Well the end of that long story is that Isky finally did venture out and ran through the house and right out the door that I held open for her and jumped off the deck and the two were never seen again. I left food out for days but they took off up the hill in this isolated place.
A cat showed up at my rural home in 2006 and he is still here. Started feeding him and he got closer to the house after 2 weeks. I named him Barney, he is orange and white, is extremely friendly. A very wise cat he is, used to find him on the roof resting during the day. Now that he is old he stays low and is a porch kitty along with his new sister Boadie the calico. She was feral, but is now tame and loving.