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

When night arrived, I pulled the buffalo robe around me and lay upon the sacred sage bed, but sleep was slow to come. Night voices intruded upon my consciousness. Fool coyote yipped in the distance. A mate answered from the other side of the earth. Then, from far to the north came the deeper howl of wolves. They were early this year. Munching noises gave warning of deer or antelope invading the glade without catching my scent. The Great Spirit’s powerful medicine had made me invisible to the four-lagged. I would have my vision.


I slept only fitfully and was up to watch the sun tint the sky as pink as one of Ma’s roses. I took another ritual smoke. That day passed as had the former, except I was hungrier and far more dehydrated. I had difficulty working up saliva. Still no messenger, no supernatural came to reveal itself. I shivered on my bed of sage. Even the buffalo robe could not still the tremors. Cold? Fear? Awe?


Chapter 20