Outboard is gone

I am a bad cat sitter. The cats had been hiding for two days under the bed, only one coming out briefly to pee on my purple pashmina. In my sadness that they were cooped up in the house (they have been outdoor cats for 12 years, by golly) I decided that Outboard needed some outside time. I asked Marcia if he might want to walk around outside for a minute, and we took him to the backyard. The minute his feet hit the ground he was across the yard and over the back fence. There he meowed and meowed, unable for some reason to get back over the same fence he had just leaped in a single bound. That was two days ago, and no sign of him until today when... I spotted him in the neighbors yard. Martin went out to call him and he darted under her air conditioner unit. I am just so happy that he is alive! So many ideas of how his demise had come to pass had seeped in to my brain- but he is a well-seasoned, scrappy little guy and I will continue to put cat food outside until he is lured back to us. It is very cold tonight, and I keep going to the back door to listen for his little bell, but no luck yet. On a good note, Spooky seems to be settling in, albeit under the bed, but he comes out when called and even has been letting the kids pet him. And he hasn't bitten or scratched me yet, which is making me like him- a lot.