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

“Nope. Our guard on the herd stood his ground. They’d have overrun him except we showed up and winged one of them. They crossed Turtle Crick and headed west.”


Andre nodded to the horse closest to Landreth. “You oughta take heed of this one, Sheriff.”


The lawman stepped off the boardwalk and lifted the dead man’s head by the hair. He let go and stumbled backward. His wild eyes speared me. “Damnation, it’s Fred! You shot my deputy.”


Andre hawked and spat on the ground. “Didn’t know it was Deputy Atchison until we got him. He was busy tossing lead at me until John caught him exposed.”


“Maybe he thought you was one of the rustlers.”


“No, Sheriff,” I said in a level voice. “Hewas one of the rustlers. He was with these other two. They rustled two cows and made a lot of noise, so we’d go after them. They thought one man was on their trail, but Andre and I joined Bird and Itéfaster’n they thought.”


Chapter 21