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

Eventually, Kilpatrick pulled me aside for a private conversation. Bacon insisted on attending the interview as my lawyer. The county prosecutor’s standing with me rose in my estimation as he skillfully asked question after question that overlaid one another to catch me in a falsehood. Bacon said not a word but listened intently.


During the entire lengthy ordeal, which covered both the shooting of the Weathers’ family and last night’s attack by Landreth and his men, I held to the absolute truth save for one thing. I repeated the falsehood that Ethan and I had been returning from Teacher’s Mead when we confronted the claim jumpers. No need to involve the army over the shooting of a cavalry horse over on the reservation. 30


Chapter 98