Following a gut feeling, I decided to follow her. She hopped off the car and trotted down the street, glancing back occasionally as if to make sure I was still there. We walked for a block, then another, until she led me to an overgrown patch of weeds behind a local grocery store.

And there they were. Hidden amongst the discarded cardboard boxes and tangled vines, were four tiny kittens, no bigger than my fist, huddled together for warmth. Their eyes were barely open, and they mewed softly, a chorus of tiny, helpless cries.