepts stories as payment, don’t be frightened. He’s the one your wife was referring to in the letter you read. In the moment when you stand before Baba Ibeji and he awaits payment before ferrying you across the river, you wonder why your wife went this far for a child. You are baffled at how your wife had soiled her hands in ways that you find repugnant. Don’t blame her. When a woman who desperately wants a child has been childless for ten years, it is understandable that she might be driven to take drastic measures. But before you tell your tale to Baba Ibeji, take note that the stories you share must be true and not fictional. And if Baba Ibeji suspects arrogance or selfishness in your story, he will return you back to shore until you are ready to offer a story untainted by such. Clear your mind and tell a tale to the ferryman. Tell him about your wife. How loving she was. The first time you met her. How she quickly won your heart.
8. You are now halfway through your journey. Cross to the other side of the bridge where the wind always blows toward yesterday. Here, you will hear voices. Be warned to avoid the lies of witches’ familiars who can read your mind and seek to divert you from your quest.
9. If you find yourself in a place where time shifts strangely and the weather cycles continuously from one season to the next, it means you didn’t offer a sufficiently significant memory as payment to the old woman. If so, you only have yourself to blame. You may see a younger version of yourself running ahead; don’t chase after him. The wind will blow stronger. From the whirlwind of sand and dust rising from the ground, your wife will call to you. She will reach out her hand, beckoning for you to come with her to the other side. Do not capitulate to this call, however tempting. The other side is for those who no longer belong in the mortal world; you must remember your daughter, who’s counting on you. This place feeds on regrets and pains. You must starve it. When the wind is calm, head straight forward to the iroko tree you see ahead of you. Present the owl’s feathers. You will be granted access to a secret passageway that will lead you to a market of promises.
10. In the market of promises, you are expected to trade away items in return for one connected to your wife’s vow. Your wife failed to inform you that she had once traded a game of ayo for a woven basket filled with dreams, one of which is for your daughter to become a medical doctor. The basket was dropped at the feet of the Deity of Many Faces as one of the payments for vow renewal. Though you consider the beaded bibelot a gaudy bauble, at the market of promises you can trade it for a clay pot full of moringa seeds, which signifies good health and long life.
11. You are now about to enter into the temple where you will meet the deity and renew your vow. Remember, the moringa seeds you are offering to renew your wife’s vow isn’t enough to settle her debt because the payment is already three months overdue. If your heart is full of anger and fear, you must empty it of these negative emotions. Note that you can choose to continue in the vow your wife made or make a fresh vow. Before accepting to continue your wife’s vow or choosing your own, weigh your options thoroughly before any decision is made.
12. Place the offering at the stone altar alongside the remnants of anger and other negative emotions which can still be seen on your face. If you have decided to make a new vow, you can choose to offer something like the full name of your daughter, the memory of her first birthday, or a material item that is of high value. You will find the list of acceptable items on the last page of this guide. If you choose to continue settling your wife’s vow, then know that you must learn everything that is a part of it.
13. You will know your vow has been accepted when you see the Deity of Many Faces appear before you. In a trancelike state, you will see a kudu grazing in a glade; or an elderly man seated on a wooden chair wrapped in a brightly colored Shuka and holding a staff; or a white bald eagle hovering over a river. Any of these three signs are evidence that the Deity of Many Faces has accepted your offering and agreed to your vow.
14. Your daughter’s health has been restored; you can head back home. But remember: The Deity of Many Faces holds vows and promises sacred, and you must do the same.

This guide is unique; no other copies exist. For the sake of humanity, guard it with your life.