Born into a society tolerant of homosexuals, River Otter is confused by the white culture’s persecution of such men. As the war begins to wind down, Otter leaves the only home he has ever known to help Major James Morrow, commandant of Ft. Yanube, build a farm north of the fort. He begins a new life with the handsome major while coming to grips with growing hostility toward natives and rising danger from a local militia bent on eliminating all bloods from the territory.<br><br>As his physical attraction for the blond soldier slowly grows into a love perilous to both of them, Otter is distracted by personal challenges. As he struggles to survive the social and political upheaval sweeping the plains, can remain true to his own set of values?

River Otter

At midday, Dew Drop and Little Bear showed up. She had prepared a meal from the stores I sent her the previous afternoon. While my new helper and I labored moving dirt and rock, Dew Drop set about remaking my miserable hovel into a proper tipi. By the end of the day, I was satisfied with what had been accomplished.


Before nightfall, the woman and the younger boy set out for their own lodge, but Rock elected to remain behind, claiming he could get a little more sleep if he stayed the night. As we sat around the fire pit in the center of my now commodious tipi, Rock made himself comfortable.


“Aren’t you going to tell me grandfather tales?” A bit of insolence showed through the words.


“Then tell me some win-taytales. You lived with the one they called the Red Win-tay, didn’t you? They say he was zjee-zjee.”


I examined the youth obliquely. “Yes, he had yellow hair.”


Chapter 18