Infernal light.
The day passed much like the one before, but this time, when I returned at night, Phillip awakened easily. He had merely been pretending to sleep. “My darling, you are here,” he whispered. “Kendra told me, and I didn’t eat or drink anything she gave me, but there is nothing you can do. I am pledged to be with her now, forever.”
“But I haven’t told you my plan, darling.”
Quickly, I told him what I had in mind. Then I summoned Kendra in the mirror, and we repeated it to her.
“Do you think it will work?” I asked when I had finished.
“I think it’s as good a plan as any,” Kendra said. “And I think you are right in your suspicions. I haven’t known any trolls, but I have heard they are rather peculiar about light.”
“I’m not sure, but we can try,” Phillip said. “There is nothing to lose, for I am miserable here. My nightmares have been twice as bad as before, and I love you. I want only to be with you.”
“I do too,” I said. “I want to be with you, and if I cannot . . . there is nothing to lose. I have no life without you.”
It was then that I remembered I was with him, and I hugged and kissed him until he said, “Perhaps we should begin.”
I nodded, and began to yell his name and cry as I had on the previous two nights. This I did for an hour or more before giving up, sobbing, and falling asleep in Phillip’s arms.
But this time, his arms held me tight.
In the morning, I secreted the mirror inside my coat, then had a good cry. It wasn’t difficult. All I had to do was think about the men who lay dead in the cemetery just outside the castle walls or think of George or Jack or the pain Phillip had gone through. But this time, there was hope for him, and hope for me.
As I had the two mornings before, I asked the troll princess if I could come back that night. As before, she asked me what I had as payment.
This time, I walked to the door as I spoke.
“Let . . . me . . . see . . .” I fumbled in my pockets. The troll princess followed me, but when she got close to the door, close to the light, she stopped. I opened the door wide.
“Oh, look!” I said. “Look what I have! This is so beautiful!”
“What?” she screamed with impatience. “What is it? I can come no closer!”
It was then I knew my suspicions were true—that the light was her downfall. That was why trolls lived under bridges or in castles that sank underground in daylight. Outside, it was a brilliant, clear day with the sun streaming forward into the castle.
“It’s in here somewhere. . . .” I fumbled in my pockets as she craned forward eagerly. Finally, I pulled out the mirror by its handle. Outside, the sun was rising, and as I held the mirror out, I made sure it caught the sun. Then I angled it so it reflected that sun—right back at the troll princess.
“No!” she screamed. And then she was silent.
I looked back. She had turned to a stone statue.
“It worked!” I shrieked to Phillip. Then I ran into Phillip’s room. The door was locked, but I found the key on the wall and let him out.
“It worked!” I threw my arms around him.
I was happy. Not only because I had Phillip back, but also because my own resourcefulness had made it so. I had figured it out myself.
And then we hugged and kissed, and were generally beside ourselves with joy.
We used the mirror to contact Kendra, to share our joy.
“It worked!” we told her. “The troll is turned to stone!”
“Where are you now?” she said.
“Inside the castle. Look!” I angled the mirror so that it showed the stone-made troll. “Your mirror did it! Trolls can’t be in the sunlight!”
“I never knew that,” she said, “but . . . er . . . I would get out of there right now.”
And just as I started to say, “Why?” I felt a rumbling beneath my feet.
I looked at Phillip. A few pebbles fell from the ceiling. He looked at me. “Come on!” I grabbed his hand, and we flew toward the door, the floor rumbling and shifting beneath our feet.
Seconds later, the house slipped beneath the ground.
“Well,” Phillip said, “that was an interesting turn of events. Now how do we get home?”
How did we get home? “I don’t know. I have my own travel documents, from the old lady at the War Office, but you . . . ?” I looked at Phillip.
“Check your pockets,” Kendra said in the mirror.
I did, and I found Phillip’s passport and all the documentation we needed.
And so we returned to London, wrapped in each other’s arms and planning for our future. “I’d still like to take you to Paris,” Phillip said as we snuggled on the train. “Perhaps we will be able to go someday, when this cruel war is over.”
“In the meantime,” I said, “since we can go out in the daylight, perhaps you can take me to Regent’s Park.”