Maybe a neighbor popped a mole in his yard with a .22 and a local cat brought the offering to Abbey, since she can’t get out to hunt herself.
That’s rather why I’m thinking ‘cat who has a human-provided food supply.’
Maybe another cat came through and caught the mole, and that’s what got Abbey interested in getting out there?
It’s been a while since the last Kitty Report, but this is new.
Abbey likes to hide sometimes. The other day I went all over the house looking for her and calling her. Here’s the thing: Goo helped. She got off the bed and followed me around to help me look for Abbey. Tonight she helped Catmom look for her. It’s so cute!
I once succeeded in finding a hiding cat only because another cat was looking very intently at the space in which he was hiding.
(It was another of those ‘a cat couldn’t possibly fit in there’ spaces. Yes, they can.)
I’m sure Goo knows exactly where she is. But she seems to like to help us look for her.
Maybe she thinks you’re just taking a roundabout path to wherever the treats are. 
Yeah, zombie thread; but better than starting a new thread.
Abbey was timid when we got her. She didn’t want to go out into the catio. I’d pick her up and take her our for a ‘tour’. Catmom would tell me not to upset her. Now, Abbey likes to go into the catio.
I used to try to pick her up and put her on my lap when I was on the couch. She’d say, ‘No, no! Don’t hold me on your lap! Let me go!’ Now she crawls onto my lap on her own accord.
She’s such a sweetie. 
Goo still won’t get into my lap. But she’s been more generous offering me her belly when I wake up in the middle of the night. 
Congratulations on getting Abbey to trust you so well! as well as to trust the outside.
And for that matter Goo; allowing belly rubs is definitely a gesture of trust, even if she’s not a lap-sitter. One of mine is like that.
And thanks for the update.