Down the Rio Grande, 1829

Even the remote Rio Bra­vo town of Guer­rero has paid a price for Mexico′s war of inde­pen­dence from Spain. Gripped by drought and depres­sion, Guer­rero is chang­ing. Six­teen-year-old Rosi­ta Tre­viño dreams of a bet­ter life, as does fif­teen-year-old Maria Alvarez, the book-lov­ing step­sis­ter she bare­ly knows. When Father brings home a rich old suit­or who choos­es Rosi­ta as his bride, she is deter­mined to flee before it’s too late.

The next day, to everyone’s sur­prise, a Texas gringo named Austin arrives on a steam­boat. Des­per­ate, Rosi­ta runs away to the strange boat, and is tak­en aboard as ship’s musi­cian and cook. That night, a young boy sneaks on board—Maria, in dis­guise! Dan­gers lie ahead…killing heat, drought, ill­ness, pur­suit by Father. Sis­ters, yet strangers, all they have is each oth­er as they face the dan­ger­ous, unpre­dictable Rio Bra­vo, and a ter­ri­fy­ing new world.