From other cats’ points of view, the garden under the rule of Flora was not a lot different than the garden under the rule of The Cat, inasmuch as cats still came and went, and food and water were replenished twice daily.

Flora had been born in the garden and she was initially an affectionate and playful kitten. But at the age of around 4 weeks, The Cat took her and her brother Furrileesa out into the fields for a fortnight. When they returned, Flora’s character had changed completely. We will never know what happened during those two weeks, but from then on, she was very wary of humans and reluctant to interact with us.

Flora’s first kitten was Souci. Flora was a very protective mother but, when Souci was only twelve weeks old, Flora decided she had had enough of mothering and reverted to her old, single lifestyle. Luckily for Souci, Cracker was happy to take over mothering her so Cracker’s own kitten, Clover, would grow up with a companion. Souci and Clover became inseparable, a bond that continued into adulthood.

Thankfully, Flora was more patient with her next litter, becoming an attentive and loving mother. She enjoyed motherhood, tending to the individual needs of her kittens and bringing each up to be confident young cats, just as The Cat had done with Flora and her other kittens before.

In this photo, Flora is napping in the garden with two of her kittens, Pippin and Mango, close by; the header photo shows Flora in the drive with kittens Dandy Grey and Buffy.

On a personal level, Flora had one really close friend in Cheese, Cracker’s identical twin sister, and daughter of The Cat’s arch-enemy Visitor Cat. Flora and Cheese were both unpredictable cats who were not afraid of making their feelings known. Cheese, however, was generally a friendly girl but Flora, on the other hand, was a highly-strung and anxious cat whose character made it frustratingly impossible for the humans to help her.

But it was lovely to see Flora and Cheese together, and it was the only time we saw Flora allogrooming another adult cat – a mark of the depth of their friendship.

Flora’s offspring remained closely bonded to her even as they reached adulthood, and, as The Cat’s sons and daughters had before them, gravitated back to the garden to spend time with their mother. It was hard to know the effect that the passing of The Cat had on Flora as she was such a private character. But looking at photos of Flora in her mother’s place on the water tank, surrounded by other cats (both Garden Family and Visiting Cats, just as her mother used to be), it is impossible to believe that she was unaffected.

Flora seemed to enjoy the various comings and goings of the other cats, as The Cat had done before her, even if she had no desire to interact with them.

Here, Flora is pictured on the left with members of her own family, other Garden Family cats and Visiting Cats; she was confident in the garden, but not assertive – her character was still essentially feral and she never softened towards the humans as her mother had done, all those years before.