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

As twilight was rapidly approaching, I tethered Hume’s mount to a stout bush right in the middle of a small clearing in front of the bluff. The rock had deteriorated, and some had fallen, carving out a hollow. Someone approaching from above would not be able to see much. Off to the left was another little curvature of loose rocks. I put Thunder behind that one to give warning of anyone coming from that direction.


Working rapidly, I found enough dry wood and grass to build a small fire. Not large enough to cast off much heat, but big enough so that the black was visible against the sandy rock. After covering my shoulders and head with a buffalo hide blanket from my saddlebags, I sat with my back against the small pile of rocks so that I faced the large hollow at an oblique angle. Perfect.


Chapter 55