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

Even now the ambusher probably had his sights pointed straight at where my head would appear when I came up for a look. Unless he was riding down on us to finish the job. I snatched a quick look. No one was racing toward us. Neither did he shoot at me. I rolled to another small depression closer to where Bear lay. Again, no shot.


Puzzled, I risked a longer look. Nothing stirred in the rocks. A movement down the road drew my attention. Arrow was trotting back toward me. Wind followed at a more leisurely pace. The sight of Bear’s rifle in a sheath on the gray’s saddle started me thinking. Hanlihan—if it was the deserter—was a military marksman. Not every trooper was a crack shot, but I had to assume he was competent. A rifle in his hands, instead of the carbine, would have spelled the end of both of us. So why wasn’t he riding all out for the horse carrying the weapon he wanted?


Chapter 102