Lightning was only a few weeks old when he arrived. Unfortunately, there was no warm welcome for him from The Cat who instantly chased him back out of the garden; she had a remarkable turn of speed when she was motivated to move quickly, and this was the fastest she had moved since she had similarly chased Dinky out of the garden a few months earlier.

But, despite Lightning’s young age and small size, he was a self-assured kitten and clever enough to realise that this initial antagonism would dissipate, so long as he kept a low profile. So, after we successfully tempted him back into the garden (and away from the side of the road where he had been hiding) with a bowl of food, he hid behind a water tank for a week, emerging only at dawn and dusk.

Then he started to spend time on top of the high wall in the shade of the olive tree, gazing across the fields.

As the other cats became accustomed to having him around, he became braver and came down into the garden.

For sure, breaking his back leg (we have no idea how) was not part of his plan, but, being young and healthy, he managed by hopping and then limping, and it healed naturally.

Having made her point on Day One, The Cat was not moved to repeat her performance and chase Lightning away again, and he easily slotted into the Garden Family becoming best friends with Dinky (who, like Lightning, had realised that the wrath of The Cat on Day One was but a temporary feature). Dinky was an abandoned Bengal cat, and desperately needed an outlet for his boundless kitten-like energy.

They made a comical duo, the athletic Bengal and the small, orange-and-white kitten, tussling and chasing, and then napping together.

Over the weeks and months, Lightning developed well and was fortuntanately fit and healthy enough to overcome a near-death experience through poisoning (from drinking water containing fertiliser from the plant-trays) – it was turning into quite an eventful summer for him and he was having to grow up fast.

Lightning explored the neighbouring fields methodically, always starting at the same point, exploring in a straight line in one direction, and then returning. It seemed he was searching for somewhere – maybe his original home – and around seven months after he arrived, he disappeared. We assumed he had found what he had been looking for, and this was confirmed fifteen months later when he returned to the field where he sat and stared at us for five minutes before walking back to wherever he had come from.

He just wanted to tell us he was OK, life was good, and all was well in Lightning’s world.