A Track in the Soft Soil

I walked down along the edge of the wooden fence where the garden soil stays soft and damp. A series of tiny indentations caught my eye near the gatepost—small, distinct paw prints trailing into the clover. I knelt down and took a clean popsicle stick from my pocket to measure the stride length between two clear impressions. It was exactly two stick-lengths apart. Carefully pressing a clean plastic bottle cap next to the sharpest claw mark gave me a solid reference size. Based on the pattern, whoever slipped through didn't run; they walked with deliberate, quiet steps.