"Don't leave me, Mama."
"I won't, dear."
She crooned to him, softly, and he relaxed still more. His head drooped on her shoulder and after a while he fell asleep.
But it wasn't the same as it had been. It wouldn't ever be quite the same again. He knew he was different now.
That night Eric lay asleep. He was curled on his side, one chubby hand under his cheek, the other still holding his favorite animal, the wooly lamb his mother had given him for his birthday. He stirred in his sleep, threshing restlessly, and whimpered.
His mother's face lifted mutely to her husband's.
"Myron, the things those children said. It must have been terrible for him. I'm glad at least that he couldn't perceive what they were thinking."
Myron sighed. He put his arm about her shoulders and drew her close against him. "Don't torture yourself, Gwin. You can't make it easier for him. There's no way."
"But we'll have to tell him something."