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

Despite pushing Arrow Wind hard in my rush to reach Turtle Crick, I was too late. Matthew had come and gone. I found sign where he’d slept in the loft of the outhouse and taken a sweat bath in the little shelter beside the crick. I rushed to the Tiller farm to see if he was there. Andre had talked to him for a few minutes, but Matthew pushed on early this morning.


Chapter 44