“Hey, Emily,” Mel greeted. “We can hear them but can’t tell where the cries are coming from.”
She hoped it wasn’t inside the dumpster, but the unpleasant odor wouldn’t stop her rescue. Using the grooves on the side of the dumpster as footholds, she hoisted herself up and glanced inside, relieved to find it was only about a quarter full. The smell of hot garbage hit her with a one-two punch anyway. Emily nearly gaged but held it together. She’d faced worse in Houston in hotter temperatures and twice as much garbage.
“Wait, no, they’re not in there,” Loni said, pointing to the ground. “I can hear their cries coming from down there.”
The sweet woman was slowly going blind, so Emily trusted Loni’s hearing. It would, no doubt, adapt to the change in her sight with an increase in acuity.
Emily jumped down and walked over to the round storm drain cover by Loni’s feet. She knelt down and peered in, and sure enough, she could see two kittens moving around.
“Okay, little ones,” she murmured. “We’ll get you out. Hang on.”
She put her fingers through the slats and gripped tightly then pulled with all her might, but it barely budged. Shoot.
“Hang on. I’ll get Carter and Dex,” Mel said. “They’re just beating the crap out of each other on the mats. Let them put their muscles to good use.”
Before she could reply, the woman was halfway to the open bay door of the ESI garage at the other end of the alley behind the strip mall. In the meantime, Emily readied a crate forthe kittens and grabbed a crowbar from behind her seat, then returned to Loni, who was talking softly to the meowing kittens.
“How do you think they got in there?” she asked.
“Not sure, but I’m going to track down that answer after I get them to the shelter.” Emily glanced around but saw no obvious entrances.
She set the crate down, then wedged the crowbar under a slat in the drain cover and pushed down with all her weight. It lifted and she shifted it a few inches when Mel returned with Carter and Dex at her side.
“Okay, here’s the muscle. But I’ve got to go. My one o’clock is here and ready for ink,” Mel said, before entering the back door of her tattoo shop.
Dex took the crowbar from Emily and set it on the ground. “We’ll get the lid.”
Carter nodded. “Yeah, and you get the kittens.”
Emily smiled. “Thanks.”
She wasn’t stupid or proud. She was grateful for the help and happily moved out of the way. The men grabbed the lid and lifted it up and off the hole as if it only weighed a pound. When they set it down on the ground, she moved in with her net to reach down and scoop the kittens out one at a time.
They hissed in protest but when she released them into the crate, they calmed right down, as if they knew she was trying to help. And they were fairly easy to handle when she examined them at her truck. They were feral but not too skittish yet.
“They going to be okay?” Loni asked, from behind.
Emily turned around and smiled. “Yes, thanks to you and your keen hearing, these little girls are going to be just fine.”
She’d determined their sex during her quick examination.
Loni smiled, big and bright, and moved in closer. “I’m glad. Can I pet them?”
Emily shook her head. “The vet needs to examine them better and they’ll need shots and to be dewormed.” She opened a can of food and watched as the little girls eagerly ate. They had a good appetite.
“Aww…” Loni sighed. “Poor things are starving.”
She shook her head. “It’s a good sign, though. Not the being starved part, but that they aren’t sickly.”
Loni nodded, continuing to stare at the kittens with a soft gaze.
“And after they get vaccinated and dewormed, they will probably go up for adoption in a week,” Emily said. “They need a little socialization and handling first, since they’re feral.”
“Can I put my name down or something to be called when they are ready?” Loni asked, obviously already besotted with the calico cuties.
Emily nodded. “Yes. I’ll make a note of it on their paperwork. Hang on.” She grabbed her clipboard with the case paperwork on it from the cab then added Loni’s name and phone number along with the names the woman already had for them. Cinnamon and Ginger.
“The shelter will call you when they’re ready,” she said. “But you can visit them any time.”
