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

The colts refused to enter the river when we reached a good walk-across the Yanube. Lone Eagle roped two of the little beasts, dragging them protesting through the fast, shallow tide. The third evaded him, and since the Pipe Stem were drawing close, he abandoned it.


Lone Eagle was no longer a pauper when we rode into the village. Cries of congratulations greeted us from all quarters. Even Cut Hand came to the horse pasture and pronounced the animals superb. Never one to waste such an endorsement, Lone Eagle promptly traded six of the animals for three riding ponies.


Otter was glad to see me when I got back to Teacher’s Mead, peppering me with questions about the hunt while I bathed. As I dried off, it occurred to me that no back-east husband had seen his wife naked as often as these folks observed my bare bum, especially Otter. The People’s attitude toward the flesh seemed far healthier than that of my own countrymen.


Chapter 88