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

Yanube City had grown considerably since I’d been here last. That would have been in ‘61 shortly before Billy died. The fort, which had been contained within a tall wooden stockade, now sat at the northern edge of town without a palisade in sight. The post’s buildings, all single-storied except for the headquarters, were drawn up in rows, almost as if in parade formation.


The older portions of the thirty-year-old military post were log and sod structures. The newer ones appeared to be hand-sawn lumber painted a gray color. It was a sandy, dusty place, but the groundskeeper had coaxed a growth of green grass directly in front of the headquarters. A row of sickly elms around the edges of the grass field battled the elements for survival—with the eventual outcome still in doubt. The scarcity of uniformed soldiers was quite noticeable.


Chapter 19