But that is exactly the point.

Beatrice had managed, through three years of patient, deniable cruelty, to plant in a small child a doubt about the most fixed and reliable thing in her life, to make her wonder whether even that could be taken from her if she caused enough trouble.

That is what sustained cruelty does to a child.

It does not just hurt them in the moment; it reaches into their sense of what is safe and stable in the world and introduces a crack, a permanent low hum of insecurity, a fear that the ground might give way if they step wrong.

Caleb’s answer, always, no matter who gets mad, was not just a comfort.