Celestina had two other kids downstairs watching TV. David and Saúl were eleven and seven respectively. David had a smile that could blind and wore a Spiderman T-shirt, while Saúl was short and tubby and, like myself, the type of kid to ‘laugh if the cat’s arse was on fire’ as the saying goes. The TV was at the lowest volume and the boys were watching from the sofa – some badly-drawn Spanish cartoon.

‘I can watch them for you, if you want?’ I said. ‘Uh, puedo cuidar, si?’

‘Oh no, they will be fine.’

‘They look pretty bored. I don’t blame them either – cartoons like this make me want to throw a toaster in a bath and take a fuckin’ run-up.’

Celestina looked pained – I’d gone beyond her understanding, it seemed. This wasn’t an unusual expression for me to see on someone else. Nevertheless, as soon as I started pinching out my seedlings from the trays and transplanting them into the ground, the children gravitated outside to watch me more closely. Kids are like magnets to me, I swear. I think on some level they know they are safe in my company.

‘You can plant the new seeds, if you like,’ I told the eldest and pointed to the new stack of packets on the countertop. ‘And you can decide where they go,’ I said to the younger boy.

‘Quiero ayudar,’ said Mátilda.

‘OK, you get the most important job – you’ve got to water them. Darles agua?’ She nodded vehemently.

Each one of them just got on with it and afterwards, I paid them in warm chocolate chip cookies. Best friends for life.

The boys they knew about the climate in Rocas Calientes so I bowed to their knowledge on where the sunniest patches were. Lavender, cornflowers, verbena, salvia and the special sun-loving shrubs all down the eastern border of the lawn; roses, passion flower, evening primrose, agapanthus, cempasuchil, osteospermum and some Mexican orange blossom all along the western edge. Mátilda mostly ate the herbs and buried Richard E. Grunt in the soil for me to find.

‘Little pig man is hiding, señorita. You find him,’ she sang at me, giggling behind her hand. ‘Warmer, warmer, hotter, now you’re colder.’