‘Don’t get me in that photo,’ I warn.
They have only been here five minutes but already it feels so normal having them stay. Poppy and Jasmine are bickering about how they can get the best angle to take photos of the front of the villa. I leave them to it as Elias takes their bags upstairs.
‘Mam, come quick,’ says Jasmine.
I notice Poppy is outside, crouched down.
‘Is she okay? What’s happened?’ At first, I wonder whether she is trying to get some fancy angled photo of the villa, but as I look down, her hand is reaching out into the bush at the front.
As I get closer, I hear an unmistakable noise.
‘Look, Mam! Shh, come closer,’ says Poppy.
Crouching down and looking into the bush, I see the most beautiful ginger kitten with big blue eyes looking up at me.
‘Oh, my goodness. What a beauty. Quick, Jasmine, ask Elias for a bowl with some water. There might be a tin of tuna in the cupboard, but make sure it’s the spring water one,’ I say.
‘Well, hello, my beauty. Aren’t you gorgeous?’ The pussy cat moves its teeny kitten paw towards me, and I feel the softness of newborn skin on the pad. I’ll make sure we run to the shops for some cat food later.
‘Shouldn’t we give it milk, Mam?’ says Jasmine as she finally returns.
‘No, cats can be lactose intolerant. Water’s better. I wonder where the mother is?’
While I put the water and tuna down, Jasmine and Poppy look around, but there is no sign of any of the rest of the litter or the mother. The kitten can’t eat the tuna fast enough.
‘What’s this I hear about a kitten?’ says Elias, crouching down to join me.
‘Look.’ I point at the kitten in the shade, and it seems to immediately take a shine to Elias and starts walking towards him.
‘Do you have some sort of magic touch with kittens?’ I tease.
The kitten comes out from under the bush and seems attracted by the lace on Elias’s trainer. I notice how scrawny it is and vow to feed it up while I am here. When we make our way into the villa, the kitten carefully follows Elias.
‘What should we do? I don’t want to take it inside in case the mother comes looking for it. I mean, imagine if someone locked one of my babies in a villa and I couldn’t get to them,’ I say as I look towards my girls.
‘This is different, Mam. I think it’s been dumped,’ says Poppy.
‘Well, we’d better be careful. Let’s make an area in the shade and leave the bowl there. We can keep an eye on it a bit longer and see if the mother returns.’
‘I think that’s the best idea. Anyway, come on, you want to see your rooms?’ says Elias.
The girls can’t believe their bedrooms as they look at the white gauzy curtains that sweep across the corners of their four-poster beds.
‘This is like a fairy tale, Mam,’ says Poppy.
As the girls settle in and unpack, quickly making themselves at home, Elias prepares us some lunch and I check on the little kitten again. It’s now fast asleep in the shade after enjoying the food and water we gave it.
‘He’s still there, Elias.’
‘Okay, well, let’s see tomorrow what happens. In the meantime, I’ll pop to the supermarket and see what I can find for it. Let’s have lunch first though, yeah?’
Elias has prepared a salad with the rosiest red tomatoes and the freshest of ingredients that he found at the local market. I love how fresh the food is here. I arrange the table outside by the pool and call the girls down for lunch. I can’t wait to see their faces when they investigate the pool.
As expected, they are quite dramatic when they see the outside. Poppy hangs onto Jasmine and pretends to faint.
‘Oh… my… god… Seriously?’ says Jasmine.
‘I’ve died and gone to heaven,’ says Poppy.
