“Bees and Bears.” Oz begins chuckling. “A long time ago, the Bees made the mistake of sharing their honey with the Bears. The Bears were delighted, and having discovered the pleasure of sweetness on the tongue, they began roaming the land, searching for Bee trees. And each time they found one, they would destroy it in order to get the honey. You can see the problem? Yes?”

“Bears as weapons of mass destruction.”

“This was, as you might imagine, a disaster for the Bees. And they quickly came together to discuss what could be done about the unacceptable behaviour of Bears. Of course, the answer is easy enough.”

“And this is the game? Bees and Bears?”

“But look at the time.” Oz stands suddenly and holds out both wrists. “I will be late.”

“So what’s the answer?”

“Golden Lane,” Oz calls out as he hurries past the buffet. “It is not to be missed.”

Mimi arrives in the breakfast room just as breakfast is being cleared away. She sees the danger immediately, grabs two plates, and plows her way through the staff and the food as though she is clearing snow off a sidewalk.

“You didn’t wake me.” Her hair is wet, and the label at the back of her shirt is sticking straight up in the air.

“Not my job.”

“I could have missed breakfast.”

“Then get up earlier.”

“I need nine hours,” says Mimi. “You know I’m no good without nine hours.”

I seldom sleep more than four hours a night. Some nights I don’t sleep at all.

Mimi blames Eugene and the Other Demons, but I’ve never been able to sleep for more than six.

“You know what happens when you don’t get enough sleep.”

“You get more work done.”

“A lack of sleep leads to problems with the immune system and early onset dementia.”

“I thought you told me that as you get older, you need less sleep.”

“The Institute to Confound and Demoralize,” Mimi tells me, “has decided that that is no longer true.”

The Institute to Confound and Demoralize is something that Mimi has made up to deal with the contradictions that seem to arise with alarming frequency.

Coffee is bad for you. Coffee is good for you.

Red wine helps blood health. Red wine reduces your ability to fight infection.

Exercise is essential for general fitness. Exercise contributes to inflammation of the joints.

Kale, the silent killer.

Mimi is the only person I know who can eat and talk at the same time. “So,” she says, “what shall we do today?”

“Fly home?”

“The castle,” says Mimi. “We could see the castle.”

“We’ve seen more castles than anyone should have to see,” I say. “The Loire Valley?”

“Those were mostly châteaux.”

“Mont Saint-Michel? Neuschwanstein? Alcazar? Versailles?”

“Versailles is a palace.”

“Sleeping Beauty Castle?”

“Disneyland Park? In Paris?” Mimi shakes her head. “I hope you’re being ironic.”