Quietly and slowly, I walked down the slope at the head of the walk, and when I reached the edge of the sea grass, I stood still, looking and listening. A few seconds later, I heard it again. It was the sound of an animal in distress—sort of an exhaled whimper or groan. I cocked my head to one side and tried to zero in on the source of the sound.

It came again, more faintly now, but it seemed to be from underneath the boardwalk and on the other side. I looked to where the sound seemed to emanate, but couldn’t see anything unusual. However, there was a large tree limb lodged against one of the piles on the other side that must have floated in on the last high tide. Maybe whatever was making the sound was over there.

I scrambled back up the muddy slope and slid down the steep bank on the other side. Again, I stood at the edge of the grass and listened. Nothing, but then I saw a slight movement out on the tree limb—just behind where a broken off branch was sticking up.

What the heck is that? I wondered. It was a dark ball of something. Is it a small raccoon? I asked myself. Raccoons and possums often prowled the edge of the marsh, hunting crabs and scavenging for dead fish. Then whatever it was lifted its head and turned its large green eyes directly toward me. It was a cat. A small wet cat.

I tried to coax it to me but to no avail. I thought of returning to the boat to fetch it some food but rejected that idea—it might slip away while I was gone. I had to bring it in out of the weather. Seeing there was nothing else to do, I pulled off my shoes and socks and threw them up on the boardwalk. Then, rolling my pants up to the knees, I eased myself into the mud.

“Hold on, little fella. Don’t run. I won’t hurt you,” I cooed to the soaking creature as I slogged closer and closer.

I fully expected the poor thing to make a dash to avoid me, but it waited patiently until I was within arm’s reach. I slowly bent forward and reached out to pick him up, speaking soothingly all the time. When I touched him with a tentative hand, he gave me a pitiful meow, hopped into my arms, and buried his face in my chest. I stroked him softly as I turned and struggled back to the walkway through the grasping, gumlike marsh mud.