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

Matthew did not avoid me the rest of the evening; neither did he seek out my company. With my chin somewhere down around my navel, I climbed the hollow hill and sat on a rock, thinking about how important this place had been to our family over the years. The crystal spring bubbling from within the cavern provided pure, sweet water for drinking and washing. The steady, chilled temperature of the cave made it the best preserving room in the whole territory.


It had also provided a secret hiding place for both body and valuables during the troubles. Most of the family’s gold and silver, including that passed on to me by Otter, rested inside.


All of a sudden Pa was standing at my shoulder, startling me out of my thoughts. He’d come on silent moccasins. Or I was so lost in my thoughts I hadn’t heard him.


“Good place to watch a sunset.” He sat down beside me. “If I remember, there’s not a bad hill for doing the same thing at Turtle Crick.”


Chapter 60