Twilight was another female feral Visiting Cat but, unlike Sniffly and Visitor, she came from the fields on the other side of the garden. For a female, she roamed over quite a large patch, from the first road of the next village where there was a colony of cats, through the fields to The Cat’s Garden, also spending time in the vineyards on the other side of the road.

Twilight probably started coming to eat at dawn and dusk when there were no humans around, so we only caught the occasional glimpse of her when she came to eat during the day. She was feral and very wary, constantly checking over her shoulder to make sure there was no one else around.

Then there was a gap of around eight months when we didn’t see her at all, and when she returned she was considerably thinner and very hungry. The gloss had gone from her coat and her shoulders and haunches were pronounced. Her tail and neck were thin, and she are hungrily.

She plucked up the courage to start visiting when the humans were around (although she was still not friendly), and that autumn she brought her kittens from the fields to the drive to introduce them to solid food.

Within a few months, the kittens were independent and the girls Dawn, Storm and Dusk had made the garden and the drive their homes. Twilight was back to her earlier self; her coat was once again glossy and she had replaced the weight she had lost.

Now she had discovered the food bowls in the drive and front path, she never needed to go hungry again.