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

She took the steps one at a time, her bad leg hanging. On the top step she lowered her head into the box and picked the kitten up by the scruff, gently, the way a house cat would. Lily let out a breath that fogged the glass.

The bobcat turned to go back down. Her bad leg touched the step. And the wire must have caught on the edge of the wood, because she stumbled, all at once, and fell down the last two steps into the gravel. The kitten tumbled out of her mouth and lay squalling in the frost.

The mother tried to get up. She got her back legs under her, then her good front leg. The wired leg buckled. She lay down beside her kitten, breathing fast, her flanks heaving. Walt waited for her to try again. She didn't.