He rounded the corner of the building just in time to see the figure of a man step back, away from the rear wall of the old office. For a moment or two his face was silhouetted against a patch of sky. “Caldwell!” Ronnie called angrily before he realized what a foolish thing he was doing.
The man’s hand rose. A brilliant beam of light struck the boy full in the face, blinding him instantly. Then the light went out and the man sprang away into the darkness.
Burning with anger and disappointed from the stupid mistake he had made, Ronnie leaped wildly after him, and plunged into the undergrowth. He had taken no more than a few steps when he tripped over a log and hurtled headlong through the air. He landed with a jolt in a tangle of briars and his head smashed against a tree trunk. Whirling lights and brilliant flashes stood out before his eyes as he fought for consciousness.
The next thing he knew Bill was standing over him. “You all right, Ronnie?” Bill was asking. “Ronnie, you all right? Say something, can’t you?”
Ronnie struggled to sit up. The top of his head throbbed and he could feel a lump rising. “I—I guess I’m all right,” he said.
He tried to stand up. The trees, the sky, the building started to swing around before his eyes. He grabbed Bill’s hand for support.
Within a few minutes he felt better. Bill took his arm and helped him down the path. “Golly, I sure as shootin’ messed that up,” he said to Bill. Then he told his friend what happened.
“So you figure it was Mr. Caldwell?” Bill asked when Ronnie had finished.
“Well, I reckon I did then, or I wouldn’t have called his name. But, gosh, now I’m not so sure. It was plenty dark. What a fool I was yelling out to him. Boy, could I kick myself in the pants for being so stupid.”
“Yea,” Bill agreed, “yea, if you weren’t so woozy, I’d do it for you. But what do you say we pay Caldwell a hurry call? I think we can still beat him back to his cottage, seeing he’s got to detour around through the woods. Feel well enough to try it?”