Kittens will be kittens, and sometimes that includes getting themselves into trouble. And, with seven kittens in their joint colony, The Cat and Sprocket had their work cut out to keep them all under control.

The kittens were raised in the garden, and spent some time on the terrace when very young. They learnt to climb by scrambling over piles of logs and twigs, and scaling the fruit trees and the vine. They were one big family and, although they seemed to know which mother was theirs, they all played together and got along perfectly.

As none of them were strong enough to negotiate the olive tree or the high wall, we would let them out through the garden gate after dinner so they could explore the drive, supervised by The Cat and Sprocket, before returning to the safety of the garden. In the drive they could play in and around the plant pots and troughs, have fun in the boxes which the adults used for napping, acquaint themselves with the whereabouts of the food and water bowls, and practise climbing up a dead tree trunk which took them to the top of the wall dividing the drive from the field.

It seemed inevitable someone would fall off the wall into the field, and that someone turned out to be Little Bang.

He landed safely, and, to start with, it was all a big adventure, but then he realised he was alone and in a strange place and started to miaow. The only way to get back would have been by jumping from the field up onto the wall, and only adult cats could do that. Sprocket went to the field and checked up on him … and then she came back to the garden on her own. Obviously she wanted him to try and work out how he was going to get back – a technique The Cat had used with previous litters.

The hours passed and Little Bang became more upset. Night was falling, and the Visiting Cats started to arrive to eat. Mr Tiffin arrived and heard the plaintive cries. He went to the wall and stared down anxiously into the field – an unusual thing for a male cat to do.

Mr Tiffin wasn’t friendly, but he was a clever cat so the humans found a long plank of wood and placed one end in the field and propped the other end up on the wall next to the tree stump. We asked Mr Tiffin if he could show Little Bang how to walk up the plank to the wall, and then come down the tree stump into the drive. From there, Sprocket could guide him back if necessary.

And the following morning, Little Bang was back in the garden, safe and sound with his family.

Had he learnt his lesson? Who knows. But a couple of days later, Little Bang appeared on the terrace having scaled the olive tree and negotiated the high wall. He was obviously very pleased with himself, but this time he knew how he was going to make his return to the garden.

Of course the humans wondered whether Mr Tiffin could be Little Bang’s father – it would explain his concern. Either way, Little Bang was safe and sound and the family was reunited.