A love between two very different men is put to the test. John Strobaw, a young mixed-blood, grows up in the relative security of a family farm after the Civil War. His mother raises her family as Americans, but his foster brother, Matthew Brandt feels his red blood more keenly and leaves to ride with Crazy Horse. John doesn’t understand the longing he feels for his absent companion until he has his first sexual experience with a man and he only thinks of Matthew. After the murder of Crazy Horse, Matthew makes his way back home. John fights hard against a growing lust for Matthew, but when he ultimately succumbs, he is lost to this handsome, dusky warrior. Just when the future looks bright, another suitor appears -- a handsome Cheyenne army scout, and trouble looms on the horizon.

Echoes of the Flute

Before I finished spilling out my story, James was standing beside us on the porch. When I finished, he took charge.


“We’ll go to the fort in the morning. They’re bound to have more accurate news over the grapevine by now.” It was a minute before I realized he meant the telegraph wire. “Damnation, I usually go to town at least once a week, but I kept putting it off.”


“Let’s take care of your animals,” Otter said. “Are you hungry?”


James returned to the cabin to prepare a pallet for my bed while Otter went with me to rub down the two horses. As we worked, I expected him to ask about what we had discussed the last time I was here. Instead he wanted to know if I had been on my hemblecha yet.


I looked over Arrow’s broad back and watched him curry the pinto. “A Vision Quest? I never considered it.”


Chapter 17