He dropped back behind his tree. - Tradução em português

Gostaria que me ajudassem a entender o sentido de dropped back, utilizado no texto abaixo. Ele passa a mensagem que o personagem "caiu de costas", "caiu e voltou", "abaixou-se e voltou" ou etc?

He must attack before the moon was up.
...
He was too late. As he stood up, the moon came out. Kino dropped back behind his tree.

Fonte:
John Steinbeck. The Pearl. Penguin Active Reading. Level 3. Pearson Education, 2007, p.68.