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

The men who had not slept the night before took to the blankets that night. Dawn had not broken when Dancing Fox shook me awake.


“Scouts are in. Got more trouble ahead.”


I got out of my blankets and put on cold boots. Somehow, I felt warmer when I clapped my hat on my head. We roused the sheriff and joined Iron Head, who was listening to one of his scout’s report. A much larger compliment of men was approaching and apparently intended to attack in the darkness. When he finished, I asked the young man a question.


“If I remember correctly, there is a big buffalo wallow about a mile ahead of us.” The warrior grunted confirmation.


“What are you thinking?” Bird asked. He had caught up with us in the middle of the night.


“Usually from the west. But tonight it blows from the east,” the scout answered.


“Aye,” Bird said. “It’s been steady most of the night.”


“You thinking what I’m thinking?” the sheriff asked.


Chapter 32