Grandpa Finds Kittens in His Barn – Then the Vet Looks Up at the Hayloft and Turns Pale

The bobcat stayed in the hayloft for nine more days. Walt left the barn doors open a crack and stopped going up the ladder. Every morning June set a pan of chicken scraps by the bottom bale, and every evening the pan was licked clean. Rusty went back to sleeping in the barn, at the far end, very politely.

Lily was allowed one look a day, from the bottom of the ladder, with Grandpa's hand on her shoulder. Once she saw a small spotted face peering down at her over the edge of the loft. She talked about it for a week. Then, one morning after a hard frost, the pan was full and the hayloft was quiet.

Walt climbed the ladder for the first time since that Saturday. The hollow in the hay was empty and cold. He stood there longer than he meant to, telling himself it was the best thing that could have happened. It was. It still felt like losing something.