and confronted them, rifle in hand. Pulling out the cell phone he had borrowed earlier from Nathan, he demanded they leave or he would call the police.

    The youths hadn’t come this far to be turned away easily, especially by an old codger, phone or no phone, gun or no gun. As he dialed, two sneaked into the woods and soon all did, smirking, snickering, and scattering in search of the whimsical creature Pat and Mike claimed to have seen.

    “Everybody, a snipe hunt,” yelled one. “Let’s do it!”

    John Versteeg had no intention of shooting anyone. The gun was show and it hadn’t worked, but the police were on the way. With his knee troubling him, he returned to the lodge and went out onto the deck to observe. What happe...

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