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

Hume’s eyes rested directly on me as he got up to confront us. “What’s the Injun doing here?”


“Mr. Strobaw denies selling us his water rights,” Pindleton said.


“Damnation, don’t a man’s signature mean nothing no more? Not to the heathens, I guess. Hate dealing with them.”


Was Hume trying to provoke me as I had been doing his partner, or was this a show for the sheriff? Didn’t really matter.


The door opened behind us and all six-foot-one of Richard Bacon walked in with Ethan close behind.


“You kin wait outside,” Hume said to Ethan. “Can’t take two redskins at the same time.”


Ethan hid his reaction behind his eyes and stood his ground. That worried me a little. I knewI was being provoked. Would my lover understand that?


“Now, Friday. Let’s keep this businesslike.” Pindleton turned to the back of the room. “Philby, would you come up here a minute? For Mr. Bacon’s benefit, let me explain he’s the gentleman who witnessed Mr. Strobaw make his mark on the bill of sale.”


Chapter 47