He looked around, and then he saw something. “I’ll be damned. Look at that.”
“Look at what?”
“Goddam cat, going up that stepladder.”
“Ha.”
“I love a cat. They’re always up to something.”
He pulled on his gloves, took a look at the night, kicked his pedal a couple of times, and went. Soon as he was out of sight I dove for the horn. I was too late. There was a flash of fire from the porch, and every light in the place went out. Inside, Cora was screaming with an awful sound in her voice. “Frank! Frank! Something has happened!”
I ran in the kitchen, but it was black dark in there and I didn’t have any matches in my pocket, and I had to feel my way. We met on the stairs, she going down, and me going up. She screamed again.
“Keep quiet, for God’s sake keep quiet! Did you do it?”
“Yes, but the lights went out, and I haven’t held him under yet!”
“We got to bring him to! There was a state cop out there, and he saw that stepladder!”