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Chapters (73)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Epigraph
  4. Prologue
  5. Part One
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Ten
  16. Eleven
  17. Twelve
  18. Thirteen
  19. Part Two
  20. Fourteen
  21. Fifteen
  22. Sixteen
  23. Seventeen
  24. Eighteen
  25. Nineteen
  26. Twenty
  27. Twenty-One
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Part Three
  33. Twenty-Six
  34. Twenty-Seven
  35. Twenty-Eight
  36. Twenty-Nine
  37. Thirty
  38. Thirty-One
  39. Thirty-Two
  40. Thirty-Three
  41. Thirty-Four
  42. Thirty-Five
  43. Thirty-Six
  44. Thirty-Seven
  45. Thirty-Eight
  46. Thirty-Nine
  47. Forty
  48. Forty-One
  49. Forty-Two
  50. Part Four
  51. Forty-Three
  52. Forty-Four
  53. Forty-Five
  54. Forty-Six
  55. Forty-Seven
  56. Forty-Eight
  57. Forty-Nine
  58. Fifty
  59. Fifty-One
  60. Fifty-Two
  61. Fifty-Three
  62. Epilogue
  63. Author’s Note
  64. Acknowledgments
  65. Discover More
  66. Reading Group Guide
  67. Discussion Questions
  68. ESSAY FROMDIANA GIOVINAZZO
  69. Antoinette’s Sister
  70. Chapter One
  71. Chapter Two
  72. About the Author
  73. Praise forThe Woman in Red

“We understand. We really do.” Canabarro’s harsh voice. “That’s why I am suggesting you and Rossetti take a regiment. You can scout the western region for us.”

“I’ll not let others do my work for me,” José demanded.

“They won’t. You can lead a reconnaissance mission while you wait for the baby to come,” Canabarro insisted.

“José, we need to go somewhere safe so that she can have the baby,” Rossetti said. “Who knows what damage the infant took when Anita fell? I know a family from the old country living in São Simão; the wife is a midwife. Think about your wife and child, brother.”

I got up from the bed and walked outside the tent, where the men argued so intensely that I stood there unnoticed.

“When all is well you can meet the rest of the army back at the front,” Canabarro tried to reason with José.

José ran a tired hand over his face. “I just don’t know if Anita will agree to it.”

Standing in the shadows, I thought about Rossetti’s words. I didn’t know what was in store for us in São Simão. Other wives and children followed their husbands, but they never followed them into battle. My hand caressed my stomach as I remembered the fall.

I was lucky. The baby still kicked, but who knew if he would be born with any permanent damage. Could José and I risk the well-being of this child again?

“I’ll go.” The men looked up at me in surprise.

“Anita, tesoro mio, what are you doing up?” José rushed to me as if I were an invalid.

“I figured that if my fate was to be the subject of discussion, I should have a say,” I said, taking a step back. I refused to be treated like a fragile piece of china. Gauchos such as myself were made of stronger stuff than this, but I had to protect this child. “We have more to think about now than you and me. We will go to these friends of Rossetti’s.”

Twenty-One

Twenty-One

September 1840

As we rode in along the banks of the Rio Corrente, I marveled at the rugged beauty. The river was flanked by brown flatlands spotted with low green foliage. The winds whipped past us with a vengeance. The trees that were scattered along the grasslands bowed in reverence to the wind’s power. We had a very small garrison along with a herd of cattle given to us as a form of payment. The Farrapos were running out of money and had resorted to paying the soldiers any way they could.

The Costa home was nestled within the small river community of São Simão. The settlement consisted of a smattering of cabins with a wide-open prairie where cows lazily chewed the long yellow grass.