Answer:
If you're learning about this I'm assuming your professor is also os already has taught you about context clues.
Considering the final sentence, "It was like a lightning strike", you're going to assume since lightning is extremely fast, so is what the word bolted means.
Make an extremely fast action, let's say.
Sorry if I made this more complicated than it had to be, just thought it deserved a valid explanation.
Hope this helped :)
