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

“Yes, Winter Bird. But just as I was waking from a dreadful dream, Bird went away and accepted another’s bed.”


“Then are you sure this Ité Wasteis the one for you?”


“He gave me life when I had lost it. At least, he made my life bearable.”


Cuthan nodded and pursed his lips. “Then I am in his debt.”


“As am I. And I am coming to love him, Pa. It’s not as deep as with Matthew, but perhaps in time.”


I glanced at my brother. He had taken all this in without speaking or changing his expression. At times, I believed he was more white man than tribesman…especially when it came to berdachesHe truly did not understand what Matthew and I had between us, and certainly couldn’t equate it with what he shared with Min.


Chapter 44