Thirty-two-year-old mixed blood John Strobaw, known to the Sioux as Medicine Hair, returns to his Turtle Crick Farm after a six-year exile on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Grief-stricken at the loss of his mate and lover Matthew Brand, known as Shambling Bear, at the Battle of Wounded Knee, he struggles to become a farmer again while fighting an internal battle to let go of the past and face his future. Will that future be with his best friend Winter Bird or with Pretty Face, an outrageous flirt who hasn’t yet decided who he is?<br><br>But before he can come to grips with this, John faces several battles. Will his former friends and neighbors accept him now the Indian War has come to an end? Can John forgive those same friends and neighbors after the murderous ambush of the Sioux by the 7th Cavalry at Wounded Knee? Or survive the hostility of an Indian-hating sheriff named Charles Landreth and protect himself against the mindless fear and loathing for Two Spirits, men who love men?

Wastelakapi…Beloved

After he left, I was forced to face my reaction to the young man. He was as pretty as a woman, yet a certain masculinity defined his features. He had the behavior of what Otter’s books about the legendary Don Juan had called a “libertine.” The boy intrigued me. Might even say he interested me. Nonetheless, his loose behavior disturbed Winter Bird, who was important to me. My secret hope that the boy might service Bird’s carnal needs did not appear to be happening. Still, it was early. That might yet occur, given more time.


More troublesome was Bird’s warning to watch Face around the boys. Was this a problem I had not foreseen? Could someone like Pretty Face influencea child? Tempt him into experimenting, certainly; but lead him into that sort of life? I’d never considered that. A boy will grow into whoever he is, and that was that. Or was it? Would I have become a Two-Spirit and loved Matthew had Timo not come into my bedroom fourteen years ago and put his mouth to me?


Chapter 19