On the eve of Britain's Mother's Day, two distraught women spoke of their 5-year-olds - wounded in the Dunblane massacre, but alive.
They know how much more fortunate they are than the 16 families whose children were slain by gunman on Wednesday. But they have much to worry about still."We can hardly imagine the horrors that Robert has seen, and we thank God that he is still with us," said Liz Purvis, whose son was recovering Saturday from an arm wound. He is one of 12 injured survivors of the massacre at the Primary School.
After years of writing letters to complain about rumors that branded him a "pervert," ousted Boy Scout leader Thomas Hamilton opened fire on the kindergarten class and teacher, then shot and killed himself.
Queen Elizabeth II and daughter Princess Anne plan a visit Sunday to this mourning town on the edge of the Scottish Highlands. The last monarch to visit was Queen Victoria, who drove up in a carriage on an official tour of Scotland in 1842.
Television and radio stations, sports arenas, train stations and social venues across Britain will fall silent for a minute at 9:30 a.m. - the approximate time of Wednesday's massacre - on Sunday.
At a news conference with Robert's mother, Veronica Hutchison sobbed and shook as she talked about her daughter Amy, who was hospitalized with a knee wound.
Outwardly, Amy and Robert appear more composed than adults, said a police officer assigned to the families.
But "Robert and Amy . . . both have their troubled moments, when they're clearly off in their own wee worlds and staring blankly," Detective Constable Dawn Brown said. "They're working the horror of what they saw out in their own minds."
Another child, 5-year-old Amie Adam, was in critical condition Saturday at Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow after surgery to her shattered thigh. Doctors say she may be permanently disabled.
Local florists shipped in fresh flowers from as far away as Holland on Saturday, their supplies depleted by orders from around the world for the wreaths and bouquets that lined the approaches to Dunblane Primary School.
Yellow roses from Tom and Ronnie Woolly, a couple in Eugene, Ore., came with a note: "Our hearts will never be more saddened as they are now over the loss of our dear sweet babies."
More than 500 stuffed animals accompanied the flowers. Police placed them inside the school's main entrance, to protect them from icy, wet winds.
"There's a worldwide expression of grief here," police Chief Superintendent George Matchett told reporters, standing beside the monument of playthings, which had an American flag displayed prominently in the middle. "Others are arriving all the time."
In one corner stood 16 little toy sheep for the murdered children, and a 17th bearing the message, "With love, to the brave teacher."
On Friday night, 5,000 Scots wound through the streets and the churchyard to fill Dunblane's 13th-century cathedral for a mourning vigil.
The school is to reopen Friday, after a week of funerals. The first services, Monday, will be for two 5-year-old best friends, Emma Crozier and Joanna Ross.
"They were bright little girls, wee sparklers, little buttons," said the Rev. William Gilmour, minister at the church both children attended.
Teacher Gwenne Mayor, 45, will be buried Thursday. As many as six funerals will be held next week at the cathedral, said the Rev. Colin McIntosh.
The massacre has raised questions about how Hamilton, a loner who complained of being branded a pedophile, was licensed by police to own four semiautomatic handguns under Britain's strict gun-control laws.
Hamilton had been angered by attempts by authorities to prevent him from running boys' clubs. He was widely regarded locally as unstable.