cum abactae boves quaedam

[pmda]

In LLPSI XLI Orberg scribit:

Deinde, cum abactae boves quaedam relictas desiderantes mugirent, boves in spelunca inclusae vocem reddiderunt [vocem reddere = respondere], qua audita Hercules revertit.

Then, with the cows having been driven away a few remaining were lowing, the cattle enclosed within the cave answered this voice, this having been heard, Hercules turned back.

[Shenoute]

In a very literal translation (and using part of yours) :

Then, as some driven-away cows were lowing, desiring those-who-had-been-left-behind, the cattle enclosed within the cave answered (no need of "this voice"), this having been heard, Hercules turned back.

[Qimmik]

abactae boves quaedam -- this is not abl. absolute: it's nominative and therefore the subject. Desiderantes is nominative and modifies abactae boves, and relictas [boves] (acc.) is the object of desiderantes.

Roughly: "Then, when some of the cows that had been driven away mooed, longing for those that were left behind [or just "the rest of them"], the cows that had been enclosed within the cave returned their call [vocem]. Having heard this [vocem is the antecedent of qua; literally, "this having been heard"], Hercules turned back."

Relatives in Latin can often best be translated into English as demonstratives, beginning a new sentence. In fact, in extended narrative, relatives, rather than demonstratives, are often used to connect one sentence with the next.