Free Reclamation (Best Laid Plans Book 4) by Nathan Jones Page B

had time to work with they agreed to give it a try.
    So after another full night of sleep they got up early, collected the bicycles he'd purchased from the storehouse as part of his payment for the cache he and Trev had sold to the town, lightly packed only the most necessary gear for a short trip, and got ready to head up Aspen Hill Canyon.
    There were plenty of reasons to go. They wanted to look for good hunting spots, they wanted to do some more long range and thorough scouting above the town for things they and the townspeople would find useful or might be a threat, and most of all they wanted to venture farther afield and find the Norman family's lost herd of sheep, which seemed to have disappeared after the raiders scared them off.
    The plan was to travel light and put some real miles behind them, exploring the smaller backroads in the mountains west of town. If the snow had cleared off the higher roads they might even try traveling all the way to Highway 31 to check on the hideout, with the plan of returning to live there again at some future point if necessary.
    Jane really liked the idea of wintering there after hearing him describe his time spent in the mountains with Trev. And much as Lewis loved his cousin and enjoyed his company, he had to admit that the prospect of spending the frigid months confined in that small space with his wife instead was a lot more appealing.
    Finding the sheep was the main priority for this trip, though. The herd had a big head start on the people searching for them, and had likely retreated up to familiar grazing grounds in the high mountains to escape whatever fright had accompanied the violent capture of their shepherds. No one knew exactly where those grazing grounds were, but Lewis knew the area fairly well and had some ideas.
    Now that he and Jane had the free time and some bicycles they wanted to check those spots out.
    They invited Pete Childress to come as well, since the young man had devoted so much time to finding the lost animals after they'd beaten the raiders, and Tom Harding and his son Alvin were familiar companions from other hunting trips and seemed happy to come along. They also invited Matt, half expecting their overworked and overburdened friend to refuse, but surprisingly Matt almost ran to retrieve his old bike from the shed at his family's house and get it working.
    Lewis could tell by Sam's obvious disappointment that she wanted to go, too, but they were going to be pushing themselves hard to cover ground and he wanted to spare her that in her condition. Not to mention there was no telling what sort of work they had to look forward to if they actually found the herd, facing the prospect of bringing it back down the canyon.
    Which was all rational, but Lewis was still relieved when Sam took the news with good grace, admitting that she really was feeling too tired to be biking dozens of miles up steep mountain switchbacks. She assured them she was happy to keep to her original plan for the day, getting the new hens and rooster they were getting from Jack Dawson settled in with Henrietta in the chicken coop Lewis and Matt had finished the day before yesterday.
    The group set out not long after breakfast, the reminder of their dwindling food stores serving as an incentive to get something done today. Almost immediately Pete rode ahead and set the pace up the canyon, determined to find the animals that had eluded him for so long. He was familiar enough on his bike that he spent almost as much time waiting for them to catch up as he did making his way up the steep winding road.
    Lewis considered himself in the best shape of his life in spite of lingering weariness and slight malnutrition, but even he found the pace brutal. As for Tom, the older man was looking gray in the face by the time they reached the top, and from Matt's frequent concerned glances it was obvious his friend was on the verge of telling him to turn back.
    “Maybe we should slow down,” Lewis