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

Clearly, Gideon and Rachel Ann still cloaked themselves in mourning. And this was brought into focus more sharply when I realized Christmas would be upon us soon. Their loss threatened to recall my own part in the tragedy more strongly. My spirits drooped until I realized that little Gabe was not alone. His Uncle Matthew would watch out for him, guide his way. That occasioned another thought. Would Gideon be able to one day join his wife and children, or would the Western Road for whites be separate from the one the mixed bloods traveled? And what of Cut Hand and Otter? Would I be denied their presence because they were pure bloods? Nay. I had long ago settled in my mind that Wakhán Thánkaand the Christian God were one and the same. He merely looked at his people through different faces, one appropriate to each man.


Chapter 62