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

Walt called the state wildlife office from the porch while June made coffee nobody drank. The officer on duty, a woman named Dana Marsh, listened to everything and then said what Walt had been afraid she'd say. "Don't go near her. I can be there first thing tomorrow, but the pass road is already closing for snow. Keep everyone out of that barn."

First thing tomorrow. Walt looked at the vet. The vet looked at the sky. "Grandpa," Lily said from the kitchen doorway. "There was a man by the creek last week. With an orange hat. He was putting little wire circles in the grass."

Walt went very still. The creek ran along the back of the Doyle place, and the Doyles had sold their land to a man none of them had met. Before he could ask her anything else, June spoke from the window. Her voice was strange. "Walt. She's come down."