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

There was a knock on the door. I stood up…hopeful. It was my father. He sat at the little eating table near the cooking fireplace and waited until I claimed the chair opposite him.


“You gonna tell me what’s going on?”


I shrugged. “How come you can read me so well?”


“Anyone could read you tonight. Your chin’s been about knee high ever since you came back from chasing after Matthew this afternoon.”


“We had an argument, and he ran off again.”


My tongue got thick. How could I tell my pa I’d let a man put his thing up me? My color rose and my throat threatened to close up. It wasn’t fair. Back when Pa was young, lying with a man wasn’t any worse than a fella doing it to some girl. Now…now it was something else. Why was I ashamed? As much as I wanted to tell him and anybody else who’d listen, I couldn’t bring myself to admit to loving another man.


Chapter 41