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

We were a hundred yards down the street before I drew an easy breath. When I reached the blacksmith shop, I threw open the big doors and drove the buckboard right into the building. Timo paused in the act of working the bellows to stare at me.


“Got a problem, Timo, and I need your help. Come on, Matthew, get up.”


From the look on the smith’s face, I was glad Matthew had changed his loincloth for white man’s clothing before we left the farm. The sleeve of his shirt was bloody.


“You remember Matthew Brandt, don’t you?”


“Sure do. Been a while since I seen you. Whoa, looks like you’re the one who’s got the problem.”


I improvised. “Actually, we both do. Matthew’s been gone for a while and he tried to Indian up on me at Turtle Crick as a damn fool joke. Instead, he just about became somebody’s darling.” Timo lived in the backyard of a military fort, so I figured he knew the Civil War term for a dead man.


Chapter 48