queens.

It may or may not have been a true story.
Based on the clues available at the time there really was no telling.
And, as much as options had to be kept open, there was a preferred outcome.
Doubt was not welcome, fear was omnipresent but actively fought on all possible fronts.
Kindness could have been the key.
Time — slow, hazy and genuinely intrigued — made its contribution.
A handicap embraced, excuses forgiven.
Queries remained and do remain.