I said that I would have to guess it had something to do with alcohol or drugs. Tolmar showed me a copy of the social-services form, pointed to the bottom of the page.

In a section marked “Reason for Apprehension,” someone had scrawled a short note in a clumsy cursive that simply said Single Indian mother, unable to care for children.

MIMI AND I COME out of the hotel and get as far as the steps up to the Charles Bridge.

“I think we should split up.”

“Split up?”

“For the day.” Mimi adjusts her backpack. “I want to wander around and do some sketching.”

“Okay.”

“But I’d like to wander on my own.”

I don’t have to look. I know Eugene and Kitty are standing right behind me.

“You haven’t had breakfast.”

“I’ll find a place. Is that a problem?”

“No. It’s fine.”

“You’ll be okay?”

“Sure.”

“You could find a café and work on the book.”

“Sure.”

“I better get going, or I’ll lose the light.”

There’s a shout from the bridge. A young man has climbed one of the statues and is leaning out over the water. He holds on to the saint’s crown with one hand and flails his free arm around over his head, as though he’s just come out of a chute on a bull.

Mimi steps inside my arms and gives me a hug. I watch the young man on the bridge. He’s taken off his shirt and is waving it in circles. In the distance, two policemen are working their way through the tourists.

“So, you’re going to be gone the entire day.”

“Don’t read anything into it.”

“Maybe I’ll go to the Sex Machines Museum.”

Mimi gives me a quick kiss. “That’s the spirit.”

I watch Mimi head off across the bridge and disappear into the crush of tourists. Splitting up isn’t anything unusual. Mimi and I have done this many times before. Both of us going off on our own.

But it doesn’t feel the same in Prague, and now I’m faced with the prospect of spending the day with Eugene and the Other Demons.

Which I have no intention of doing.

So I start walking. I figure that I’ll walk the day away, stop for coffee every so often, see some of the lesser-known sights on the fly, grab a quick meal, and keep walking.

If nothing else, the exercise will do me good.

So, says Eugene as he trots by my side, what’s the plan?

Stay in the hotel room, says Kitty. Where it’s safe.

We should stand in the sunshine, says Didi.

Sunshine makes us happy, says Desi.

Sports bar, says Chip. I vote for a sports bar.

Maybe you want to hang off a statue, says Eugene, and howl at the sky.