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

Ides was only interested in knowing where Bird and Ethan were. I explained that Bird would not be returning, and that Ethan was following along behind me. Then I had to deftly walk through a host of questions over why Winter Bird wouldn’t be coming back home. Ides had to be satisfied with the knowledge that Ethan would soon show up.


Except that he didn’t. A fortnight passed without a sign of Ethan or a homing pigeon. The drive should have reached Pine Ridge days ago. My nerves began to crawl, making my skin itchy. What was I worried about? The cattle or…Ethan? Iron Head had brought the youngster he called Pretty Face to me as a troublesome youth. Perhaps the chief had noticed his transition into a responsible young man and elected to keep him.


Only then did I realize how much I needed that young man. Especially since Winter Bird’s departure. 13


Chapter 37