What happened to Hillary?

We were taking the washings in at about three when we saw Hillary walking.  We were on the verandah; she was in the house next door.  We thought she was let in by our neighbours.  We waited for her to return.  She did not come back home long after we got worried.  B decided to search for her at about nine.  Shortly after he left, I got a phonecall from B to tell me to come to help him.  Where was she?  She was up in the attic.  She meowed as we talked to her but did not come back to us.  We decided to climb up by unfolding the ladder that has not been used for years.  We went up.  Hillary was there, just somewhere on the beam out of our reach.  As we called her, she meowed, but she did not move.  We wondered if she was injured.  Why did she not come to us?  She seemed frightened, scared and besides herself.  At last we came closer to us.  B caught her to climb down the ladder.  

We came back home.  We had to wait for it but she got calmer.  She is a cat who is agile and athletic enough and she can even climb up and walk on the roof, coming down easily.   Yesterday up in the attic she at last could move without any difficulty but until then she was at a loss.  She seemed to have lost herself.  We wonder what happened to her during the six hours after three.  She will not tell us and we will not be able to know the circumstances for ever.  

Three or four years ago at the end of March she disappeared.  After several days she returned very thin.  Did something similar to yesterday's incident caused her trouble?  We do not know the causes: she will never tell us.

I wonder what experience the cat has who lives in and out of the house and what their human companion think about and make out anything mysterious from human perspective.   

Now she seems to be satisfied with every thing at home, stretching herself and leanig against my back, with a little bit of added thoughtfulness.