My shoulders sag as I relent. “I have sacrificed so much to get here, for this moment.” I look into her dark eyes. “I should never have let you leave Brazil with me. If you had stayed…”

My wife scoffs. “You couldn’t keep me in Brazil even if you tried. You know very well I would have followed you to the end of the earth and back.”

“I was selfish in the pursuit of my dream. I cost so many lives.” I stare down at my boots, too ashamed to meet her gaze.

“You are only selfish if you think that the dream of a free, unified Italy was yours and yours alone.” She rises from the bed and moves toward me.

“I can’t do this without you,” I finally admit.

“Who says I’ve left?”

My wife fades as a soft knock interrupts us. “Father?” Menotti enters, his dark eyes, his mother’s eyes, full of concern, looking me over. “Are you ready? They are waiting for you.”

He’s wearing his new uniform, his cap tucked under his arm. His wavy black hair is neatly combed away from his face, revealing the scar that runs along the side of his forehead. He’s a young man now. The future is for him and his comrades.

“Almost.” I pick up the old red shirt from the bed. It’s more of a rag now, faded from the years of use. I pass it through my fingers, letting the warm memories of my wife move through me. I tie it around me. “Now I’m ready,” I say as I follow my son out the door.

Anita’s last words hang in the air as I leave. “Take care of the children.”

Author’s Note

It would be nice if life moved in the arch of a perfect plot, wouldn’t it? Our story begins, we have the central conflict, and all comes to a glorifying end with a perfectly wrapped bow. Only, life is not that simple, especially for Anita Garibaldi.

When I set out to tell this story I did all that I could to remain as close to her truth as possible, relying heavily on her memoirs as she told them to her friend, Feliciana—a woman that we should all be eternally grateful for. But certain things had to be changed: Battles were compressed in order to tell a coherent narrative. Birthdates of her children, particularly Ricciotti’s, were adjusted, as were the births and deaths of her two brothers.

In the story I have José and Anita making only one trip to Italy together, when in reality, José made multiple trips between Uruguay and Italy as he closed out business and got his soldiers settled. Likewise, in Anita’s final years she traveled back and forth from José’s side to her children in Nizza before the fateful retreat from Rome.

Garibaldi was a staunch abolitionist and insistent on freedom for all, a sentiment shared by Anita as well. It was important to me that the struggles of the freed slaves and the bravery of the black lancers be brought up even though I was unable to explore their stories more thoroughly.