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

“You can likely hang me or shoot me if that’s what you’re bound on. But before you do, you have to promise me one thing. You must promise to help my sister and my nephew take care of this farm. Whether we come or whether we go, the land needs tending. That’s all I’ve ever done is take care of the land. Except for when the army chased me away during the troubles, I’ve never done anything else. Tended the land here or at Teacher’s Mead.”


I took a breath. “And while I was away, I tried to do the same thing over on the reservation. I recognize your laws and obey them because for the most part, they are natural laws. I do not seek out trouble, although at times it seems as if trouble hunts me up.” I snatched off my hat. “I may look different from you. And in some ways, I am different, but in all that counts, we are the same. I give respect, but in return, I expect respect. Now what will it be?”


Bemis swung out of the saddle. “I’m arresting you for—”


Chapter 97