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

“How many men have you killed, John?”


He asked the question suddenly and used the familiar address. Was he hoping to catch me off guard?


“Are you speaking of white men or do tribesmen count, as well?”


He flushed, giving me my answer. Nonetheless, he recited the proper words. “A human life is a human life, regardless of the ethnicity.”


I shook my head. “You would not have fared well here years back. Only a few years, come to think of it.”


“I disagree. I would have thrived because I could have reported history in the making.”


“So, history has come to a halt? Is there no current history to be written?”


“Of course, there is. And I do so every day of my life. History is simply tomorrow’s yesterday. But a page has been turned, John. No, a  has been written. One that will never be repeated again.”


I shook my head and rested my arms on the anvil. “Yes, it will. But you whites will have to find someone else to oppress.”


Chapter 83