Sentence:  She had surprised Hans like she had surprised me when she said she 'd go , and then she surprised him again when she came back so quick like she must have , because when I came in with the snow she <WSD>was</WSD> there with a bottle with three white feathers on its label and Hans was holding it angrily by the throat . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)