Honor Road by Jason Ross (best non fiction books of all time TXT) 📕

late into his forties. This “look-see” would undoubtedly turn into something more serious. If not today, then soon.

“Don’t let yourself get out of shape, son,” the captain advised. “It’s a sonofabitch to get back, especially in your forties.”

Sage had no worries about staying in shape. Unless Cheetos and Taco Bell made a roaring comeback, he wouldn’t probably have to worry about getting fat. Ever.

“There’s a long way to go, still.” Sage watched Reggie stop for the fifth time on the climb. “This is just the first rise. There are five or six more before we reach the valley.”

The captain nodded. “I’m glad we did a dry run. I didn’t realize how out-of-shape the guys were. They used to be monster athletes—every one of them.”

“Have we crossed the county line?” Sage worried.

“Barely. It’s up here somewhere.”

Sage hazarded an opinion. “It seems like a lot of risk.” When the captain didn’t respond, Sage continued, “Hiking all the way to the back of the valley, where Commissioner Pete lives, is going to be a challenge. Getting back out will be even worse. The residents have vehicles and can cover a lot more ground than we can on snowshoes. If we have a prisoner, that’ll make us even slower.”

Again, the captain didn’t answer. He looked lost in thought. The deputies were finally catching up to them.

“Hey-o,” Kevin Tursdale said as he reached them. He choked on the cold air and fell into a coughing fit.

“You’re right,” the captain said, turning to Sage. “This isn’t going to work. We’re going to turn back here. I’d like you to do me a favor. Do you have enough food to continue on for another couple days?”

Sage nodded. “I’m good.”

When he left the room at the Best Western that morning, Sage had loaded up his full survival kit. It made him nervous to be in the wild without it. He’d spent months living out of the bug-out bag.

“Great. Pete Lathrop’s ranch is past Enterprise but before Joseph. It’s close to the airstrip by Hurricane Creek.”

Sage jiggled his backpack. “I have a map.”

“Okay. Do you think you can avoid getting caught?”

Sage nodded. He would circle higher up the mountain where nobody could see him in the pines. It’d be a tougher march, but it was nothing compared to the climb up the Blue Mountains.

“I can make the hike, but it’ll take me a few days. If someone cuts my back trail and puts dogs on me again, there’s nothing I can do about that. But I’ll do my best to avoid detection,” Sage said.

“Good.” Captain Chambers clapped him on the shoulder. “I need to know where there’s a barn full of snow machines nearby Lathrop’s. The ranches along the foothills should have their snow machines out. They’ll be tuning them up for winter. Snow machines are a way-of-life up here once the snow starts to pile up. Find me at least six snowmobiles that look new-ish and ready to run.”

Sage nodded. “How do I know if they’re good?”

“Should be obvious. They’ll be the snow machines that aren’t all busted up.” The captain smiled. “If we come in here with a team that’s not so damned fat,” he said loud enough for three of his guys to hear, “we can snowshoe in, grab snow machines, then ride out. There’s nothing that can keep up with snow machines other than other snow machines. You locate the machines and we’ll make it happen.”

It sounded like a crazy plan to Sage, with lots of moving parts, but it wasn’t his job to poke holes in the captain’s ideas. So, he nodded agreement and restated his mission.

“You want me to get to the back of the valley, and find a ranch near Lathrop’s with at least six snowmobiles that look well-serviced. How’re we going to get the keys?”

The captain laughed. “In this part of the world, people leave the keys in the ignition. Hell. Half our keys are probably rusted in place. Just find me snow machines and we’ll take it from there.”

“You want me to recon Commissioner Pete’s ranch?” Sage didn’t know which ranch belonged to the Commissioner. He’d yet to see the back half of the valley.

The captain shook his head. “Naw. I’ve been there more times that I can count. His dad used to be the hunter safety instructor when we were kids. We’ve all been to his ranch. Don’t worry about that. Just find me six snow machines. I don’t want to scoop that bastard up and be forced to run around, hunting for a way back out. The Potbelly Patrol and I will go back to La Grande this morning and put together a better assault team. I’ll leave a cruiser for you on the Minam River. We’re running out of time. We need to get this done before big snow falls.”

Sage could think of a million ways the plan could go wrong. He could get arrested again, skulking around Wallowa, for starters. They probably wouldn’t give him a burger, this next time. But if he stayed under the heavy pines, he felt confident he wouldn’t be seen from the valley. He didn’t think people roamed around the mountains now that there was more snow.

“Okay, Captain. I’ll radio you from the cruiser when I get out, but it’ll probably take four days.”

The captain exhaled, and nodded his head. “It’ll probably take me that long to get a team figured out, anyway. I’ll train them and lead them myself. You get the recon and the snow machines lined up and I’ll handle the rest.”

Sage couldn’t think of any other questions, so he hitched up his pack and tightened the belly band. “I’ll see you in four or five days. Whoever comes with us next time will need to be in pretty good shape. I think it’s twenty-five miles to Lathrop’s ranch. We’ve only gone two miles.”

Chambers nodded. “War’s a young man’s game. We’ll get it figured out.” He turned his snowshoes around and plodded toward Reggie, who still hadn’t made