The next morning was cold and the ground was covered in frost, there was no little cat under the tree and the crate appeared empty as well. Oh dear... but then I heard purring. I looked closer into the crate and two big green eyes looked back. Remembering the rules of cat communication, I blinked and looked away and made some purring sounds. The purring in the crate grew louder. 

Encouraged by this, I went back into the house to find my padded jacket and gardening gloves - I did not want to be scratched! Slowly, I approached the crate, purring all the time, grateful that there was no-one else around to hear and see a grown woman behaving so strangely. The kitten stopped purring but did not move, so I reached out and grasped her firmly at the back of the neck and quickly held her close in folded arms, wondering if her claws and teeth would get through my sleeve. 

The little cat felt cold and did not move, but had started purring again - so loudly that I thought I was holding a small motorbike! I carried her into the house to show the children, and my husband brought the crate into the warm boiler room where the little cat slept for the next day (when she was not curled up on my lap!).

Will be continued