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

Our seven horses made a great deal of noise slipping and sliding on the long incline, but we reached the floor of the little canyon without incident. As quietly as possible, we emerged from the close confines of the deep draw onto the trail pacing the south side of Trickling Water. Immediately, I spotted six cowboys stretched across the trail on both sides of the crick, all facing east. Bird and his cows were not yet in sight, but the sounds of their approach were plainly heard. Then one of our horses neighed, alerting the ambushers.


They whirled and opened fire just as Landreth bawled a warning to drop their weapons. One of his deputies and a warrior stumbled and fell. None of us paused a second beyond that. Within minutes, the two cowboys left standing dropped their rifles and raised hands above their heads. The sheriff and his remaining deputy rushed to truss up the prisoners while I turned to attend to the wounded.


Chapter 31