One sobbing child leaned heavily against a car door. Another, her eyes glazed, stumbled through the panicked, jostling crowd at the school gate.
Nearby, a woman darted down the main street, shrieking, "Victoria! Victoria!"
If responsible agencies had seen the proverbial "red light for danger", and investigated allegations thoroughly, then maybe Thomas Hamilton could have been stopped, blacklisted and disarmed by a responsible Central Police Force. And maybe, just maybe, those wee graves in a cold Dunblane graveyard would be green grass.
Maybe there would be still another dedicated teacher like Gwen who died so bravely, and maybe, just maybe another 16 twelve year-olds, like the pride of Scotland's youth, paused ready to be launched into their lives as a new nation is born!