Fred, a handsome tuxedo kitten, and his sisters Fickle, Fleckle and Drip, were born in the neighbouring field. They spent the first few weeks of their lives there, while The Cat came over the wall into the drive each day for food and water.

As the only boy, Fred was the protector of the family, of his sisters and his mother. They were a happy and close-knit family, and Fred would have liked to think that he was in charge, although with three calico/tortoiseshell sisters, that was probably always going to be wishful thinking. But he had a strong sense of duty and was always at the front of the group; he played the hardest, and he was the boldest.

Many times the kittens had sat in the field and watched their mother jumping nimbly over the wall – but without anything to clamber up, they could not scale the wall on their own.

So, when the time came for weaning, The Cat led her family through the fields and around three walls of her garden, until they came to a field on the other side where there were some crates and pieces of wood stacked in a corner, leaning conveniently against the garden wall.

The Cat had obviously calculated that these would give her kittens the best chance of scaling the wall, and it was of course Fred who appeared first on top of the wall.

That was the first part of the puzzle solved but, as is so often the case, getting up is easier than getting down. Fred paused and took a good look around and, in just a few minutes, had worked out that the branches of the vine would make an ideal pathway between the wall and the ground. His sisters followed him with a degree of trepidation – they weren’t all as brave as Fred.

During the following days, the kittens got their strength back after their long trek. The Cat had brought them for weaning, but first they needed to settle in to their new surroundings.

Then weaning began. As usual, the kittens were intent on eating the dry food intended for the adults while the adults preferred the kittens’ food. At least Fred and his sisters were enthusiastic – they attacked the bowls with gusto.

The girls soon discovered that three kittens could eat simultaneously, while all standing in the bowl.

And of course there was water to drink – very welcome after the adults’ dry food which the kittens were thoroughly enjoying.

The Cat had successfully negotiated the biggest hurdle in the weaning process – getting her four kittens from the field into the garden. Now they were there, it was time to relax, play, nap and grow. There were more adventures to be had, and more fields to be explored over the next weeks.