Far from the world he knows, he’ll find a home. Among strangers, he’ll find acceptance. And in the arms of an unexpected man, he’ll find love. Young Billy Strobaw comes West to escape the stigma of his Tory family. In the Dakota Territories, he encounters the Yanube warrior Cut Hand. Billy’s attraction to the other man is as surprising as the Yanube perspective on same-sex love. Unlike Europeans, the Siouan tribe celebrates such unions. Billy and Cut Hand can live as partners and build a life together, which Billy agrees to do. As Billy struggles to acclimate to a very different culture, quickly discovering the Yanube have as much to teach him as he has to impart to them, a larger struggle is brewing. The white man is barreling through the Great Plains, trampling underfoot anyone who stands in his way. As a leader of his people, Cut Hand must decide whether it will be peace or war. In a historical romance taking place against the epic backdrop of the early American West, where a single spark can ignite a powder keg of greed, lust for power, and misunderstanding, one man must find his place in history and his role in the preservation of all he has come to value.

Cut Hand

I ate at a restaurant, took a room at an inn, and paid a likely-looking youngster to carry a written message to the fort commandant asking to see him the next morning. He returned with a note that Major Wallston would receive me at ten on the morrow. That was a pleasant surprise and a stroke of luck. Major Wallston knew me from Fort Yanube, freeing me from wasting precious time proving I was no feather merchant.


The major was downright pleased to greet me. His office in this post seemed a little larger, but his staff was made up of tin soldiers, green Point officers eager to prove their mettle. Wallston appeared embarrassed by their enthusiasm.


Chapter 85