Visitor Cat was still coming to eat regularly (on top of the wall, and out of the way of The Cat – she had learnt her lesson). That autumn, she had two kittens out in the fields – a little tortoiseshell girl and an orange boy, and, when the time was right for weaning, she brought them to the food bowls in the front path after dark and introduced them to the joys of wet food, munchie-crunchies and fresh water. They invariably visited at dusk or after dark, so there are few photos, but those that there are, show Wee Tortie sitting in a bowl while her brother Wee Ginge samples the other dishes – maybe that was her way of saying ‘compliments to the chef’.

And then Wee Tortie disappeared. For days Visitor roamed the neighbourhood calling to her daughter, but to no avail. We eventually discovered that her daughter had passed away in the fields and there was to be no happy reunion.

And then, the following morning, after overnight negotiations between Visitor and The Cat, we were surprised to find Visitor and Wee Ginge installed in the garden. The Cat had granted them the run of one section of the garden, next to the wall where Visitor used to eat. Visitor stuck rigorously to her allocated area, and local alpha-male Longtail moved in for a few days to protect them, just in case The Cat changed her mind.

But gradually, as the days passed and everyone relaxed, Visitor and Tiger (as he was now called) settled into life in The Cat’s garden, with the approval of The Cat. Rules were relaxed and Visitor and Tiger moved around the garden as they pleased. The Cat was even occasionally surprised to find that she had been left on kitten-sitting duty.

Tiger thought it was all a huge adventure – he was determined to live life for two, for himself and for Wee Tortie.