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

With the arrival of my lawyer, Kilpatrick got down to business. “Mr. Strobaw, I’ve reviewed your case and see that your attorney claims you acted in self-defense or in defense of your family. In fact, I understand your nephew was shot and killed by Carper Pindleton.”


“Yes, sir. The five-year-old son of my sister and Captain Haleworthy.”


“My condolences. However, that seems pretty persuasive as regards your case.”


“What are you thinking, Romo?” Landreth blurted. “We can’t have no Injun running around killing white men. Three of them. Folks is liable to hang you and me both if you let him go.”


Kilpatrick’s eyes widened. “Three!” He relaxed. “Oh, you mean Billy Bascomb. He was a no-account, anyway. No loss to the town.”


Bacon and I exchanged glances. Was this prosecutor, a powerful man who held his citizens’ futures in his hand, protective of some lives but dismissive of others? Was he a hater?


Chapter 69