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

I demanded that Landreth arrest Pindleton and Hume for fraud, but Prosecutor Kilpatrick declined. However, Bacon pressed the official on the matter until the civil servant agreed to investigate the matter. I had no illusion that had Pindleton and Hume been presenting testimony against me, this puffy, citified official would have had me arrested on the spot. Apparently, the testimony of two savages wasn’t sufficient to accomplish the same.


Fleet Runner’s task was done, so I saw him safely aboard another iron horse, this one headed west rather than east. Then I recovered Thunder from the livery and headed for the farm. The palomino was anxious to stretch his legs, so I gave him his head to run as fast as the train had chugged for a good mile of our journey before dropping back into a gait that was comfortable for both of us.


Chapter 53